TNR is awesome and I wish more people would help with that in their areas. I did TNT. Trap, Neuter, Tame with a family of 46 feral cats. I found 85% of them new homes after they were tamed, some met untimely ends, and 7 of them I ended up keeping as part of my family. It wasn't easy and I could have bought a new car with all the money I spent on the cats but even if I could rewind time I would do it all again. - Heidi
God bless you and people like you. I pray someday people will wake up and spay and neuter their animals. It would save so much heartache and pain for us and the animals. If everybody took care of their own animals we would never have this problem. And my heart aches for the animals that have no home, are scared hungry and in pain. Never give up. keep doing what you’re doing. I do what I can do and I donate to the TNR programs because they do work. It’s the people that don’t work when they keep dropping off their unspayed and un neutered cats. ❤❤❤❤
You deserve a lot of credit. Thanks. I wish we could get more help from community shelters to help citizens tnr ferels. However, it seems no one wants to help.
Thank you for doing that for the 46 cats! That's a big accomplishment. There's a large group of us around the Hilton Head, South Carolina area that feed the community cats & I do most of the trapping. I've trapped at least 400 cats & kittens and work with the local shelter that takes the kittens trapped, socializes & places them. It does get to be exhausting because it's a never-ending problem and more people need to get involved..❤
Where I live most of the time if the strays are not trapped and fixed their life expectancy is not long, either coyotes, hawks, owls, cars or poison is their demise. In the town next to me there is a program in which trap, spay/neuter and release back to the location where they were trapped. There is no such program in my town. I find it a benefit to my home. Even though they are not adoptable they are great with me, each other and any rescue I bring in. One of my feral, Ivan, helped me out tremendously with an abandoned Lab that was sick. Ivan stayed with him from the minute they met until the moment Tommy died. Tommy seemed more at ease with Ivan near. Everything happens for a reason and for what it's worth, I'm sure there are many more reasons I was intended to keep these babies.
@cyndy can you suggest any tips to do if you intend to try and keep the feral cat as a domestic pet ? At least as an outdoor cat that likes to come inside once inawhile. This cat in question is nearly 2 year old male ... been hanging out in my back yard that long anyways ... saw him when he looked 6 months old I guess. (New Orleans) Last summer he started looking rather scraggly skinny ... so I started putting out kibble for him , then he started looking better ... But it has brought around other cats and racoons. I want to stop that but keep him. Any suggestions after I trap him and get his balls chopped ? By the way ... he never gets closer than about 15ft so far ... but he does know the routine to let me know he wants to be fed.
Mk101T ,if you can find a vet that will neuter this feral guy then trap him, take in and have it done, bring him home and keep him in a small room so he does not have many options to hide and not be found. make sure he has all the necessary stuff, litter box, food and water and just go in and be in his space everyday. offer tuna by hand, he will come around. but if you don't get him neutered your chances of taming him will decrease greatly. can't let him out after this though
Hello, i had given this idea to Cole and Marmalade. The idea was to make a all in one pyjamas like Cole and one looking like Marmalade plus slippers one foot like Cole and one foot like Marmalade. I hope they will make it. It will be the Puurfect Cosy kit for the evening and cold night.
This past summer, with the help of my local Animal Services, we trapped, neutered/spayed, and released 23 ferals and strays in my neighborhood. No more litters for me to worry about and I still get to meet and greet all my feral/stray kitties every day when I feed them!
all of us in our neighborhood tried this with success but other cats got dropped off in our neighborhood and here we go again. It doesnt work... one year later and we have at least 6 new litters of kittens. That and the fact that we have 3 cat ladies in our neighborhood that feed them all and put collars on them and we now have counted over 60 feral cats on one street.
That doesnt mean it doesnt work. Your neighborhood just have people who are making the problem worse. If anything it would have become a bigger issue since the ladies you talke about would still feed the ferals.
I live in Sunbury Pennsylvania. and we have some very dishonest cat trappers (TNRS) here,, they steal everyones pets,, they dont release the cats back to where they trapped them ,and they rehome peoples pets, and even kill them,, ,they even take cats that have tipped ears and collars,,,this cat trapping needs to be made illegal,,,,just leave the cats alone !!!!
