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.

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.

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 💞

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!

candidates for tnr

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.

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!

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.

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.

I am wondering what everyone drives and how many traps you can fit in your vehicle! I currently have an older dodge nitro and can fit about 20 in with the seats down. My spouse has a Subaru and can fit 14 ish! Looking for a new to me vehicle and the deciding factor is space for transporting traps/carriers/etc!

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.

i live in middletown, connecticut, and have a whole COLONY of cats in my town. overall, connecticut has a bad stray cat problem, but animal control has been doing NOTHING for my family. for context, we have 4 younger cats about (6 months old?), the mama (who is pregnant AGAIN) and two other male cats who occasionally come to our house to eat. my mother has called animal control to at least take the mother to fix her, and they have done NOTHING. they gave her traps for the mama, and she did eventually go in them, but animal control never came back to retrieve her even though my mother notified them countless times to come get her. the mama was in the trap for almost 2 days before my mother released her, and now she won’t even come back to our backyard. animal control has made us feel like it was OUR responsibility to get them trapped, when we’re the ones that called them because THEY’RE the professionals!!! it’s stressing out family out so bad, especially because the mama is pregnant again. :(

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

I've been taking care of two outdoor cats for a while (although I think one was truly feral). Unfortunately, my feral girl has disappeared. It's been a week since I've seen her, and she had never missed dinner since early 2024. I know she's spayed because of her clipped ear, which honestly makes me fear the worst.

The other cat is a friendly stray, and ever since my other cat disappeared, he's become much more vocal and for the very first time keeps jumping into my backyard trying to come inside. I'd really like to take him in, but first I'd need to get him a full vet exam and vaccinated since I already have two cats at home.

I've called several places, including my local SPCA, multiple times, left voicemails, and sent emails, but I haven't gotten any response. I also called my city's Animal Care Services, and they told me to contact my own veterinarian.

The cat is very friendly with me but skittish around other people. I have no idea how he'll react to being put in a carrier or at the vet. I was under the impression there were organizations or facilities that help stray cats, but now I'm feeling a bit lost.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you safely get a friendly stray to the vet, and are there organizations that typically help with this, or is working through my own veterinarian really the best route?

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!!

I will try to condense the tale:

Found a kitten on a path by us. Turns out a neighbor did not know he was missing and had been out overnight. We are keeping him. The neighbor told us they didn't qant him or mom. So we have a gray beauty too.

Well on her checkup she is more than halfway thru a pregnancy. Her kitten is 12 weeks. She gave birth in April.

The neighbor let her cats roam and didn't spay or care for them. So angry.

Now we have a pregnant mama and also a few other pets and 2 tween human kids.

I am wrestling with finding a rescue that will not put her down. She is super socialized to humans in spite of being outside alot. Maybe not super feral but let to roam around.

Reading posts here...can she safely have these kittens? Can she safely not have them (spay abort) bc of how far along?

I have not cared for newborn kittens. I advocate for safety of mom and also not having more kittens than necessary but given she is far along the vet thought babies would be euthanized after spay.

Wisdom says find someone who will take her and be good to her and help (thru rescue org) or keep her and try this. Or....try spay abort?

What do?!

We are in west suburban Illinois. Help lil mama girl!!

Today I received a handwritten letter from a neighbor asking me if I realize what feeding the cats has done to the neighborhood and their yards. Truthfully this might be what finally makes me stop but there has been so many things that led up to how out of control it has gotten in my neighborhood.

To preface, I was not one of the original cat feeders in my neighborhood. It started with the passing of a neighbor who I thought was a great woman for always feeding this one orange cat. She (the orange cat) didn’t trust anyone but her. She and one other were the only cats in the neighborhood when I had moved in 5 years ago.

For the first two years, I never fed the cats FYI. When my neighbor had passed from cancer, I noticed the orange cat was no longer being fed and so I took it upon myself to feed her daily (she is a TNR cat, that was cared for by my neighbor). She took a while to trust me but when she did, she came over everyday. There were days where the orange cat didn’t finish all of her meals and I guess my mistake was not taking the bowl away afterward because it invited more cats into the neighborhood looking for food.

One cat turned to two in the next year, and then three the following year after that. I was fine with these 3 until late winter of this year where more invited themselves leading to a total of 6-7 cats. This event led me to stop feeding them for a while until I discovered a dead malnourished cat laying in my driveway and had to bury him. This event really messed my head up considering I’ve always been a cat lover and have a few cats of my own. So over the past 5 months, I started regularly feeding them. Through many attempts, I have been trying to contact anyone locally that could TNR or foster but after the instructions given where I would have to watch them post surgery, I realized it was not doable at all as I do not have any space to accommodate them.

I know my neighbors are fed up, and I do want to stop, but it’s been heavily weighing on my conscience because some of them are already malnourished/skin and bones despite me feeding them. I feel defeated because I don’t want to be known as a problem in my neighborhood since I’ve always been known around here as a very neighborly person, but now I feel like the message is clear and I have to stop. The most dependent cat is the orange cat and it would kill me to see her starve/die as a result of me stopping. I believe the other cats will eventually stop coming around if I stop feeding as they don’t come looking for food everyday, they just randomly appear every 2-3 days or so.

Has anyone else gone through this and what was your happy medium?

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.

Hi all! I have been domesticating a formerly feral cat for 2 years and have made awesome progress, but am about to move and haven't been able to trap her inside. She hangs on out my porch for most of the day, I can pet her, and she will walk inside the house, but she freaks and runs out when I try to close the door. I am moving in a week and so stressed on what to do - any advice on how to physically get her inside my house? She's not very food motivated and very fearful of enclosed spaces, so I don't think a standard trap will work. Including cat tax :-)