two cats at our door/ feral and or sick/what to do

Cat 1, Mister Nasty has been around the longest. I'm only 50% sure he's cared for. He can be given water and small portions of food but touch him and you'll get slashed. I've seen him around the neighborhood, totally street-proofed about people and cars. As tough as he is he is totally intimidated by...
Cat 2, Orange cat. He can be touched briefly and fed at a distance. He provokes a response in our cats that sounds like they all had their tails caught under a rocking chair. If I open the door someone will lose an eye.
He also sounds like he's got a respiratory infection and winter is coming, now he's not finishing his meals.
@jt and trouble (GA) In an old post you had the same problem.
@JeffJ Did you not manage to eventually get a feral into your home?
El Niño is coming so it will be a mild winter here but it's painful to see Orange cat in this state.
I suppose step one is getting a photo and posting it on the community mailbox but how can you politely tell someone their cat needs medical attention (and you're too stupid to see that).
My vet will push boundaries but medicating a cat that may already be medicated is not going to happen.
Taking in another challenge is too much for us right now; lots of family drama and long distance sickness. And if I trap Orange cat and he goes unclaimed he will be un-adoptable. I'm sure if he has a caregiver they were too stupid or cheap to get him chipped. Our last 2 neighborhood strays weren't even neutered, the ones sleeping on our bed.

 

Trap neuter release. Have the sick cat injected with an antibiotic.

 

I agree with Janet. I do it all the time and often the cats settle and even get friendly. I’ve also neutered several that I knew belonged to people but kept coming to my house and bothering my cats. They often go home and stay there after...

 

I've got a new one that occasionally visits.... I think she belongs to someone but not positive. I'll try to catch her and they can check if she's spayed or had a chip. She's never hungry so I don't know. If it belongs to someone they should Eartip or collar her. If not, snip snip. I've had about 15 strays around me done.

 

Thanks. See what I mean by "Looks like he's been fed" Janet? Your visitor looks like he has a nice coat and he's not scrawny. I'm just such a sucker for this. Next thing will be the bank showing me video of a cat using my ATM card. "You should change your PIN from MEOW so this won't happen again." Here kitty.

 

One feral Tigger (torti) meaner than a snake; got knocked up. We only had one indoor cat at the time, Sam hated the 853 or so ferals outside!
Anyway Tiger has babies inside a pantry I wasn’t using. She had a terrible time delivering- I called the vet for instruction. She was so exhausted after 5 kittens that I had to untangle & cut the cords. Anyway I let her back out after a week or so & she always came back in to nurse. I gave all but one baby to good homes. Had her fixed- we moved but for 3 months I went back to that house & fed her every couple of days. Someone else had moved in so I just parked across the street, called for her & out of the brush she’d run to me. Even after all we did together; if I had to pick her up she’d attack. One day I went to feed & she never came. I went several times & not there. I searched, sad but no Tigger. Some ferals just won’t be tamed.
I loved playing with those kittens every day!

 

This is just not a cat/wildlife friendly neighborhood. Too much traffic, old trees replaced with 1/2 dead trees, call the police if you see a coyote a mile away. Toronto is full of squirrels, raccoons, opossums and red foxes. When we moved out here closer to nature (cough) it was a year before we saw a squirrel and another before a single raccoon. Then there's the abandoned cats, two of which we either stole or rescued from idiot neighbors. We know our limits, nature can be hard to watch.

 

I’d love to see all the strays fixed & not homeless. But ...Yes we can only do so much. I didn’t try to catch the others, unfortunately not enough time & funds. I had to help little tigger though when she became pg - just a baby herself, & the only one to get close. I did get torn up a few times. I moved those kitties outside to a box during daylight hours so I didn’t have to let wild Tigger inside. I looked out one evening after feeding can food & counted 6 little heads! (She had 5) One looked at me & it was a baby opossum. The kitties didn’t mind sharing! He looked at me, backed up like you did not see me & snuck into the brush!

 

Duma (Scooby) came to us in 2009. One half block away, a neighbor had been feeding him. He was un-owned but mostly tame. He never liked getting picked up, but he liked getting scratched. He used to go walking with Theresa and the droolers. I didn't consider him as feral, but he was the best kitteh ever and we can't believe he is gone.
- pic 2009 Duma first day at our house

Little Dude came to our area of the block last spring. He was wild and unapproachable. But never once did he try to bite us. I spent 90-120 minutes a day outside on the porch last summer. I sat closer and closer to the food. Until finally he let me touch him. Then he melted. It was magic, and I still remember it. Now he purrs more than our other two kittehs and he is spoiled rotten to the core! I don't think he was ever feral, someone probably owned him as an outside cat. He knows how to catch and eat small rats. Pics:
- Aug 2016 - second or third day I could touch him
- August 2017 - Leo loving on Little Dude

 

I wish there was something else we could do besides ear tipping. We had a feral TNR about 15 years ago and they cut 1/3 of his poor ear off. Idiots. He is probably GA by now. He stopped coming around after 2 years.