Chris, your family of four are the greatest. When ever I feel a little in the dump I tune into Marmalade and Cole. They make me smile, laugh, and tear, (tears of joy) smile. The work you do along with others that have beautiful, loving spirits to help other being that can't help themselves is remarkable. Thanks to people like you give me hope in humanity. Marmalade and Cole are prime examples of how all animals should live on this earth, HAPPY! and Chris I know if you had it like that, that's the way it would be. I love you Chris and all the other great humanitarian that work along with you. Thank you and may GOD continue to bless you all. Nov. 9 2016
I borrowed a cat trap from my local APL to catch a cat I was feeding outside for awhile to try and gain its trust (didn't work). I put the food in, it went in, ate the food and walked out... I took it inside, left it open on accident, I left and when I came home my cat was trapped in it and there wasn't even food in it LOL. I tried for months to catch this cat but gave up and just made him an insulated shelter out of a storage bin. He was a very smart cat.
Yeah in this case you should try a drop trap that you make yourself. These traps are far less obvious than a cage trap. However you need to know how to transfer a drop trapped cat into a cage afterwards.
cat 1: DUDE! I haven't seen you in two days!!! cat 2: dude, this human put me in a cage, brought me to a building, and guess what??? cat1: WHAT?!?!!?!? cat 2: THEY CUT MY BALLS OFF!!! cat 1: MEE-WOW!!! did it hurt??? cat 2: eh, they put this stuff on me that make me not feel it. it still feels blubberey. cat 1: cat 2: cat1: cat 2: so wanna steal some Starbucks cat 1: YOU BETCHA!
Great video on TNR. I help feed a colony of feral cats near where I live in London, UK. I'm constantly checking on them, looking out for new cats that don't have their ears tipped. A rescue centre called Celia Hammond Animal Trust comes out to TNR all over London and the South East. I spotted my recent rescue cat Ally just sitting on a brick wall and they spayed her for me. I have lots of respect for the all the humans out there who work tirelessly for these cats. I've seen firsthand what a difference you guys are making. Well done and thanks to Cole and Marmalade and their humans for highlighting this issue. xxx
I like your recent rescue cats name, Ally. It reminded me that we almost named our daughter Allie Catherine, Allie Cat for short. (Allie was grandmas name).
I put a little food at the back, in a way that they can't stick their paws through and drag it out. But I also put a few pieces of treats just outside the opening, and a few pieces leading them ever inwards towards the back. And I add catnip: a little hint just outside the opening, a tiny bit just inside the opening with a trail towards the back where the food is, and a small pile at the back, the jackpot pile.
Thank you for this video. It gives me confidence that I can get involved with TNR in my community. I took in a stray a five and a half years ago that was ear tipped (not knowing what that meant until the vet told us!). He is our friendliest, most loving cat. We also rescued a semi-feral and her 5 kittens, but we socialized them and didn't have to go the live trap route.
Please note that you have to return the cat to the place that you trapped them. Bad things happen when they get released into unfamiliar territory. and, Wow. I did not know that TNR has been a thing for so long. Your comment is 6 yrs back, and you adopted an ear-tipped stray five years prior to that! We also adopted a friendly, beat up, ear-tipped cat. It seems that sometimes previous house cats get dumped, or just plain lost, and miss their home environment. I cant imagine how many more cats would be out on the streets without this program.
Oh I've seen this fella before. Long while ago some video about training a cat not to meow all night. Well you and Cole and Marmalade did a fabulous job. Posting this on my Facebook to spread the word. We must help spay and neuter!
It was interesting to note that some of the cats had their right ear clipped. I live in Bakersfield, CA and here they clip the ears as well. I always hoped animal control knows that. I'd hate to loose my 2 feral cats because one is grandmother and the other an uncle to one of the 3 inside domesticated cats we have.
"Scary that he had flies, not fleas but flies." Best translation I could come up with. He was criticizing the spelling of the above poster despite having miserable grammar.
