We have a feral family UPDATE 10/10/06 *PICS Video!* Added

For a while now myself and my mother have been feeding a group of feral cats that have appeared in my mother's garden. At first they seemed to come and go, though now they seem to have taken up perminent residence in my mothers garden, and only go off occasionally. We've been feeding them around six months now and have become quite attached to them despite them growling hissing and sometimes having the odd swipe at us.
There is a mother, two kittens and the father. There is also another female who comes around who we think may be nursing kittens elsewhere at the moment as she comes and goes quite infrequently of late, so we think there may be babies close by.
We feed them all twice a day, just ordinary tinned food and biscuits that we buy between us, and they have left overs from Doris (my mum's cat) and also dinner left overs from us if it's meat or something they may like.
Sometimes it's difficult to feed them as they fight amongst themselves and we have to try and keep them apart.
They are more trusting than they were at first, but won't let us go out to them, only look and talk to them through the window.
The male I think may have been domestic at one time and have had a home, as he doesn't appear quite as wild as the others. He's lovely and my favourite, though a bit of state covered in bites and scars from his obvious many many fights.
Last week I contacted Cardiff Cat's Protection, which is the local branch of the Cat's Protectin charity. (this is where I got Jack & Sunny from)
They are currently running a free neutering scheme so I want to take advantage of this and get them all spayed/neutered.
I have been in touch with a lady called Fran who does trapping and neutering of ferals in the Cardiff area, and she is bringing a trap to us in the next few days.
So wish me luck, hopefully we'll catch the mother, two kittens and father and be able to get them neutered for free, which will be fantastic.
It's going to be difficult catching one at a time, I wonder if they get wise to the trap?
Any advice on trapping and what it's like would be welcome.
I've never done this before and neither has my mum, so we're novices, but looking forward to it as we want the cats to be healthier and not produce more unwanted cats.
I will take my camera tomorrow and try and get pictures during feeding time :)

The very best of luck with trapping your little family. That is how we got our cats, you know. We borrowed a trap from Cats Protection and set it in the back garden. The kittens we caught relatively easily; the cat across the road we caught on several occasions; Jessica (mother) proved much more difficult. We didn't manage to catch her during the fortnight or however long we were given the trap for. She actually had another litter before we were able to get the trap back and catch her (and the 2nd litter) the following summer.

Good luck! :D

I hae never done the trap part of trap - neuter - release. However, since this appears to be a family, it occurred to me that keeping some fur brushings from the first ones you catch may be useful in the trap to catch the later ones. Assuming you can get anywhere close to them to run a brush over them! Maybe while they are "out" during the spay / neuter someone can run a brush over them for you! Just a thought. Godd luck getting ALL of them!

Oh wow.... the best of luck to you as you try to trap and help this little family! Please keep us posted!

God Bless You for helping this little family.
We pray that you can save as many of these poor unfortunates as possible.

The more traps you can set out at one time the better. They will get wise to the traps after awhile so if you can catch most of them on the first go round, the better chance you have. You need at least as many traps as you have cats, if possible. Good luck and great that you even care enough to do this!

Thank you and your mom so much for doing this! I hope you are able to trap them all, before more unwanted feral babies are produced!!!

Hugs,
Kim

Thanks all for your advice and good luck wishes. I really want to help these cats and I have to say it's all because of the people on this forum that have inspired me to do it. I never would've thought to do or would've been too anxious about it before.
But reading so many stories about people on here has been so uplifting and inspiring, seeing others helping ferals and rescue cats that I want to do something myself to make a difference to these cats.
I did wonder about them getting wise to the traps so i will discuss this with Fran who traps them. I'm quite excited about helping the cats as I do like them even though I can't touch them and interact as such.

