Our neighbors moved and left behind three cats...mom,son and daughter. They didn't care about the relationship and soon daughter gave birth to a litter of four. We caught them and socialized them and were able to find homes for them. Then, a stray my son brought home had a litter of four more. We also managed to find homes for all of those except one he wants to keep. Just as the population was getting down to manageable again, Mama cat had a litter of three.
We had to take apart the neighbor's woodpile to get those kittens...all long haired black darlings....and we have homes pending for those.
Darned if we didn't go out the other day and hear a kitten yowling for help. It was balanced on a pallet board but fell to the ground...in a yard that has dogs! Son leaped the fence and brought it out....and we've been bottle feeding it since. It was about 2 weeks old. There are more of its siblings out there that we have to catch before they get to be too old to socialize.
Meanwhile, we contacted a Feral cat organization. They loaned us traps and carriers and we have taken 9 cats in to be "fixed". Only have managed to catch one of the feral cats, though (and four possums and three raccoons and a neighbor's cat...all of which we released). Luckily, it was the male whom we think has been responsible for all the litters....but we still have to catch the two females and take care of them.
Costs us nothing to get the ferals fixed, but we paid for shots, flea treatment and rabies vaccine for the one we caught. That's just $15 a head. However, since we civilized the kittens, THEY do cost us. Seems a little unfair but but so far we've spent $230 (quite reasonable but still a cost to us) getting every single cat/kitten fixed (except the tiny one who is still on the nursing bottle...its turn will come). That's 9 so far. We gave some away who had just had their shots and worming and all that....but the new owners promised to have them fixed.
They tell us that if we had left the kittens and parents continue to run feral in the back yard, we could have over 50 felines out there come spring...and I won't have the city trap them and euthanize them. PAWS wanted a $60 donation per cat for us to drop them there....AFTER an interview with the cat to see if it was "adoptable" in their eyes. Through the Feral Cat project we have not only been able to borrow equipment free of charge, but they assist in finding homes for the kittens as well. The Humane Society doesn't promise not to euthanize....the cats get three weeks to be chosen and then are put to sleep.
So, we think we are doing a good thing here...even if it is exhausting! The ferals have the tip of their ear clipped to show that they are fixed so folks around us won't worry about them giving birth (when we catch those crafty females) or impregnating their cats. This coming week we are going to try a drop trap instead of the regular kind...maybe the gals won't recognize that as a trap???
If you have feral (wild) cats in your area, do look into the local services that can help you trap them and get them fixed and then let them go back into the wild. It's almost impossible to re-socialize a cat once it's gone feral...so keeping any as house pets is out of the question. But, I do feed those outside and we provide a sheltered, warm spot for them in the winter. It wasn't their fault they were left homeless and I'm a sucker for a cat in need!
MARTi, CL (Crazy Lady) of Crafts and Co-CL of Crafter's Community ! CL for Eco-Friendly Living !Come and visit me!!
Be Green! It's good for the earth and your budget, too!
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