I had a 9 week old kitten abandoned at my apartment. We put food out to make sure she had food and build up trust to bring her inside, but before we could get her inside, she was pregnant so we had to wait. Then when the last kitten was about 7 weeks we noticed she was pregnant again and knew we had to get her inside before she had the new kittens. My roommate had started getting her to eat treats from his hands. I got her to come into the apartment for the treat and my roommate shut the door. A week later she had 5 kittens and I was working on bringing her oldest kitten who was still outside inside. I had already set up a puppy apartment on my patio so my dog and roommates cat could sit outside. I shut the entrance from the inside so our pets couldn't go in it. Then went outside and opened the outside door so Oreo could go in. I also put a heat blanket in there for him with food and water and sat next to the entrance. He loved being pet. It was weird but I loved it. Then after about a week while he was a sleep I went outside and closed the entrance and went inside and opened the entrance to my room. Oreo came in but stayed under my bed for a couple days. He then started coming on the bed and laying on me but wouldn't let me pet him. Slowly I was able to pet him and he started playing with his 5 younger siblings. I was able to get them all new homes but I did keep Oreo and his younger brother Mittens who he had the strongest connection with. A nonprofit organization spayed and Neutered my roommates cat and Mittens but I have not been able to catch Oreo who I believe was traumatized the first time my roommate tried to catch him. He has become stand offish only letting me pet him. Then a couple weeks ago I got my nails done and now he won't let me even pet him. My problem is that the organization only takes the cats in on Fridays and Saturdays, so setting up the trap on those two days makes it hard. Plus he's really smart and won't go in the trap. The other pets have but not him. He did once when I was out of town and this trap didn't have a second door so no way to put food or anything in there so my roommate had to let him out. How can I catch him?
I used to ditch school a lot in high school. I didn't do drugs, I just didn't want to be there. I ended up in a lot of residential areas with outdoor cats who were clearly well groomed and well fed, and....cats who'd been straight-up abandoned. Mangey fur, scuffle marks here and there. Fleas galore. Ticks, possibly. But they were so friendly and so sweet. I ended up using my black sweatshirt to cover them (So they wouldn't be worried about seeing themselves leave their familiar area) as I took them home to take them to an animal shelter. I fed them, I put them in the kitty carrier, gave them water, kept them away from my ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS home cat (Which yes, cats are territorial, this is expected). The way I figured, even if they were euthanized for being so skinny and mangey, that's a better death than starving, or being mauled by a dog, or being hit by a car. I still hope those cats found loving owners. They were good cats. I wish I could be the same way with stray dogs that I see, but I feel like the potential to be mauled outweighs the possible benefit of helping them out in some way. Cats don't maul unless cornered, at least, when treated properly.
Wow, you took a feral to an animal shelter?!?!? That's certain death right there. What an angel of death. Better to take them to a feral rescue organization for treatment. They're far more capable of dealing with ferals than the death chamber animal shelters.
I trapped one stray/feral, he is quite healthy, we have a shelter for him and feed him 3 times a day, we have named him Stanley ! I absolutely love him x
If it's a neighbor's cat, or an indoor/outdoor cat who decided to live in your territory, you can easily trap a neutered cat and not know the status because they will not have a tipped ear. I live in a rural area where there are a lot of cats who are fixed but have a range larger than their farm (I include a few of my own in this group). You can have the vet check for a microchip as well, in case the cat is missing.
Sadly I don't think there is anywhere that does TNR in Australia. I trapped a lovely little girl that was living off the good will of commuters at a train station and got her fixed (not for free, dollars out of my own pocket) after she'd had a couple broods of kittens that I'd also managed to rescue and rehome. Sadly there were other cats that were dumped soon after in the same area and the council came through and caught/killed them all.
Renlish TNR is not supported by most local councils unfortunately. The best way to do TNR, is to ally with one of the cat rescues, they will be able to help you find discounted services. Also the RSPCA. However, when you do such you'll need to chip them, because feral cats will get sent to the pound and get killed if they don't have an owner. Unfortunately in my area (Melbourne) a vet must send the cat to the pound it is lost or feral. So those of us who rescue, "own" the cats.
