Feral cat noise, the sequel

[brewer12345]

Probably makes the most sense, Sarah. A shame the feeders don't understand or don't care what they are doing to the animals.

I am glad the local coyotes and foxes take care of this problem for me. About the only thing the coyotes are good for.

[Purron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 So what is the way to manage the problem? Moving them elsewhere transfers the problem to someone else and may not work, trap and spay/neuter does not work, there are no local predators to control the population, and exterminationis frowned on.

Brew,

I think I've made my position on this issue pretty clear in the past. This is near and dear to my heart so think it's best for me not to discuss it here any more. Just not the right place plus the topic has nothing to do with early retirement. I'll just leave it there.

[REWahoo]

A wise decision Purron.

Remember the forum has an "Ignore Thread" feature. Might come in handy here.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purron Brew, I think I've made my position on this issue pretty clear in the past. This is near and dear to my heart so think it's best for me not to discuss it here any more. Just not the right place plus the topic has nothing to do with early retirement. I'll just leave it there.

Well, I was not trying to offend you or anyone else. And as yu know, we NEVER talk about anything unrelated to ER...

I really was genuinely wondering what could be done. With active feeders in the area, spay/neuter seems to be tough because there is a seemingly endless supply of new, intact ferals showing up for free grub. Unfortunate for the neghbors and the cats.

[Original Wally]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I know that Purron is a true animal advocate, and she, like me, shares Nords' frustration along with a sadness for the human landlord-caused problem that Nords is experiencing. I'll tell you what I would do in the situation, but it isn't easy to do: I'd take adult, unadoptable animals to my vet for humane euthanasia. I don't advocate any kind of cruelty (and Ed, I know you didn't mean that quite the way it sounded) or feeding one animal to another, but that is honestly what I've done with animals I've found dumped in our rural area that I've been unable to rehome reasonably. It is a hard thing to do, though, and you have to carry the problem around with you, but to me, it is the best of a lot of hard choices. Far better for an animal to have a good end, peacefully provided, than the alternatives. As in most things, YMMV.

I agree with Sara - put them down.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purron I respectfully disagree with this Nords. People have dropped cats off in our area in the past since it's a rural enclave in a very urban area. Not appreciated by DH and I or the dropped off cats I suspect.

Hey, you've read the length of this thread (both temporal and the number of posts) and the other steps that we've tried.

If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

[BigMoneyJim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

Feed the feral cats. Then maybe they'll go to another neighbor's place to caterwaul. Or feed them better food so they leave their original home's food to the rats until they stop putting food out.

(No I'm not serious.)

A coworker lives by a neighborhood park, and apparently it's a prime location for pet abandon-ers. Several times he's seen people dump cats or dogs and drive off quickly. The dogs try to chase their (ex-) owner's car. A coyote sometimes finds the abandoned cats before people do.

I think my cat may have been abandoned at a park. My mom and nephews picked her up, and of course the nephews wanted to keep her. The cat didn't get along with everyone and was a bit hyper and aggressive with some of the other people and animals, so eventually she was passed to mom. When I told mom I was considering getting a litterbox-trained adult cat from the shelter she jumped at the opportunity to pass Jinx on to me. Our best estimate is that she is 12-14 months old now. I chipped her in case she gets out and lost. She plays very fiercely so I have to encourage her not to play-bite, play-bat me or play-stalk me or surely she will overdo it in the (near) future. I'm also teaching her she can be grumpy, but anywhere in the house except on or by me.

I think my neighbor feeds stray/feral cats. I have a lot of cat traffic through my yard, but they are mostly quiet. But at a neighborhood meeting I learned a number of the neighbors trap, neuter and return stray cats (well, they take them to a professional...), so everybody should be unloaded.

But your neighbors take the cake. Leaving chipped pets behind and then having a relative go feed them. That's wrong on so many levels.

[kyounge1956]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Hey, you've read the length of this thread (both temporal and the number of posts) and the other steps that we've tried. If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

If I find myself in a similar situation, and assuming I had no interest in maintaining friendly relations with those particular neighbors, I think I would be inclined to pursue sterner measures against the cat feeders and/or owners of that property.

