How many people here feed feral cats?

When I was working from home I could live trap and get the outdoor cats in to the humane society by 8am and pick them up before 4pm, so we did TNR with their program, it was free! I got 15 cats in to them, and all but one were microchipped, spay/neutered, de-flead, de-wormed, vaccinated and ear tipped. The large, very aggressive 24 pound tom cat was FIV+ and it didn't feel right but I told them to euthenize, as I know he was completely feral, would not adapt to indoor living and he would continue to attack any cat within 10' of him. He was literally insane, I'd seen his actions around the other strays and nobody trusted him.

We were feeding over a dozen cats for most of the past 8 years, but it's down to four regulars now. I have a heated dog water dish outside during winter as well. I go through an 18 lb bag of dry food a month. The squirrels and possums do get some of it, and during summer I really discourage the raccoons from eating here by taking the food bowls up at dusk. All the cats adjust to the new schedule very quickly.

We've taken in two male strays, one who was hit by a car and was in bad shape (he's been indoors with us for 10 years now) and one who I had to take to the regular vets since I know for sure he was FIV+ to have a broken canine removed and him neutered. He recovered in the basement that night, and screamed like a banshee to be let out at 5am the next morning. Three days later something white zipped past me when I was bringing in groceries--he'd decided he liked sleeping out of reach under the stairs, he couldn't be attacked there.

By the end of 2 weeks we were letting him in and out 6 times a day.... he was made 'our' cat then and converted to indoors only. We know he had his own plan of infiltrating out home, he did it all on his own initiative.

I worry about the regulars on cold weather days. None use the sleeping box. They have also worn a 'groove' in the lawn from the neighbor's back of the garage to the front corner of our garage. I couldn't believe that when I first saw it in the lawn, they all follow the same track.

Great question. I have been feeding ferals for years. At present, I am not feeding many, because most of the ones I have not been able to humanely trap and bring to the local shelter, if the cats seem somewhat friendly, or to a feral rescue group that places them in approved barn homes, if the cats appear unrehabilitatable, have been eaten by hungry coyotes. I do have several nice houses, filled with hay and waterproof, that the cats can sleep in if the coyotes do not get them en route.

I also have several pet cats which were formerly completely feral, and one that still is.

I wish I could get a donkey or something to keep the coyotes away, but such animals are not allowed where I live. I harbor no animosity toward the coyotes, by the way. Much like Mickey Rourke's character in Barfly, I just feel better when they are not around-even though, unlike his character, I am talking about dogs rather than cops! With the severe winter we are having, though, the dogs are desperate for whatever food they can get. I am praying for an early spring.

All of my rescued ferals-the ones I kept-are indoor-only cats. They all seem to have adjusted to life indoors, even the wild one. Also, for whatever reason, my cats all get along pretty well for the most part, even though a number of them are neutered toms.

There are a lot of stray and feral cats here in Cyprus. Unfortunately, there isn't a national organisation for animal welfare, so it's up to individuals and privately run organisations to do what they can to help.

Twice a day I visit the apartment complex where I used to live so that I can continue to feed the local cats there. There are five regulars who turn up for their meals, and I've managed to spay/neuter all of them except for one female who recently joined the group. She's so nervous that I'm having difficulty trapping her, but I'm determined she won't elude me for much longer.

The climate here is sunny for most of the year, but we do get a lot of rain in the winter months. I made some shelters out of plastic boxes filled with straw, though they don't use them that often, it's nice to think that they have somewhere warm and dry to shelter if needed.

I only wish that I'd been able to find permanent homes for them, but there are simply more cats than there are good homes available. There's also a big problem in Cyprus with people adopting cats and dogs, only to abandon them when they decide to return to their home country. It really saddens me to think how bewildered these pets must feel when they are turfed onto the street and left to fend for themselves, At least the cats who were feral, don't know any other life.

I have a half acre property in the USVI. I have an older cat of 18 years, and a feral cat started to appear. I'd say, this cat was maybe 6 months old at the time. He got really sick after we first started seeing him, and putting food out for him ... I think he may have been poisoned from eating a rat from the property next door. I nursed him back to health, by feeding him a little food with lots of gravy, while he could barely retreat back under a tree. I've slowly moved his food bowl down by our front door, and he's learned to come at feeding time for my older cat (7AM and 5PM). Within the 6 months, I can now sit within a foot or two of his food bowl while he'll eat, but I haven't tried to pet him yet. He prefers it if I put the food out and close the door, otherwise, he takes a bite at a time, and runs. I have no idea where he sleeps (maybe under the house sometimes, but probably also under a rock up by the driveway). He likes to sit in a certain area on the property where he can watch people ... he's not friendly yet, but definitely curious. I got busy one morning and forgot to feed him - it's the only time I heard him speak ... he found me by the back of the house an let out a few meows. I'm working on instilling trust, and being patient with him. I hope I can give him a pet in the next 12 years ;-) Do not try to make an indoor cat out of a feral cat without doing alot of research. Even then, I don't think it's a good idea ...

I personally feed a small part of a large colony where I live. I have my regulars and a few others who wander by from other parts of the colony (I live in a large 500+ homesite trailer park, we have an estimated 300 cats here). So at any given time I have roughly a dozen eating from my porch.

I have a igloo dog house with straw for them, but for the most part they prefer to go under my house and sleep there. I'm good with that as they keep the rodent/bug situation well in control.

I volunteer with Alley Cat Allies, I was made "Zone Captain" with them this past summer and work as liason between caretakers and the cats as well as management of the park.

I do monthly TNR sessions when Metro Ferals does their spay/neuter clinic with 2 other ladies here in the park. We also trap any sick or injured cats for these clinics.

