Advice re: feral cats

shandyclover

On the way home from the gym last night I spotted a very, very skinny young black cat with a silver tabby kitten. Both looked starved and the kitten had weepy eyes. They seemed to be living in bushes on the edge of a car park. All around are shops and offices so I don't think they belong to anyone especially considering the state they are in. They were both extremely timid, and would not let me approach. I mentioned it to hubby who passed the same way on his morning run. He took pity on them and bought a can of salmon and put it out on a piece of newspaper for them. They had run off as soon as he tried to approach but when we both came back later the salmon was gone. Tonight we put out more cat food for them. I have called a few rescue places but they are all full up presently. I am not sure if we are doing the right thing providing food, but I am hoping eventually we can catch them and get them to a rescue centre. Any advice welcome.

krlyr

We had some cats dumped on the farm we lived next to - well, assumed dumped, as they just appeared one day, they kind of hung around our house but also spotted them wandering the derelict farmhouse when I walked my dogs.

I contacted a local rescue who ended up popping around with a cat trap. I was given instructions on how to get the cats used to it, e.g. feeding them inside it (I'd been feeding them in the garden a few days prior to the lady coming with the trap to get a bit of a schedule), and after a week or so of this she came round to make an attempt to catch them. Funnily enough, I hadn't seen the pair of them about at the same time for a few days, but they both turned up within 5 minutes of the lady turning up, both wandered straight into the trap and were caught on the very first attempt - result!

The lady established that they were both unneutered males - she said they would at the very least neuter them, and see if their behaviour was that of a pet cat or a feral cat. If they were feral, she would have them neutered and release them back on the farm, as if they were feral then there was obviously a good enough food source (they weren't particularly skinny). As it was, they were much tamer once in the rescue so they ended up rehoming them.

It is tough to find a rescue with space - and rescues will be very reluctant to take in ferals, as they are harder to rehome. Maybe see if you can find one (or an independant scheme) who'll neuter/spay if needed, and perhaps try to find a home yourself for them - farms or stables may sometimes take on ferals to help with pest control.

dandelionclock30

There will be most likley one rescue place in your town that will do trap and spay/neuter. Ask on your local Facebook animal pages.
I'd go for that then try to rehome them yourselves.