A follow on from stray cat question. Worried!

[poiuytrewq]

Some may recall I posted last week about a little stray/feral cat who we feed. She recently appeared with two kittens.
I was concerned that they would just keep breeding and was advised to try and trap them then neuter. Preferably with the help of a cat charity or similar as I just can't afford to get 3 cats done myself.
The Cats Protection told me to contact my local cats protection which I've tried to do but there is never a reply (left a voice mail) but according to their website the closest one doesn't cover my area anyway.
The local Blue Cross is experiencing high volumes of calls constantly and asks me to call back before cutting me off.
I've tried a more local cat sanctuary although again not sure we are in the correct area. I left messages, they called back and left messages and so on!!

Problem being this morning/over night we caught mummy cat. She's very skinny and scruffy but appears ok. Currently in the back of the lorry as its quiet and secure. No kittens though to be seen. We are not 100% sure where they hide out so have dotted several traps round where they have been seen but it's a fairly large area.
We don't know how old the kittens are but I'm worried stiff about them being alone. They are running round playing age not tiny.
I feel we need to get mum done asap to avoid more litters of hungry homeless cats but worry if we let her go we won't catch her a second time round?
I will of course continue trying to get hold of the cats sanctuary for advice/help (although if need be I will try and find the money to get her sorted as its obviously taken a toll on the poor thing feeding kittens)
What do I do?!!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Nb- the mother is not handle able at all.

 

[Remi'sMum]

If it were me, I'd keep her in the lorry for now. Maybe put a few bowls of kitten food down in places you've seen the kittens hanging out.

Can you ring your local vet on a Sunday? Or call them first thing tomorrow morning, they'll have CPL or Blue Cross contacts that maybe aren't numbers you can find on the charity websites. Then maybe they can get her in tomorrow for spaying?

Don't know if that's any use but I agree, now you've got her it'd be a shame to let her go and not be able to get her again.

Good luck!!

 

[touchstone]

I'd get her straight to the vet for spaying and flea treatment and worming. She should be able to be released fairly quickly, the vets will advise especially if you use one used to neutering strays.

You probably won't be able to re trap her if you let her go.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

If you can't find the kittens I would make sure that they can find mum (in her cage), keep a careful watch and then try to get them as well. Ring your own vet and asdk their advice about spay.

 

[poiuytrewq]

One of the guys who works at the farm's wife is a small animal vet locally apparently so o/h has spoken to him and she's on a call out atm but he's asking her to contact us later on to advise of someone who can help or maybe if she's able to.

On a less good point unless mumma cat is hiding well I think she may have vacated the lorry through an open window
So angry at myself as I was convinced that the bars were narrow enough to prevent her getting out and thought it would be better to get some air in it.

 

[poiuytrewq]

She's gone and the gamekeeper is threatening too shoot them

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

If you explain situation to your vet, he should help, it is not too expensive to neuter. Really, its animal welfare.
If your horse needed a vet call out, I am sure you would manage.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

She's gone and the gamekeeper is threatening too shoot them

No idea if he can do this, but I would contact his boss [mention local paper is interested], by phone, then in writing, most keepers would not tell folks of this, their final solution. Why they would shoot on sight is beyond me, as they seem to allow rabbits to multiply, and they raise thousands of non native birds purely in the name of "sport". The feral cat has probably displaced the native wildcat, which was shot by a previous generations of keepers. But not many domestic cats could kill an adult pheasant,, and if they do kill one, it would be surprising as they will be bigger than cats.

 

[touchstone]

Oh dear, not ideal, but if it's any consolation a feral cat I trapped in an enclosure managed to squash through a gap that was a couple of inches high, she was heavily pregnant too. We did eventually trap her and she is a happy house cat now.

I think all you can do now is to try to rebuild her trust by leaving food out and putting it gradually closer to the trap, she may well pluck up courage to enter it when she's hungry enough. She might hide away for a while after her fright though.

In the meantime you should be able to trap the kittens who stand a chance of being rehomed and tamed.

Well done for caring, so many turn a blind eye to this sort of thing.

 

[mandyroberts]

Its good to hear that other people try to do the right thing for ferals.

