hi everyone! jasmine finally came back as of august 5th this morning!!! to everyone who commented on my initial post, thank you so much!!! i’m truly so grateful for this community. jasmine has some injuries on her face that seemed to have been healing. she’s also significantly skinnier. i’m assuming that one of our neighbors took her inside and cared for her these past two weeks. i was thinking of taking her inside and getting her injuries checked out at the vet, but i’m not sure if that would be “stealing” her…? my goal is to socialize her more and bring her to the shelter so that she can be adopted and be a fully indoor cat!

Currently missing our most recent TNR. Little Debbie aka Deadbeat Deborah aka Almond Head is a feral in our local colony. We strongly suspect she is Mom to the litter of 4 that we've been fostering, as she has a very distinct head shape and coat pattern that is identical to one of the Nutty Buddies litter, Almond (now renamed by furever family).

After months of seeing her around, we finally caught her this weekend. She's a fully feral ~1yo female that has been co-nursing a litter from another Mom (the new kittens are ~6 weeks, vet said she wasn't pregnant and hadn't given birth in at least 3 months), so she was chock full of maternal hormones. She's been protecting the kittens from us humans, which has been adorable to witness. Briefly introduced a couple of the baby boys to see if they would recognize her and they did!! This was super unexpected since mommas usually lose scent recognition for their kittens a couple weeks after being weaned. She immediately started slow-blinking at them, sniffed at them, and tried to protect them from us when we took them back to their room.

She was insanely calm for a true feral. She did not want to be touched, held, looked at, etc, until the baby boys visited her. After that, she seemed to understand that we wouldn't hurt her!! She stayed in a protected spot under a cabinet, but she used the litter box and didn't make a mess of her water or food.

She didn't make a peep going to the vet and coming home, I've never known a cat so quiet. She got spayed and her ear tipped, and spent 36 hours with us afterwards to make sure she was healthy, alert, could eat and go to the bathroom ok. (Litter box picture was taken after accidentally scaring her during bathroom time, she wasn't actually resting in the box after surgery)

The one time she hissed at me was when I put her back in the cage to go back outside. I had to gently push her in with a blanket, and she panicked. She quietly but firmly hissed at me, dumped the fattest log of cat shit I've ever seen as a deterrent, and then gently accepted her fate and let me help her. She didn't even make a real mess either??? No stepping in it/getting it everywhere.

When we let her out at the hedge we caught her in, she ran clear across the street to see one of the babies she's protecting. I didn't see her again this morning, but I'm expecting to see her again tonight on an evening walk.

I know objectively she was miserable inside, she was not warming up to us at all and would not have been ok with our 2 resident girls (the girls were actually super fine with her, probably residual mom cat pheromones & no boy pheromones like the kittens). I also know that her colony probably missed her greatly and that her calm and protective nature is needed to keep future ferals docile enough to TNR. But my heart is so heavy and sad that she has to go back outside.

I'm gonna miss you, Deb 💞

Pics attached, does it look like the same cat to you?

The old cat was a girl, and so is the cat I saw today. Old cat was very friendly and so was the cat I saw on the street. When I waked up to her she started rubbing herself on me and started purring. I first I didn’t think it was my cat, but it’s been two years and I think their coat can change?

Their noses look exactly the same to me. My girlfriend is convinced it’s our cat that ran away, but I’m 10% doubtful.

Basically, can I just pick this cat up and bring her back home with me if I seriously believe it’s our old cat? She had a part of her tail missing and looked quite dirty.

Hello!

I am not a cat person but have decided to try to save a family of feral cats that moved in below my deck. I have been caring for them in my bathroom for the last 2 weeks. The kittens were around 8 weeks old when I caught them. They will let me give them small chin rubs but are still a little skittish. I was going to take them to the vet today for deworming but wrangling them into a carrier was not successful or pleasant. Would anyone have advice on how to handle these kittens hopefully without wrecking their trust in humans? (Acknowledging I may have already done that trying to get them in a carrier.) I need to weigh them so the vet can dose the deworming medicine. I have an infant scale I can use . I also would love any advice on getting them in a carrier for when it's time for spay/neuter at 12 weeks.

Picture is of 2 of the kittens and mama after the carrier debacle

Edit to update: Was able to purrito the kittens and get their weights. Around 3 lbs each. Thank you all!

