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July 6, 2009
Feral Cats—Help!
I'm looking for someone to help me catch a feral cat family that lives in my backyard. It's two adults and 5 kittens. I'm am VERY allergic and suffer from asthma, not to mention I don't have the time really to do it. I am willing to pay someone who has the motivation and / or experience. I will cover any expenses as well. If you have a referral or interest in doing this, please leave contact info. They are all tabby cats.
Comments
I bought a t-shirt at the 7th Avenue street fair from a woman raising money for local independent feral cat catch/release workers. I don't have their direct contact info but perhaps you can find someone locally to catch for you. Try the NYC Feral Cat Initiative.
http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/nycfci/
Posted by: myplace at July 5, 2009 8:15 PM
There are trap/neuter/release programs, and people who can help you. Call some local animals shelter to find one that operates near you. I got one of my cats from TNR group, they do wonderful work.
Posted by: mshook at July 5, 2009 8:18 PM
Thank you, but already have this information. There are no "for hire" or volunteer resources at animal alliance. If anyone has actual contacts, it would be appreciated.
Posted by: hoffster at July 5, 2009 8:28 PM
My wife ( johanna ) is very experienced. email her at bottlecap@mindspring.com.
Posted by: Rick at July 5, 2009 8:37 PM
$10 for ammo, you take care of disposal. I need some target practice anyway.
Posted by: guest_poster at July 5, 2009 9:51 PM
So, you're not actually interested in TNR. You just want someone to clean up your problem. I see that you made a feral kitten adoption plea post only 6 months ago - are you feeding the adults?
Posted by: pattunia at July 6, 2009 3:19 AM
What exactly do you expect them to do with the cats once they are trapped? If you take them to the ACC they will be euthanized immediately as they have no room during this busy period. The only way to go is TNR. If you call Meredith Weiss , of neighborhood cats, they have coaches that can help you but the cats will need to be returned to live out their lives. There are other ways to keep them out of your back yard - use motion activated sprinklers, there are pepper powders that you can sprinkle around the perimeter, etc.
I want to stress that if you remove these cats others will just take their place!
http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/
Posted by: Yoursmine at July 6, 2009 10:22 AM
The Empty Cages Collective does amazing feral cat TNR work, assuming that's what we're talking about. If you're looking for someone to take remove the cats, that's not what they do. But if you're down for it, they may be able to help. And frankly if you have money to donate that can be a very persuasive factor :) emptycagescollective (at) gmail . com
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at July 6, 2009 10:32 AM
You'd be surprised how well TNR helps. The cats that remain on the street are less troublesome, you don't get more every year and, unfortunately, there are all kinds of gruesome reasons why the existing feral population may dwindle over time.
Posted by: slopefarm at July 6, 2009 10:43 AM
there is this mad horny cat in the alleyway adjacent to my bedroom window and every once in a while at like 4am it just starts howling and moaning, i was terrified when i first heard it, it sounded like zombies or something.
*rob*
Posted by: PitbullNYC at July 6, 2009 10:47 AM
I do plan on "TNR" and hopefully give away kittens. I'm not trying to "clean up" the problem, but deal with it a responsible humane way. I do not feed the cats, but other neighborhood people do. I perfectly enjoy watching the cats and kittens in the backyard, but obviously need to deal with this for their benefit. I would like to have them returned, neutered, to the yard.
Posted by: hoffster at July 6, 2009 10:51 AM
I'm wondering if Mighty Mutts might be able to help. I adopted my cats there and I know they round up strays all the time.
Posted by: Carol Gardens at July 6, 2009 11:43 AM
Please give me a call to discuss this matter. i may be able to help you. 212-945-8196
Posted by: tsarina at July 6, 2009 11:58 AM
Rent a lion. It's a win-win.
Posted by: tybur6 at July 6, 2009 12:18 PM
Better than a colony of feral rats...
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at July 6, 2009 12:27 PM
Speaking of rats -- can't we deposit such families of feral cats in those areas where rats are a huge problem (on my block for instance)?
Posted by: iz at July 6, 2009 1:31 PM
Hoffster- Myself and our neighbors across the street from me (so in effect two 'rows' of houses )have been doing TNR with the strays around here. It really does work. They stop spraying, they keep other ferrals from coming in and laying claim to the area (we've actually watched them chase off interlopers). They catch any mice and larger bugs. It's actually nice to have them around once they're fixed.
Thanks for caring enough to do the right thing since you see how easy it is for people to make jokes and be cruel to these poor homeless cats that are just trying to survive.
The main thing is you're going to have to ask the neighbors to not feed them for 12 hrs prior to putting the cages down so they have incentive to go in to get the food (a can of tuna or wet food works best).
Good luck!
Posted by: TownhouseLady at July 6, 2009 1:39 PM
Hoffster - thanks so much for posting this. I too have a colony in my backyard fed by neighbors that I've been trying to deal with. Having done the research, taken the TNR class, and spoken to the ASPCA, it just comes down to not having the time to coordinate this effort.
If you have any good experiences with advice from your post, would you mind posting it? I would be happy to assist in this effort, but really need someone to do all the coordination/legwork for me (for pay, of course!).
Posted by: overherhead at July 6, 2009 2:22 PM
I took the TNR course and Have the same problem- being able to catch the cats. Its difficult for me to get the cages- no car. But we sure don't have a rat or mouse problem. the other thing is that if you remove a feral cat colony, more ferals will move in- colonies are territorial, and tehy move around if a colony leaves. I'd laso be interested in knowing if ther is someone who can help me do this- the cats are gorgeous but I can't take in anymore and I hate seeing the kittens suffer.
Posted by: bxgrl at July 6, 2009 3:31 PM
I would like to have them returned, neutered, to the yard.
Good.
I did TNR Spring 08 after feeding 3 generations over the past 5 years. You have to nip this in the bud. I didn't, got too attached and saw the ravages that ferals suffer.
I'm still feeding 4-5 core cats with drop-ins. It's a myth that the neutered chase away the non-neutered. They have no balls.
Posted by: pattunia at July 7, 2009 3:29 AM
Thanks for the comments and advice. I will post an update when/if this resolves!
Posted by: hoffster at July 7, 2009 11:13 AM
It really is NOT a myth that cats hold their territory. I think it depends on the cat (s) but I have one core feral in the backyard that the neighbors had TNR'd well over a year ago. He allows one other TNR cat in the yard that was part of the neighbor's original trapping effort and that's it. This is down from numerous cats in the yard and kittens born under our shed 1-2x per year. He really does chase the others out. Seen him do it many times and he's quite aggressive about it. We've also received numerous dead mouse 'presents' on the stoop so I know he's hard at work. He's friendly enough to put flea stuff on him and he likes our dogs, so I can honestly recommend the whole TNR thing.
Posted by: kensington gal at July 7, 2009 12:01 PM
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