I've often mentioned we have feral cats at my home that I feed. When we moved in there was mamma, pappa & 7 babies.
These feral cats would love to be inside. I think the mamma cat was the previous home-owners' son's cat and they moved off and left her. Isn't that mean?
When we looked at the house, she was here and pregnant. By the time we took possession of the house, Pam was still here and I could tell she was nursing kittens. Pam was sooooo thin and would stand at our back patio doors and meow FOREVER begging for something to eat.
I couldn't take her away and I couldn't let her starve or her kittens, so she stayed. I paid to get her and all her kittens fixed. Pappa John figured out something was up and ran away three days before his appointment!
Prevent a litter. Fix your critter!
I gave away as many of the babies as I could find homes for and am left with Pam and her twins. I figure they were a liability that came with the house, and it's my responsibility to take care of them.
The small town I live in does not have animal control, there are feral cats every where. When my aunt was still living she fed close to 20 cats on her deck that were feral. She actually lived in town. We live about 2 miles outside of town.
Her ferals had all kinds of problems. Almost all the males had one back leg that was bad. Most of the females are polydactyls. Most all of them had runny noses and eyes. I'm sure these problems were due to inter-breeding, and breeding way too young.
The two gas stations in town, both have mammas that live there and the owners of the stations feed them the left over fish and chicken that does not sell so they don't starve. The one station's mamma had 4 babies last year. One of the babies took up residence at the station across the street. A few weeks ago she had 4 OR 5 kittens! Nothing will be done, they will grow up and keep inter-breeding and multiplying.
When I go to the station in the evenings to get gas, they are all sitting outside the storage building where apparently they live under. When you try to approach them they scatter like mad! I tried to get a picture of them, but they didn't oblige.
I feel pet owners should be more responsible for their pets.
There are programs & clinics where you can get your animals fixed, their shots, declawed, etc. for a low cost rate. Depending upon the situation, sometimes it can even be done for free. Mine cost me $15 per cat for them to be sterilized and their shots. I chose to not get them declawed.
The program I went through was called No More Homeless Pets KC. No More Homeless Pets is a nationwide movement to bring about a time when homeless, unwanted animals are no longer being destroyed in shelters, and when every healthy dog or cat can be guaranteed a good life in a caring home.
The NMHP FixKC clinics are offered for people who are financially disadvantaged and/or individuals who are dealing with feral or stray cats, or large populations of cats. Individuals must qualify for the FixKC Cat Clinics and appointments are required.
The clinics are in high demand and the appointment books fill quickly.
There are several clinics in the Kansas City Missouri/Kansas area that offer discount services also. No More Homeless Pets KC has them all listed.
There are also low cost vaccination & microchip clinics. To find out more go HERE. For other states, just google No More Homeless Pets to find locations in your area. I know Utah, Florida, Atlanta, Las Vegas, South Carolina, and New Mexico have big organizations. I'm sure there are more. Ask a local veterinarian for your closest location.
Prevent a litter. Fix your critter!
If you'd like to offer financial support and help those who cannot afford to have their pets fixed, please Sponsor a Spay.
I agree, Lisa. We had a pregnant stray come to our back door about a year and a half ago. It was winter, so I couldn't stand to not feed her. She seemed truly feral, because she ran any time we opened the door and would never let us near her. After she had her kittens, we trapped her and the kits to get them all fixed and she was already pregnant again! The charge was $15 for each kitten and no charge for the mother.
ReplyDeleteWe had her and the three kittens fixed and had their ears clipped so they could easily be identified as having already been spayed/neutered. Then we released them back into our back yard, where they stayed for months. Over time, the mother died and two of the now-grown kittens appeared less often and finally moved on. The third moved on too, for a while, but now he is back. He is sociable as long as the door is closed, but the minute we slide it open, he runs. He will probably never be a pet, but I still feel like he is "ours".
We know we can't catch and neuter every stray...no one can. But my feeling is that if you have a true pet, you should have it spayed or neutered. And if you are going to regularly feed a feral, then it is "yours" also and you should trap it and have it fixed.
That is so sad - I hate when people don't think to spay or neuter. It is hard being an animal lover in a world of animal abusers at times because it breaks your heart when you see all the abandoned animals who are sick.
ReplyDeleteAnnie sounds like we used the same clinic. I believe the mamma was a pet, but the babies were wild since they were born outside under the porch where we couldnt get to them and handle them. Luckily they loved my son and if he sat outside they would climb all over him. That's how we caught them to take them in for their appointments.
ReplyDeleteSummer before last a new feral mama moved into our barn and had three babies. We didn't realize it until I heard the babies sqwalling and then found her dead. I had to trap those three. Trapping them was easy, they could not resist the food because they were starving...literally. I figure they were only about 4 weeks old. I was able to get a no kill shelter to take them since they really still needed to be bottle fed along with introducing food.
Tarryn thanks for stopping by. I'm just glad I don't live inside city limits where the ferals are 100 times worse. It would drive me crazy!