I am being invaded by feral kitties!

[Goathead]

What should I do? I want to help them out and feed them, but I'm afraid if I do they won't ever leave. They are all over the place. Two adults and two kittens, maybe one or two more. They have also been spraying in my carport. Is there a humane way to solve this? Should I just leave them and consider that they are doing me a favor by keeping the mice/rats away?

[TwentyFive]

1. If there is no food or cats in heat - they've soon leave.

[texastoast]

2. Live trap

You will have to trap them then get them in for neutering. Otherwise, you can have about 30 of them in a year. Females go into heat every two months. Hurry.

The live traps are very humane and will keep you from getting eaten alive by the little small tigers.

[Bertha Venation]

3. Trap, Neuter, Return.

You can borrow traps from your local humane society, and that organization can also put you in touch with some low-cost spay/neuter programs.

Trap them, take them to be spayed or neutered, and bring them home and let them go. It's common in this procedure for the tip of the cat's left ear to be removed. This is a signal to others that this cat cannot reproduce and is part of a cared-for feral community.

It takes a commitment, but the kitties are worth it, IMO.

Best of luck w/ your decision. If you live anywhere near Southern Maryland, you can borrow our traps.

[SpiralHawk]

6. That's what I did

It took me a while to capture and have them all neutered, but eventually I had a stable community of about 7-8 feral cats living on my property. i fed them and kept water available, and they kept me free of rats, mice, and snakes -- and were pretty good companions to have around.

I am much more of a dog person, but the cats all earned my respect and affection, each with her or his own distinct personality.

They would not come in the house, even on the stormiest of nights. If I picked them up and brought them in, they would yowl to be freed. They had plenty of shelter under my house, and that's all they wanted.

When i sold the place the new owners were glad to adopt the whole crew of them.

[Goathead]

10. I often here them fighting and yowling

Is this because they are in heat?

[Bertha Venation]

18. Frequently, yes. It could be a female in heat you're hearing, or

a male and female courting and mating (it's a long and noisy process, and often sounds like fighting), or it could be two males fighting over territory. Spaying & neutering takes care of all the in-heat and mating noise and most of the fighting.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Goathead]

15. Yes I have thought about that

There are birds that are found on this island(Hawaii island) and no place else in the world. The feral cat problem here is monumental. Yet people do the same thing, they move away and dump there cats out in the middle of nowhere. The kitty roadkill really piles up. But unless there are some laws enacted nothing will be done. It is a real problem.

[Bertha Venation]

16. What did you say?

"sont start a flame war because i think you are irrisponsible and mindless about where you shift the harm to animals being an extremist emitionalist."

Huh?

I'll guess you meant to write "don't start a flame war." Honey, if this bursts into flames, it will have been you who started it, not me.

Have a nice day.

[Mrs. Venation]

19. Let's Face It, Sam

Your answer here is just begging for a flame war. Your answer is very much an in-your-face, come-and-get-me pile of bovine excrement.

Our feral cats and songbirds coexist nicely. I have yet to see a dead songbird on our property, and Bertha and I have been caring for feral cats since the day we moved into our house more than three years ago.

I think your message is irresponsible and mindless. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

[sam sarrha]

21. i am pissed at the neighbors cats that kill birds at our feeders..

where i lived on the farm we had to kill strays all the time, they would kill the rabbits and chickens by shredding their intestines out through the holes wire cages...

they are artificially genetically engineered nonessential predators.
that are devastating the ground nesting birds in many ecosystems...

in my child hood they didn't take cats in the pound and we had to deal with them ourselves and people dumped them off ALL the time.. i guess my attitude is from the suggestion to neuter and release back into the wild.. to starve or/and destroy the environment.. yes that did piss me off.

we have a cat and 2 dogs all rescued.. and we keep them in a fenced in area. it is irresponsible to subject an animal to the suffering and starvation of just cutting them lose.. that is more cruel than euthanizing them.

[Mrs. Venation]

22. I Don't Think Anyone Has Advocated Starving Feral Cats

That seems to be your assumption, and a baseless one at that, about the topic at hand.

You have stirred up a pile of crap here, Sam, and no one who has responded to this thread deserves this attitude. My recommendation to you is to take a deep breath or ten, calm down, and stop your antagonistic agenda before someone reports you.

I can't speak for everyone, but the feral cats Bertha and I care for are well fed, spayed/neutered as we are able to trap them, and they generally have a pretty good life. And, to reiterate, they coexist nicely with the songbirds that we feed. In over 3 years we have yet to see a dead songbird on our property, and we have a little over an acre.

Bertha and I love animals. We feed birds, squirrels, chipmunks, 'possums, raccoons, feral cats, a gray fox . . . you get the idea. Our property is a NWF-certified back-yard habitat.

Now, Sam, I think you owe the people on this thread an apology.

[benburch]

4. Well, if they are not a problem leave them.

Your alternative is calling animal control. In some places, where they have "low-kill" policies this is not so bad.

You might also find a program in your area that will fix feral cats for free if you catch them and bring them in. This will end their future reproduction in a humane way.

[DinahMoeHum]

5. Check if your local animal welfare / shelter has a "trap-neuter-release"

program.

They do this for feral cats since they really cannot be adopted into homes: They'll humanely capture the animals, take them to a vet to have them altered, then release them back where they were caught.

As I've said, these feral creatures cannot really be adopted into homes. But this program prevents further problems, mostly centered around breeding. And at least the kitties will live out their lives free and keep your area free from vermin. Of course, leaving them some food might also help.

[Ready4Change]

7. Are you feeding them?

They'll generally seek out the easiest forms of food they can find. If you leave food outside, they'll stick around.

If you can, do them and other loose cats in your area a favor. Find a local TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) program for more info. If the feral population remains unchecked the ferals will only suffer massive die offs over winter from cold and starvation. I visited one TNR during an open clinic day and the sheer MASS of feral cats brought in on that single day was shocking. Literally hundreds.

Love the kitty pic, btw.

[Goathead]

12. O.K., o.k. I admit it

I already fed them. I left the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving out in the woods. I couldn't help it, I felt sorry for them and didn't want them to starve.

[Ready4Change]

17. (grin) My wife is the same way.

You just have to decide if you want to become responsible for them, even if that includes only leaving out food. If so, heed the advise many give here regarding TNR.

Heck, maybe heed it even if you ignore them afterwards. There really is a serious, tragic problem with feral cat populations. More kittens is NOT the answer.

Thanks, and I'll stop preaching now. :)

[Bertha Venation]

20. It's okay to feed them!

Even so, they will go after vermin, if there's any on your property. They might go after squirrels. Birds? Feh. Birds are better equipped than any other wild animal to escape from a cat.

Seriously, Goathead. Look into TNR. Here is a good place to start: Alley Cat Allies

[commander bunnypants]

8. I think sniper kitty is your answer

CB

[datasuspect]

9. feed them

and try to become their leader.

[Goathead]

13. Good idea

They are really wild though

[CatWoman]

14. *SIGH*

I have the same problem.