Well, I have been gone such a long time! I have been relocating some ferals from bad areas in the next city to my yard. Some were ill and all have been speutered with a "program" at most reasonable prices. Ill
ones have been given medication. Cats are in as good a condition as they can be. We let the first couple go about 3 days ago. One stuck like glue to the point I am almost falling from him wrapping around my legs. Another male took off and returned a couple of days later and now seems to stay close. There are four others about to be released. I think I have held them in cages on my patio at least 4 weeks. Trying to keep flies from the food and keeping the cages clean and dry and cool and litter scooped is a major job. Adding this work to my other cat care has been something I didn't have time for.
I have kept the cages dry by using election signs to cover them with zip ties and some hang down from the top on longer ties and can be flipped up over the top in better weather. I have elections signs on the top with large overhangs and can put bent pieces of election signs
tucked under these for an "awning" type of shelter from the sun. I don't want them to bake in hot weather.
Cleaning and feeding has to be managed with cats that are often not friendly. I have a long "grabber" like people use who can't bend over. I use it to remove empty dishes and move things around the cage. Going in I lead with a bowl of food and once that has their attention at the back of the cage I quickly change water and pull the litter box out for scooping. Sometimes it helps to feed in two amounts to have more time to work while they are distracted eating.
I also use those carriers that have a removable door. I put that in the cage and when they go in I put the door on and remove the carrier and the cat for a more thorough cleaning. I also use this to move ferals from one place to another. I even tie a string to the door and pull it shut after they go in the carrier, on some of them. Some cats have a very long reach and their nails are lethal!
We have just completed an area to the side of my cat building in the back that is paved with slates and covered with a tarp from building to fence that acts like a roof. I am using this as a holding area for recovering TNRs because the other cat people have no place to leave them. Their routine had been to leave the females on the street covered over in the back of a pick up truck overnight. A couple of the TNR people do this. Having this space also means I will no longer put recovering TNRs in my basement.
The good news is that there are finally some TNR programs in my area where I don't have to pay $150 a cat at the vet to TNR a cat. Two days ago I even ran into my second cousin that I haven't seen in 9 years. She was there with a feral cat in a trap. Turns out she has four cats and three dogs and is well into TNR. I had no idea she was also a cat lady.
This relocation thing is much more work than I expected. My yard is going to have too many and I am calling an end to it although my friend wants to bring two more pregnant females, after spaying. I hate to insist but they will have to go back where they are. These are tiny yards. Even though we are providing shelters and I am feeding I think there will be too many. And....I cannot take another 3 weeks of this. Not to mention the great cost of food for many more cats for the rest of their lives.
Regarding shelter. Suncast makes an outdoor seat in two sizes to store patio items, etc. One is the size of large chest about 40" long, and the other is half
that. Some stores have had sales. My rescue partner bought me a number of these. They come in tan or white. We are driling six inch holes with a hole saw and putting flaps over them for shelter with zip ties. For flaps I use the plastic doors I have saved from litter boxes. They are much nicer looking shelters than the "tub in tub" design. I can also use a large chest to put food in to shelter it from the rain and snow in my alley. If you face the hole away from the public it just looks like a storage seat.
I think they run $40+.
I had been keeping some cats in my basement and some TNR recovery. I am now fighting a major flea problem in the basement. This is a first. I am almost done moving the last of 6 cats out so I can treat it more thoroughly. I have also decided it is not good to have cats in an "out of the way location" where they cannot be given enough attention. I am rearranging the cat building at the office to hold more cats there. I will remove the large cage in the basement. I do not like having any cats in cages. Their personalities to not improve. In some cases it has been unavoidable. My costs for Revolution and all other types of flea products have been about $1000. This includes Revolution for one month. Vet says it take about 24 hours for Revolution to kill fleas on the cat so one basement feral is outside in a cage until the time is up and I will bring her back in upstairs. I let her out of the basement several times but she always came back in. She is very petite and the other cats would chase her. She may be the original flea source. I never had them before.
Everyday people contact me from my Petfinder page and want me to take kittens or cats. It is really sad. People are calling me from NY, north of NYC and I am in NJ! I try to make suggestions and some appreciate it. Others want someone to "come and pick them up".
I don't know how I have survived without our list all this time.
Heaven only knows what I have missed!!
Pam In NJ
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