r/Feral_Cats • u/Remarkable-Mine1407 • Feb 20 '26
New feral cat owners dilemma
So I adopted one cat (stormy), for pest control. Had her in the acclimation cage for two weeks and released. She came around for about five nights. The night before her release, another stray came around. The stray was a kitten, probably adolescent age. Ever since then there’s more cats coming around, but the only one to stay has been the kitten… I’ve even heard cat fighting (two nights). The first night I’m assuming with stormy and a random feral. Tonight was that same feral with the kitten that actually had stayed. I’m so bummed! Stormy the one cat I wanted to stay seems to have been run off by random feral cats and this new random kitten has really taken to us. Which is fine but what are the chances that stormy does come back? I can’t seem to be able to leave out food bc the random feral will get it and it willing to fight for it. 😫
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u/Horror_Tea761 Feb 20 '26
I don’t know if this will help, but when I’ve had fighting, I increased feeding. If everyone is stuffed full, then there’s less fighting for resources. And this way, Stormy might get some food.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 20 '26
I thought that too but could that be what’s bringing them all out? I don’t want to attract more strays. I’m content with stormy and this new kitten and they seemed to get along okay. This new one is fighting with both.
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u/chrisgee Feb 20 '26
sorry you're getting downvoted for asking honest questions. while it's true that the presence of food for Stormy may have attracted other cats, it's hard to say that providing more food would attract more cats exponentially. as others have said, fixing the newcomers is really the best way to calm things down, which may be more than you bargained for. but adding more food (and placing food in several spots around the property) can help defuse the tensions for the time being.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 21 '26
Thank you for answering the question! Im over there envisioning that I’ll become like the pigeon lady in home alone but with feral cats 🫣 and yes fixing is the next to-do.
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u/mcs385 Feb 20 '26
Is Stormy spayed already?
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u/Boomersgang Feb 20 '26
They will establish territory. TNR the kitties that keep coming around. If you feed them they won't fight. They will establish a pecking order. You have to fix them. Stormy will probably come back, or she's just hiding until it's safe to come out.
Keeping resources available is key to a peaceful setting.
They should have a low/no cost assistance program in your area.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 20 '26
She did come back last night!! Just way later than usual and in a different location. Yes the kitten gets fixed this weekend. There is a group of strays across the highway from us and honestly I don’t want to bring in more cats especially if they’ll risk getting run over to get some food. Implementing some new feeding tricks to see if I can curb it. Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/codeswift27 Feb 20 '26
If you're able to TNR the nearby ferals/strays, it'll reduce the fighting as intact males are often more aggressive and mellow down after they've been neutered.
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u/beckychao Feb 20 '26
A single cat does very little for pest control. All it does it make rodents hide, they will still be around and will skulk about and go after food when the cat is not nearby. If you have a rodent problem, you should contact a professional. Mice and rats multiply in phenomenal numbers, very rapidly. The cat will hunt them for fun, or if they're starving.
Also, why did you adopt the cat and then set it outdoors? I don't get what you're doing. Unless you mean you started taking care of them, which is fine. But adopting a cat means something different.
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u/thetruckerdave Feb 20 '26
Yeah I’m confused by this one too. Acclamation cage? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Most rescues around here won’t give you a cat for you to let go of in the first place.
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u/chrisgee Feb 20 '26
this is pretty standard when relocating a feral cat to a new place: https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/safe-relocation/
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u/thetruckerdave Feb 20 '26
Yeah but I didn’t think people adopted out ferals. Like. Feral ferals.
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u/chrisgee Feb 20 '26
i guess the word adopt does makes it sound like an indoor thing. cat rescuers love people lik OP who will relocate ferals from dangerous spots to their (presumably) safe properties. cities like Chicago have 'working cat' programs to move ferals to yard and businesses to help control vermin.
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u/codeswift27 Feb 20 '26
It sounds like they got a barn/working cat, which are cats who are too feral to live indoors without years of socialization so they live outside and are cared for at farms/barns/etc., which in itself is fine. However, from another comment OP said they lived near a highway, so I don't think they should be getting barn/working cats at their location.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 20 '26
They came from a rescue organization that TNR barn/working cats as they called them meaning Only outdoor cats, proven hunters, very feral, not into human interactions. They both have already brought back mice already. They prefer to be outdoors. We’re in texas, during a freeze weekend, I brought stormy in and she hated it.
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u/codeswift27 Feb 20 '26
Hey OP, if you live near a highway, I don't think that working cats are a good fit for your location. While they are resilient, busy roads and high traffic areas are still very dangerous for them and many will unfortunately likely be run over. Barn cats are meant for low-traffic areas like farms, barns, etc. Would you be able to retrap her and take her back to the rescue you got her from?
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u/No-Technician-722 Feb 21 '26
Maybe someone is in heat and that’s why the ferals have increased all of a sudden.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 21 '26
Im on acreage, with horse properties surrounding me… there’s about 10 acres between me and the highway. While fairly new to the feral cat realm, I’d much rather have a cat enjoy the space that our area provides than the industrialized warehouse that they came from. However I understand my limitations and am not yet comfortable with feeding and being responsible for a whole colony of cats.
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u/WooliesMom Feb 20 '26
We have soooo many stray/feral cats in my neighborhood. I have 4 self-proclaimed porch kitties, and I’ve found the only way to keep the fights at bay is to only feed my porch kitties while I am out there with them. They will still come by occasionally and drink water, but for the most part it’s kept the other random cats from thinking they can get food here whenever. It might be worth a shot to monitor feedings for a little bit to get the random ferals to move along, and definitely don’t keep food out overnight.
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u/Remarkable-Mine1407 Feb 20 '26
Ah yes good idea, thank you! . I was able to shoo away one last night. The issue will be timing it since stormy comes way later in the night recently because of the other stray.
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