Cats

[Miltonchix]

We are currently having a rabies problem. Feral cats are the transmitters/carriers. Any and ALL cats are being trapped/taken, quarantined for 10 days and then destroyed. Unless they have a current valid rabies vaccination, then only quarantined for 10 days and returned to their owner.
That many cats is a mess. In your flower beds, lawns etc. I say SSS any who tresspass.

 

[PitterPaws]

I am a total cat lover.....to pet cats....not feral...they destroy neighborhoods and what kind of life is it for them....so I say trap and bring to the humane society and let them do what they have to wether it is to put them to sleep or tame them and adopt out.

If said Crazy cat lady starts harassing you call the police and file a complaint against her for harassment!

Besides it was her idea, so she can't complain to much! Right?

And if you trap and remove 1 or 2 cats a week maybe no one will even notice them disappearing!

Keep us updated!

 

[curliet]

Thank you for the support. My hubby has been teasing me and calling me a troublemaker, but he agrees that it's become a real problem too.

Worst thing is, we have been having problems with skunks in the neighborhood recently too (This is a pretty densely populated suburban area, not country, not even the fringe of it) and a skunk seems to be living under the front porch of this very same next door neighbor. It always seems to end up in our driveway at the crack of dawn when Rick leaves for work. Well, after she finally finished mowing yesterday my dog started going nuts in the backyard. I went out, and there was a woodchuck that had come thru a hole under the privacy fence from her yard. Her mower must have scared it out of the bushes on her side. I'm gettting the picture now, she is setting out food for those cats as well. And for everything else under the sun. I'm sure that raccoons and possums aren't far behind. With the skunks, trapping seems to be a scarey kinda thing, and raccons aren't something I want to tangle with either. I'm afraid that I may have to call someone in animal control soon, but am reluctant to do that on account of the fact that Rick raises quail in our garage. We don't seem to have any ordinances against it that I can tell, but a few complaints from a grumpy neighbor could change that. I'll have to do something though.

(luckily my stealth chickens that normally live in our garage are at our place up north for the summer. )

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Just call Animal Control, ask them their idea for dealing with all this mess. I am pretty sure the neighbor that is feeding them is going to be held responsible for them as she has taken on ownership by feeding/housing them on her property. In our city there is a law on the amount of cats, and cats running at large (not enforced sadly)

 

[welasharon]

Have you tried talking to the lady who is feeding the feral cats and see if she would like some help. It is so easy to get in over your head with trying to take care of animals when you feel bad for them as she seems to. If she has that many I am betting that she doesn't want that many but doesn't know what to do to fix the problem or doesn't have the resources. Feral cats have such a hard life and if you offered to help her get things under control she may be cooperative. They can be fixed and any non-sick ones adopted out and if you approach it that way she should be receptive, and maybe relieved. You can also look up facts about feral cats and show her some info on how inhumane it is for them to be running amuck like that. I am betting that if they were tested quite a few of them would probably test positive for cat leukemia and that should not be spread amongst them. I am sure she feels like she is helping them but she is actually making the situation worse. If you could help her see that then it would be easier to deal with the out of control colony!
sharon

 

[curliet]

Actually we have tried to have conversations with her, and she is very defensive and doesn't want help. She thinks that she IS helping. She is trying to keep those poor kitties from starving to death. You can't say anything about rabies, distemper, feline leukemia or any thing else, she just doesn't hear it.

Between the two of them, we're overrun. Yesterday when the woman started ranting about "maybe someone should euthanise your dog" I tried to point out the difference between a family pet that is owned by a family that keeps it contained in it's own yard, feeds and waters cleans up after it and gets all it shots etc and then those wild feral cats with no real owner and no real care and it's amazing how she just stood there not understanding it at all. It's scarey how some people's minds work. Or don't.

 

[sheila3935]

once a cat goes ferel usually you cannot tame them again. Is she willing to provide shelter food rabie shots and spay/ nueter all of these cats for as long as they live? If not then they should be put down. Is very unfair to any animal for them to get used to getting food from one source then its taken away. many cats die from starvation from this reason also they do spread disease because they are not vaccinated. Once my daughters and I helped a ferel cat. The girls called her porchy caused she lived under the porch. We fed her provided straw and a warm place to sleep. After she had a litter of kittens, we decided to have her spayed. That was a feat in itself had to trap her,long story short she had feline luekemia had to be put down and her kittens too. If I had had cats then mine could have got it from her. She was sick and we didnt even know it. They dont present symptoms til they are ready to die.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
I totally agree with Wendy. Trap them and have them euthanized. No one needs to tell her.

 

[woodmort]

Just to be contrary. The trapping, neutering and vaccinating of feral cats then returning them is not an unheard of practice. Cats are territorial so once they are removed more come in and if the gal is willing to feed them they will come. That being said most of these programs check the cats for leuk and life threatening deformities and put those inflicted cats down. The thing is, it costs money to do this and someone is going to have to pay for it. If the cat loving neighbor is willing, let her.

Also, feral cats can be tamed, it just takes time and patience. I have one and he's one of the best cats we have ever had, with one exception, although he's neutered he still feels the need to mark his territory; i.e. parts of the house. He has to be watched very closely when he's inside is all.

 

[curliet]

Woodmort, I hear what you're saying and wish it could work like that. But remember that there are close to 30 of these cats. There's no way she could be responsible to do all those necessary things for that many. My instinct is to take the advice of those of you who say to quietly trap and take the cats to be euthanised. My husband reminded me of a point I hadn't thought of. We might be able to get one or two cats a week into the traps, and in the meantime the rest will be reproducing with litters of 6-8-10 kittens at a time. We'll never make any headway. So it might be that we have to take the chance and call the authorities and hope that it doesn't come to them then making complaints about our quail. As I said in an earlier post, I don't think that there is any rule about raising coturnix quail, but if someone complains it might happen. Have to think about this one.