Here are a few pics of my feral babies. (Picture heavy)

[Lunabell]

These are some of the fur babies I want to spay/neuter and release. I have set up a gofundme account and would like to advertize to get about $1000 to spay/neuter these wonderful animals. I will be using the Tallahassee Animal Aid Society, otherwise known as the spay/neuter clinic. Any leftover money from the account will be donated to them. These photos were taken out my front window where I feed water them. They live in culverts and in the empty lot behind my house. Can you please help? http://www.gofundme.com/tcsdpw


JellyBean and MamaKitty.
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JelyBean. Isn't he gorgeous?
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MamaKitty and JellyBean
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MamaKitty
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MamaKitty
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MamaKitty and OrangeBoy
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SilverMan, the beat up old alpha tom
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Splitface. Isn't she a beauty?
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[XemaSab]

1. Why re-abandon them on the street to be shot and hit by cars

instead of taking them to a sanctuary?

[greatlaurel]

2. These are feral cats who will all be put down if taken to a "shelter". TNR is a very good idea.

Trap, neuter and release is a proven method to control a feral cat situation. If the feral cats are removed from their colony, new cats move into the area. By spaying, neutering and releasing the ferals, it keeps the population down to a manageable population.

[XemaSab]

4. That's why I said "sanctuary"

TNR doesn't stop them from getting diseases, getting infections, being attacked by dogs, being poisoned, getting hit by cars...

How is sentencing a cat to any or all of these things humane?

[Lunabell]

12. I have looked in to that.

But there are no sanctuaries in this area. And where there are sanctuaries, space is limited. They don't take every animal that comes along. If I could afford it, I'd start a sanctuary myself.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. It looks like she's got a decent sanctuary going on right there.

My daughter lives in Kissimmee. They have a street there that everyone calls "Cat Road." The whole neighborhood, including the local police station provides food and outdoor shelter on a TNR program for about 35 cats.

[Lunabell]

23. I'm trying

I also have 2 indoor kitties that were once feral and 2 rescue dogs. We have a fenced in back yard and a doggie/kitty door. They come and go as they please.

[XemaSab]

24. How are her cats protected from the things I mentioned?

Did you know that the mortality rate for feral cats is 40-60% a year?

[Lunabell]

34. I guess there is no pleasing you

What are you doing for the feral cat population?

[Arugula Latte]

62. You probably don't want to know ...

X. is a hardcore cat hater.

[Lunabell]

63. LOL

Yes, I get that. Thank you

[ScreamingMeemie]

58. I'm sorry, you can be as angry as you want, but I applaud this poster

for caring for these cats. The world needs more people willing to step up.

[Ms. Toad]

20. And when those taken to the sanctuary are replaced with new ones,

what then?

One problem with previous clean kill tactics (aside from being an atrocious policy), is that when you remove a feral colony another takes its place. TNR prevents that by leaving the existing colony in place and limiting its size by stopping reproduction.

[XemaSab]

25. Then you trap the new cats and take THEM in, too

See how that works?

[Ms. Toad]

27. That is a never-ending cycle.

TNR stops the cycle. You don't create new feral colonies, and the ones who are in place limit the expansion into the territory.

Taking then to sanctuary works no better than killing them - other than that the existing cats are saved. The existing cats are also saved with TNR, and with TNR you stop the never ending cycle of new feral colonies no one individual afford to feed & neuter - not to mention that sanctuaries have limited space and resources. Keeping them in place is a much more sustainable option.

[XemaSab]

33. Do you pay the veterinary costs for your outdoor pets?

[Ms. Toad]

38. No clue what your point is.

But if you remove the colony to a sanctuary, neuter, and vaccinate them, a new colony will move in and then you will pay the vet bills for an entirely new colony of "pets" every year at a couple hundred every single year per cat. TNR is a single cost per cat that lasts ~5 years if you leave the colony in place.

As to your specific question - I pay for my pets' vet bills wherever they live. Currently that is not outdoors - but when I lived on a farm and had outdoor cats, we paid the vet bills to neuter, vaccinate, and treat treatable ailments (or euthanize them, if the treatment would be futile - or too overwhelming (e.g. daily dialysis to prolong the life of a cat with no hope of recovering from failing kidneys)) I don't pay vet bills for feral animals of any sort - although if we had a feral colony I would consider paying one time bills for TNR, because it has proven the most effective way of managing feral cat colonies.

[XemaSab]

47. Questions:

How do colonies form in the first place if cats are territorial?

Aren't you going to have fewer cats in the area if you take some out of the area? (Because right now you just have more cats down the road that you don't happen to be caring for.)

If you're feeding, providing water, and taking them in for vaccinations and to get fixed, how are they not your pets?

