The twenty Kittens were apparently born in the last Spring, the person I inherited this property from was too lazy to TNR the four mothers so now we're at where we are. I like the Cats and the Kittens, but 30 has to be the maximum. Another generation and I'm worried this problem will be so completely beyond my control. It'll already cost me at least $1,000, and being in a rural area there are no City Shelters or resources on alleycat.org for at least 100 miles.
The Cats are all skittish, and only half of the Kittens will let me pet them if they're preoccupied once I've put food out; otherwise, they all bolt when I come out. No one's "feral" though, they don't hiss ever.
Is there a sedative I can put in the food that won't hurt them so I can round them up and take them in? I worry about trapping them in those box traps meant for Raccoons/Opossums, and even if I could fool a few of them, I doubt I could catch all ~30 this way.
I absolutely want to fix all of them and let them live together, the property's huge and I see all of them every day, they're not bothering anyone - but this has to be the last generation.
Many Rural vets have "feral specials".
Usually, this means that if you have a minimum of around three or five ferals, the price for spay/neuter goes down quite a bit. Call around your local vets, and ask them if they offer any spay and neuter programs.
Many Vets understand how fast cats can reproduce, and at least where I live, their feral discounts are quite kind. (Around 50$ for male, I believe?) That's still quite a bit, especially for the large bulk of cats you have. If you wanted, you could explain the situation to the vets or local humane society, and see if they have any services available.
In my own run in with large cat colonies, there's usually a local tnr group within an hour or so, it's just about finding them and getting their contact information. They're surprisingly hard to track down. If you're u.s based, a lot belong to a certain county, and in my area, they at least are willing to travel.
You could also potentially reach out to your county's animal shelter. They often have live, humane traps to trap your kitties that you can't grab when distracted by food.
We trapped and fixed 16 in a somewhat similar situation. In box traps with food as a lure. Probably took a week or so to get them all. Early stages sometimes got two in one trap.
The last one ended up in as a house cat and at 17 is now the last of the family.
That's awesome.
I was able to do the same in my old neighborhood. We caught 22. It was $50 each to get them fixed and they lent us the traps. TNR programs and the people who run them are the best.
yep, our vet does $35 for feral TNR. She wants less kittens as well.
I need pictures! (pls)
Contact local vets and explain that you're willing to let them live on the property, but need them spayed and neutered. They might know of a program or be willing to offer a discount.
Do you have a county Humane Society? Where I live county Humane Societies generally have a free or low cost cat sterilizing program.
Check with local animal rescues, too. They might know of programs or be able to sponsor the sterilization surgeries with a partner vet. Here some animal rescues participate in a voucher program with local vets who agree to do X surgeries for them for free or low cost.
My Aunt and Uncle bought a rural property that came with a boatload of "barn cats". From watching what happened there I suggest you round up and sterilize the females first. Top priority. They can become pregnant at 4 months old, they can become pregnant again while nursing a litter, and they can have multiple litters a year. You want to take the ladies in ASAP.
Reach out to a local cat rescue. They can connect you with cat people who deal with feral cats.
No local rescues within 100 miles unfortunately. I appreciate the advice though.
I'd say reach out to the local cat community for volunteers and advice.you might find vet techs or cat lovers with ideas or available time to help.
Maybe post on social media (Nextdoor, Facebook come to mind) and ask for help. There are a lot of animal lovers who aren't with agencies who will also help.
Have you even bothered to contact any and explain the situation, or are you just looking at the addresses and going, "Oh, well."? They might know of individuals who could help.
Bless you for doing this.
I wouldn't do sedatives in the food because you can't control dosing and you don't know what health issues they might have (or how it could affect wildlife). I'm willing to be corrected, but my gut says no.
Do you feel comfortable sharing your general location, like the closest major city? Sometimes there are unofficial rescue networks or just good people doing the work—if you were close enough to me I'd bring some traps out and help you get started. I dislike Next Door but it could be a good way to see if anyone local is willing to help you out. Your vet may also have resources or suggestions.
