Glad to hear the finger is doing well! Have you heard of TNR for cats? When we bought our current home, it came with ten barn cats. That was almost a plague so I started to do some research and have learned a lot since then about responsibly controlling cat populations. The old timers, while charming with their burlap sacks, bricks or .22s have it all wrong.
I know I've gotten on this soap box before in this thread but it never hurts to repeat it. I'm not trying to be condescending. It's all about education. I've been seeing so much stray cat talk on the internet lately (not just here) so it's time for refresher. Best way to make sure they don't keep turning up is to get them fixed before turning them loose on the world.
Cats and kittens should NEVER be given away for free. They should be sold with full round of shots but at the very least spayed/neutered. It's the only way you can possibly know for sure that YOU won't be part of the problem. You don't know what the person who takes them in is going to do with them and you could end up with their offspring back in your yard next year or the kittens being used for snake snacks if that bothers you. The statistics are sobering.
FACT: Two cats can equal 11,000 cats in 5 years. There are a couple really good organizations in MI that do the spay/neuter on strays. They guide you through the process and even let you borrow equipment to do it. I use Carol's Ferals in W. MI. If you can't pay the vet fees, they can help or do it for free but they're non-profit so they need all the donations they can get. Consider paying the vet bill in full. I think it's around $45 per female cat (males are cheaper). TNR (trap/neuter/return) is the best way to control the stray population -not shooting them, as some folks in this thread might have you believe. Removing cats from your property only makes way for more to move in which just perpetuates the problem.
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