 

[touchstone]

Just to mention that if you need to keep her for a while one she's trapped before or after neutering then a good solution is a large covered dog crate where she can have a litter tray food, water and a bed that you can keep in a closed room.

They are practically impossible to catch loose in a room and great escape artists, it takes some skill and extra blankets to block gaps trying to get them into a carrier from the crate! If you intend keeping and taming her then a crate is ideal at first.

 

[poiuytrewq]

We have had a top mesh door made for my stable which is not in use at the minute so hopefully we can catch/recatch her and she will be safe in there.
The gamekeeper has been told he's not too shoot them, I can't see she would kill a pheasant anyway tbh. They are almost bigger than her.
I don't actually know what it costs and yes of course I'd find money for vets fees for my horse, but I'm assuming £150 per cat? That's £450 which no I can't afford!!

 

[Blanche]

I would borrow a dog crate and use that to keep them in until they are neutered. They will be very difficult to catch in a stable.
They won't cost that much to neuter , if you can't get a voucher it will be more likely be around £60 for a female. This will obviously vary from place to place. Pets at Home sometimes run low price neutering events along with another chain pet store that I can't remember the name of.
I would try a drop trap next time as it isn't as confined as a normal trap. I have caught a few in my homemade drop trap, very handy thing to have. Try on catchat.org . They have a forum on there and there may be someone local who can help you.

 

[touchstone]

You should be able to get vouchers for free neutering from the CPL, and seriously I can't say enough what escape artists a frightened feral will be, chances are you'd open the stable door and shed bolt past you, the crate was a godsend for me. Good luck!

 

[Iwantakitten]

Just FYI when I had my cat spayed it was around £60, best of luck with her and the babies.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Ok, I have a small and a medium dog crate I can use. I was just worried that they wouldn't like to pee/poo so close to sleeping and eating.
We now have about 10 tuna baited traps dotted round.
I shall look at drop traps and the forum thanks!
£60 is far more acceptable I was gone by on what I paid to have a tiny dog done last.

 

[Bluedaisys]

Cats protection and RSPCA have a 'trap, neuter and return' scheme. Can vouch for CPL being fantastic helping me with feral mum and 6 kittens!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Awesome, I'll try them again in the morning.

 

[Fiona]

Best of luck OP... We love our ex feral boy. He's still an outside cat but quite friendly now.

Fiona

 

[Asha]

Fair play OP you are trying your best. I hope she turns up soon.

I have two feral farm cats, well they started that way !! They do a fab job keeping the local furries at bay. They are now far from feral, tuna helped make us friends.

Keep us posted x

 

[Adopter]

Five years on my feral cat is curled up on the sofa, but it took time!

Initially when we could not get near him I left food in the same place every evening and as it was dusk I could see him coming round to eat. I sourced worm and flea tablets that could go in his food to help him, and they did work.

Good luck I am sure with patience you will build her confidence and hopefully be able to catch her again.

 

[asmp]

Our vets list spaying as £82.30 but they're not the cheapest around. I had great difficulty in getting hold of the local cat charities around this time of year a couple of years ago - apparently this is a really busy time as everyone wants to home cats after they've got the summer holiday over and the kids are back at school. Also some of the local CPL are run by very small teams, which is why you can't get hold of them. Keep trying (or go a bit further afield). Good luck!

 

[mytwofriends]

Nothing useful to add, OP, except for to say well done for being concerned and caring. Hope it all works out.

 

[c2b]

Try your local vet for vouchers. When I got the farm cats done my vet sorted all the paperwork/vouchers out all I had to do was present the cats
My son had a stray cat fly into his house one bonfire night and refuse to leave, she then gave birth to a litter. Vet wouldn't spay while she was still lactating.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

My feral type rescue cat from SSPCA disappeared for near enough the first three weeks,.......
I knew he was in the house because windows and doors were closed and food disappeared and he used the litter tray, he knew when I was out the house or in bed, and took the opportunity.
He now lives in at night when it is raining outside but for first six weeks after his [successful] bid for freedom he only came in for his supper [2.00 am]
SSPCA have provided traps and sorted out ferals for me in the past: the mother was in distress and we agreed she would probably be put down, kitties were spayed and re homed.
My own vet spayed two for me, I think it was £50.00 each, but I would have been eligible for vouchers [as I later discovered]