Feral cats from "trap/neuter/return" shelter

[bunnylady]

Hi and wondering if anyone else is familiar with this more current way to deal with stray(feral) cats? Last year, I lost my sweet outdoor kitty (she was 15 years old and died of old age). I live in the country (mini-farm) and feel its okay (and beneficial) to let cats outside. Anyway, I began a search to find a new kitty and found that most of the local shelters would not let me take a cat if it were allowed outside. Finally, I found one that had feral cats available that I could have for free as barn cats. They were neutered, healthy (FIV neg) and shots up to date. Not having much experience with feral cats, I said "yes" and two nice volunteers brought 3 kitties (3 was the minimum you could take). They brought everything I needed....cage, all supplies (litter, litter boxes, scoops, dishes) along with tons of food. The cage was set up in my barn and the cats installed. They were pretty fearful of me despite my soft, kind words, feeding and cleaning of litter daily. After 2 wks. I decided to leave the cage door open for awhile. One of them left and the other 2 stayed in the cage. I left a new bowl of food out for the one that was free and she would come back to eat every night. So, after another week I let the other 2 have their freedom. Those left and never returned. The first cat is still with me and has become tamer, mews sweetly at me and does a great job of keeping the rodents out of the barn! She is a nice cat but will probably never really trust me because she is feral. All in all, this was a good experience but I miss being able to go and get a kitten and having it bond with me from a young age. Occasionally I will see an ad for free kittens in the paper but I'll call the same day and all of them will have already been taken (probably by the shelters). I think the shelters' intervension is good for the most part, but maybe they are removing too much freedom (from honest people like me who would give a cat a good, loving, outdoor home). Any comments?

[Fred]

I don't have any experience with raising outside cats personally, but the few housecats I've owned have all been skittish at first. I used to keep them, their litterbox and their food in the bathroom and they got used to me and noise pretty quickly and never left my side for the most part when they had grown up. Only took about a week and introduction to my dog(s) at the time went well, also.
I'm not sure how much time in the day you spend in your barn, but taking a kitten with a wild mentality (possible lack of socialization) and starting it off this way doesn't sound like a good way to get a cat to bond to you.

I've run into my share of friendly barn cats and I'm sure they weren't raised the way I described, but I think you maybe should have taken a little more time with these three and even hand fed them at first.

And yes, these adoption agencies/shelters are turning away many good potential owners with their strict policies.

[Bird]

I never heard of anything like an animal shelter having feral cats. When I was a kid, we always had a couple of cats around the house and barn, but they were never allowed inside the house. And we had dogs, both just pets and hunting dogs, but no way my Dad would allow either a dog or cat inside the house or even on the porch.

[beenthere]

Around here, as well, there is a feral cat program. To me a feral cat means one that is wild, and runs loose most of the time. But appaently there is donated money being put up to catch and neuter feral cats, and then turn them loose again(like they somehow now belong in the wild). I hear the Audubon Society is not very happy with this program. I am not either. Too many birds (I finally have found a way to protect the blue bird box, so the cats and coons can't kill them before they leave the nest) are killed by cats, and turning more loose (neutered or not) in the wild is not a good idea in my opinion.

Also, a neighbor lady went to the Humane Society shelter run by the County. She was told she could not have a cat, or a dog, unless she spent at least three visits to the shelter, and then could have a pet only if the pet took a liking to her. She was ticked. And they also didn't like sending pets out into the country, and would not allow a dog to be a farm dog. She left and went to another county and was allowed to pick out a dog (and a great one it is) on the first visit. Me thinks the wierdo's have taken over the "humane' shelters. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Al_Wa]

Bird, I think my Dad and yours went to the same school, no critters in the house. I also agree with Beenthere that catching fernal cats and then turning them back into the wild is fuzzy thinking.

[Pat]

Way beyond fuzzy, my friend, quite absurd. Cats frrom domestic stock are not indigenous to North America and have no buisness being allowed to roam free in the wild, whether or not they are able to reproduce. They are about as useful as feral pigs in Hawaii or most other introduced species that get loose in the wild and disrupt the native flora and fauna.

We live in a rural area far enough out to be a target for "dumping" unwanted pets. I watched a feral cat for three years. It got bolder and bolder and began to stalk the birds at our feeders so I took a real close look at it through a telescopic rifle sight. Knowing what I know now regarding feral cats and baby birds of ground nesting species, I'd have made my close up observation ASAP.

We have resident breeding bobcats that do enough damage without feral cats.

I have had cats before and barn cats that don't roam too widely aren't a big danger to wildlife away from the barn and can sure help keep the rodent population in check.

Animal rights activists and their associates are behind a lot of WEIRD rules. When it comes to the zealots, common sense is an uncommon commodity.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]