Finally, have there been any studies done on the effectiveness of TNR other than the Florida study (where they adopted and euthanized 58% of the cats.)

[hamsterjill]

28. There is no space for them.

There are NO sanctuaries that are always available to take in animals. Most shelters/pounds/sanctuaries operate at capacity at all times because of the pet overpopulation problem that exists.

The alternative (as explained in this thread) is to give the cats the opportunity to continue to live in a familiar environment where they are hopefully reasonably safe. There are no guarantees for them, of course, but it's better than taking them somewhere where they will almost always be immediately euthanized for space and because most are not considered adoptable.

We've got TNR'd cats in some groups in our city with cats as old as eleven years (or older). All are spayed/neutered and vaccinated before being returned, and regular caregivers feed the cats daily, monitor them for health issues, provide shelter for them during inclement weather, and watch for any new cats. New cats are mostly ones that are dumped by someone who knows that a colony exists and that the cats are fed. Desperate people do desperate things sometimes, and when they have no other recourse, they dump cats in existing colonies.

[Lunabell]

35. Don't waste your time

Some people are never happy.

[joeybee12]

36. How is putting an end to animal life's when that creature still has

a strong will to survive humane? It's not...consider yourself ignored...I've read your garbage for far too long.

[Lunabell]

45. I don't understan how they don't get it.

Not ignoring just yet... Maybe they will learn something. They have many posts here on DU so they must have a little clue.

[XemaSab]

48. I have friends who do wildlife rescue

This morning on Facebook one of them posted a picture of a pigeon who was scalped by a feral cat and left alive.

I'm also concerned about factory farming. Is the food you're feeding the cats humanely raised?

Finally, I think it's cruel to the cats themselves to leave them outside. Would you do this to any other pet? NO!

I just don't see how anyone can argue that feral cat colonies are "humane."

Just because you don't see the carnage doesn't mean it isn't happening.

[Lunabell]

51. Seriously

Answer my question. What are you personally doing to help feral cats?

[XemaSab]

53. Advocating to get them taken off the street

I don't think any cats should be outside.

[Lunabell]

61. So you are an armchair advocate.

What else do you do?

[XemaSab]

64. Work to educate people about native birds

n/t

[alphafemale]

59. The answer was apparently criticizing the efforts of others

Not meeting outlandish standards of Utopia.

Was the pet food humanely raised?

[Lunabell]

60. IKR

You can't raise vegan cats. It kills them

[XemaSab]

66. How many chickens do you think should be killed each year to feed one feral cat?

[Lunabell]

46. So what are you doing?

What are you doing to help feral kitties? Exactly what? WHAT??? Nothing. Yes. As I expected.

[Lunabell]

8. I live in a very quiet neighborhood

http://www.feralcatproject.org/aboutthecats_tnr.aspx

http://www.alleycat.org/casefortnr




What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?

Trap-Neuter-Return is the humane and effective approach for stray and feral cats. Now in practice for decades in the US after being proven in Europe, scientific studies show that Trap-Neuter-Return improves the lives of feral cats, improves their relationships with the people who live near them, and decreases the size of colonies over time.

Trap-Neuter-Return is successfully practiced in hundreds of communities and in every landscape and setting. It is exactly what it sounds like: Cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian to be neutered and vaccinated. After recovery, the cats are returned to their home—their colony—outdoors. Kittens and cats who are friendly and socialized to people may be adopted into homes.

Grounded in science, TNR stops the breeding cycle of cats and therefore improves their lives while preventing reproduction. It is a fact that the removal and killing of outdoor cats that animal control has been pursuing for decades is never ending and futile. Since feral cats are not adoptable, they are killed in pounds and shelters. With a successful program like Trap-Neuter-Return to turn to, it’s hard to believe that animal control agencies continue to kill cats, even though that approach has shown zero results.

It is time to put an end to catch and kill. Trap-Neuter-Return provides a life-saving, effective solution for these beautiful, independent cats.

There are so many reasons to embrace and promote TNR! Trap-Neuter-Return:

Stabilizes feral cat colonies
Improves cats' lives
Answers the needs of the community
Protects cats' lives
Works—other methods just don't

Trap-Neuter-Return Stabilizes Feral Cat Colonies

Colonies that are involved in TNR diminish in size over time.

During an 11-year study of TNR at the University of Florida, the number of cats on campus declined by 66%, with no new kittens being born after the first four years of operation.1
A study of the impact of TNR on feral cat colonies in Rome, Italy, also observed colony size decrease between 16% and 32% over a 10-year period.

Trap-Neuter-Return quickly stabilizes feral cat populations by instantly ending reproduction and by removing socialized cats from the colony.