One thing to be careful of is to make sure you have a good recovery space—you don't want to bring a cat high of their rocker home to a garage full of yowling cats waiting for their turn under the knife. A crate or carrier in a laundry room is just fine for a cat recovering from anesthesia. With only 30 cats, you may even be able to wait to release the first batch until all of them have been captured (so catch 8-12, get them fixed while catching another 8-12, move the first batch to recovery and the second batch goes to the vet while you catch the last batch and keep the cycle going). It will depend on how many cats your local vet can fix at once, though. Opt for the ear tip to save time, for sure.
One thing to note is that new cats are likely to move in as your current population declines. I'd keep a few traps on hand going forward because it only takes one pregnant momma moving in to start this whole mess over again.
I would donate to a GoFundMe or similar if you had one for this project.
I will say failed attempts will train cats to avoid future traps so don't half ass it.
Me I'd build elevated nesting boxes for cats. Get them used to the idea "this is home, home is safe".
Once they have a place of comfort, offer food and water. Get them socialized to people. Meanwhile research spay and neuter clinics. Sometimes they run specials in the spring for low cost spay and neuter clinics. Especially for situations like yours.
They really do devastate the local ecosystems. Some farmers opt for the .22 route but that doesn't seem an option here.
the trouble is neutered cats do the same amount of damage to the local wildlife.
They do but a compromise solution leads to more action than a hard line all or nothing because when people see that all is unobtainable they end up doing nothing.
It's only a small vocabulary point, but feral doesn't imply anything about their temperament. It simply means that a domestic type of animal is living wild, because they or their ancestors escaped from or were released by humans. If you are feeding them and they depend on your food, your cats are not fully feral, but because you can't even touch or catch them, they are kind of feral.
Start today with feeding them in a specific place, maybe even in the shed where you can close the door. Up the game every two or three days with something special in the food that makes it more yummy and irresistible. You could very conceivably trap several this way at once, especially if there are boxes and hidey holes in there so they automatically feel like they could escape you to their personalized space if you come in the shed. Within two or three weeks, this may be enough to catch the majority.
It wouldn't hurt to start playing with some cat toys outside with them or laser lights. Our feral cats and our community love these even if they are straight up terrified or unwilling to come near us. Giving them an interaction where they can play in a non-threatening way makes us humans less danger and fear inducing.
thats really smart!
Absolutely talk to the vet ASAP. In a rural area they might have experience with this and can give you some direction with trapping, feral programs, vaccination programs, etc.
30 is a LOT of cats and while rural areas do have shelters, they are just as full as urban shelters. It wouldn't hurt to check out local Facebook and see if there are any groups (ignore if you have already done this!) that might have some suggestions.
Depending on how old the kittens are, your 30 could expand in the next few months or even sooner so be prepared for the spay/abort.
You are going to have THIRTY cats, potentially more before you get them all fixed. What is your plan for all these cats? Will someone be there to feed and water them?
I'm going to be brutally honest, if they aren't going to be fed/watered, you need to think about finding some of them homes, get them to a rescue, or you're going to have to make the really tough decision to thin the numbers.
I know that last option is harsh, but just fixing/releasing 30 cats will have nature thinning them out and nature isn't kind.
You need to contact local cat rescues they may have the resources and time to trap and relocate. Please post in r/catrescue
You need to contact local cat rescues they may have the resources and time to trap and relocate.
Please post in r/catrescue
Those kittens that let you pet them may be suitable for rehoming. Have you called some cat rescues to ask about their experiences? They may have the techniques/knowledge how to make them friendlier towards humans.
Get the vet to tip one ear a little bit when they're neutered. It's harmless for the cats, but an effective method to distinguish between cats you've already trapped and neutered and ones that still need to get the procedure done:
https://www.alleycat.org/resources/feral-cat-protocol-eartipping/
Where are you located? I know you say there aren't any local rescues, but there might be one local enough to help out with trapping.
Reach out to the kitten lady and her non-profit orphan kitten club. I know they go out to rural communities and tnr but I don’t know how they select those communities.
Traps...get them fixed by a clinic and return...find homes for the kittens.
I’ve done this with two cats. I had to trap them in a box trap. I’d probably just set out a bunch of traps and/or snatch up the ones that let you.