Renlish I'm happy that there are lovely people like you in this world. I just googled TNR Australia and on the Animal Liberation website there's a newsletter about a bill that may have been introduced for the first time on TNR in Australia. Like Jackson said, post on social media about it, talk to friends and colleagues and spread the word. :-)
Renlish unfortunately in both NZ and Australia we have to balance the welfare of feral cats against our native animals, so TNR is not viable except in highly urban settings (I live in a small city and there are too many native birds in gardens to allow TNR). I love cats and donor to a charity to subsidise low cost or free neutering to people with low incomes. This way we are stopping more kittens who might get dumped. I also foster for the SPCA with my Mum so kittens of feral mamas are able to be rehomed.
actually tnr is more effective at reducing pressure on wildlife cause it keeps the established colony meaning no new cats can come in the area and it keeps the established colony from becoming bigger.also the spayed and neuter cats can also waste the time of a fertile cat reducing the chances of them finding a mate that will actually produce offspring. shooting isn't really that effective cause you are only killing off a few cats allowing more to move into the area and more to breed.you can't kill every cat or spay or neuter every cat so you need to choose the solution that has the greatest effect.
I really hope that these cages are only used by good people in order to help cats. I hate to think that some people might misuse tutorials like that to catch cats and to abuse them for their sick fun. I look forward to the day when no animal is being hurt anymore.
This is a great informative video --- thank you for making it! Right now, I'm doing TNR where I live but I need to get a drop trap because I have a pregnant mama who will NOT go in the trap and eats at other people's homes. Never used one before. Big sigh. I won't give up, though. TNR WORKS!!! No doubt about it!
THANK YOU! We have a colony that I want to help with, but all the rescues I've contacted are too full. I will do it more on my own (best I can) now that I know.
About a month ago, I started feeding a timid, young, scrawny feral kitty that had survived by eating whatever edible garbage he found in dumpsters. I now deliver food on a daily basis to four timid, young, not-so-scrawny feral kitties, but only one has showed any signs of wanting to engage in physical contact with me - and it isn't the kitty with whom I begun this relationship. Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how to trap these little ones, in order to get them spayed or neutered and returned to the place they call home. Thanks to Cole, Marmalade and the humans who followed Cole and Marmalade's instructions, I now think I have a plan for my four little fur-babies.
I've kept 5 of the 11 I took 2 yrs ago lol...1 just passed from FIP and the other 3 are still with me plus 1 who my coworker has me caring for until she gets an apt but he may just be and indoor outside guy since he's always trying to get out and bullies the others including my pit bull who is terrified of him smh...the rest were released except for 2 who got adopted via the spca❤🐾
I did it a little differently. I got a feral cat to trust me over about a month, feeding her and encouraging her to sleep inside. Then I adopted her. No trap necessary, and now we're best buds.
I have a friend that live down the road that does a similar thing to this what she does is gives the feral cats food and water in a place that is protected from rain and eventually the cats will be used to her then she gets them spayed/neutered
That's great; just keep in mind some never warm up to people. We all can do whatever we can; I take in an occasional abandoned cat or a kitten from an unmanaged barn. I'm at my limit of six cats now, but it felt good to give them a home when I was able to.
One of my rescues was a TNR cat [and a pure bred Siamese someone had dumped]. Anyway, he got a really happy ending because he not only survived but walked into his furever home [literally walked in - we were working on moving and he just walked right in and raided the trash, luckily he doesn't do that anymore].
I have a feral female cat I've made friends with. I couldn't save her first litter, but she got pregnant again and only one baby seemed to have lived, which I rescued and just found a home for. I picked up a have a heart trap but needed an extra bit of info on trying to trap her in it. She's VERY street wise but I'm hoping to have her spayed and keep her inside. Thank you for this video and WISH ME LUCK!😃
Every cat-lover in the world should see this video (of course, perhaps adapted a bit). So many feral cats in the world, especially in cities like Istanbul...