A TNR program at the University of Texas A&M neutered 123 cats in its first year, and found no new litters of kittens the following year.
Over the course of the same study, 20% of the cats trapped were found to be socialized stray cats and adopted.2

[DJ13]

3. You have very nice cats there!

My wife & I take care of 20+ mostly feral cats in our 1.5 acre yard

5 dogs as well.

Its not easy, is it?

But we do what we can.

[murielm99]

5. We have some ferals, too.

But only five of them. Idiots drop them off in the country. We feed and care for them. We keep them alive through the winter. They keep the rodents down, too!

[Warpy]

9. That's what people don't understand about TNR

A controlled feral cat population does keep rodents down in areas where fairly stable colonies exist. Feral cats have to be considered working cats in areas where there are large rodent problems.

Cat sanctuaries are a good idea, but conditions in them vary widely. Some are little better than hoarding situations while others keep an eye on crowding and provide care for sick animals.

For cats born wild, TNR is really the best idea. They will never adapt completely to captivity and the most humane solution is to return them to the territory they have already established.

[greatlaurel]

16. Thank you, excellent description of why TNR is a great strtegy to control feral cat populations.

Thanks, again!

[hamsterjill]

29. Thank you for doing what you do!

n/t

[Lunabell]

43. No problem.

It is the least I can do!

[Lunabell]

44. Thank you.

Not easy, but since we don't have kids, our resources can go to fur babies.

[greatlaurel]

6. Keep up the good work and good luck with your gofundme project.

We have a cat colony on our farm. We add a couple cats a year when people drop them off in the country and they show up terrified and starving. A local organization helps with the spaying and neutering, but we supply the food and other medical care. There are about 18 cats right now. It is ridiculously expensive to feed and care for that many cats.

You are doing such a good thing taking care of these abandoned kitties.

[Lunabell]

42. Thank you.

It is a very small slice of a big pie. But that is why I am here.

[Arugula Latte]

7. A big thanks to you and all who help feral kitties!

[Lunabell]

11. Thank you.

This bleeding heart just can't take more babies being born and then just disappearing. And poor old alpha tom, SilverMan is just beat to hell. I want these guys fixed asap so they can start to live a better life.

[Lunabell]

10. Thank you to all.

Please, if you can't donate,(believe me I understand. I live paycheck to paycheck.) Please link on your facebook page.

[Duppers]

13. good to see your kitties

I've read your posts about them and will help soon.

[Lunabell]

14. Thank you.

And if you can't donate, please share link on your facebook page. Thank you.

[BrotherIvan]

15. Beautiful cats

It's great that you are fixing them because the population could explode from just this small group.

[narnian60]

55. +1000

[RiverLover]

18. Here's a tip I found very helpful when trapping cats for spay/neuter/release, Lunabell,

and it also works wonderfully on trips in the car with my own cats--cover the trap/carrier with a towel or blanket. It calms them down & they stop howling & thrashing around.

Its truly amazing! You may already know this, but just in case. It helps lower the stress of the whole operation quite a bit!

[Lunabell]

19. Sounds like good idea.

I think that the two torties have recently had litters (they were really round and fat and now they aren't but I can see the loose fur on their bellies swinging. full of milk) so I am going to wait until I see them appear before I start. Probably June, they will be about 9-10 weeks. That is around the age the mamas start bringing their babies to the food bowl

[Ms. Toad]

21. Don't wait too long.

Many vets won't neuter a pregnant female because it is a riskier procedure, and we have had the experience of being unable to get cats to the vet before they got pregnant again.

[Lunabell]

22. I won't.

But I've got to make sure the kittens come around so I can catch them too. I hope they can be tamed.

[fleur-de-lisa]

26. How sweet!

I have a colony of 6 semi-feral cats that live under my house and in my yard, plus 2 really old cats who live indoors. Two of my outdoor cats are torties like your sweet little Splitface. They are 2-year old sisters named Cajun and Creole. Three of mine are adults about 3-4 years old and the other 3 are 2-year olds from the same litter.

Over time they have become accustomed to me. Of the 6, I can pet and even pick up 3 of them now (one even lets me put him in a carrier to go to the vet). Two more often come up to me and smell my hand if I move slowly. The last one hisses at me on occasion and acts like he doesn't like me, but he will wink back at me almost every day during feeding, so I just assume he's trying to be a bad ass in front of his friends.

Btw, I contributed to your gofundme account. Good luck with your colony!

[Lunabell]

31. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I will keep everyone posted about the progress. As soon as the mama kitties bring the new ones to the food bowl, I will start to trap. Thank you Lisa!!!!