I agree with seeing if you and your vet can work together as a team to get this done.
I know this sounds horrible and I don't think it's something this city boy could do. When I was growing up my grandparents and my aunts and uncles had dairy farms and horses. They liked the cats for keeping the rodents down. To keep the cat population down, they would trap the toms in those live traps and put tight rubber bands around their nuts. It was just something you did with farm animals. They thought nothing of it.
That would have been decades ago, before rural vet practices that can safely neuter barn cats were a thing.
So I don’t know where you are, but I live in the Midwest and around here birds and other wildlife prey on the cats. so if you get your cats fixed, you are going to have a dwindling cat population on your farm. You need cats on your farm to keep the mice and other vermin in check. Yes 30 is a lot, so get a couple fixed, but I wouldn’t fix them all or else you will need to buy cats later on down the road. Growing up I remember my family exchanging kittens and cats with other farms so there wouldn’t be in breeding. We would use live traps. And we would typically fix the males as it’s easier to do and recover from. We would just fix the males like we would the cattle.
Feral doesn't exactly mean aggressive. Feral means they aren't in any way adapted to or trusting of humans. Stray means people friendly but no owner.
Sedatives aren't going to work in your favor- there's no way to safely dose everyone with the different ages, weights, and potential differences in metabolism.
Your best bet is going to be traps with food. And some will be too smart to fall for it.
You can use a corral trap. Get a (very tall) outdoor pet playpen like this one or something similar. Bait it for a few days to let them get comfortable with it, and then when they're all inside drop a door or something remotely with a string.
I've had a cat who could jump to the top of a 5-foot fridge from the floor, you need a surprisingly tall fence or else you need to add some kind of ceiling (probably after they had a few days getting used to it).
Contact a local org. They can help supply you with traps and a low-cost neutering service. I’m envious!
If you are on Facebook, I would try looking for a Feral Cat coalition for your county and see if you get any hits. My coworker did this. They have volunteers that will bring and help set up traps and then pick the animals up to be fixed and returned.
You just need to set up traps after scheduling a TNR. Our program won't do a TNR unless they come in a trap. We're having problems trapping some cats right now. TNR's are near impossible to scheduled in my area, I'm pretty sure it's due to a vet shortage. You have to wait over a month for an appt. I had an appt. but the two cats just sat outside the trap and wouldn't go in for the food. I got some advice for next time to cover the trap with a towel to camo it. I'll try something stinkier too like tuna.
Is there an organization that may help you trap? If there is they will set traps for you and take them to get fixed as they can. My local only does this once a month and can only catch how many they have traps for. If you plan of trapping them yourself you need to buy a few hav a heart traps and catch as many as you can. If you have young kittens make sure you don’t trap the mom til you traps the kittens.
There are usually organizations locally that can help you trap them. Do a quick search on Google. If nothing comes up local for you try reaching out to animal control. They may be able help you trap them, too.
Contact alley cat allies They will be able to provide you tips and tricks on how to capture them. You will probably need to buy traps and you can do a few at a time. If you know which are female try to get them first but that is easier said then done. Reach out to local vets and explain the situation and see what can be done. Lots of places do surgeries on certain days - you want to trap the day before because you don’t want them to sit there too long. Good luck!
Sometimes rural vets will help with this sort of thing at a discount. It’s also worth checking with your county. They may have a program, formal or informal, that will help.
You’re going to have to grit your teeth and use humane traps. Drugging is rarely effective and also very risky.
I live rurally, rural vets know this song well. The last time I was there there was a lady with two dumped cats. She was her own personal TNR, they were allowed to live in her barn provided they weren't breeding. She said she hadn't intentionally gotten a cat in decades, they all just showed up.
Call around, they may very well cut you a bulk discount. The other part is with so many, there's a good chance of disease. Take in a mamma first. If she's healthy, great. If not, it may be a 'put some down for the benefit of others' situation.
Those hav-a-heart traps are fine for cats, just don't set it then not check it for days. Must check it at least every 12 hours. Know where & how to release a skunk/ opossum/ racoon if you get one by accident.