Plus having both ears makes them more attractive and more adoptable.

 

Ok Jeff I love these pics & so good to know others that run to the aid of homeless kitties.
But what is ear tipping btw, never heard tell...
Little Dude... sweet, I thought most cats hated the belly rub? Not Baby - she loves it! That just shows the trust & love they have for us!

 

Ear tipping is a way to mark that a feral cat has been neutered....since trapping ferals can be a "1 time thing", while they're under anesthesia, about 1/4 inch of the left ear tip is cut off.

That way people who are trying to manage feral cat colonies can easily determine who's been fixed and who hasn't

 

Here's two of my ear tipped babies. Bubbles is the black one and Jersey is black and white. It's the top of the left ear taken off as a sign that they are spayed and neutered cats being cared for in a colony.

 

Never heard of ear tipping either. I assume it's not as gruesome as it looks and is less traumatic than having a trap slam shut behind you. The one and only time I crated Noah he went absolutely ballistic, some kind of primal thing.

 

The ear tip is nothing at all. They do it while under anesthesia. It never seemed to bother any of them.

 

Like teenage girls piercing their ears with an ice cube. I'm sure we've all seen worse.

 

Agree with Janet - the ear tipping doesn't seem to harm them. Just their looks. If they are permanently feral, it's pretty much the only mark. ....Just when it's done wrong like the feral we trapped, it looks horrible. His name was Notchy because of the botched ear tip job.

 

Poor Notchy. I saw someone storm out of our vets office years ago because she couldn't find anyone to chop her dog's tail off. Get a grip lady, don't forget your deep fried pigs knuckle.

 

Ear tipping is a common practice here for the TNR programs.

 

The last time I ever let Cynthia drive me somewhere. Just cannot trust that woman.

 

Here’s Sebastian (on the barn roof). He showed up here with a tipped ear

 

Learning a lot today! What is TNR? Thank you!

So if I see a stray that has a tipped ear then I know someone at least has fixed them. Just feed them or report a lost cat. If it’s feral I guess I couldn’t catch it anyway. I don’t think I’d trap with a cage, but it probably would be better then a dog catcher chocking their poor little neck with their hooky thingies. You must be a farmer, right Sharon? Always wanted to have a farm but I know it is very hard work. I just would hate to take the animals for slaughter/ don’t know if I could. I know people who farm don’t think of them as pets, well some I guess. Tell me about your place sometime if you’re willing & ever get the time!

 

Ear tipping is a good practice and the only sure way to know you're dealing with a feral or member of a community colony that has been spayed/neutered. They are usually being cared for by someone, or a group of people, who feed them and see to their welfare. If you encounter one or more who are NOT, they have most likely either strayed too far from their community, or are no longer part of a protected group (caregivers died, moved, etc); those cats still need your help.

 

Whaaat! Like we had a Doberman that had a chopped tail! Hated that! My ex did it & his poor ears... pretty as he was!

 

My mom used to say that dad & I would see an animal in our yard & swear it was stray so we could keep it! We didn’t though but I guess I get the animal lover thing naturally! Poor mom

 

I was the same way, lol! I had many adopted outdoor cats growing up - my mother was afraid of cats so I could never have them inside. Guess I'm making up for that now, lol! I'd take in every unwanted or homeless cat, if I could!

 

Good advice. Do what you can but within your limits both emotionally and financially, don't expect everyone to have the same beliefs, if you help 1 cat or 100 always have a plan B in case something happens to you.

 

Coffee (TNR, FIV+) adopted me this summer .



He is the friendly cat ever .

 

Not a farmer, just a horse owner. Have chickens too, but just for the eggs. They all have names...

 

TNR is Trap Neuter Release - so the strays don't increase the population even more. The one stray we did - I listed (Notchy). During that time, we also caught our own cats twice. Notchy was wild as hell. He pissed all over the cage and wanted to eat my hand if ever got to it. Poor wild kittehs.

 

Hey, they tipped the wrong ear!! It's usually the left ear that's tipped

 

Yeah I noticed. Have no idea who did it or where he came from, but he was never feral...