That looks a lot easier than what I did. I coaxed ferrel cats into my apartment and got them used to it for a while. Then, I chased them around, caught them, and put them in a regular cat carrier. I got clawed and bit a bunch, but that's life. You have to leave a $50 deposit to get the official cat traps and I didn't have that much. I ended up falling in love with them during the recovery period and now all the cats I rescued live with me, although a couple of them spend most of their time outside. Another thing I'd like to note is that you can refill the food and water dishes without opening the cage using a funnel. I didn't have wet food, so I put the dry food through the funnel and into the cage. The cats I caught were too fast to do it any other way and I had them in a dog kennel to recover so you couldn't open the door only a little bit like with those cat traps. I put the water in a bottle with a long neck so I could stick it between the bars and pour water. Then, I actually made a funnel out of paper to get the dry food into the cage with the cats. I spent a lot of time with them while they were in that cage and they got used to me that way too. I would have adopted them out, but I ended up loving them so much that I kept them.
You can still spay her if she's lactating. It doesn't change milk production. In TNR situations they can't risk not doing a spay. They may not catch the cat again. As cats go into heat again VERY quickly that would mean risking more kittens being born.
I took a community cat in after he was neutered on 9/36/23. He is in my master bathroom. He had diarrhea but is now using a litter box. He is much stronger. Will allow petting but is hypervigilant. I have the trap in with him but he won't go in nor allow me to put food in it. Using Feliway spray, calming treats and a calming collar. Need to return him to his community.
How often do you guys do this? You guys sound like absolute experts at this I dunno if that's because you do this so often or because you are making the video so you were prepared for the best methods.
Been feeding ferals for 1.5 yrs and only had one kitten born but other kittens have been visiting. I finally got the courage to start T.N.R ing! Today, I trapped 2. The baby of the Colony (2mins) YES!!!! And an older, very heavy Male (15 mins) He hissed and kinda scared me. Lol. Tomorrow they go for their surgeries. I have about 8 more to go! Yay, me!
This is going to help immensely! I feed two female ferals and I've really wanted to trap and spay them for a while now. I don't believe I would have had trouble trapping them as they come up to me for food, but I didn't know how to help them recover or how long to keep them after spaying. Thanks!
I actually adopted my first cat through a TNR program...basically the older cats were fixed and released, while the kittens were fixed and adopted, and the adoption fees kept the program running. In the area she came from, there are a lot of summer-only residents, and there are quite a few people who will adopt a cat for the summer, and before they leave to go home will release the cat into the woods to fend for itself. The majority of these cats haven't been spayed or neutered, which just adds to the local feral cat population. TNR really has been the best possible option for that small community, and 6 years later I'm still thrilled that my baby girl Molly came to me through that program (plus I'd like to think that she's still happy to have found a safe place where she has humans to boss around!)
Hey there Chris and Jackson, my neighbors just called to ask for help with a stray cat that just showed up in their backyard. I borrowed the Have-a-heart trap from another neighbor and went over to check out the situation. Turns out she is very obviously pregnant. She's not feral because she let me touch her went i offered her some food. Set up the trap per your instructions and within 5 minutes we had her in the trap. She is now on her way to the Animal Rescue League to get checked out and some more food and indoor shut eye. Hopefully her kittens will all be healthy and all will get adopted. Thanks for your advice about using this type of trap.
Anyway that you help is appreciated. I have never had any problem trapping cats, because I know that their lives will greatly improve once they are fixed.
Morgane LC we have a better way of trapping feral cats, but I seriously doubt you would appreciate it! Feral cats kill too many songbirds and small mammals around here ,plus spread disease. There is no catch and release around here, if it's outside of town in the country , it's a gone kitty.
Very cruel! It is great to know that more people are getting on board with the notion that compassion is cool. People who dislike cats love to use the cover of caring about wildlife. If cats are fed and fixed they don't waste their energy hunting.
Ann Marie are you serious? Cats hunt no matter how well they are fed! It's what a cat does. As for neutering them , that's not what they are killing wildlife with! They use claws / teeth ,not sex organs! I do care about wildlife , I'd much rather watch birds in my back yard instead of a feral or someones cat crap in my back yard!! I have kids who play back there!
We've had 4 feral cats taken care of in the last 3 years and it's been such a huge help for us as they were reproducing like crazy. We feed them daily and have built shelters for them as Colorado winters can be brutal at times. They always snip the left ear so that people know they are feral community cats. We pay $30 per cat for an exam, spay/neuter and shots. If we lived in the city it would be free but as we are in the county, we pay. It's ok though.
