Feral Cat Rescues
Feral cat rescue is a sensitive issue to some people. Some advocate not providing for cats with out homes. Personally I admire those that service homeless cats with the necessities of life. The opening picture is Soxs on his first day of rescue. He would of not survived the winter alone. Now he is an adult cat living indoors and loving his attention. He has become the office cat and loves pressing keys at the computer. Four of my seven cats came from the bush. Three were kittens with one adult rescue.
Last night in Manitoba the overnight low temperature was -23c. At these temperatures very few domestic animals can survive outside. Cats will look for warm spots anywhere. They love warm car engines, so its important to slap the hood or honk the horn before starting the vehicle. If you don’t do this the results can be disastrous. Not only could you possibly kill a cat but you could do expensive damage to your vehicle.
If possible providing warm shelters for cats would be a nice gesture. Shelters don’t have to be extravagant . A stack of bales, or a home made insulated box will work. I have seen large plastic storage bins with a door cut in to it and lined for warmth works also. Amazon sells out door cat shelters if you want to spend the money. I have purchased an electric heated mat for an outside shelter.
Outside cats need food and water also. Depending on where you are feeding the feral cat there are heated water bowls for winter use. I bought dry kibble when I feed outside cats. It always get eaten. Depending on where you live the kibble should be picked up after eating if possible. Other creatures will eat it also. Skunks and racoons will love cat food. I have not experienced racoons, however I have had lots of skunks. If you encounter a skunk the best thing to do is not panic and just let the stinky kitty walk away. It will walk away then you can pick up the food and leave. Don’t kill the skunk. If you do the skunk will loose control of its body and discharge all the stink its got. Then you will have a very difficult clean up job. I have had a skunk walk ten feet away from me with no problems. If you get sprayed look at my Products page for Natures Miracle skunk spray remover. A great product. It should be mentioned that if you get scratched from any unfamiliar animal you should go to the doctor immediately and be treated for rabies. If you get rabies there is no cure. Any animal in the bush can be a rabies carrier, be careful.
Probably most feral cats require medical attention. Vaccinations are necessary. If you decide to do a spay, neuter and release program there must be a plan in place to monitor the surgeries until they are healed. The last spaying I had done took 3 weeks of monitoring before I was comfortable there were no complications. Maybe by this time a person can find homes for these cats. As I have mentioned in other posts feral cats can take months to socialize, use you own judgement when monitoring a feral cat or colony of cats.
That’s my story for today. Preserve the land and defend the defenceless. Not only cats, dogs also. Now hug a kitty and do something green for the environment.
Trevor