 

That's awful! It's not like a human having the wrong limb amputated but somewhere along the line didn't at least one person question what was going on? And the wrong ear??? I'm just taking a break from cleaning my aquarium. Got a mouthful of yechh using the siphon/vacuum. Probiotic yogurt here I come.
>and
come on Sharon, we know you're a farmer

 

A lot of people get stray cats neutered under the feral cat program because it’s free of very low cost (paid by a grant). The cats are supposed to be feral, but most vets look the other way because they want as many fixed as possible. They always ask me if I want the ear tipped, I always say no because I’m keeping them here so they aren’t being turned back out into the community. As far as wrong ear, who knows, but he’s ok now.

No farmer here. Proof from Canada:

 

Lol, I noticed that, too!

 

That is the way to do it! Ok got it- not a farm!
Sorry if I offended you! My bestie in high schools grandparents farmed & we would go to church & play at the farm on Sundays. Nice memories. I have another friend that loves her chickens & names them. I am also a bird lover. Feed them & it keeps Baby active. I’ve named a few hummingbirds!

 

I guess I was the keeper of the colony at the rental home where I had 1 fixed! Should have done better I guess. I called around for programs to help in my county & the only thing that they offered was a $25 off coupon from our humane society. I even told my vet that she couldn’t be our cat or contained. Not much help. She was the only one that I could get ahold of.

 

When we moved here we learned this was a known dog dumping ground. At least Becky got $25, we still don't have a rescue here in a city of over 100,000. They will come out here with a trap and if they judge you capable they'll leave it in your hands. We caught a feral trapped between 2 major roads behind the high school in 40 below weather. In Toronto I set a trap for a female fox that kept approaching our daycare. She couldn't hunt, ended up getting a hip replacement and I got to stand way back and set her free. Just beautiful.

 

Well the pound in the small town I grew up in is just that. City dog catcher... same. But yes they do have that in a city of 13000. They tried so hard to be a no kill pound but went sideways. I know they work with surrounding counties & further to transfer & have fundraising. Everytime I had leftovers (things my cats & dogs didn’t like) I took them there. They had a coupon book I took part in selling for funding. Always & forever in need! Poor animals no one wants- thank you all for caring enough to take care of these babies!! So helpless they are- in my adult life, we have actually purchased one cat from the pound. The rest have found me! In that small town I know everyone knew me & where I lived. In one summer we had 3 cats show up on my deck that we’d never seen before. I heard later that people knew I’d care for them & probably dropped them there. Already had one from wild Tiggers litter! The one we bought at the pound. One was Lizzie & one ended up being my daughters cat, Honey (sweetest prettiest best calico ever) & then 5 yrs later Baby. Busy back deck! Kitties kitties everywhere!

 

so Dickson you had a hip transplant or you got the fox a new hip? I told you I’m always confused & dissect- every- little - thing to understand. Heavenly Father guide me! That’s amazing though. I thought Toronto was a big search & rescue town! I thought I have watched a series on tv about that. Maybe dif city! Never mind!

 

The fox got the new hip. Toronto is complicated; surrounded by other towns and cities that sometimes get sqashed together into one city but they keep their own transit systems and even area codes. Toronto Wildlife Rescue is the place to call if you don't want SWAT chasing a coyote with a shotgun. They're underfunded of course but the fox hip was a one time thing done by volunteers. I've seen video of Yuppies feeding coyotes over their backyard fence and then wondering what happened to their Chihuahua. The "wild" in wild dog means the same wild as in tiger. Just watch and admire, stop interfering.

 