Luke Luke Yes :) Depending on where you are. In London and the South East, Celia Hammond Animal Trust do TNR. Cats Protection also do TNR and I'm sure that there are quite a few others who do it.
Luke Luke Pets tend to be in better condition than feral cats - healthy coat, well fed etc. Feral cats, especially males will fight a lot, and may have scratches or cuts on them. A lot of vets will do a microchip check for free.
Very easy to tell the difference. A feral cat will not settle or become comfortable in it's cage. Most strays are not as worried about being confined. Plus a stray makes no real attempt at attacking like a feral will. It's mainly the difference between any wild animal and one that has been handled with kindness at some point since birth.
I was waiting for the part where Cole & Marm trick, cajole, and outsmart you and you end up with the trap stuck on your head, your pants at your ankles, and them stealing your pizza!
I once found a feral kitten, it was so tiny and could not even walk properly, I took him in, feed him and cared for him. He later got adopted by a nice couple. I kinda wanted to keep him but I could not =(
Anita Cordeiro I've trapped 110 cats. I trapped one not knowing she was lactating. The vet spayed her anyway, I released her after one day. She went back to her kittens and a months later she brought them out to be seen. I trapped them all and everyone got homes. Even mom. Also I had a cat who had trouble birthing. At the vet, surgery saved one kitten, mom was spayed during that surgery. She nursed the surviving kitten just fine. It's not great but it can be done.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I just got a trap for Christmas so I can TNR the neighborhood ferals and I have been a bit nervous on where to begin and how long they need to be kept in the trap. This is the best video I have seen and I will be sharing it. Again, thank you so much!
What about cats living in dangerous areas? Should we not re-home them as well? To a farm? A safer area? We have a colony on a small land island in the middle of a busy street area. Sadly they are killed constantly, despite drivers watching for them?
I never do that food trail near the door. Some skittish cats make try to back out and get their head caught in the door. I do my food trail with door clearance in mind or use the juice from the food as an enticement that area.
Once you've trapped the cat, and before you transport it to the clinic, it might be a good idea to check if it has already been spayed or neutered. Not an easy thing to do with an frightened animal, I know, but it could save you unnecessary work. Not to mention save the cat from repeating part of a stressful experience.
They didnt mention the ear nick. if you encounter a feral cat with a nick off their left ear (done during surgery) this animal has already gone through this process.
I live in Allen Co., Ohio. The local ferals trust me, so catching them is no problem. The problem is getting them spayed/neutered, since the local vets charge way more than I could ever pay. Can anyone point me to vets in traveling distance that will do this pro bono? Or charities that will cover it?
Try these sites. m.humanesociety.org/assets/maps/feral-cats.html www.ohioalleycat.org/ Reach out to local TNR groups and see what suggestions they have. They have the most inside knowledge on where to go and may even be able to help.
When I was little, we found a stray cat- an orange tabby- and we named him Tiger. We fed him for a while and then took him to our non-profit, no-kill animal shelter- and found that he had been adopted within the next few days! I'm so glad he got a nice home, and hopefully he got neutered as well. :)
The feral cats that I feed live under my shed in my backyard it's a mom and 2 kittens, theirs also a very sweet calico that stops by now and again to eat out front, I'm nervous because I haven't seen them all day I know cats like to wander and they'll come back when they're hungry but I worry especially about the kittens 😕 I hope they're safe and will be back soon
Trap and return is great. But why aren't some of these cats collected and found homes for? Is it because the shelters are that full? My Sadie was a spay and return at some point in her life and then was picked up by my local rescue and she's a member of the family now! We've had her a year and a bit now, she's 6 years old. She's no interest in going outside, loves watching the critters in the backyard. I don't understand why you can't find homes for these feral cats and let them live longer.
there's just too many of them...and taking them to a shelter means there's a high chance of them being put down to make room for a newer animal....so that's why some people (like me) never take them to shelters. especially if they are sick- they will be put down. shelters just dont have the room or time to take care of sick animals. there are some no-kill shelters out there, but usually the waiting list for those is months. THAT'S why people release the cats back. also, an older feral cat that was not handled by humans as a kitten will NEVER warm to humans. those MUST be released because if someone adopts them, they will be hostile to the adopter, possibly making them want to give the cat back or not want to adopt a cat ever again because of the bad experience.
