No Help Available For Ferals?

Hi, This is more of a vent than anything else, and this group seems like the right place for it. Who knows, maybe you guys can offer suggestions. I've just spent my entire morning trying to get trapping and spay/neuter information for the 4 feral cats (all one litter) that came along with the house we just bought. I don't mind feeding the cats and having them around, but the females just had their first heat, and are most likely already pregnant. The mother of this group, after disappearing for a long time, has also reappeared and is obviously nursing a new litter. (Whole other problem, but one thing at a time.)

Called the Humane Society, they said to call Wildlife Care, Wildlife Care said to call the Humane Society, who then said it just wasn't their problem because the cats weren't pets and to call Animal control. Animal Control said it wasn't their problem unless I wanted to trap the cats myself, which I can't do. They then offered to rent me a trap for a $100 deposit + rent, which I don't have. (Even if I did trap them, they just wanted to haul them off to be euthanized, which isn't an option.) I flat out asked the guy at Animal Control if no one cared if these 4 cats just bred themselves into the hundreds, and he said no. (NOT kidding.)

So the long and short of it is, no one will even discuss the matter unless I pay a fee and deliver the cats to them. These things are totally wild. Even if I could afford the $250 or so the entire undertaking would cost, and manage to trap them, what do I do with them until the vet appointment? No one I've asked seems to have answers. I've already adopted the runt from this group. He's pretty wild, but likes living in the house and gets along well with my other 3 cats. I wish I could take them all in, but they're just too wild, and I don't have any more room. The 4 I have now are a bit much at times.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I guess I need to get back on the phone and try a few more places. It's just unreal that all these organizations that talk about how much they want to help unwanted animals lose interest when you actually ask them for assistance. But there's got to be some place that helps with these things. Suggestions welcome. Wish me luck.

Sorry if my email wasn't clear. I'm kind of upset at the telephone runaround I keep getting. The cats are truly wild and hiss when approached, even when we feed them, so I doubt they're adoptable. But I don't mind feeding them or having them around, I just can't have them multiplying all over everything, so I need help with the trapping and fixing. Unfortunataly, I'm not in Texas, but south Florida, or I'd happily take you up on your offer. My S/O suggested that maybe we can try to at least get the females by luring them into our cat carrier, tie a string to the door and hide or something. I think it might work once... But what do you do with them until the vet appointment, don't they go nuts when confined? The last cat I had fixed through a low cost service was a 3 day wait, but he was a tame pet, so no problem.

Anyway, thanks for the response. I think the next call I make and hear, 'Well, first you have to buy a trap' or 'We only help pets' I'm going to scream...

Robyn, try this URL:
www.thecatnetwork.org

They are based out of Miami, if that helps. They might at least be able to put you in touch with someone who can help. Don't give up networking! But be prepared to do most of the work yourself, even if you find help with the expenses.

Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats

Thanks Sharon, I'll take a look, but Miami is a different county and quite a distance. (I don't have easy transportation.) Still, you never know.

I'd still like to know what to do with the cat if I'm lucky enough to catch one in my carrier? Will it be calm until an appointment can be arranged, or go ballistic? Also, how fast do these cats tame down? They're always wanting to get in the house. They know their brother's in there, and they're friends with my big male, Squidly. If I just let them in on the porch, would they adjust enough within a couple of weeks to be handled so I could transport them? I could probably afford to fix a cat every week or two until they're done... Maybe that's a bad idea, I don't know. Hopefully today's phone calls will yield some help.

My S/O is now telling me we should just say the hell with it and take all four of them in. ACK! Even with only 4, I can't sit down without shooing a cat. I had to chase one out of the bathtub to take a shower this morning. (The water tastes better than what's in the dish, apparently.) Last week I woke up with a weight on my chest and a tail in my mouth. I can't imagine having 8, especially with 5 of them being wild things. I think my S/O needs his meds adjusted.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for the advise, I'm going to see if I can't get something done today, or at least form a plan.