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Put a bunch of stuff on your dining room table you don’t want knocked to the ground. They’ll all show up to do it
Have the vet come to you...assembly line.
Don't listen to these redditors, country cats have an important job in controlling the rodent population. Do not feed them, do not interact with them. It's ok to leave water for them though. If you want a pet cat, catch one, neuter it, and keep it inside the house.
They are part of the ecology now, getting rid of them and you will be overrun with rodents.
sometimes you can focus on just one sex. Usually spaying the females is most effective, because tom cats can come from outside the colony.
But neutering all the males, which is often cheaper, might slow things down quite a bit and buy you only a couple of litters to deal with later when you can more slowly go through the spaying process (or the adopting out process).
I don't know if you could do something like cage or sequester the females in some way that keeps the males from reaching them.
You might try trapping them instead of trying to catch them by hand.
Hey, think about it. You might not have a rat problem with them around.
OP said there are 30 cats already. That's way more than enough.
Not a sedative, but something that might help mitigate some of the skitishness: Purina Calming Care supplement. You add it to the food.
Hire a preschool teacher
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.410 can be hard to find and expensive, but .22 subsonic is cheap and readily available. Hard day on the farm though.
it’s so much better than tormenting them by capture and a trip to the death shelter. i know which id prefer
Its better for them to die with honor that way, like warriors.
I mean, if you have a farm ... That's the main reason for having a bunch of self managed cats. Maybe just don't worry about it? These aren't house cats, they aren't even feral cats... They are farm cats... That's why domestic cats exist. You will deeply regret not having enough of them later.
OP has and is planning to keep 30 cats, 2/3 of which are under a year old. They should be set for a very long time. At some point if they find themselves desiring additional cats, they may well have had other cats find their property, or likely will be able to easily acquire additional from other farms.
30 cats on one property with many just approaching sexual maturity does not sound like a cat colony that can be expected to maintain a balanced population on it's own. OP is right to pursue mass sterilization asap.
If they aren’t fixed they’ll have ~100 cats by next year
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Or.... The exactly right amount of cats that are needed to control the rodent population on an actual farm... Will be there next year. Predator populations have a way of self stabilizing. You can remove cats and you can add cats... But the total population of cats on that farms gonna be the same no matter what you do
If there are no charities or shelters, I'd contact the vet you're gonna take them to, maybe they can help or point you in the direction of someone local who could assist? Maybe they know of someone who has suitable traps. I'd doubt they'd give you a sedative to administer though, it would be difficult to get the right dosage and the cats might go into hiding when they feel a bit funny. Might do them more harm than good, but I'm not a vet that's just my gut feeling.
Also thanks for doing this, you're an awesome human being ❤️
That's a really good point, I didn't want to bother the vet if I didn't have a firm plan but you're right they would probably know best, or at least how to coax them out and make them feel safer with me around. Thank you so much!
I don't think it'd be a bother at all. Vets generally care about animals, plus you catching those cats means business for them so I bet they'll be happy to help however they can
If you are going to set live traps. Bait them with catnip. It's very effective on cats, LOL, and you won't attract any other creatures. There's nothing like the excitement that some things in the trap and then seeing it's a possum or God forbid a skunk.
Contact the vet and let them know the situation and that you want to get all the females fixed. Then ask for their recommendations on the best way to do that for all the cats.
They might be able to do some bulk pricing, and set aside like every Monday to do 5 of the cats until all the cats have been fixed.
They might have traps to lend or can recommend how best to decide which cats to get trapped and spayed first. How best to transport them, how to look after ferals after being spayed, etc. Asking other rescues for advice on how they do something similar will help make it easier for you too. It doesn't need to be trial and error.
The vet can also tip the ears as he does the surgery. That way once they heal and you release them you can differentiate which have been spayed and which haven't for the next round of capture and spay.
Also this way when a new cat shows up that hasn't been spayed (from being dumped, or just roaming) you will know it needs a vet visit.
This is the way, our old town has a group of volunteers who got together every week to tnr the strays at our harbor. I'm sure they aren't the only ones out there.