What about Cat Rescues, that's aren't actually shelters, that rely on foster parents? (Maybe being from Canada there's a difference and we have a 'shortage' on feral/stray cats). I don't really know my cats history, but like i said. She's 6, we had her a year. She was found in an abandoned slaughter house in Toronto, and before she was taken in by my local cat rescue (Sadie was a foster fail because she'd need an experienced cat owner as well as grown family) she was a spay and release. No idea how long she'd been on the streets... maybe her whole life, and she's not aggressive. No want to go back outside. She's just very independent, a great mouser. She's gotten to the point of tolerating being picked up, hates being in your lap sitting up, but she'll sleep against your crotch while you're trying to sleep. She was very skittish when she first came in, and she still is on some level, which was why she needed a 'grown' family. Kids would've had her hiding.
Dia's Den yes, what you've described is the exact problem with cat adoption. people who arent experienced with cats expect dog-behavior and when they dont get it, they are disappointed and either bring the animal back or abandon it completely...there is a place that runs a foster program near where i live where the foster parent has to get the cat spayed/neutered and completely healthy...and then it can be displayed on the weekends at this facility to be adopted...if it isn't adopted, the foster parent has to pick it up sunday night and keep it during the week. i cannot in good conscious ever give a stray over to a shelter, just because i know it can be put down if it gets sick or if it is there too long without getting adopted. some get put down after 7 days of not getting adopted. this is just the reality of the thing. maybe in canada there is a shortage of strays due to the harsher weather conditions? i dont know. i just know that the shelters where i am (texas) are always full of animals.
I think the shelters in my region are full too. I had tried to help rehome my friends cat when she had a baby, but a friend of her family ended up taking him and every shelter i called said they were full and there was a waiting list. Honestly though, almost every petstore i've gone too, has been taking shelter cats in to adopt... I think this needs to happen more often.
@EverWolf111 A stray cat implies that it has a family somewhere. There's videos all over youtube of feral cats becoming beloved family pets. Same with dogs. Hope for Paws anyone? I am telling you my 6 year old cat, was a feral. I've had her almost two years now. We can accidentally leave the front door open and she'll actually let us know its open. Even into the back yard, we had it open and she still stuck her nose out the window as if it was closed. My question is still not answered. Why can't some of these cat's be collected? There's a reason why there are cat Fosters out there.
My cat ran away 2 and a half years ago, she is fixed acsaw her a couple of days ago and she came to me. Following day in same are a couple of blocks over from me a guy said his wife has been feedind my cat. HOW DO I GET MY CAT BACK, IM VERY DEPRESSED.
i did fund raisers with go fund me and bake sales and creating hand made cat toys for sale... every little bit helps even at 55 an animal that is a great price!
Reading the comments has made me realise that Sampson, a neighbourhood cat I'm friends with (I don't know which neighbour is his regular cat servant; I live in the UK we have very few ferals and he's definitely not feral he's used to humans), has had his ear notched deliberately. That's so cruel and I'm really upset now. Up till now I thought it happened in a fight (since I've seen him fighting other toms). Vets say it's painless but how the hell do they know?! It's not their ears being tipped or notched. My poor kitty friend! :'(
I am trying to trap my own indoor cat that escaped a week ago. He's hiding in my neighbor's backyard (junkyard). I made a hole in the fence so he can come into my yard. He's never been outdoors his entire life and he is still scared to death and is not eating the food I left out for him. I saw him twice for a few seconds in my backyard before he disappears. He is a very skittish cat that would run away from everyone, including me. I feel that if he isn't trapped soon, he is going to die of cold and starvation. :(
We are trying to catch a beautiful tabby who is a feral cat. We caught him previously and took him into a shelter to be neutered. They assured us that they would get him adopted. Less than a week later they drop him back on our street without notifying us. Now we are back to feeding him. Last week we found him a home, but now we are having trouble catching him. Which we totally understand. How do we regain his trust? And get him into a beautiful home?
I wish you could help me in Charlotte NC with a very smart feral lady. 4 traps later and she's still laughing at me and it's very disheartening because she needs eye care and spaying.