Take care,

well i actually trapped two cats in a carrier with string....i tied the string to the top corner of the door(not on the side where its attached but on the side where the lever is to open the cage...I used a cage about two feet long(its a large size pet taxi) and i baited it with tuna...firsst cat it took me a few trys but i got him....i braced the cage against the wall of house and just pulled the string when i saw him almost all the way in...my second cat was easier to get as i knew what to do but it took her hour to finaly go into it. tip is to use dry food for regular feeding and then baiut it with somethign that is realy a treat for them(tuna or some sort of actual meat)

|> I would never leave a trap unmonitored overnight. Well, it's not really umonitored, because I set it right below my bedroom window (feral highway) and can hear it when it trips.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood. If the trap is on your own premises, that's different.

If I hear it trip, I'll get up and go throw a blanket over it. That usually settles down the thrashers and keeps the cat and trap protected until morning.

Do you still leave the trap outside overnight? (We don't do that.)

Thrashers are, unfortunately, just as likely to hurt themselves in carriers as in the trap, at least the one I use (hav-a-hart knock-off).

In our experience, thrashers settle down when they're removed to an indoors holding area. There seem to be two main factors in their panic: first, that they're out in the open, and that they're on familiar ground (but in a strange predicament). Moving them to an unfamiliar location, and keeping the trap covered of course, seems to kick in their natural instinct to be as quiet as possible.

I did try transferring cats when I first started doing TNR and it seemed to just stress the cats more.

That may have been a matter of technique - how did you transfer them? We exploit their preference to stay hidden - putting the trap and cage end to end, covered, and then uncovering the area where we don't want the cat. It may take a few minutes, but eventually they move. We generally don't use carriers except perhaps for release (in which case they were recovering in a crate, so we use the same principle: put the carrier in the crate and then uncover the crate.)

I'm not really sure what you're saying here

Yeah, when I started trapping, I ran into the same question and decided against leaving the trap for more than an hour at a time

With you all the way.

Having said 'never', I realized that there was another proviso: never out in the open.

I *have* left a trap set overnight, but only indoors - the basement of a church. I also covered the trap to make a 'tunnel' - the cat is more likely to go in if it can see through to the other side, and at least it isn't completely exposed.

I caught both my foster kitten Katrina and her cousin Jezebel that way. Katrina, not three months old, held out for five days without food. Her aunt (1.5 years old at that point) did even better: she held out for an incredible seven days - while pregnant (with 5), to boot. The stamina seems to run in the family.

Good morning:

Animal Control is the biggest joke going!

I have not come across a decent group in the last 3 towns I have lived in.

Here's a tip. If the cats are too well fed to be interested in your trap, try baiting with fresh catnip. Another benefit of catnip is that possoms and raccoons don't care for the stuff. For some reason, catnip is most successful with toms. We once caught two fighting toms the same night, both still bleeding from their wounds. (In separate traps, thank gawd.)

Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats

OK, I just wanted to follow up and let you guys know what was happening, since everyone was so helpful. I was able to borrow a couple of traps from a *very* helpful person, and found a low cost vet that didn't require appointments for ferals. So I put the traps out Saturday morning, and as soon as I stepped away from the traps, there were cats in them. (yay!) So away they went, and they're playing in the yard today, a little more wary than before, but none the worse for the experience, the poor things.

Of the remaining two females, I haven't seen one in several days now, I'm afraid something may have happened to her. The other one will not go anywhere near the trap. She comes twice a day and cries to be fed, but will not go to the trap. We've tried wet food, dry food, catnip, you name it, she ignores it and just cries at the door for food as if the trap wasn't there. Any ideas would be helpful.

I had only been seeing the nursing mother a couple times a week. She looked fed, so I thought someone was looking after her, but now all of a sudden she's here asking for food as well. At what point after she brings the kittens out can she be trapped and spayed to stop this damned cycle? (I have no idea what to do about the kittens. Hopefully she'll just have a couple...)

Anyway, I just wanted to post a followup, since several people had asked. I'll post if anything else happens. I'd appreciate any suggestions on getting that female into the trap, as well as when I can trap the mother cat.

Thanks!