what do you do with a neighbors cat.

[greenapple]

I understand both sides. I worked with a rescue and personally delt with large amounts of kittens, quite a few I had to take to be euthanized due to illness. I have witness destruction of threatened species because of feral/free roaming neighbors cats. But why do I get penalized because of the people who feel that their cat can survive on its own, or that their cat has the right to be outside and roam where it may.
The laws tend to favor the irresponsible cat owner. While we do have a wonderful reduced cost/free spay neuter program through the county, there are only so many spaces available. You can check it out at http://www.orangecountyfl.net/cms/DEPT/CEsrvcs/animal/surgerydisclaim.htm All counties should have a similar program. If the one you live in doesn't, ask why not and get involved until they do.
I have helped out with rescues that think all can be saved, and I have volunteered at animal control and seen to many friendly, would have made good pets, dogs and cats have to be euthanized just because of the amount of stray animals far outnumbers willing, responsible pet owners. If the feral can be tamed and adopted, thats great, but not all can.
TNR in theory is a nice idea, but with the amount of feral cats out there, all the diseases that can affect the cats, it doesn't change the animals destructive behavior, it just makes the few that get caught unable to breed.
Like Miltonchix said before

If we were talking FERAL DOG'S, would ya'll feel the same? Feral dog's travel in packs, breed like cats, and kill livestock. Would ya'll catch 'em, neuter 'em, and release 'em?
HECK NO you wouldn't!!
So whats the difference????

Why do feral cats deserve a higher status than dogs, iguanas, pythons, boa constrictors, monk parrots, boars and even "nuisance" native wildlife???​

 

[Pidgey104]

WHAT ABOUT NEIGHBORS DOGS????? I had one come in and kill our hen turkey

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
SSS!
In Florida you are allowed to protect your livestock. Even from the neighbors dog.
Some may feel I'm a heartless SOB to practice SSS. It's NOT an easy thing for me. BUT, I took on the responsibility of raising chickens. That means I have to protect them the best way I can.

 

[amazondoc]

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This is not always true.

I don't have time for a full-blown discussion on this topic, but in short --

If you kill cats in a feral cat colony, then other feral cats from surrounding areas move in to the dead cats' territories. This increased movement of cats from one place to another helps to spread diseases. Also, if you kill many of the cats in the colony, then the birth rate in the colony goes up. IOW, you can keep killing feral cats for a LOOOOONG time before you'll actually do much to decrease the overall population size. OTOH, if you spay/neuter/vaccinate/release on a large scale, then: 1. disease transmission goes down because you're keeping the cats in the same place AND vaccinating them; and 2. the population numbers stabilize and then fall slowly, because you've prevented a chunk of them from reproducing.

Nobody wants all these feral cats around, but we have to face the reality that they're here.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
You feed them so they won't kill so much of the native wildlife. You neuter them so they won't reproduce. You mark them (notch the ears) so you know which ones are already neutered, and which aren't. And if they're used to being fed, they are MORE easy to catch in traps for neutering because they're used to accepting the hand-outs.

 

[fowltemptress]

Quote:
I think the problems you are describing are only true because euthanization, or otherwise disposing of the cats, is not practiced on a larger scale. Sure, if you dispose of the present problem animal and assume that's the end of it, you'll be mistaken. You would need to be continually ready for new arrivals and crafty hiders. People have wiped out whole species before, so I wonder why we stop ourselves when it comes to animals who don't belong in the wild in the first place. I do not understand why it is okay for cats to be outdoors unsupervised, when most responsible owners would never dream of allowing the same freedom to other pet species.

There was a HUGE feral cat problem when my SO and I moved here. We do not trap, neuter, and release, but it took only a few months to make this place cat free, and the few stragglers that may find their way here in the future can be easily dealt with.

Neighbor's cats are tricky, though, because I do not like the idea of depriving someone of their pet. I find that outdoor cats usually become indoor cats very quickly when I tell neighbors in a friendly and open way they are free to shoot my dogs if they appear on their property, and I will extend the same courtesy to their cats.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
And in the meantime, you're increasing both birth rate and disease transmission.

People have wiped out whole species before, so I wonder why we stop ourselves when it comes to animals who don't belong in the wild in the first place. I do not understand why it is okay for cats to be outdoors unsupervised, when most responsible owners would never dream of allowing the same freedom to other pet species.

It's not "okay". It's just a fact of life that we have to deal with.

