Ok getting ready to move and the one thing I am really fretting over is a Feral Cat. Now in case anyone does not know there is a difference between a "stray" cat and a "feral" cat. I currently live in a duplex area and it sets in front or behind depending on your view point of a large recycling center. I feed 4 Feral cats, but one of them I call "mine" as much as any Feral ever can be anyones. He will not let me pet him, he is basically a wild animal ( the definition of a feral) he runs away when he hears or sees me, but he will come to my door and meow for food. I have already made arrangements with a close friend and neighbor so that I will help her to continue feeding the others, but part of me really wants to take my Big Old Gray with me. IF I could have tamed him TRUST me I would have, he is FERAL...but I don't even know if re-homing a feral is a possibility. I am moving out to an area that is pretty much considered "country" I would have a shed that he could access as shelter as well as two porch areas that have cover and shelter.
Does anyone have any real knowledge of Feral cats and if I could do this without making his terrible?
I have tried to tell myself that with a feral cat I need to think of them as if I had a bird feeder and if I moved the birds would have to find a new place to eat, and I have arranged with a neighbor for her to put food out/ helping provide the food as well.
I just hate the thought of my big guy meowing at the back door and me being gone.
I know an organization out my way traps them, spays/neuters them, vaccinates them, then adopts them out as barn cats.
I went thru the same thing. I befriended a feral cat and when we moved I borrowed a trap from the local animal shelter. Unfortunately I trapped a skunk instead and my old neighbors were not too happy about that. I had caught him once before and taken him to the vet to be neutered and checked out but he learned from that so trapping him again wasn't as easy. So I went to my vet and was given tranquilizers. Now the tricky part of that is making sure they don't wander once they are drugged because it's so dangerous for them. I stayed with him and was able to throw a blanket on him and get him in my cat carrier. He did fine at our new place. Just make sure you have food and water ready immediately so he knows where it is before he makes a run for it. We called mine Wild Willie and he did let me pet him but no one else (took a really long time and a lot of patience). Good luck, I really understand how hard it is.
The hard part is that you've been feeding him and therefore he's learned to depend on a food source. I'm not being critical of you. I have done the same thing and trapped countless cats and had them fixed out of my own pocket.
I'd probably try to trap him and take him since you'll have a place for him to continue to be feral. I'd also try to get him neutered if you catch him.
Good luck!
It is definitely possible!
My parents and I lived in Florida for quite awhile and while we were there my mom and I were both very involved with a cat rescue groups. Most of the time we would focus on one colony at a time and trap as many as we could and get them spayed or neutered. We'd also try and trap any of the females that were already pregnant and keep them until after they gave birth - then once the kittens were old enough we would work to socialize them so they could be adopted out - and we would spay the mother and let her go back into the colony.
I don't really remember the exact circumstances, but I think it was because the other males in the colony kept beating him up, my mom started to foster a feral male, who she named "Huntley" - I think he was about 2-3 years old.
He was pretty beat up so we trapped him and he stayed in a dog crate for the first few days. We would drop cat food through the front bars and fill a little water bowl for him. We kept the carrier in an extra bathroom that wasn't really ever used - after the first couple day we opened the carrier door and let him out to explore the bathroom... and just took it SUPER slow from there.
It is a long process. You have to be patient and very slow. My mom's plan was to foster/socialize him so he could be adopted but he ended up imprinting on her - so it was really best for him to stay with her.
He is SUCH a sweetheart now. It still takes him a little while to warm up to any new person (he probably will always be that way).
When he purrs, you can practically hear him from another room. It's an amazing feeling to know that you saved a helpless animal's life.
Are there any cat rescue groups in your area that you could talk to and see what they think of your situation? I'm sure if you don't want to trap him to try and socialize him that eventually he will get used to your friend feeding him instead of you. Are you going to be moving too far away that you wouldn't be able to go back to your old house a few times to check on him and make sure he's not sitting outside your old house?
Sorry this response ended up being so long, lol
Good luck :)
It's wonderful to hear that you are such an angel for those helpless babies. Just think of how many feline lives you've helped to save by making sure they had food to eat!
My mother works with the SPCA and her life actually revolves around cat rescue and cat feeding rounds. They build cat shelters for winter, trap, spey/neuter and release. She also takes the kittens while young to get them tamed and adopted. My mother has actually tamed one before. He lived in a room by himself with window access to outside. She was the only one he ever let pet him. But after about 10 years he started letting others pet him. It would take a ton of patience.
There is an organization in my area called Spay and Stay where they help people care for feral cats outside. They are in Grayslake, IL if you want to talk with them or google another organization in your area. Are you sure your cat doesn't live in a colony of other cats? Definitely don't take him to a shelter. I've volunteered at an animal shelter for 15 years and it would be torture for him. I'd be inclined to get someone to take over for you when you leave. You're just one part of his world, he probably is really familiar with the area and associates with other cats, etc. But if you can find a professional Stray organization, they can advise you best. How nice you care so much to consider all his best options!
My parents tamed a feral cat. It took 3 years and them sitting outside with the food for each and every day for those 3 years. They were able to move that cat. Don't know about moving them other than that but I would worry about moving the cat. We had wild dog packs were we lived in rural Kansas and they would take toddler children if given half a chance, feral cat M. not make it.
I think you should take him, provided you can catch him. Once you are at the new location set his food and water dish out, leave him in the cage for a bit just so he can get used to smells and sounds and then let him go. If he is used to your voice he will probably stick around due to the familiarity. If he decides to run, since he's feral, I'm sure he will be fine and no worse off than he was already.
We have an organization in our area that traps feral cats, takes them to the vet and has them neutered or spayed, and then returns them to where they were caught (and where people are feeding them). I would think your trapping and moving him would be much less traumatic than all of that. If I were you I'd try to take him with you. Sounds like you, and he, are attached!
B.,
As one cat lover to another, I would say it is probably best to leave him. I know you probably love him, but might tramatize him.
I was able to tame one once when I was a teenager and even had her in the house. She didn''t have anything to do with anyone else, but would let my parents and brother feed her. But when I moved out, I left her, which was very hard for me, but better for her. Of course, I could visit her often (under the pretense I was visiting my family LOL)
Victoria
I once heard the average life span of a feral cat is 3-4 years. Living out in the elements takes it's toll on them.
I would not try to take a feral cat to the country unless I knew that coyotes and hawks weren't an issue.
To me, as hard as it is, the best thing to do would be to trap them for the SPCA or call the SPCA for help. You're feeding them so they don't starve, but it becomes more of an inevitable possibility once you move away. And if your neighbor carries on the feeding, it will just lead to more kittens--as in, hungry kittens. Especially as springtime nears! So, you either have hungry wild animals or you create more hardship on the wild bird population--and wild birds populations are already struggling.
You could try trapping him, and just take him there. If you provide food for him right away in the new location, he'll probably get the point.
That's what I'd do.
Updated
You could try trapping him, and just take him there. If you provide food for him right away in the new location, he'll probably get the point.
That's what I'd do.
We used to have mouse issues and we have a bunch of feral cats living around our neighborhood now. No more mice. I don't mind them at all. The neighbor puts out food for them and most of them live under her house and mine.
If you could get something from the vet to put him to sleep by eating the food you might be able to catch him. He might wander off too and not be found in time for you to catch him before waking up. I don't know about taking the cat in a cat carrier and letting him out at your new place, I think it would be better to go to a shelter and find a new cat or kitten you could cuddle and love. A feral cat will seldom be tamed.
