How do you deal with stray cats?

[MossRoad]

you do realize that if you nueter/spay a cat and feed it well.. it hunts (less). if you want it to hunt even less.. feed it alot and make it fat.

i have some fat ones that hunt -0-

I'm gonna have to believe you on your experiences, but mine are any cat, fixed or not, still has that hunt and kill instinct, no matter how fat it is. They may not eat it, but they sure will kill it. We had a cranky old female cat that lived to be 21. It killed multiple animals almost every day. Obviously, it apparently didn't put a dent in the chipmunk/bird/mouse population around our house, but as I recall, we were one of only two families on the block that had outdoor cats at the time. And my mom had many cats over the years that she let roam. All were fixed and all still hunted and killed. In our current home there is a typical crazy old cat lady on our block. These things run around like a heard of wild monkeys. To my knowledge they are all well fed yet every time I see them they are either playing tag or hunting birds at the feeders.

I can understand the need for barn cats on farms. But I see little need for cats to be let out in residential neighborhoods.

 

[creekbend]

We have two outside cats. They are provided shelter, adequate food and water during all the seasons. We bought this property around 15 years ago, and during this entire time, I have never seen a stray or feral cat.

 

[toppop52]

My cats never go out of my house except on leashes, they are all trained as kittens and they go to the door and hold their heads up waiting for the collar. I ihave a stake with retractable leash that can take 1-2 cats but usually only one is out at the time unless I'm with them. That way they don't get into trouble and cause harm to neighbors. They have caught a few of the way over populated squirrels and chipmunks at my old place but there aren't many here and they never bother them.

 

[Soundguy]

they WILL hunt. but they will hunt less. I believe it is a 3 fold issue.

1, hormonal.. if you nuter a male.. it has less testosterone.. thus less agressive.. and slightly less energy.. means it's roaming range is less.. thus hunting ground is less. also lack of mating drive.. thus less roaming. with a female.. no kittens to feed, thus less need. keeping a ever-full bowl of dry, plus wet, if they will eat it on occasion will keep all my cts in the fence. before I have fixed cats and dogs.. the fence was no more than a property boundry marking. i could drive home and see one of my cats hundreds of yards from my place. now that they are fixed.. I have never seenthem leave the fenced paddock. If you live in a neighborhood, you have drastically reduced hunting ground, coupled with a , usually, large supply of predators.. and yeah.. if you take a 0 lot lie community, and every 3rd house has a cat or 2.. then the small animal population will be negated pretty quick. that's just a numbers game and limited teritory... even my fixed cats will roam a hundred yards, on property.. etc.. in a 'neighborhood', 100 yds can mean your cat walks past 2 other house past yours. if they have a cat.. then you have overlapping hunting grounds. thats hard on prey animals.

on my farm on the other hand.. I buy feed 300-500$ at a time.. and mice are my enemy.. if there are mice.. then there are snakes fox, coyotee and raccoon and possum. all those annimals show up for the mice, and while there.. eat my chickens.

add in a small managable herd of barn cats and a bag of walmart cheap feed every couple weeks, and i got -0- mice... in the last 2 years... i have seen the snakes fox, coyotee and raccoon and possum population gor from high to virtually non existant. only time i ever see one of the above is when on one of my 30 minute walks AWAY from my place. simly nothing for them to eat AT my place.

 

[Looking4new]

2 years ago I had 14 house cats. a fisher wandered through and now I have 10. Two were planned and the rest either feral or dumped. I got them all 'fixed' and they just stay here and come in at night. They are welcome to relocate any time they want.
You can't have too many cats.

 

[JDgreen227]

2 years ago I had 14 house cats. a fisher wandered through and now I have 10. Two were planned and the rest either feral or dumped. I got them all 'fixed' and they just stay here and come in at night. They are welcome to relocate any time they want.
You can't have too many cats.

BLESS YOU....the world needs more people with your outlook !!! The number of homeless/stray/feral cats saddens me and if I were able to trap more of the ferals around here I would happily have them fixed...

 

[Turbys_1700]

I am lucky in that we get very few strays...
My current cat was a stray kitten that we had spayed...
She has been with us over 12 years now...
Comes in to eat and then does her outside thing...
She has been a good one...

