semi feral/ yard cats

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Gypley

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We are looking at getting a yard cat due to new yard having a rather epic rat problem (think steroid taking, armour wearing monsters)
Weve found a lovely ginger tom called Garfield who was rescued as a wild kitten but never took to the lap cat lifestyle so consiquently needs rehoming.
My question is, how do I stop him running away? I have an empty stable he can stay in, but how long does he have to be kept in for? What should I put in the stable with him? A few bales of straw, food and water, a litter tray, old blankets/ towels?
All sugestions welcome!
 
I got two a few years back and think it was 6 weeks that I had to keep them in.

Once I let them out, they disappeared never to be seen again. Probably recognised that I hate cats. Ungrateful little beggars. ;)

A very expensive waste of time.
 
I would say 2 weeks. We kept our 2 in a caravan, we fed rice a day. They had sofas in there so curled up on them. I would put some blankets in there though personally :)
 
He will prob need to be confined for at least two to three weeks.

You should ensure tje stable is warm (so straw on the floor partially) a good bed with blankets and litter box.
 
I got two kittens from a local rescue. both born from feral parents.
I had to keep them in a dog cage for 4 weeks then one night i just left the door open!
They continued to live in the dog cage for a month before i moved their bed into the barn and they followed with it.

However i had to get rid of them because they became too tame! Literally jumping all over me, rubbing against my face, sitting on my shoulders. Doing yard jobs became impossible. I put reflective collars on them both as we are by a semi-busy road and they began following me down it when i left.

Both are now happy house cats, apparently have no want to go outside and one is now best friends with a house rabbit.

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Adjacent YO has got a couple of ferals from a rescue.
She had to keep them in a large dog cage for 2 weeks with litter tray in, which was shut in a stable.
After that for the next week, she let them out into the stable which had some bedding in but all gaps were closed off to them. (yes, all gaps - ferals WILL climb!)
After another week, they were allowed out - she left the top door open when she left that evening as all was quiet.
Next morning, they were both in the stable (awaiting food?) but looking bright enough. We've seen them on occasions in the past 2 weeks in early mornings, but they spend much of the daytime still in the stable, but are definately out & about at night :)

Good luck & hope it works out :)
 
Gypley said:
We are looking at getting a yard cat due to new yard having a rather epic rat problem (think steroid taking, armour wearing monsters)
Weve found a lovely ginger tom called Garfield who was rescued as a wild kitten but never took to the lap cat lifestyle so consiquently needs rehoming.
My question is, how do I stop him running away? I have an empty stable he can stay in, but how long does he have to be kept in for? What should I put in the stable with him? A few bales of straw, food and water, a litter tray, old blankets/ towels?
All sugestions welcome!
Click to expand...

We rehomed 2 kittens (both toms), they were put in a pen in a barn which had a sleeping quarters, we started letting them out of the pen to mooch around with us, consequently they were also exposed to the chickens and now don't bother them. They were never meant to be house cats but we always let them come in during the day to sleep and be loved, they are very affectionate but they go out at night to do their job. However, you have to get a tom's beans off because they WILL roam and then you are more likely to lose them. It's a fallacy that neutered toms don't hunt, ours are killers. Funnily enough we've had spayed queens that still like a bit of nooky and tend to stray more.
 
We said we would have 2 and the re- homer brought 4 ! They will get out of the tiniest of spaces and we had to staple chicken wire across all gaps in our tack room. Ours were in for 4 weeks and only 1 did a runner when we made a hole for them to come in and out after that.

They needed comfy beds ( nothing fancy), food, water and a litter tray.

They have been fantastic at keeping the mice and rats at bay. You do still feed them!
Ours spend most of their time in the tack room and on the yard and we have not had any rodent damage.
They were adult cats and petrified of us when they first came. Now they miaow to us and allow us to stroke them but this has taken almost 2 years.

There are so many feral cats needing re- homing. It is a very worthwhile thing to do IMO.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Will definatly plug all the gaps in the stables. Is it mandatory to use the dog cage? Could do without having to source one of those, but if its necessary then will find one from somwhere!
 
I just made sure my tackroom was secure and put a stairgate across the door on the inside in case of any mad dashes for freedom when I went in to feed them. They weren't allowed out for four weeks, then I installed a catflap from the tackroom into the barn and removed the stairgate.

For beds I find any receptacle with a pile of hay in, slightly hollowed out to give them the idea, works very well as it's extremely insulating.
 
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