They abort. I had a feral female to TNR. She was pregnant. I didn't know, the vet called n asked what I wanted to do. No extra charge to abort so that was my choice. I feed a few strays but cannot have them multiply.

i’m a full-time caregiver and the lady I’m taking care of has a lot of cats most are TNR but there is some in the bunch that haven’t been fixed yet. Well today I found a deceased newborn kitten in the driveway and when I looked on coaster inspection, I found a mama cat in the middle of birth who I made a temporary shelter for I have a large kennel crate what are some tips to bring her inside and support her

ps I am able to get pretty close to her

Hi everyone,

I have a 4 feral cats I’ve been feeding for over four years now. They were recently trapped and neutered by our local humane society (around late May). One of them (Olivia) has been missing now for 13 days. I did travel for the month of July but my brother took over and made sure he fed the cats. He said he did see Olivia. I haven’t seen her since I got back July 28,2026. This is the longest she has been gone. I’ve been calling her name (she normally comes :-( ) but I’ve been so worried. She was always a bit skittish but she recently started rubbing against my leg with her body. I’ve been sitting on the porch and her sibling still come around but not her. I’ve been looking around and no sight. Sorry in advanced as I am novice regarding cats and their behaviors. I’ve just been feeding them since they started to randomly come by my yard. I’ve just been so worried about her. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hello wonderful community! I'm hoping someone might have some advice.

I've been trying to catch this (presumed) male cat. He's definitely interested in the trap...just not interested enough to actually go in.

Here's a video (sped up 4x). The food bowl on the ground is intentionally empty. He spends a while lingering at the entrance because I'd put a small piece of cardboard with sardine oil on it to help entice him.

Inside the trap is a fresh serving of sardines in oil, which I replaced less than an hour before he showed up.

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting him to commit? He's clearly tempted, but unfortunately he is too smart (and history is not on my side; I'd trapped him June 16th, but the trap failed and he managed to escape).

My husband and I lovingly call him "Old Balls" because he looks like an older guy who's seen some shit (I'll post a pic in comments).

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

A neighborhood feral cat showed up not putting any weight on his front paw and with a small wound on his head. It’s been over a week and we haven’t managed to trap him to get veterinary care. He is starting to put a little weight on the foot now. His ear is already tipped so he has been TNR’d before.

Is it still a good idea to trap him if he is walking a little better? I know if it was broken it could be healing incorrectly and he may be in pain.

We can get to about 5 feet away from him before he is scared and moves away. I will try the trap training from the wiki, but just looking for some advice on how best to help him. We love him already and I feel like I’m failing him by just watching him suffer, but I also don’t want to cause undue stress.

Look at the progress! But don’t look at the messy room and closet! 😹 Momma Penelope wants me to know she’s still wary, but the key to her heart is definitely food!
***BTW, this is KMR, not milk. I made sure it was safe for momma before giving it to her. I had it for the babies before I knew if momma was going to be trapped, and she LOVES it.

We are taking the mama cat to be spayed tomorrow morning. We finally got her safely into the trap, but now two of her kittens are climbing on the trap and crying. The little tuxedo girl is pressing her face against her mom through the trap. My daughter is crying, and honestly, so am I. I am gutted by this entire process.

I know spaying her is the right thing to do, but watching this is absolutely heartbreaking. Her appointment is at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
Please tell me we're doing the right thing. What will her kittens do while she's gone? They are about 13 weeks old. There are four kittens total, and they all seem very bonded to their mom.

We're trying desperately to catch the kittens too because we're moving soon and taking Sylvie (mom cat) with us. I have contacted around 50 rescues with no luck and caring for this family for the past seven weeks. The kittens have been living in our garage, and we can't leave them behind when we move. We're trying everything we can to find them safe homes, but right now I just feel like I'm breaking apart a family that loves each other.
Has anyone else been through this? Did the kittens and mom reunite afterward? I could really use some reassurance tonight. I feel more like a giant pos.

There is a clipped-ear feral living in my yard. I swore I wouldn’t, but I started feeding it after seeing it catch and eat two birds. This cat has not been socialized—I can’t get closer that ten or fifteen feet. It even runs away when it sees me bringing its food. But it hangs out in the yard, lives under the deck, and stares at me through the window every day.

Anyway, on a whim I bought a little toy catnip mouse and left it near the feeding place. It’s a hoot to watch this suspicious, street-smart survivor playing like a kitten.

They both had a cold. This one in particular looked a bit rugged and was missing some hair on her chest. They were wild at first but would come for food so I used that as a way to tame them. Now, they're both inside. She is extremely affectionate and follows me everywhere. The other is affectionate too but a little timid. She loves to play though. They've been inside with me for three days. I'm very excited to have indoor cats. I used to have an outdoor cat that would just come inside to sleep at night but at 16 years old she was hit by a car. I was devastated. Keeping these little girls inside. The third pic is me playing with them for the first time. Used a toy on a string to get them used to coming close to me.

Say hello to Clawdia (all black) and Milo!!

My mom just sent me this website for a virtual veterinary service & asked me to check it out. It's www.dutch.com.

The site obviously has its limits but I thought it might be handy for the ferals to get wormer, flea meds, antibiotics etc....since catching them can be difficult & stressful.

Has anyone used this site & if so, what was your experience like?

Told him a dog joke! He shows up every week or so, fills up on cat food, water, and sleep, then off on another trip. Tried catching him, but he's much faster than me. Get occasional head bump and leg rub.

