stray cats
This morning lily (sheepie) saw a different stray kitten in our front yard and sat/squished/layed on it. (she does this when playing with small dogs. she is cat friendly and respectful when its an indoor cat) neither stray kitten was hurt, just scared. We are not sure where these kittens came from, if they actually are strays and we aren't sure how to deal with this issue. (I am not a cat person, i do occasionally enjoy friends and families cats but probably will never own one) our yard is fenced in but obviously cats can climb. We only have 2 neighbors and neither of them have pets. Anyone delt with anything like this before? |
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| Many areas have shelters or cat specific rescues that will take strays. Another alternative is if there are some programs near you that spay/neuter feral cats and kittens. We have one here and we aren't that big of a community. It's a wonderful thing for helping control the feral and stray cat population. People can bring in their farm cats too, or income meeting criteria people can bring in pets - for a low cost spay/neuter as well. |
| Great advice Dawn! Chances are if there is bushes around your property area there probably resides feral cats. The trap/spay/release program is exactly that as these kittens may have been born to a domestic mom but not having human contact they are feral (wild). Kittens can be domesticated and are usually socialized in foster homes but the parents are neutered/spayed and returned to the area as the majority will never be family pets. They live out their lives but don't reproduce and the suffering for these colonies doesn't continue. Most TSR places have very experienced volunteers that will Trap them and I'd suggest you contact them to perhaps help out. Good Luck! Marianne |
| If still young you can domesticate them and then take them to the shelter or rescue. They want them around 8 weeks after interaction with humans. I love the feral spay/release. While I hate to see cats running free, at least I know those sterilized won't reproduce. Call a rescue group (opposed to a municipal shelter) and to get suggestions. When we had our orphaned feral kittens I was amazed how my dogs reacted. Normally cat chasers, they accepted the kittens, watched after them and initially cleaned their fannies as Mom cat had been killed. I still remember Jack snoozing on the porch, paws out in front and a kitten climbed the stemps and snuggled between Jack's paws. Dog had a very strange expression at first, "Whaaa?" but soon set his head back down and the two off them napped together. Eventually my kittens went to a local no killl shelter associated with Best Friends. |
| Great advice again! You want to get those kittens caught before they are 5-6 months as they can start reproducing by that age and a horrible cycle begins. The life of a domestic feral is harsh..aprox 2 years, but the colonies can grow large. It may be that Momma Cat has died and the kittens are straying in search of food. They also "freeze" and don't run when coming across danger so most dogs don't give chase. The kittens know at that age that there is unlikelyhood they can outrun a predator. That changes when they get older. Dogs also have that ingrained code of law in which they don't attack puppies and as the kittens are so young they may view them as such. A seasoned cat trapper will probably be able to catch the little tykes easily enough and will know if others reside in the area. They also don't usually return domestic cats to the wild - only those who it is apparent act wild (feral) and will never be a family pet. However, just like Dawn mentioned some places do not always return the cats even if feral to an area that is deemed too dangerous and try to find them "barn homes" to live out the rest of their lives. Farmers especially love to get these cats and provide them with shelter/water and food while the cats keep the rodent population under control in barns. I have two ferals (one was caught at 6 wks) and was able to be reasonably socialized and the other caught in adulthood who over time does come to me for pats and will sit near me. However, I can never pick him up without fear of my arms being shredded and even when he was microchipped the vet and assistants wore those long elbow gloves. The little kittens will act tough and hiss and spat but don't really do much harm. The way to socialize them is to wrap them in a towel with only the head showing and petting them. (I know you don't plan on keeping them if caught - just putting this out there for others who may come across domestic feral kittens). Eventually the kittens become used to human touch and the towel to pet them is no longer used and they generally become like any other kitten. There are also organizations that help domestic feral bunnies as well. Many people dump their bunnies thinking they'll do okay in the great outdoors. (Generally, any bunny that has other colors than brown) you know for sure is not a true wild bunny)There are other factors too like hind legs/ear size/shape of head but most people really don't know how to tell them apart if they are also brown domestic or brown wild. They multiply rapidly and cause havoc to the eco system as predators come into the area as they are an easy meal. Domestic ferals rarely dig burrows but stay out in the open. (sorry I know I went off topic but also including that in to educate anyone who may be wondering about feral animals). I fostered 18 domestic feral bunnies for the last 9 yrs who would never make family pets as they grew up in the wild but got to live their days predator free/spayed and neutered in a large enclosure at my place. Bunnies generally live 1o yrs but aprox 2 outdoors. Marianne |
