feral cat

[knaup109]

Caught a feral cat last night, now I don't know what to do with it. Do I just release it? I am afraid he may come back and kill the chickens. If I were to release him, how do I make sure he is not coming back?
Thanks

 

[Show Me Chick]

I would either shoot him or take him to the animal shelter.

 

[rcentner]

try to contact local humane societies to see if they will neuter & release for you. Otherwise, your only choice is to release it which defeats the purpose of trapping in the 1st place. There are lots of groups in my area that deal with feral cats. Please do not release it into someone elses property and make it someone elses problem that is very selfish and unkind. Just because someone has a barn doesn't mean they need feral cats and they may have chickens as well that would then be in danger.

as far as making sure it doesn't come back and harm your animals.....???? a dog?

 

[poconoadoptionfamily]

I used to volunteer at our local animal shelter and we'd take in feral cats all the time. Call the animal shelter. They'll help. That's what they're there for.

 

[jjthinkagain]

Ditto above post. See if local humane groups will spay/neuter for you and if it costs anything, it's usually far far less than at regular vet offices. This is a golden opportunity for this because the kitty will probably be trap-smart after this and you can impress this fact on the groups in case they are not engaging with you as much as you'd like. If you really run into a dead end with humane groups, Friends of Animals offers low cost spay/neuter certificates that participating vets accept (google Freinds of Animals and you'll find the info) - I have done this numerous times to try to help cut down on the number of breeding (and therefore likely starving) kitties out there in the world.

As for the chickens, I would be concerned about small chicks. Usually they'll leave adults alone but there are exceptions to this reported here on BYC.

JJ

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

I have to agree with above poster If you know its killing chickens either eradicate it or take it to the nearest animal shelter. I had a simular feral cat this morning in my live trap But he had a couple of food sources to pick from wet dog food or culled chicken. He chose the dog food So i released him the chicken was untouched. However He was released on my property as its my responsibility to deal with predators and pests here So I do not drop off any animals anywhere but my own yard. Most are eradicated. Unless they make the right choice life is all about choice on MM Poultry Farms

 

[PhilErvin]

I had a cat in my shed that had kittens. I don't know if the momma is feral or not but the kittens are clearly wild. I rescued the kittens once (they found there way into a cage where they couldn't escape) and have not had any contact with them since. I'm not a cat person but I tolerate them cause I know we have rats around and I figure the cats will catch them. They have never hurt my girls so I leave the cats alone.

 

[rungirl]

I have one hanging around also. I watched him and he doesn't seem to be interested in the chickens, just looking for food scraps. I caught him licking the chicken's plate of when I put out some leftover mac and cheese. Since he's not threating the chickens, he might be keep the mice away.

 

[mdbokc]

If you have a feral cat caught, our animal control would be first concerned about the potential for rabies at some point even if no symptoms are evident. So off to the animal shelter for possible adoption...destroyed if determined to be non-adoptable.

That said, we have a couple of feral cats in our woods as well as nearby. They give the chickens a wide berth when free ranging.

 

[Show Me Chick]

Even if the cat is spay/neuter it still should not be released! Feral cats spread diseases and deplete our natural wildlife. So a shelter should either tame it to be inside a home or put it down.