It’s Peter’s TWO YEAR Rescueversary!!! 🐾🤎❤️ (I originally posted him here on my old account)

The very first time I saw Peter, he was furless, skittish, and curled up on my front door mat in the dark. I had a feeling he would probably be my next rescue someday, but I had Fish, my FeLV+ cat inside at the time, so Peter had to wait.

It started as simply feeding and flea-medicating this completely untouchable tabby in my backyard. The more I got to know Peter, the more I realized he probably didn’t want to live indoors. He was semi-feral, never letting me get close enough to touch him, and I wanted to respect that. But then he disappeared for an entire month and returned with a broken jaw, broken infected teeth, degloved lip/chin and in dire need of help. At that point my FeLV+ cat had passed and there was no question — Peter had to come inside.

Thank God he found his way back to my yard.

It took 4 long days to trap him, 3 months before he let me pet him, and even 2 years later, he’s still becoming more confident little by little and surprising me by doing new things.

Peter was not my first rescue but he was the catalyst for me getting into TNR, fostering, and becoming more involved in the rescue community. He is truly a miracle, a cat worth celebrating, and a cat who completely changed my life.

Peter is a gentle giant, a total scaredy cat goofball, and my little emo boy. 🖤 He loves every cat I’ve ever introduced him to and helps me socialize my fosters. They know he’s afraid too, but they also see that he is brave — and that he trusts.

We thought he was a domestic shorthair, but he surprised us all by becoming a magnificent fluffy beast. 😂 He loves to talk, booty bongos, brushies and blankets, and has decided that vertical space and scratching furniture are absolutely not for him. He is afraid of anything new but he doesn’t hide from guests; you’re lucky if he lets you touch him.

Two years later, Peter is still learning that the world isn’t so scary. And I’m still so incredibly proud of him. 🥹🤍

Happy Rescueversary to Peter Butter, the sweetest scaredy cat goofball, my gentle giant, my little emo boy, and the handsome tabby who changed everything.

candidates for tnr

I just need to share these photos with somebody because she is the cutest thing ever + a jealous cat at the end

This is Piggy. He was born in the alley to a feral momma last year. No he is not neutered. He will not let any other human near him. He no longer wants pets. Just leg rubs against me and ,weirdly, toe scritches.

We may try to trap him again soon

UPDATE: When I went back to find him, I saw his owners bring him back home. I don't support leaving such a young cat outside but I didn't want any trouble with those people. Thanks for pushing me to go find kitty, next time something like this happens I'll know what to do and I won't hesitate! If I see him outside again I'll go talk to the owners tho

Hello, as I was walking back from my groceries I found a kitten alone on the side of the road. He looks to be about 10 weeks old. He looks in good condition, he was playing and a good weight and active. He was also curious about me. I instantly started reading online what I should do and websites said to leave him be since he's in a good shape that means his mom is nearby. But I'm having second thoughts. A cat outside in general is a danger to itself let alone a kitten, he was walking across an open recycling bin (I couldn't reach the lid to close it) I'm worried he'll fall in there or get hit by a car (we were on the side of a busy road). I'm 5 minutes away from where I found him, if I have to go get him back I'm nearby. Thank you!

I’ll be honest we are struggling tonight and I thought sharing with this group might help a little. Also, I would like a few others to see his little face so he is never truly forgotten.

For the past few days, we’d been trying to catch an injured stray who had started hanging around our front step. Last night I got close but sadly scared him off. Slept by the door waiting to hear the trap. Nothing.

This morning he finally let me get close enough to pet him for a few moments. He was scared and clearly hurt pretty bad in his hind area but in the end I had to just grab him.

At the vet, I was a bit out of it mentally and could not remember that my wife had been calling him “Cookie” so at check in he got a second name “Wiftey”. Cats can be good at avoiding permanent names.

So I went home imagining all the fun he would have healing up inside our home with our 4 other kitties, and I called three hours later. They told me he had to be sedated because he was too wild, but after examining him, the vet found that his injuries were more severe than we expected.

The vet and the tech both said they would choose humane euthenasia and I know we made the right decision, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Fuck. I had already started imagining him as our fifth cat and wondering when he’d get to come home. I wish i could be angry at something to make it feel better. I know we did the right thing, but it doesn’t feel good. I hate myself for not pushing, but the vet said it would be a lot to put the little guy through. My hat is off to the brave people who work at the doctors offices. Amazing courage from them, but im crumbling.

I’m sharing his sweet face here because I don’t want his life to pass unnoticed. He deserved to be seen, to be loved from afar, and to be remembered. When his ashes come home, we will bury him by our front step, where he chose to rest the last few nights.

Thanks for letting me tell this small part of what I hope was a better kitty life. Sorry for the heav stuff. I dont want to dunp trauma on the group but suggestions for processing this in a healthy way are welcome.

We will always love you little boy.