 

[wawajake]

We have quite a few feral cats around and barn cats from area neighbors I guess. I don' t like how they decimate the bird house and nest population that my wife and I try to support in our yard . So a cat in my rural property is either exercise for my dog to chase away, or target practice for me with the 22.
I think owners should take responsibility for their pets.

 

[Soundguy]

I think owners should take responsibility for their pets.

Yes.

in our neighborhood.. we have seen people move out and just LEAVE their animals

 

[dmccarty]

Yes.

in our neighborhood.. we have seen people move out and just LEAVE their animals

Knock on wood we have been lucky so far at our place....

Back in FLA, someone moved out of a condo and left a cat. He was a very friendly cat and he camped out at my door in a box I had sitting there. It was cold, rainy and the cat was sick so I covered him up with a towel to keep warm....

Course, I ended up keeping him. Named him Lucky. :laughing:

Had another cat and the two cats did NOT get along. I was about to move to NC and a coworker wanted a cat so Lucky found a new home. Years later I visited the coworker and Lucky jumped into my lap and took a nap. I was really surprised he remembered me. By the time of my visit, Lucky had lost part of his tail in one fight and an ear was tore up. Lucky was living up to his name. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[CrownHawg]

We have quite a few feral cats around and barn cats from area neighbors I guess. I don' t like how they decimate the bird house and nest population that my wife and I try to support in our yard . So a cat in my rural property is either exercise for my dog to chase away, or target practice for me with the 22.
I think owners should take responsibility for their pets.

So I guess if your neighbor decides to "target practice" with your dogs, chasing their cat on thier property, its ok? I have five outdoor cats, most were strays that wandered up, all are fixed and are part of the family. I have chased my neighbors dogs out of my yard several times, chasing MY cats. Never would I think about shooting their dogs for this. BTW, I am rural too.

 

[studor]

I try to catch them and take them to a local shelter (which happens to be no kill) I really hate what cats on the loose do to local song bird populations -- this year after getting rid of some feral cats we had a resurgenceof bluebirds and orioles. Clearly if I know that the cat belongs to a neighbour I would take it back and ask them to control it -- same as I do with a dog that chases deer through my property. After that, it is off to the pound. As a last resort if I cannot catch them it would be kitty-kitty bang-bang.
In the city I have a neighbour who insists on letting her cat run free. Every neighbour has told her that they don't appreciate the cat but she remains blissfully ignorant of doing anything to contain it. The cat has more brains than she does -one day that cat may end up in some rural setting as a result of one of my neighbours taking it there.

 

[Looking4new]

-one day that cat may end up in some rural setting as a result of one of my neighbours taking it there.

Would that be a case of catnapping?:laughing:

 

[greasemonkeyok]

When I was growing up it was common knowledge that Paul's Valley had no stray cats because they had a street vendor who sold home-made hot tamales from a cart.

So the answer is: get a street vendor selling hot tamales.

He put two of his kids through college selling tamales, btw.

 

[studor]

Would that be a case of catnapping?

Yeah I guess but if you gave them a lot of Gin would they be catatonic?

 

[JDgreen227]

It always makes me howl with laughter when I read rants from those people who think stray cats decrease songbird populations...birds make up only a tiny percentage of the diet of cats. I have four cats who get out frequently and 90% of the time they are under my direct watch....and in the last three years I have only seen them catch ONE BIRD...although they have tried thousands of times. And exactly WHAT do birds do for mankind? Raid their tree fruits, eat their grain, steal their berries, s*** on their cars and trucks. I would be so happy to never see another F****** bird around here. Hawks kill many more birds than cats do....and any bird stupid enough to get caught by a cat deserves it.

 

[stingray1]

Shoot 'em

 

[JDgreen227]

Shoot 'em

So tell us what you do when a bird s***s on your car?

 

[tcreeley]

We have 11 now- all began as strays of offspring of strays. We neuter and spay. I feed outside and the tamer ones come in every night through the cat door. One neutered gargantuan orange male (Rocky) is there when I get home from work and walks out with us to the barn to feed the horses.

 

[studor]

So tell us what you do when a bird s***s on your car?

Depends on the bird and which car -- but I am also not crazy about the neighbours cat that s***s on my flowerbed. And while your cats may be inept, my neighbours cat litters her front lawn with "stupid birds"