| It killed me when a neighbor turned loose his bunny hutch. Suddenly the neighborhood had white rabbits about. Driving down the road predawn you'd see them standing alone the road watching the cars go by. Some found their way to live under our gazebo. MO had a wonderful time chasing them around the yard...losing all but one race. Bunny froze and MO froze over the top, "Now what?" Eventually the coyotes moved up and cleaned out the problem......including the nite here when I went outside to check out noise only to retreat when growled at.....gazebo was damaged and the bunny den broken into. I know I should have tried to rescue them.......but.......  |
| Susan I wouldn't want to tangle with a coyote either! It's so sad when people dump their animals thinking they'll do okay. As mentioned they do this more so with with bunnies as well thinking ,they just eat grass don't they? They like to munch on it but nutritionally grass doesn't have enough value to sustain their bodies in the cold (remember they don't dig burrows generally nor hibernate like wild ones). Their lives are filled with injuries from cars and dogs. (All the ones I fostered had injuries) White bunnies generally are caught the first night by owls, coyotes ect...as their color in the night is a beacon to predators as again that's not a natural color for bunnies. I probably get the hue and call once a week for our group of volunteers at Small Animal Rescue to help catch a dumped bunny. One of the near by municipalities just set aside funds for the TSR for bunnies as 2 bunnies multiply into thousands within 18 months...same with cats but not as much. Some rescues immediately euthanize ferals as barn homes or volunteers to socialize the kittens may not be available. Others, have volunteers that work specifically with ferals so I'd also check if they are a feral friendly rescue. Again apologies for going off topic but the subject is near and dear to my heart and education is the key. Knowledge is power. The more people know about these problems perhaps they'll get a chance to disuade a friend from "dropping" off their bunny/cat/dog in the woods thinking they'll be okay. |
| Thank you Marianne for the information about the bunnies. I didn't know the wild bunnies made burrows and the domestic did not. I've learned a lot on this site. AThis seems to be a big problem with people not wanting their dogs/animals dumping them in the country. That is how my brother got most of his dogs, they showed up on his property after being dumped. It is really sad. Each dog turned out to be great dogs. Another thing we have to be mindful of here in Florida are the birds, they are big and looking for food. Our neighbor, who lives behind us, was feeding a mama cat and her kittens, one night my daughter was sitting out back and she heard a bird take one of the kittens. It was horrible. There was nothing we could do. |
| You're welcome Helen. I'm sorry you and your daughter had to view the scene with the kitten. It must have been a helpless feeling to watch. Just want to say that with domestic feral bunnies....generally they don't dig burrows but the rare few will dig holes (but not deep ones to protect from predators). Out of the 18 bunnies I fostered, 16 didn't dig at all but 2 did., We house an additional 50 at the shelter I foster for. As for my pen, I dug down a foot or two and covered the layer with hardware cloth and then placed dirt and then sod over it . This prevents predators getting in and bunnies from escaping.The pen also has a roof .They are kept in a Mastiff size dog pen in warm weather and the same sized one in a heated garage in winter. Just another note (oh sorry I just can't help it!) But most Bunny Rescues do not recommend having hutch bunnies as they need to eat their poop (bunnies have two kinds) one kind serves as a natural antibiotic for them. Hutches generally have those horrible mesh bottoms so bunnies don't do what comes naturally to them as the poop falls through and the mesh harms their feet. I've seen many rescued bunnies who have nails that curl under as they never had a chance to run on grass or allowed more than a foot to stretch. Spayed/neutered bunnies bond strongly and sleep/cuddle/and groom one another. Males that are not neutered need to be separated at puberty or else one can fatally injure the other and in a hutch there is no escape for the torment. Bunnies lick their people, hop on laps and use litter boxes if allowed to live indoors as a family pet and then housed appropriately for safety reasons when upright isn't there to supervise. Okay that's it...apologies again for running off at the mouth and changing topic from stray cats to bunnies. You can see why I don't have favorites amongst animal species as to know them is to love them. I love them all. |
Bunnies lick their people, hop on laps and run up granpa's chest, then stare in his face until he hands over cheerios, triscuits or crackers. they use litter boxes if allowed to live indoors as a family pet if they're behaving. they also will chew the buttons off the remotes. never, ever let 'em get a box of tissues.   |
| LOL!!! Yes, I can see that! That cracked me up! Guest you obviously have a wonderful bunny you love  |
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