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A stray cat, also called a tame cat, has been socialized with people and has probably lived indoors for some part of their lives. This cat is friendly to varying degrees, knows how to play with toys, meows, and uses a litter box when one is available. Strays end up living outdoors away from their caretaking family when they are dumped, abandoned, have runaway or gotten lost. They often find themselves joining feral colonies because they find a regular source of food and water at the feeding station. A feral cat, also known as a community cat, has been born outdoors and has little contact with people. A feral cat has not lived in a house and was not socialized as a kitten. The cat does not want to be touched, may not come out of hiding if people are around, mistrusts people, and learns to live outdoors with all the dangers—severe weather, cars, poisons, people who attempt to harm them, dogs, coyotes, scarce food and water, injuries and illnesses. Many feral cats wait for the colony feeder to arrive and can be seen, and to varying degrees may stay far away or come close. But generally feral cats are alert to danger and play it safe around humans.
Most people who complain about community cats do so because they see them as pests. These are the cats that pee in their garden, leave paw prints on their cars, spray their front door, or are yowling for hours in the evenings. They may be fighting in their yards and upsetting their own pets. There are many possible solutions to all of these problems. The first solution is to have the cats spayed/neutered through TNR. This will address the fighting and yowling and probably even the spraying. One source of innovative ideas is this brochure by Alley Cat Allies:
https://www.alleycat.org/resources/how-to-live-with-cats-in-your-neighborhood/
And other ideas are found here:
When a community cat undergoes spay/neuter surgery the vet will cut a small portion of the left ear tip. This is the universal sign that the cat has been trapped and has been spayed or neutered. This way we don’t have to trap the cat again and bring the cat to the vet clinic only to find that they already were altered. It saves us from stressing out the cat and we save on our resources.
A group of cats who live together, whether they were born into the group or joined later, is called a colony. This colony is like their family. Feeding stations are set up for colonies and usually there is a colony manager who coordinates the volunteer feeders and makes sure there is enough food. Taking care of a colony entails TNR, including any new arrivals who start hanging out with the colony, and trapping any cats who become sick to try to help them out. Sometimes it is impossible to medically treat a feral cat, but colony managers try to keep them safe, healthy, fed, and altered so no new kittens are born.
The short answer to that question is sometimes, but generally the answer is no. Cats not only legally belong to where they live, but they get attached to their “home” property and tend to stay there, learning all the hiding places, when the feeders come, and how to protect themselves from danger. They can become very close to the other colony cat residents, and we often see them walking together and cuddling each other. They are a family, but called a feral colony. When community cats are moved, the process is dependent on where they are moving to. If it is down the street, for example, their food dishes can slowly be moved closer and closer to the new location until everyone has adjusted. If they are moving to a barn cat program, they need to be kept indoors or in a large kennel or catio or else they will probably run away. Similarly, if moved to a new neighborhood, they need to be contained until the sights, smells, and sounds of the new area become familiar to them. It is sometimes successful to move colonies, but most people working with community cats see it only as an absolute last resort. Of course, catching cats and dumping them in the desert or other neighborhood is illegal as it is to the detriment of the cat.
Over time, a colony that has been TNR’d will lose members. Some cats run away, some may be stolen, some are tame enough to be adopted out, and some die. Often we don’t know what happened to a cat who disappears, and that is a sad reality. As numbers decrease that is the optimal time for new cats to show up! Known as the vacuum effect, an opening is created and other cats come to fill it. As numbers decrease in a colony, the number of food bowls can be decreased so as to not attract new cats who find this food source. But depending on other resources such as cat shelters, trees and bushes, or a consistent water source, cats can be attracted to the colony area. Some people think just removing the cats will mean no other cats will show up. But that is just not true. It’s the vacuum effect
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The first thing we want to do is check the condition of the kittens—are they healthy or are they covered in fleas, malnourished, or have infected eyes? As soon as possible we want to determine if the mom is around, so never take the kittens away without first giving this a good look and some time. If the kittens are in such bad shape that they need immediate help, we do need to take them and help them. But, ideally, we would trap both mom and kittens and allow mom to nurse her kittens until they are weaned. Meanwhile, we can provide a safe place for mom to care for her litter, medical care, and food and water. If mom is feral, she will be released after she’s spayed. The kittens can be saved from a lifetime on the streets through socialization and adoption.
Some moms are young and stressed and do not acknowledge their kittens. When newborn kittens are found with attached umbilical cords, and sometimes placentas, you need to warm them and cut the umbilical cord. Look for mom and other kittens. If you find the other kittens are being cared for ( cords removed, mom has cleaned them) then put the newborn with the others and keep a distant watch. If you find others in the same abandoned condition then you need to bring them in. Reach out to rescues like Itty Bitty Bottle babies. Watch the kitten lady on youtube who has many videos for safely caring for newborn kittens. Heating pad, goat milk or kitten milk replacement formula, and stimulating them to go potty before and after feedings are your basics. You may have to do a lot of the work while you wait for rescue placements. Post on local rescue pages like Arizona Cat and Kitten rescue.
If you get the kitten into a foster home (or your home) between 6-9 weeks then socialization is a breeze. But when the kittens are older than 9 weeks then each passing week becomes harder to turn them into happy human social kittens. Wrap them in a blanket and hold them often. Feed them moving the food closer to you each time. Do not let them hide. Put them in a space without hiding spaces, and don't bring them in unless you have the time to spend at least 2 hours a day working with them. Kittens are everywhere and if they don't want to be indoor house cats then we need to open up the limited foster homes to kittens that do. This is another reason we need you, and others in our communities to help foster. The more foster homes we have the less hard calls we have to make on who gets that space.
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