Wonderful time with rescued cats

[DaNgEr_KiTtY]

For the past year & a half my step dad & I have been have been taking care of a couple lil colonies of stray cats. He works night security at car dealers. We feed them & catch as many as we can & have them fixed & release them back but we try to save the kittens. That often means bringing their mama with em cause they are nursing. Anyway all the mommas we have are feral & have been very shy & timid but the other day it was like a light switch went off for all of them. Before it was very hard to even get a few seconds to pet them & now thats all they want. Its hilarious to watch their head bob all over the place cause they are used to being on guard so much while they are enjoying some scratchin. Just wanted to share that with everyone cause it shows that persistence is effective. If you have the time to pay attention to a feral cat you will eventually win as well.

[Cat Lover]

You're quite right; caring for feral cats is a completely different experience than simply 'having a cat.' Never is it more clear that they adopt you (rather than the other way around).

You have a rare opportunity to watch the feral cats in their natural element. We know far more about the life of the African Dung Beetle than we do about the ordinary cat. Cats seem to have certain built-in 'ethics,' and a complex social structure. Start taking notes!

For non-cat lovers, this effort to trap, neuter, and return the feral cats to their home is the preferred way of dealing with excess cats. Here's why it works:

If there are cats, there are reasons .... like, plenty of mice. Simply killing the cats only results in MORE cats moving in. However, once some cats have established a colony, they will keep other cats out of their territory.

Now all you need to do is to keep them from having kittens. When every cat is fixed, the population will slowly dwindle, until it stabilizes at a minimal number. You wind up with three cats, rather then twelve.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

For the past year & a half my step dad & I have been have been taking care of a couple lil colonies of stray cats.

(((Kitty))) That is so sweet of your family. Cats that end up at shelters have a very high kill rate, and feral cats don't stand a chance because they deem them unadoptable.
Just be careful with the feral ones. You always have to be concerned about rabies, moreso even in cats than dogs, and feral cats have had no medical care in most instances. Good luck in helping them.
There is a feral cat colony at the blacktop plant. The guys all bring leftovers to leave out for them, and they keep out dry food. The cats pay them back by keeping mice away from all the machinery and trucks.

[MYellowRose]

When I moved here, to this trailer park, there was a large feral cat colony that lived out by the dumpster. A woman came twice and captured 14 at a time to have them fixed, she was even kind enough to fix the small female my DD and I were feeding. She was also from a TNR group. From that time on the colony dwindled rapidly. My landlord says one of his coworkers feeds a female that live out in the tall weeds behind his trailer but I haven't seen her. Other than that one cat I don't think there are anymore around here that don't belong to the tenants.

[dearg]

When I worked at the vet clinic we did lots of feral cats medical needs, including fixing them for free. Funny thing is I sure ended up with a few fixed cats and kittens. They make great barn cats once they are comfortable with you and they are well worth the time to work with. Right now my part Maine Coon that was a feral rescue is sitting on the desk, taking up most of it really...

Glad to hear there are people helping out with these cats.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

From that time on the colony dwindled rapidly.

Sometimes raccoons or coyotes thin out cat colonies quickly too. Every year or two the cat colony dwindles at the asphalt plant, then builds back up as more and more cats show up from the countryside. Raccoons are the main predators around there.

[LJH]

Our canyon is something of a dumping place for unwanted cats, and the occasional dog. :sad: So mostly we're dealing with former pets and not true ferals, although there are a few of the latter.

Several of us, over maybe a two or three mile stretch of the road, have outdoor feeding stations set up for them. Also cozy, insulated places for them to go in the winter (the ones that choose not to become housecats).

We're just a half hour up the mountain from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and they oversee the local TNR programs and also supply cat food for us, so everybody is happily fixed 'n fed. In addition to the general canyon population, we have probably 10 or 12 who have adopted us and hang around our place most of the time. Sure cuts down on the mouse, rat & chipmunk populations and as a result, the rattlesnakes. :yes4: