trying to manually catch feral kittens probably isn't the best idea

[datasuspect]

we have a feral mama and her one daughter who make kitties all over the place.

there has to be at least 10 of these suckers bouncing around.

i caught one and it starting hiss-spitting and otherwise engaging its claw defenses. i'd like to bring them all in, but they are fast.

[CatWoman]

1. data,

I have the same problem.

at least 4 feral kittens have taken over my back yard.

what to do???

[datasuspect]

2. i feed them.

but they are already becoming the natural predators that they are.

[ZombieNixon]

3. Do you have a vet in the area that will spay/neuter ferals?

You can get a humane trap from either them or maybe the local animal shelter, trap the cat, and take it to get fixed, thus preventing any further kitties.

[datasuspect]

5. it's pretty countrified around here

they're not in any danger of getting run over by anything.

i'm somewhat inclined to let them regulate the mouse and rodent and bird population, but then again, the way they reproduce, i fear a cat army by xmas.

[hedgehog]

4. Call your local Humane Society. Ours has a catch and spay

program. The idea is that once the cats establish a territory, they keep other cats away.

[datasuspect]

7. do they try and "put them in the system"

once they catch them?

i wouldn't want them to be in danger of being euthanized. in one way, i imagine they could live full lives as natural cats, but the reproduction rate has me concerned.

i wonder if feral cats can be socialized to become house pets.

[usaftmo]

9. From what I've heard

if the feral cats are caught while they're young kittens they can be easily domesticated. In our warehouse we have a feral cat who keeps providing litters of kittens. While the kittens are newborns they are easy to catch.

We have a few coworkers who adopt them or find a great home for them. The only loser in all this is the momma cat. We've tried to catch her for over a year.

[datasuspect]

10. the mama cat is hardcore

you can't get near her.

if you do, she digs in and looks ready to attack.

[hedgehog]

15. We live in a rural area, and the Humane Society traps, spays

and releases the cats back wqhere they were found. It keeps the population managable.

[Zoigal]

6. If you have a local animal control,

give them a call and see if they will loan you some traps. Or perhaps
a vet might know some agency (spay and neuter clinics,etc) that
has traps that you could borrow/rent. Many animal control agencies
give out vouchers for spay and neutering, also. A feral cat in our backyard
lacerated our little whippet in several places last Monday. Required sutures, anesthetic,
shots, follow up antibiotics, etc all to the tune of 400 dollars. Cat escaped, by
the way, without visible damage.

[datasuspect]

8. yeah, they're little badasses

the mama cat is protective of the bunch. she looked like she wanted to jump me when i caught one of her kids.

[Blue-Jay]

11. You're going to need a big net.

And some leather gloves.

[Maddy McCall]

12. I bought a pretty big havahart trap for about $60 at my co-op.

I've caught and relocated coons and armadillos to other parts of the property, away from the house (where they aggitate the dogs).

I caught a feral tomcat once, but I let him go.

These traps are good because you can catch the animal and also transport it inside the trap.

All you need is a can of catfood to bait the trap.

If I were you, I'd look for free spay/neuter programs for feral cats in your area. At least that way, the population won't keep growing exponentially.

[S n o w b a l l]

13. I learned the hard way....

a little bitty kitten bit all the way through my thumbnail.

[Roon]

14. My friend has a feral colony in his backyard

and one of the kittens is a big, white, fluffy, furball with one green eye and one blue eye. I wanted her so bad, but I have tried to catch and tame ferals before.

[graywarrior]

16. Mine is the offspring of a feral. He is issues.

[Ikonoklast]

17. We have a feral Mama cat that lives under our deck

We took in two of her boys last year, and got a third adopted out. They were caught as soon as they were weaned (They came around for kitten chow) and are really good house cats. They fit right in with our old black tomcat, and younger female Tuxedo.

Mutt-Mutt showed up later. He came to my door one night about two weeks after we caught his brother Jeff; we thought he had taken off. Scratching at the door, I let him in, and he ran into the kitchen to get some food.

Both my son and I were surprised, as he had always been the kitten that was stand-offish.

Then we noticed his tail hanging down. It was broken at the base of his spine, and in the middle the fur had been worn completely off, as it was twisted around. He was walking with a limp, and his gait was otherwise odd. I knew he had been hit by a car recently, and was starving. He was rail-thin. He ate as much as he could, took a dump in the litter box, walked into the front room and with his front paws, pulled himself onto my easy chair, and promptly fell asleep.

I wanted to cry. He was a beautiful brown tortoiseshell, but he was so banged up.

We took him to our vet, and he sent us to a specialist. She said that she would do more harm than good, and told us to take him home and 'make him comfortable'. He had a fractured right femur, a displaced pelvis, and his tail was non-functional. The X-rays were downright ugly.

Two months later living with us, we took him back to our vet for shots and tests for worms, FeL, etc. Our vet was amazed. Mutt-Mutt was running around, and had regained some use of his tail, enough to thump it against my leg when he wants attention. He chases his brother around the house with reckless abandon, and never seems to have any pain. Nine lives, indeed.

Our vet told us that he was going to start sending his sick felines home with us to recuperate after an illness/injury. He said that he'd never seen a cat that hurt recover enough to have a decent life, let alone tear around like that.



Mama cat scratches at the sliding glass door if she sees me, not only for a handout, but sometimes just to get scratched under her chin real good. She waggles her tail and rubs the edge of the door.

Anyone else that tries gets the cold glare.

The two boys always come to the window when Mama's there, just to say hello.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. So you'd rather catch them automatically?

Wasn't that in a Warner Brothers cartoon?