I'm lucky that my vet is feral friendly, so if there happens that one of my ferals is sick or injured, he will gladly treat them for me. I've also recommended him to other caretakers who have taken their ferals to them or I have taken the cat on their behalf.

I enjoy working with the ferals and feel I'm doing something far better for the world. I have 2 cats who are former feral kittens that I rescued. The first was Hazel, who will be 2 in April. Pierce is just now 7 months. Add them to my 2 Maine Coons who I rescued as 5 day old kittens. Hazel was 5 weeks old when i got her, Pierce 3 weeks.

My house is full of rescues (4 cats, 1 dog, 4 parakeets). I was a vet tech until my health declined, so this is my way of giving back.

Hi,

I do not feed ferreal cats, but I have volunteered as a "socializer" for a lovely women, who has fed and trapped ferreals for many years. The trapped ferral cats are taken to a vetereinarian to be spayed /or neutered. After that, those that cannot be "socialized" for adoption purposes are released at feeding stations that have been set up for them. The ones that can be "socialized" we find homes for.

My friend sometimes has up to a dozen or more cats living in a garage she has converted for this pupose. She has them in very comfy cages until they are either released again or homes have been found.

There is a whole network of people who are volunteering in this project. By spaying and neutering the kitties that cannot be 'socialized" and setting up feeding stations for them, the ferral population has naturally been reduced without having to kill them.

It is great fun to play with and pet these beautiful animals. This is the socializing part of the program. Some are kittens born in the wild, that have not yet gone ferral. And others are simply ones that have had home but have been abandoned for some reason. The ones that take to human attention are the ones we can find homes for.

Thanks for asking.

I LOVE FERAL CATS! I do TNR for my community and have spay/neutered 1116 feral cats in under 3 years. I care for 3 colonies and the biggest one is my backyard. 50+ feral cats

I also use dog houses, plastic containers, as well as build them cat shelters and feeders. My ferals are treated as good as my inside cats.

Bless you for helping these homeless cats have a better life!

I often go to the shelters to find them because they are killed and take them home to live in my backyard. That is why I have so many for I started with none in my yard.

ADD: If you have problems with coyotes or stray dogs then you should get a donkey. They will keep them away and the cats safe.

EXCELLENT QUESTION

Yes, I feed ferals. I consider them my cats. One of them has been coming for a few months, and went from running away if she heard the sound of a door opening, to loving attention being pet. His/her (still haven't been able to figure it out) is named Smokey. He/she goes by his/her name, and comes when we call. All together, I feed 4 ferals. One of them just showed up a few days ago, and I'm not even kidding, this cat looks like it was bred or something. it's a beautiful white persian with a brown spot on the nose. Soo cute. 3 out of the 4 come every single day..the other comes every few days. Smokey is the only one that isn't scared of people though. We are trying to lure Smokey into the house so we can get him/her to the vet because I noticed his/her eyes are running, and I think he/she has an upper respiritory infection. We are planning on trapping all 4 when I can get a trap. I volunteer at an animal shelter and I put my name down for the trap that they lend out (someone else was using it) and so I should have it in a few days. I do think I noticed that Smokey's ear was a little chipped. I wasn't sure if this means he was already trapped, neutered, and released, or if he just hurt his ear because it isn't that noticeable so it's hard to tell if it was on purpose or not. Just to be safe, I'll have the vet check of course.

I have two cats that live in the house. They are both spayed. Fifi and Princess. They get territorial around the ferals, but the ferals get along perfectly with each other. They share food even when we put it on separate plates. Princess, who is actually my younger cat, is THE boss and she always watches the ferals to make sure they aren't doing anything bad. You know what else she did a few days ago? A raccoon, yes, a raccoon came up to my back door and started eating cupcakes out of the garbage. It was actually pretty funny, as it seemed like it was saying to itself "JACKPOT!" It was not scared of us at all..which was odd. Well Princess sees the raccoon and the raccoon sees Princess. Now, what happened next was reverse of what you would think. The raccoon just looks at Princess (who looks like a mini raccoon) and looks very confused. Princess tries to jump through the door and attack the raccoon. Now, if she's not a crazy cat, I don't know what is. The racoon even came back the next day by the way and tried to open the door and get more food!! Don't worry, we aren't feeding it. It just found the garbage that one time and must have been very smart and knew where the food was coming from.

Anywho, sorry for going off topic here. I am hoping that after I trap the strays and get them fixed and treated for whatever they may have, I will be able to keep Smokey in our house since that seems possible, and give the other ones to the no-kill shelter I volunteer at. If they are unable to be socialized with people, we have a special "cat habitat" for cats strays and other cats that need rehabilitation or that are unable to socialize with people. Its a house-like building where the cats can live out of cages and just roam in the house. We have play items and such so they never get bored. it's great. And they are always watched by one of the associates or volunteers to be safe.

Oh, and for shelter- my garage is always slightly open so that they can sleep in or just stay in the garage if they wish. We were thinking of getting a heater for them in the garage, but I think we're just gonna trap them ASAP.

I have attempted to tip the plastic containers sideways but they are scared to go in! I wish they would though tonight, it has been snowing pretty hard. I'm worried. :(

It never occured to me to capture them for spay/neuter..that's so good of you. is there any risk? like is a spayed female feral cat in any danger of unneutered males or nonspayed females even? but that risk if any is probably worth it to help control that population:(

I know 2 feral cats prowling around my street but i have seen other random cats, dont know if they are feral or just outdoors. the 2 feral cats are huge so someone is feeding them or they just get the squirrels. i've left out a can of cat food a few times, i don't know if the cats eat it or if another wild animal does.

Guilty! I feed 5 ATM. I have managed to spay the females, still savings to neuter the males. Hubby has built an insulated "cat house" for them to sleep in.