In Florida we lived in a town known for it's retirees (isn't that most of Florida?) and Snow Birds. When we moved in there was a feral colony on our street. We were told that Snow Birds would come in the spring, take in a pet, and then dump the pet off when they left. And that cycle never failed. We lived in a subdivision behind a shopping plaza, so lots of roads. It was terrible to watch socialized pets try to become part of the ferals. As a community we all helped TNR, and one of the men down the street fed them, and we donated good to the cause.
My spouse worked in insurance and learned that if you feed them, they are your responsibility, and your potential liability. So I could never feed them.
If new ones showed up, and we saw them before they were attacked by the colony (territory issues), we would bring them inside get them vetted and try to adopt them out. We got a couple adopted out, but most we were stuck with, but we assumed that from the moment we brought them inside. So most of ours weren't true ferals, just abandoned destined to become ferals.
The last 2 we took in before we moved though... One sweet as pie, the other full of piss and vinegar.
We thought cats were mating in the shopping plaza parking lot as the screaming sounded terrible at about 1am. We were outside helping a friend fix her headlight before she drove home. I couldn't take it any more. I was going to go yell at them and break them up, even if it was just for a moment. I brought our dog, Bart. He loves kitties. In fact, he tends to "find" the kitties for us outside that we would have never seen. He sees a kitty and he tries his best to hold still, but his excitement is shown in his eyes and his tail. He tries so hard to control himself to not scare them of, but the tail still wags because he can't help himself totally. He lets them approach him and then he sniffs their ears and butt and lets then headbutt him. It was his favorite part about walks around the block. He loves kitties as much as I do, maybe more, if that's possible. So Bart and I had to the parking lot. Bart spots the little furball in the dark before I child see him. He's howling his little head off. It wasn't cats mating at all. So much noise from such a little thing! As we approach it seems he's talking to another cat down the street. Bart gets to the kitten first, and approaches slowly. They sniff noses and then the kitten realizes Bart is a dog. He jumps back and poofs hissing and spitting just like halloween cat picture. Bart has never gotten this reaction before so he just stood there, not sure how to proceed. As I finally got close the kitten ran away into a crack in the wall of the building. We went over to the crack as the kitten was screaming again for it's friend. We called "here kitty kitty" until the little scaredy cat came back out and sniffed me. His eyes were matted and infected, his belly swollen with worms, and so tiny he fit in one hand. He needed help, so I brought him home. He couldn't come in because he'd infect my group, so I put him in the back yard.
I grabbed some food and went to find his friend otherwise there was going to be screaming in my backyard all night, I feared. I found the other guy pretty easy. He was hanging out under some parked trucks. Again I called, "here kitty kitty" but this one was double the size of the on now in our yard, big enough to know he didn't want to be caught. So I tossed food his way until he would come from under the truck enough. The spouse arrived to help and we pulled a toss and grab and caught the kitty who didn't want to be caught. For my troubles, I got a crazy amount of scratches and one terrible finger bite. I wasn't terribly worried about rabies, but cat bites tend to get infected, but when you rescue enough cats you know the drill. Lol.
So both cats were in the back yard for the night with water and food. We made our human plans that our inside was full, and we would get these guys to the vet so there be healthy. Get 'em fixed and try to find them homes, but if not they could become part of the ferals.
Oh, what's that saying... The best laid plans of mice and men"...
The next day it rained... It rains every day in Florida, so no big deal. This day, of course had so much rain come down it created a flash flood in our back yard.
The area between our house and the fence is filled with callalillys, and now with a foot of water standing. The larger cat was on top of a milk crate against the fence. Poor thing still looked drowned. I gave him to the spouse, as we were now moving them into the garage. I was searching for the little one, calling out, "kitty" but he stopped responding. I was panicking, because snakes are common to use callalillies as refuge, and now I had to put my hands in water to find this cat. Luckily, there was an occasional noise that helped direct me. I found him and he was crawling up a callalilly stem, and then his weight slid him back down under the water. His climb up was barely enough time to catch a breath, and the poor baby was almost out of energy to keep that up. I snatched him up before he fell down again and he coughed and spat up water. We got to the garage with his brother, and we decided to give them a flea bath using dawn (b/c the little one was so little we didn't want to use actual flea stuff) and they were already wet.
The next day we could only catch the little one, so we took him to the vet and the vet knowing us, gave us enough meds to treat both. They stayed in the garage until almost the end of their meds. (It had gotten too hot to leave them in there so they came in just before the antibiotics were up.) Bart was thrilled to have new kittys to play with, and though we tried, they never got adopted out. They are 4 now, and weirdly the bookends to our group. The big one is the largest cat in the house. Bandit is tall and long not wide. The little one, Crookshanks, is the smallest of the group. He's both stumpy and wide. The vet said he's not fat, his shape is just round - like humans come in different shapes so do cats, lol. He often reminds me of a pittbull: wide head and chest, stocky body on short legs. He often looks mean or evil. His amber eyes match his coat, but he's just as sweet as they come. He also loves belly rubs.

The spouse and I help when and where we can, and like with these two, even when we really shouldn't. While our pockets are empty, our hearts and house are full.
We do love the TNR programs, and lend our support (sometimes that's a vote, or attending meetings, or physically helping catch cats, and sometimes that's financial, though rarely these days).

