Stray/Feral cat keeps coming to my backyard. What to do?

[Dream]

These last few weeks a stray cat and her five kittens keep coming to my backyard. She doesn't have a collar on so I doubt she is own by anyone. Whenever I approach her she doesn't seem very afraid. Not sure what I should do about the cat and her kittens.

Whenever I see them, I throw pieces of bread and they all start eating. They might be going hungry since they always eat.

The kittens are cute and I'm thinking about catching one to raise. Would that be wrong? Should I just call animal control?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would call the humane society.

 

[Timby]

I would call the humane society.

Humane societies are non-profits and generally don't have the resources to come get / trap stray animals. Call animal control immediately; they can safely capture the cats and get them to a shelter.

 

[propita]

I used to have three cats with collars come to my yard at various times. I put out food for them. Very friendly.

Then a new cat showed up. No collar. Didn't want to be petted and won't come too close if I'm there. Fought the other cats--evidently, saw one fight, heard others. Now, only "Kitty" comes around. Guess she staked out her territory. We put out food for her. I think she's pregnant. I don't think she'd fall for a trap and get boxed in.

Not sure what to do.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If its a feral you should see about trapping it and getting it fixed. If there's a sanctuary nearby that takes in ferals they would probably help. My wife volunteers for a sanctuary. They take in ferals and arrange adoptions for the non-ferals in their care.

 

[Lonemagpie]

feed, adopt, spay, keep

 

[Dream]

I might attempt to catch a kitten.

I know that I can adopt, but after checking the nearest animal shelter it seems so damn complicated. Interview, background check and adoption fee?

Do some rescues make it too difficult to adopt?

How would I go through with this crazy plan? I assume I will need some kind of cat cage? Would a small dog carrier work?

 

[The Dominion]

Trust me, you probably don't want to adopt a truly feral cat. I had two that were wild as kittens and they never outgrew those tendencies. One was worse than the other though, and he was scared of everyone, cried repeatedly to be let in and out of the house, and was generally hard to get along with.

On the other hand, some of the tamest cats I've ever had were strays, although a few were most certainly former pets who were abandoned by their owners. Generally, if a cat comes to your house looking for food and shelter it'll probably make a fine pet, but if it's too wild the most you might be able to do is feed it and let it hang around.

Also don't assume it's a stray just because it doesn't have a collar. Not a lot of people put collars on cats, and they have a bad tendancy to hang themselves from trees with them.

 

[doubleohfive]

@Dream: Tell the cat all about your odd obsession with K-Stew and RPAtz. That should solve your problem in no time.

 

[RoJoHen]

I would leave them alone. Some cats simply live outdoors. My town is full of stray outdoor cats. They get along just fine.

 

[Timby]

I might attempt to catch a kitten.

I know that I can adopt, but after checking the nearest animal shelter it seems so damn complicated. Interview, background check and adoption fee?

Do some rescues make it too difficult to adopt?

How would I go through with this crazy plan? I assume I will need some kind of cat cage? Would a small dog carrier work?

Dude, just call animal control. Trying to capture a cat -- a kitten, no less -- with no experience and no idea of what you're doing is just stupid. You could easily wind up traumatizing the kitten, causing serious bodily harm to it, both or worse.

The reason it's so complicated (and it really isn't complicated -- both my cat adoptions were initiated and completed on the same day) to adopt an animal from a shelter is because the shelter has a responsibility to ensure the animal is going to a good home. These are animals that were beaten, neglected, or simply abandoned, and a shelter is making sure that the animal's next home is a home for the rest of its life, not just a temporary stopping point. By adopting, you're taking in an animal that needs a home, has been evaluated by a veterinarian and, by being adopted, will not be killed.

You have no idea what kind of diseases these stray cats might be carrying. You have no idea what the adult cat might do if you try to trap one of the kittens -- a feral cat can be a nasty beast. Let the professionals handle it -- if you want a cat so bad, go to the shelter and pay the $25 or whatever adoption fee, a fee that goes to keeping the shelter open, feeding and caring for the animals, and keeping them from being put to sleep.

 

[gturner]

I'd spend $5 on a bag of kitten chow and leave it out for them, along with water, and see what transpires. They might adopt you. The momma cat might not be feral, as some outdoorsy mother cats that come and go freely have litters outside (often in barns and sheds). Until I had a feel for whether she was feral or just hadn't taken her kittens to her owner's home yet, I'd be reluctant to get animal control involved. That can always be done a bit later, after you ask around the neighborhood, after you get a feel for whether she's hunting to live or hunting for fun.

 

[sojourner]

I read somewhere that kittens have to be handled within the first 3 weeks of being born to become accustomed to people. Otherwise they grow up feral.

 

[gturner]

^ that sounds about right, but I looked it up just to be sure.

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/bonding-with-your-new-kitten

Q: How old should a kitten be before it is handled regularly?

A: My rule of thumb is handling should be minimum during the first three days of life to allow the kitten to survive. After that, then handling the kitten on a daily basis is a good idea. Having the kittens bonding to human scent and human handling is very important, especially during weeks 3 through 7.

You’ve got this window for socialization. Up until 7 weeks is prime time. The secondary period is until 12 weeks and the tertiary period is until 6 months. During the first, second, or third choices, we should be doing everything we’re going to do with this cat in its lifetime. So if the cat will be going on trips, get it used to car rides from the time it’s a tiny kitten. If there will be lots of people coming and going, then expose the kitten to that during these periods. The same with anything you want your cat to be comfortable with later in life. This is your window of opportunity.

 

[NebulaClassGuy]

feed, adopt, spay, keep

This. I would seriously try feeding and adopting the whole bunch, because if you call any animal control type of agency, in all likelihood they'll just end up sitting in a shelter until they're put down, because who will want to adopt "feral" cats? So I wouldn't condemn them to that. If they take kindly to your offerings of food, just keep feeding them, and keep them around your place, so that they think of your house as home. As always, just my two cents.

 

[gturner]

^ So you're saying "Read the Diary of Anne Frank of do what's right." instead of calling the Kitty Gestapo.

Always wanted to Godwin a stray cat thread, and now I have.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think declaring your own post a "Godwin" automatically disqualifies it.

 

[NebulaClassGuy]

Yeah, I don't get it... the context is lost on me. In any case, the OP wanted suggestions, and as I stated, those were mine. Take it for what it is.

 

[C.E. Evans]

When I was little, a stray cat adopted our family one summer--she just showed up on our front porch begging for food. For two or three days, we ignored her, thinking she was going to eventually go away--but she didn't. Every morning, she was there on our porch, begging. She was a very fine-looking cat with a collar that had fake jewels, so she had to have belonged to somebody but then ran away or was abandoned we figured.

Long story short, we wound up feeding her every day eventually. She'd show up every afternoon, and we'd give her cat food and water. In time, though, every dang male cat in the neighborhood started showing up around our house, some of them fighting with each other over her. Seeing where this was going, we wound up having to trap her and we drove her to our local humane society where they were certain she was going to be adopted in no time as fine as that cat was.

Unfortunately, it took another four or five weeks after we dropped her off before the male cats stopped coming around our house looking for her, but it was all good in the end...

 

[Kestra]

We have a stray cat that I've taken to feeding regularly. It's mostly dry food so that we don't attract other cats, but he was losing weight and I just had to give him food. I don't want to call animal control because with all the cats around here, I know he'll get put down within 48 hours and he's a really sweet cat. I've thought about taking him to the vet to get him checked out but I'm already far too attached as it is.