Puddy Tat

[ivan3]

tristancolli wrote: That was wrong of the vet feral cats can still be saved it just takes time i have re habilitated many they they are now adopted loving indoor cats. and for you who say just to shoot him you are sick he may have been feral but he is still a living thhing, just because he was born in the wild and doing the only thing he knows how to in his life doesn't mean he should die that would be like me going and killing a homeless person for begging

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*Although some ways are not considered ideal to some, it serves the purpose of removing the offending predator. If you have an idea or a helpful comment, please do reply. If it is a sarcastic comment about the disposal or capture of a predator, please keep your thoughts to yourself. We are not here to judge one another on methods or ways and means.​

 

[FarmerChick]

Feral cats can be super invasive.

I wish I remembered the name of "an island" somewhere that was overrun with feral cats.
they decimated the entire wildlife population.....read it a long time ago...wish I could remember more.

cats sure are superb killing machines.

 

[FarmerRob]

You most certainly did the right thing and in the most humane way you could. Feel no guilt. A FERAL cat, like any feral animal can carry fleas, ticks and disease and obviously can do damage to your girls. Those chickens are for your sustenance not a wild cat or any other critter.

A while back I had a feral tom cat decide he liked by backyard the best, although he still roamed the neighborhood for meals. He was very well fed but totally wild. I ignored him at first but then he brought home a girlfriend. In what seemed like the blink of an eye there were five kittens. So now I have 7 wild cats in by backyard. I got a live trap and started trapping. The day before I caught the old wiley tom I saw him try to breed one of the kittens. No telling how many there would have been if I had left them alone. Managed to get all but the mama cat who ran off and has never been seen since. They all got a trip to the Animal Control summer camp. Fortunately my local Animal Control provided the traps and took them in with no fees.

BTW, if you ever have to dispatch one the 30-06 is not a bad idea. Messy but immediate. When I was a kid our cat got hit by the neighbors sickle mower when he was cutting his hay. It made its way back to the house but obviously had to be put down immediately. My dad shot it point blank between the eyes with a .22 and it just ran off and hid under a storage building. It took several shots to finally finish it off--thus making it more painful for the cat and for our family. Overkill would have been better.

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm a huge cat lover. I'm also a realist. There are simply not enough homes to go around for all of the unwanted cats out there. Thank you for taking care of that situation in such a responsible, caring way! And that vet was super nice too...not many would do that (even knowing it was feral) for free.

Edited to add this anecdote because it may help others in this situation $$: Helping neighbor trap/spay/release barn full of ferals. Placed a few of the kittens, but took MANY to the humane society. Took one tiny tot (fit in one hand easily) to the vet to have it put down (actually two, but this was the first). Was very weak and one eye had ruptured, a sad mess. Barn owner didn't know I took the kitten in. The vet assistant asked if I wanted the body back (I thought out of consideration, because I always bury my deceased pets), and I declined, telling them it wasn't a pet or anything. Because I didn't take the body, a huge disposal fee was added (for a tiny little kitten). I walked out of there with a vet bill for $75 for exam/euth./cremation fee. Lesson learned about taking the body...

 

[jjthink]

I too am a huge cat lover. Rescue, spay/neuter/med care and go crazy finding great homes for them. Have tamed many a feral that started out as you describe and ended up huggable mushes in time, once they learned to trust and learned the rules. One that even I thought would be impossible to tame (he ate my windowsills while I was fostering him and ferociously hissed at me to beat the band) in the patient care of a wonderful guy is now a docile loving doll baby.

Yet I know not everyone can or wants to go to those lengths. I am appreciative that at least you did not let him get seriously wounded, run off and slowly die. People who do that are cruel and I hope there is something to karma. You ensured that he did not have prolonged suffering and that is commendable.

JJ

 

[scooter147]

You are doing the right thing.
Cats quickly become feral and are more then capable of feeding themselves and here in lies the problem, house cats are not native predators and take a huge toll on song birds, rabbits, squirrels and other native species.
I realize many people keep cats around to help control the mice and rat population and I tried that too at one point but every time I turned around the two I had always seems to have a cardinal, bluebird, baby rabbit or some other creature I didn't want them to help me keep under control. I resorted to traps to get rid of the mice and rats.

 

[LizFM]

Quote:
You did the exact right things. Many humane societies consider adult black cats almost unadoptable (for some reason, black cats are hardest to find homes for). There was almost no chance for him even if he had been friendly. Since he wasn't, it is much better for him not to wait the X number of days before being put to sleep in the pound. Thank you for ending his life in the most humane way possible for you, and giving him a nice burial. How awesome was that vet??

 

[LizFM]

Quote:
Well consider yourself insanely lucky you could FIND homes for them. I too have rehabilitated many ferals but if there are not homes for them...GOOD homes, then they are dead anyway.

The chances for an adult cat to find a GOOD, permanent home are small enough, even for healthy, loving purebreds! Do you know how many "ideal, ready-to-adopt" cats are killed Every Day???

And you have the nerve to say it was "wrong" to give a feral cat who was so stressed it was trying to attack humans a humane death???

 

[buglit]

A couple of comments. Thank you for taking him to the vet to be humanely put down. Depending on where you live, many shelters still use gas which is a horrible and frightening way to die, esp when you are put in a small box with a dozen other frightened animals

If the cat was getting into your coop, so could a racoon, possum, stray dog, etc. You might want to think about better predator proofing your coop

Yes, feral cats are a real problem. The answer is to spay and neuter your pet cats, if you are willing, keep them indoors, and support a TNR program (trap-neuter-release). With a TNR program, the cats a trapped, fixed, given a rabies shot, ears are tipped for ID and returned to where they came from. Since they cannot reproduce the ferel colony eventually just dies out.

If any of you have a ferel cat colony, get on the web and look for TNR programs in your area.

 

[scooter147]

Had the fortunate or unfortunate (guess it depends on how you look at it) experience of working for the Humane Society for 4 years.
We absolutely dreaded the month of June, we literally had cats coming out of our ears. Unfortunately and I am not sure why the spaying and neutering of cats has not caught on like it has for dogs, don't get me wrong there are still too many dogs but it has gotten better.
It is such just a waste of life. We tried but when you literally have 254 kitten come in on one Saturday you simply cannot find homes fo them all.
Please spay and neuter or be a responsible person and don't get the pet if you cannot afford the surgery.