In a pickle, don't know what to do!

Hallie · 10-28-2009, 01:50 PM

Well I've found that i'm between a rock and a hard spot. There's a few hotels down the road and one section of one of the hotels is pretty much abandoned but people are still living there. Anyways, there are kittens and a few adult cats living under the building and in the storm drains. One of the male cats (he's HUGE) has been coming up our street and he got in a fight with my male cat..we got my cat looked at and he had a pretty bad neck wound but we weren't sure what did it. A few weeks later my little baby cat gets attacked and this time we witnessed it. It's that stupid male cat. He's in good body shape and we've put up with him getting into our trash forever now. I'm at the end of my rope! I will not allow my own cats to be harmed. Our male cat was pretty messed up and poor little Daisy is pretty ripped up as well, I won't stand for this! I'm thinking I should call animal control as it's getting out of control, I really didn't want to call them because I know they'll take the kittens and since they're feral they won't find homes

. I'm torn between calling and just living with it. We have 4 cats and 3 have been attacked numerous times by this mystery manx, he's bigger than all of my cats and my biggest one is as tall as my beagle! What in the world should I do, any suggestions?

pugmom · 10-28-2009, 02:05 PM

Unfortunately AC usually wont come out for stray/feral cats so your options are

1. You can get your own trap and see if you can catch him and then take him to the local shelter
2. You can hire someone to come trap them and take them away (you should probably have them take the kittens too..As kittens turn into tom cats and you might be dealing with this again in just a few months when the kittens are grown)
3. You can keep you cats indoors and get trash cans with lid locks or you can buy a Large outside dog kennel to put your cats in to keep them safe while still getting "outside time"

Hallie · 10-28-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pugmom

Unfortunately AC usually wont come out for stray/feral cats so your options are

1. You can get your own trap and see if you can catch him and then take him to the local shelter
2. You can hire someone to come trap them and take them away (you should probably have them take the kittens too..As kittens turn into tom cats and you might be dealing with this again in just a few months when the kittens are grown)
3. You can keep you cats indoors and get trash cans with lid locks or you can buy a Large outside dog kennel to put your cats in to keep them safe while still getting "outside time"

Yeah I thought about that right after I posted, I'm going to call the AC anyways and see what they recommend. We're keeping the cats in for now but they're driving us crazy wanting out. Unfortunately the city regulates the type of trash can we use..which I think is crazy. We have to use the city issued trash cans, the cat has a really hard time getting into those although the coons don't. I was definitely going to get the kittens as well because that's exactly what I thought when I saw them, they're just a 2nd generation of the bad cat. He's a nightmare! He's an orange manx and he is just huge. We may trap him ourselves but I'm sure we'd catch the raccoons that are around as well.

FilleBelle · 10-28-2009, 02:28 PM

Our animal control won't come out for stray/feral cats UNLESS they are dangerous, which might describe these cats.

Having said that, your best option is probably to secure your yard and not let your cats out of it. I installed the Cat Fence for my last cat and it worked like a charm.

Hallie · 10-28-2009, 02:39 PM

I was thinking about the cat fence but the cats can't be in the same yard as the dogs since our dogs treat the cats like..dogs! The cat is dangerous. I don't see him mauling us or anything anytime soon but he's causing substantial injury to our cats. I'm having to move my rabbit inside because the cat likes to try to get into the rabbit cage and scare the crap out of my rabbit.

nekomi · 10-28-2009, 02:48 PM

I would look online and see if there's a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) group in your area... if there is, see if they will bring traps and take the kittens. Often, feral kittens can be socialized to people. I trapped and raised 3 feral kittens myself. They were already 9 weeks old when I got them, and were terrified of people... the vet wasn't sure if they could be socialized, but two weeks of hand-feeding and patience turned them around! They are now three of the sweetest, most outgoing cats I have met.

After the kittens are safe, I would call Animal Control and have them come out and take care of the tom. If he is harming your own pets, you just have to draw the line...

I also wanted to say that you could trap the feral kittens yourself, and try to find barn homes for them... if you live in a rural area, this will be easier. Barn owners don't particularly want friendly cats (in many cases); they just want good mousers, and often feral cats are the best for that job.