There was a HUGE feral cat problem when my SO and I moved here. We do not trap, neuter, and release, but it took only a few months to make this place cat free, and the few stragglers that may find their way here in the future can be easily dealt with.

The efficacy of SNR vs. eradication varies depending on factors like the isolation of the feral colony. Most colonies are not very isolated -- so you get migration when you start killing the population. A few colonies ARE isolated -- like, for instance, if people start dumping cats at an isolated farmstead. In those cases, eradication may be feasible.

Neighbor's cats are tricky, though, because I do not like the idea of depriving someone of their pet. I find that outdoor cats usually become indoor cats very quickly when I tell neighbors in a friendly and open way they are free to shoot my dogs if they appear on their property, and I will extend the same courtesy to their cats.

Depending on your location, you may be breaking several laws. Hope that your neighbors don't turn you in.​

 

[fowltemptress]

I've been lucky in that my neighbors are rational, friendly people who understand the situation and can distinguish between necessary laws based on logic and laws that were odd by products of heated emotions. For the most part, I can count on people's common sense.
Disease transmission and birth rates cannot be spread if the problem animals that caused them aren't there anymore.
Feral cats are not a fact of life we have to deal with. Predator species are a fact of life, but cats are domestic creatures and have no business being treated like an acceptable wild animal, and must be dealt with like you would an invasive species.
The efficacy of SNR vs eradication varies depending on people's attitudes. A great many people are very much against killing feral cats for various reasons, a great many people will continue to be poor pet owners, and those are the main reasons feral cats will continue to exist and be a major problem. It is hard enough dealing with invasive creatures, without the particular creature also having an "aww" effect on the general public.
At any rate, a cat on my property is a predator that has no right to be there, unlike the coyotes and foxes who have been displaced by my presence, and I therefore have much less tolerance for the cat. WILD native animals may do as they please, as far as I'm concerned.
And as to my comment about extending the same courtesy to the neighbors cat . . . I'm aware I sounded very harsh. But I find threats of taking a pet to animal control do not have the same power as stronger words, and the neighbors (so far) never bat an eyelid or seem offended . . . they just decide they've always wanted an indoor pet, after all, and accept an invitation to our next game night. It is the best solution to a wandering neighbor cat I've found.

 

[Beekissed]

When did it become politically incorrect to kill an animal? I've noticed more and more folks who raise farm animals and won't kill them for food or if they are suffering. Now it is stray cats. We never had a problem with "feral colonies" of cats back in the day when it was okay to kill unwanted stray animals that do damage to your property or livestock. People don't even want to kill rats anymore but would rather trap them live and put them out somewhere else. They watch depictions of humans getting killed on TV and movies every day and not flinch...but an animal dying will make them sick. I guess I don't understand that concept.
Its a tough thing, I agree, to have to kill an animal and it doesn't come easy for me either, but, since when is life supposed to be easy all the time? If my pets are being a nuisance or destroying other people's property I would expect justice to be done.
I would have to agree with the poster who wants to kill " feral colonies" of cats to prevent disease transmission. But then, I also feel it is very cruel to contain a cat or dog indoors at all times, or cage a bird, tank a fish or tie/cage a dog. I feel putting these animals in our environment is a selfish act for our own pleasure, so we can enjoy these animals on OUR terms. An animal's natural habitat is outdoors. The people who want sensible, logical outcomes to animal problems aren't monsters or unfeeling, we are just practical about animals. Which is more cruel? Immediate death or slow, lingering sickness caused by feline enteritis or leukemia? Unless someone also is going to monitor the health of these feral colonies, isn't these kinds of deaths much more cruel? I have heard also the opinions of the people in my home town on this program. They maintain that the natural selection of nature will "thin" out these feral colonies as age and disease take its toll. How heartless is that? Die a lingering death of pain and suffering or die in your sleep in a nice warm shelter? Which would you choose?

I know this doesn't make any sense to all the folks who keep animals in their homes at all times and can still bleed for the extermination of feral colonies of cats. But your point of view doesn't make much sense to us either, so why all the dissention? Some folks like to deal with problems one way and others like to deal with it another. Not everyone feels the way you do and that is a normal thing, not a bad thing. There is more than one way to skin a cat....er, sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[amazondoc]

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Sigh.

Several of us are repeatedly attempting to explain to you why TNR **IS** "sensible" and "logical" in many cases. You're simply not listening.