[SoCalDem]

30. Check with your local vets.. We trapped (Have-a-heart traps), neutered and released

the Momcat who had two UNTENDED litters (our current kitties) refused to be tamed, but I bottlefed her two litters ( 5 per litter) ..She hung around outside for the food we gave her ..for about a year and then she was gone. It was sad that she refused our attempts to bring her in, but we did what we could and her babies are now 12 year old spoiled brats

anyway.. I found out about the traps from the vet who steered me to a lady who loaned them to me for free..and the vet did the neutering for half price

[Lunabell]

32. I have 3 traps.

I am going to take them to the Tallahassee Animal Aid Spay/Neuter Clinic. They are non-profit and do a lot for the community. Their prices are good. $44 for male and $59 for female. Maybe I can get a group rate,lol.

[joeybee12]

37. They're beautiful...knr

And i've put the asshole who disrupted your thread on ignore.

[Lunabell]

39. What was that about? Thanks for your support.

This is the best solution for feral cats. I'm doing the best I can. There are sanctuaries that are overflowing with kitties and doggies. At least I will spay neuter, vaccinate and feed these guys. Thanks for your support. I want to hear back from this character. Exactly what are you doing for feral cats? What? Anything? Crickets...

Please post link on your facebook page if you can. Thank you.

[joeybee12]

40. It is the absolute best for ferals...

He or she really hates cats...that's the only explanation.

I have about 40 ferals I feed in a few locations..I try to adopt out the dumped domesticated ones and when I get kittens, but the ferals won't make good pets...and as long as they're fed and get fixed, they can have a good life. Thanks for helping.

I'm not on facebook.

[XemaSab]

49. I like cats

I just think outdoor cat hoarding is cruel.

If I had 20 dogs in my yard that I fed and left to their own devices, would you consider that humane? Why or why not?

[Lunabell]

52. Outdoor cat hoarding?

Is that what you think this is? Exactly what are you doing to help feral cats? You never answered that question. Why do you avoid this question sitting up on your high and mighty throne?

[Lunabell]

41. These are my other babies.

gigi on the left is a purebred silver poodle and is a rescue. Billy is a neutered feral cat that sometimes lives in the house. He won't let us pet him.

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Billy

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Gigi

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Billy sniffing the chicken.

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This is Charlie. He melts my heart. He was a rescue. Dug his way under our fence. My girlfriend thought he might belong to someone, so she put him back outside. She called me at work and told me about him. I told her to go find him immediately! She couldn't but a couple of hours later he dug himself back under our fence. He was matted and covered in fleas. He has been ours ever since and is just a doll. We love our babies so much!

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Bella, a feral I rescued as a kitten. She is soooo lovable!

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[Lunabell]

50. This is our Digger dog Charlie. He dug his way into out lives!

Charlie, flat out

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Charlie, the cutest dog ever!

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[hunter]

54. This problem makes me crazy. I can't think too much about it.

Especially when I'm wide awake in bed in the early A.M. and hear our silent neighborhood coyotes, learned by a few centuries of angry farmers with guns not to take chickens or lambs and to be invisible, grabbing a random cat in the night.

Outdoor cats, domestic of feral, don't last long in our neighborhood. If the coyotes and other wildlife doesn't get them, then the automobile traffic and feline leukemia does.

Worse, in my youth, I've had to work with a few sociopaths who see any cat crossing the street as a fair target. Hit the cat, score! Death Race 2000.

I think up to a third of the U.S.A. population is like that and they mostly vote Republican. Like veterinarians who'd shoot an arrow through a cat and post a picture on the internet for kudos.

I like birds and I provide birds supplemental food and water because birds eat our garden pests. We don't have cats in our house because I'm allergic to cats.

Our animal shelter rescue dogs are not fond of cats. Neighborhood outdoor cats are not welcome in our yard, expelled as competitors by firm dog enforcement, but not regarded as prey.

Gophers in our yard on the other hand are out of luck. Our dogs call them food. They'll sit quietly watching an active gopher hole for more than an hour sometimes. Their behavior is almost catlike. Any gopher who gets careless and sticks head out of hole while a dog is watching is DOGFOOD!

[Lunabell]

56. I am trying to TNR

They need furrever homes, but feral cats for the most part can not be tamed. They have grown up in the wilds and have reverted back to their former nature. The least I can do is Trap. Neuter and Release after a thorough checkup. We don't have any coyotes around here in N. Florida that I know of. We may have a few bears. A few feral dogs which I would try to catch as well, though I have never seen one in my neighborhood. I just know I have to do SOMETHING!

Also, I don't feed birds for obvious reasons. The cats would decimate any birds that congregated on the feeder.

[hunter]

57. My mom does trap and spay and neuter.

It's not come up here. Between our local mostly invisible coyotes, gnarly big very aggressive not afraid of any creature raccoons, and intolerant family dogs, we don't see many feral cats.