Brother wants to rescue feral cats!

[Liz]

I live with a fair few ferals ranging from 16 years young to 18months along with domestics and pedigrees and have tamed down adults as well as hissy spits

It takes an awful lot of time, love backward steps as well as some beautiful shredding scars but it can be done with the right conditions

It is not something to be entered in to lightly and TNR is the best thing but if you feed them you become their lifeline for food and it is no9t something to be entered in to lightly

I have some as housecats at their choice and others who are now so tame they have indoor/outdoor privilages and somemwho like to live out allnyear round in my single garage and wendyhouse both set up for the cats and they are fed twice a day and use litter trays in heavy snow so they can stay in their warm places, I provide heatpads and nice carpets on the wooden floors, scratching posts and all the things my own mob have

[wuzzie]

Not a good idea trying to home feral cats,they are living wild and have no opportunity to socialize with people and as such any kittens they have will be reared in this fashion, no contact with humans would scare the hell out of feral cats, it's because of this they avoid contact with humans and remain very wary of anyone, even with the best of intentions it's not a good idea. I think trying to neuter these cats is a good idea as it would save having feral colonies, which I think is becoming a problem.

[SamMewl]

some branches of CP will abort pregnant ferals. this may be why purdy bear's brother is reluctant to involve them. without neutering adults though the rescuing of kittens will be an endless and unrealistic task.

if there is a large numbers of kittens the chances of both taming them and finding them new homes gets increasingly slim. please suggest you brother tries to plan this out properly. its excellent that he wants to help, but things can get out of hand! every unspayed females can have three litters a year, if he is making sure all the kittens are looked after and survive the situation will soon be out of control. do try and persuade him to get a local feral welfare charity or CP involved.
 

[Rosella moggy]

Your brother bringing defenceless kittens into a home with a dog that chases cats and expecting you to sort everything out, when you clearly have enough on your plate looking after your father, is extremely childish.  I do hope you do not allow him to do it 

My brother has refused the CPL help, he even looked shocked that I should suggest it, like it was a death sentence for the cats

I assume you realise this is nonsense?  I would urge you to ring Cats Protection and alert them to the feral colony in case they are able to help. I assume we are talking of a feral colony and not a few stray cats?  Would your brother know the difference?  It is so difficult judging how serious this could be without knowing your circumstances better 

[Dawn F]

unfortunately without intervention there will soon be more cats than anyone can help, neutering is the only way to solve this one

[Mymblesdaughter]

Why does he think it's a death sentence for the cats? What does he think is going to happen when the next lot of kittens arrive later in the year? Is he going to take those in as well? Does he just want some kittens rather than actually helping the feral cats? Sorry I don't really understand your brothers motivation for trying to rescue a couple of kittens in this situation. 

[Purdy Bear]

Thanks for all your advice.  My brother has refused the CPL help, he even looked shocked that I should suggest it, like it was a death sentence for the cats

The felines are still pregnant so no kittens yet, but I am preparing myself for the influx.  We have most of the stuff from our previous cats but need to get a few bits so I'll see if I can find a good cheap source for those later.

I will definately call on your knowledge if and when the little cactus furballs arrive.

[SamMewl]

yes get him in touch with CP who hopefully will be able to get the rest neutered so there wont be more kittens.  a lot of branchs are just run by volunteers and are over stretched but they have the expertise and equipment (traps etc) to manage.

feral kitten taming is very possible and very rewarding. it helps the younger they are, in fact if he gets the kittens around 8 to 10 weeks old (best to leave them with Mum till then) they will tame up with lots of handling very quickly. if they are older it gets a bit more complicated. it is best then to seperate them from their siblings although they will feel lost without them, they will bond much, much easier with humans when they are alone. we seperate kittens and have successfully and (usually) easily tamed them with them up to 6 months old by putting the single kitten in a cage where they initially feel safe (very important) and then eventually, when they have settled down, feel bored. lots of talking to them, being around the cage and then feeding treats with lots of slow blinking and very soon you will be able to touch them and stroke. After that all you're got on your hands is an affectionate, failed feral. once they are getting confident you can get them checked over for common illnesses and de-flea etc

good luck to you and him. feral kitten taming is something that i have been involved in and i am very happy to help with questions and advice if you do have them. little furballs don't take many weeks so don't panic. 

actually for ferals you might be better off getting the kittens a little earlier 5 to 8 weeks

[emmmy_lou]

I don't have experience in this field, but Sheila has good advice.

The most important thing is the neutering, as otherwise the population is only going to increase.

Once cat protection are involved maybe then if could consider adopting one or some of them?

Good luck 

[sheilarose]

Get in touch with your local Cats Protection League and tell them you want to help these cats. they will help catch, clean up, and home the kittens to you AND make sure the Mums are neutered at the same time. Rescuing feral kittens is a risky business as they may have illnesses that you need experience to identify and treat. CPL will provide real support if this happens, and some proper advise for your family on all aspects of the rescue so it goes right instead of horribly wrong.

Do let us know how things go, it's a big commitment he's about to make and we wish him the very best of luck. 

[Purdy Bear]

My brother has a feral community at the yard where he parks his cars.  His decided when they have their kittens his going to rescue them and bring them home.  We have absolutely no experience of this, nor have had a kitten but have had cats before (a few years ago now).  His very good at bringing home puppies so it wouldn't surprise me with cats.

I've printed off your wonderful article about feral kittens and taming, and a few others and hope to get him to read them, but what else can I do to get him in the real world.  He works long hours and it would be me who looked after them - I'm a 24/7 carer for my father who had a stroke, do all the housework plus have a dog who chases cats but grew up with them (his a rescue and thats what they told us).

I don't mind having a cat, if our dog will allow it, but I'm just not sure about a kitten let alone a feral one.

Help, I can see him turning up with these walking cactus with me having to spend weeks taming the little furballs!