I think it likely that they are committing some variety of zoning infraction, or "creating a nuisance" ordinance. I would attempt to bring the building inspectors or health inspectors down around their ears for creating a condition attractive to vermin (the rats) or something along those lines. The fines for such violations can be hefty, so that might get them to stop the feeding, or they may just get mad and move out. Either way, once the food source is eliminated, I would think trap/neuter/release would deal with any residual cat population.

And another thought--I would buy some wolf or coyote pee (available online) and sprinkle it around my property to repel the noisy cats.

[Andre1969]

dumb question, but why doesn't "fix and release" work? If the cats are fixed, at least they can't reproduce, so the problem won't get worse. Obviously, the best scenario is no feral cats at all, but I'd still take a few feral cats to cat colonies that grow and get out of hand.

Around these parts, I don't think the cats have any natural predators, once they're full-grown, at least. We have foxes, raccoons, and opossums. I know a raccoon will kill a kitten, and I guess a fox would, too. Dunno about a 'possum, though.

And, I hate to say it, but my neighbor does put food out for the feral cats. I told her she should stop, but she says that when she feeds the cats, they're less likely to mess with the birds.

And, I'll admit, that I do throw old food out in the woods behind my house, probably about 150 feet away. I figure it gives the local critters something to pick at, but if it's old chicken bones and such, I might be inadvertently feeding the feral cats, too?

[timeasterday]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 ... trap and spay/neuter does not work...

How does this not work? Are you referring to more cats coming into the population from other areas? If you have trapped all the cats in an area and had them fixed, there is no population problem and no more noise. This worked in our neighborhood with us trapping all but one cat and paying to have them fixed.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by timeasterday How does this not work? Are you referring to more cats coming into the population from other areas? If you have trapped all the cats in an area and had them fixed, there is no population problem and no more noise. This worked in our neighborhood with us trapping all but one cat and paying to have them fixed.

I've been watching a situation where an enthusiastic feeder is also doing trap and spay. The feral cat population has only expanded over the years. There is enough of a draw that new cats keep coming in all the time and the trap and spay does not keep up with the influx.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 dumb question, but why doesn't "fix and release" work? If the cats are fixed, at least they can't reproduce, so the problem won't get worse. Obviously, the best scenario is no feral cats at all, but I'd still take a few feral cats to cat colonies that grow and get out of hand.

The cats that we've caught have all been fixed and released. The problem is with the cats that we have not yet caught. Once we catch them all (and after they're fixed) then we can relax in the knowledge that they won't be yowling at each other.

As Brewer points out, I'm not sure how to determine when we've reached the level of "all the cats".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre1969 And, I hate to say it, but my neighbor does put food out for the feral cats. I told her she should stop, but she says that when she feeds the cats, they're less likely to mess with the birds. And, I'll admit, that I do throw old food out in the woods behind my house, probably about 150 feet away. I figure it gives the local critters something to pick at, but if it's old chicken bones and such, I might be inadvertently feeding the feral cats, too?

If the landlord's manager was a neighbor on our street then I suspect that property vandalism friendly coercion or an educational visit from the Humane Society would have stopped the feeding long ago.

Unfortunately the feeder lives eight miles away in a neighboring town. Even when the cat food in the dishes was disappearing five times per day, and the cat beds were simply disappearing (or so I've heard), this person would still travel to the house several times per day to restock.

[timeasterday]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords As Brewer points out, I'm not sure how to determine when we've reached the level of "all the cats".

I guess our population is small enough that we end up getting to know them all. We have made up names for them all.

[Redbugdave]

Just thinking out loud...I can't help thinking that there must be some sort of drug/hormone that could be put into the food that would stop ovulation or make the males impotent. That would be another solution. I wonder if it has been researched?

On the other side of the coin...hormones would be temporary or only as long as you feed. But, if you have people nearby that like to feed the cats, it would be a solution and a winner. That along with the ones caught and surgery done would pretty much keep the population down. And Nord's rats might slow down from the hormones, too.

One last solution...Nord's have you tried Ambien?