Feral cats

[DeeDubya]

The theory is that by 'fixing' the ferel cats and releasing them the cats will continue to occupy and defend their territory, thereby keeping out other ferel cats. If you kill off all the ferel cats in an area, if you could actually do that even, then other cats from other areas would move in and occupy the newly released territory and you would soon be right back to where you started.

That is just the theory that the trap, spay, release people advocate......at least my understanding of it.

I don't know. Every tom that we ever had neutered got fat and lazy and could have cared less who was in the neighborhood.

 

[jinman]

I don't have any free spay/neuter services in my area. Female cats are about $125 each and males $75 each. That's the cheapest vet in town. My neighbor got two cats and the female had a litter of 5 kittens. I have no intention of spending $1400 on somebody else's cats and the vet wouldn't touch them without all the other shots. If I showed up at her place with 7 cats full of ear mites and ticks without knowing the cats names or ages, I think she'd show me the door.

 

[WVBill]

I spoke with County Animal Control. They can do nothing.
"Officially" he said he could only recommend the trap - spay-neuter (at my expense) and release.
"Unofficially" he mentioned that feral cats in this county often carry rabies and other diseases and that it is not illegal here so shoot any rabid animal....

 

[two_bit_score]

I don't know. Every tom that we ever had neutered got fat and lazy and could have cared less who was in the neighborhood.

Well, like I said.....that is their theory. :laughing:

 

[Western]

I don't have any free spay/neuter services in my area. Female cats are about $125 each and males $75 each. That's the cheapest vet in town. My neighbor got two cats and the female had a litter of 5 kittens. I have no intention of spending $1400 on somebody else's cats and the vet wouldn't touch them without all the other shots. If I showed up at her place with 7 cats full of ear mites and ticks without knowing the cats names or ages, I think she'd show me the door.

That sure makes the "SSS" method attractive, I could buy allot of ammo for $125!

 

[Car Doc]

All my cats are fixed and all of them have been adopted by us because they were either abandoned (we live out side town this is common) or were born in our area and ran across me or my wife when they were little.

We feed a few strays right now that wont let us or at least me anyway get close wife has the look or something she picks them right up.

I am close to shooting a couple of the males they are spraying my garage inside and thats one thing I wont put up with is them marking my cats territory as theirs.

They dont bother my other cats or they would die sooner but its still sad they dont have a real home because some pos wanted a kitten because its cute and fuzzy then drives out in the country and throws it out because it used the carpet as a toilet or scratched something.

 

[jinman]

They dont bother my other cats or they would die sooner but its still sad they dont have a real home because some pos wanted a kitten because its cute and fuzzy then drives out in the country and throws it out because it used the carpet as a toilet or scratched something.

Exactly! It's too darn bad you can't "eliminate" the real problem, the irresponsible pet owners. I get tears in my eyes everytime I have to deal with a feral cat, but I'm not sure if it's from sadness or anger.

 

[tcreeley]

We vary on the number of cats from year to year (13 now). All of our cats are strays that wandered into our barn and sheds, crying for food. Some were tame and others wild. We have chickens so I used to crack some eggs for them outside. We kept one female cat alive through the winter that way and two orange males (brothers?). One of the males became very tame and we had him neutered and brought him into the house. -A garfield! The female during the summer brought 3 kittens over to the food. She brought them through the cat door into the house. In the early fall she carried 4 baby kittens into the house during a rainy night. These we handled and when they could walk around she took them back outside under the porch. We caught them and lured her back in. Slowly they all made the trip to the vet - fixed and shots. (live trapped) We still can't touch the female. She comes in for food and cold days. Half of the young ones are tame. I still feed the orange stray outside- he lets me pet him now. All of the cats spend their time outside - using the cat door. We just had a 19 year old stray die- who was really our family cat. Two of them are Maine coon cats- (all recessive) and smart. Our cats are like dogs - wait for us to get home in the driveway, go ut out to the barn when we feed the horses, go for walks with us when we head to the back field.
The road used to limit the numbers of cats, not any more. Fox sometimes. They do keep the mice and rats non existent.

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

Many people feel that taking an unwanted cat to the pound is a death sentance, and could very well be. So instead they will "dump" them in a subdivision thinking that they might have a chance at finding a home. Unlikely.

And it seems more often than not they dump them at the stop sign 500' from my house. Even had a kitten probably 2.5-3 months old show up a few weeks ago. I hate that someone makes their problem somebody else's.

 

[RSKY]

One cat can clear a ten to twenty acre area of nearly all wildlife. Especially a female with kittens to feed. They destroy birds nests, squirrels, rabbits and everything else not big enough to eat them first.

Feral cats should be shot on sight to protect the native wildlife.

RSKY