I know you have a giant heart too Dickson. Perhaps put a call in to your amazing vet that's good to you and see what their advice is before you go through the effort of trying to trap them. Maybe the vet even has traps like they use for TNR so you don't have to handle them yourself.
I'm always a stupid sucker for a sick animal that I know just needs a little but of help. Good luck with your dilemma. But I've always found the ferals I've rescued do okay when brought inside. I've got some that don't care to be touched or picked up, or even be with/around The other cats, but they still tend to find ways to show their happiness and love. It is a process, and happens slowly. Patience and love makes the world go round...

 

I used to be the guy that had to "fix" women, never mind animals or the world. If you just got divorced, your kids hate your guts and aliens ate your lawn I would appear like Prince Charming. That goes south very fast. If you try and change someone they'll resent you. If you honestly try and change for her you'll just end up resenting her and she never asked for that in the first place. I have never had the burning biological desire to have kids so I'd usually get around to that before second date hand-holding or kisses that lasted more than 10 seconds. Do you want to be disappointed now or have your heart broken in 2 months? It's not quite the same but when we had 9 cats and a dog we were stupidly lucky that no two of them ever got really sick at the same time. We took on way more than we were capable of (almost) but they were all either very young or fairly old so nature was kind to us, she slowly and gently took our older cats. That hurt but we were never sorry, resentful or bitter about our choices. That stuff will eat you up inside.

 

Ooops! That was supposed to translate to caring for animals but I forgot the subtitles. What a schmuck eh?

 

I am not a human rescuer. When I was rather young, I tried to help mold people into the people I needed them to be. But that was way before I ever considered marriage. I thought I never wanted to get married actually. After the first serious relationship, I no longer worked to be the white knight and mend human wounds. I am not trained in that caliber of help.
So when I say, phrases like "stuck with" I mean them not in a horrible way. My life philosophy is that life is a series of choices... we all make some bad or wrong choices now and then, but there is another choice right in front of you, you always have the choice to do better. So "stuck with" was an informed choice that we were ultimately okay with.

Truly, I wouldn't have it any other way. So, while we weren't in the position to take on more cats, more cats needed to be rescued. We made it work because we couldn't find another willing to take on 2 new cats. That's the thing about soft-hearted cat ladies... (people) we tend to find a way to make it work. For these two in particular, once we almost drowned them by rescuing them. It was the moment we moved them into the garage that we gave them names - they were ours.

Funny thing about having cats I didn't want... I didn't want to take Runswith. She was my roommates cat, but when she moved she didn't make arrangements that could accommodate a cat. Because Runswith had bonded with my cat Herbie, she asked me first if I wanted Runswith. I was a poor young gal. I turned her down. Then she said she was taking her to a shelter. I informed her they would kill her because she was skittish. She took a few days and then told me she did find out I was speaking the truth. Then she had the brilliant idea to find a no-kill shelter. I told her that a skittish cat doesn't get adopted. That Runswith will be stuck living in a small cage for the rest of her life. I urged her to find a home for her instead of the shelters. So, after refusing her several times, my soon to be ex-roommate never could find her a home, and I couldn't let her live in a cage. So Herbie and Runswith and I moved into our own new place. I think it's always the ones you don't want to love that sneak in and win you over. I was stuck with Runswith, and she was surly stuck with me, and it seems only fair that many times over we rescued each other.

 

Noah's brother Andrew died a needless death at emergency, the middle of the night and we weren't there. Lots of anger and guilt. A week later a family member calls about an extended member's suicidal gesture and could we foster her two cats for a bit. We were in no mood or condition but we did it anyway and "a bit" turned into 4+ years. Worse yet was that one of the cats was named Andy, that's why we have an Andrew and an Andy in out history. Worst of all is Lewis. He's a big fat belligerent pig who steals Noah's food and basket but that's not his fault because he was abused so throwing a shoe at him won't help. He is the opposite of a calendar cat, unadoptable. I don't talk much about Lewis because he brings out the worst in me but I always knew that about myself so it's not tragic and it's not sad. That's just who I am.

And..... Lewis just loves walking across the keyboard hitting a unique combination of F keys and it can take a day to reboot this thing. Anyone need a cat? His name is D.A.D. (dime a dozen). He'll be at the front door with a 100 pound bag of Old Roy dog food. Maybe I should do something more useful right now.
I'll PM @JeffJ and ask him what that stupid F13 key does.

 

F1 - F12 are standard keys - usually with set functions. F13 - F24 are user settable. I don't know if they come preset. I never really used them. It could be the Friday-the-13th-key.

 

Bad cat joke. If there is one Lewis can find it. We should have re-named him Ctrl-Alt-Delete.