Advice Please: Feral male cats

[Shirley]

Don't think whoever lent you the trap would allow you to put it on public land in case it got nicked! Hope they come back to you garden and then, hopefully, you can trap them!!  Good luck!

My poor Chuch got bitten by a rat last Oct (so the vet thinks)-i live opposite a fishing pool-he was very poorly in a matter of hours! It was awful to see him!   

[Skully]

Strangely, after posting this, the 2 kitties went back to the canal to catch the now blossoming rat and I've not seen them in my garden in a while. I don't feel like I can place traps at the canal to get them as the land isn't mine and it has public access where people walk their dogs day and night. I would need to get the permission of the canal society that own the land and as yet I haven't done that, but thanks for reminding me to get my butt in gear and get it done. 

[Shirley]

Did you have any luck catching these cats?

[Millys Mum]

Entire toms left out to fend for themselves will act like that but arent actually feral, they just need neutering and a few weeks to calm down, have a look at Tans Asbo!
Hopefully CP will know this and not just put them back out to fend for themselves, you probably have a whole load of true ferals on the canal already, you wont have seen much of them!
If they are feral they need someone to provide food and shelter for them before CP would should even consider putting them back.

Trapping can take weeks or you can win the first night, it would help if you start feeding them at a set time to start gaining confidence and to establish routine, this may help make trapping quicker 

[Skully]

They are both just like domestic cats really. One is a fairly large ginger and white and the other is smaller and slightly thinner and he is ginger and white too, but has less ginger than the other one. They don't have any marks around their necks that would indicate that they have ever worn a collar and they spray a lot. One has a bit of a curved concave spine that makes me think his is fairly elderly or has had a bit of a hard life, but other than that they look fit, healthy and full of life. The smaller of the two, I feel, follows the bigger one around and survives on his left overs or he catches his own and the bigger one steals them. The bigger one is often seen with a mouse or rat in his mouth. These two could be domestic cats that have been left or they could be feral. No one is willing to lay claim to them.

There are a couple of other cats too that dart away so fast I've never really had a good look at them, so am unsure if they are feral or just timid domestic cats.

[CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls]

To be honest how you described those 2, it sounded like my Ted and Harry  they are complete thugs when out together, beating up every cat that dares to cross them  They dont spray tho 

I have only had one cat that still sprayed after being neutered and it was a territorial thing with him, he also used to live as an outside cat.

How do these cats look body wise? I can always say you know the difference between a feral and a stray cat.

I think a feral has a different look about them.

[Janeyk]

I did my trapping very early morning so that there weren't neighbour's cats around and also so that they weren't in the traps all night but I didn't leave any food out the night before so they were hungry.

[Skully]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will contact the CP and ask for their help. The main problem I think I'm going to have is catching them. I live in a street with lots of cats and all of them like to pass through my garden, or so it seems, so trapping the right cats could take lots of time.

I would ask the neighbours to all keep their cats in on a particular day so I can catch the feral ones, but a lot of people here don't feel like I do about them and want these 2 thugs to be got rid of, so if I tell them I'm only catching them to neuter them and then return them they probably will have a freaky fit. I know they are thugs and I know they have caused fights, but they are fabulous rat catchers, and as we live near a canal, which acts like a rat run, if these 2 boys were to leave I think our well fed domestic cats just wouldn't keep the population of rats down and I think that is a far worse problem than the thugs occasionally picking a fight with our pampered kitties.

[Janeyk]

If you call your local CP they should loan you a trap and explain what to do etc.  That's what happened for me when we had local ferals they also arranged with the vets for the cats to be neutered/flead/wormed etc, I just gave the vets a call the days I'd trapped them to confirm it was ok to take them through, that they weren't too busy etc and then I took them through for the ops and I collected them later.

[angel-77]

Do you have a local cat rescue/sanctury that could help catch them?
My local cat rescue has her cats 'done' at a greatly reduced price.

[Skully]

I regularly get visits to my garden from 2 male ginger cats who have no collars and look like they have never worn collars, look fairly healthy (I can't get close to them to check them properly as they are very skitty and as soon as I open the door they run) and spray very stinky urine, so I'm guessing are not neutered (again I can't really get close enough to them to check). They come visiting because my neighbours cat is fed outside by both me and them when they are there (that's a whole other story) and they come in hope of snitching his food. One is of them is much smaller than the other and a little thinner, but they both look like they are having enough food to keep them going. I have asked around and no one claims them as their own, so I'm fairly sure, because of that and by their behaviour that they are feral.

They will fight tooth and nail any other cat that gets in their way and they have had a go at pretty much every cat in the street at one time or another, so they all give them a wide birth. I have no problem with them staying, but I am worried that if they are not neutered that they may find themselves some girlfriends and end up producing a whole army of feisty aggressive kittys that will take over the whole street and canal area over the road.

How do I go about getting these cats caught, checked out and  neutered? I don't have access to a trap, so can't do it myself. I don't want them taken away, just doctored. Also is there anyone out there willing to help me with the cost of neutering, as right now I'm not in a position to pay for the 2 of them to be snipped. I doubt neutering will stop them being the thugs they are, but it will prevent more thugs being born.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.

I'm living near Swansea in South Wales.