Yesterday we caught the boy (*at least we think he is!) kitten in the trap that we were given by the lady that volunteers. He's gone off now to be neautered and checked over, he's returning Thursday evening.
Today we caught the mother cat, and she'll be coming to be picked up tomorrow morning to be taken off to be neutered.
That leave only the girl kitten (again we think!) and the father.
We're going to leave the other cat till we find out if she has kittens or not.
I am so pleased that we are able to do this for them. Catching the first two has been pretty easy, they've more or less walked into the cage straight away.

What a wonderful thing you're doing for this feral family!!! Bless you! Do you think there's any chance of adoption for them?

I'm not sure about whether they'd be able to be adopted. The kittens I'm thinking about about 4-5 months old. When I sat next to the trap and lifted up the blanket to have a look at the boy, he literally threw himself towards me at the side of the cage, howling and hissing, spitting like a wild thing. He's very wild, obviously the being in the cage contributes to their stress, but he was pretty scary. The only one I think may be able to be tamed is the father who I call Sylvester as he's black and white and looks like Sylvester from Tweety Pie, he seems to not be so stand offish and timid as the others, which was what made me think perhaps he'd been owned many moons ago.
I'll try and get some pics tomorrow :)

Continued success in capturing them. Wonderful that you are helping this family. Of the 9 cats I have owed, 5 were foundlings. Keep posting updates!!!

Wonderful news!

Who knows...the babes may settle down. My tabby boy Oscar was wild for 2 years, at the least (so the vet said).

He is a sweetie now - if a bit high-strung. After a UTI, the vet recommended a tranny; I asked about Feliway. He's on Feliway twice a day, and no more frantic grooming! I can hardly wait for his lower tummy fur to grow back!

So there may be a chance for all the kitties yet, you never know.

:)

In time, many ferals make the turn around and become loving pets. Even if these don't ever become tame, you are doing a wonderful think by getting them spayed / neutered and vetted! THANK YOU so much!!! ;)

Great news that you have managed to get two of them! :D That really is great. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the others are curious about that cage too.

Wow, good work!!! Hopefully you'll be able to catch the others soon also. :)

Some pics I got of the kittens. The first is off the littel boy Kitten, he has now been neutered, flea-ed and wormed. He is totally wild. But we love the little perfect heart shape of black on his chest, this was how we told the difference at first between the kittens.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10.../BoyKitten.jpg
This is the little girl, she has black all over her eyes and looks like she's wearing a little black shrug on her back :) We haven't caught her yet.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...GirlKitten.jpg
The two together, this was during feeding time, it was raining so they were a bit timid and were going back and forth all the time.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...nstogether.jpg
I will try and get the mother and father pics soon if possible.

Good work so far! You make me proud! :) Good pictures and the one reminds me of our Mr. January!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...d/f731c134.jpg

Gosh, they both have wonderful markings! That little boy's "heart" is grand. And something about the girl's ears makes it look like a white band across them.

Keep up the great job caring for these lovies. Good luck catching the others!

The kittens are adorable!!! I love the heart on the little boy's chest, it tells of all the love he has to give even though he's feral. And what a pretty little girl! Bless you for caring enough to help these two sweeties. Who knows,with you caring for them hopefully in time they will learn to trust humans enough to be wonderful companions.

Well all four cats have now been trapped, the mum, the two kittens and the dad. The kitten that we thought was a girl wasn't! So it's a he, and I like the name bandit, cause of the markings on his eyes. He's more nervous and smaller than the other boy (with the heart shape) which was why we thought it was a girl, nevermind!
Sylvester the father, he had a gash on his arm (which I thought he had) and they managed to clean it out, stitch it and gave him antibiotics. So that should make him feel a whole lot better.
So now all four cats have been de flea-ed, wormed and neutered, I am so happy!
They're a little bit wary of us now but are still feeding. I'm sure they'll get used to us again and realise we're not going to be trapping them again!
Now all that's left is the little girl that comes around that we think may have kittens. So we'll have to see.

My dad has been kind enough to build a house out in the garden for our ferals, carpeted with a shelf, and made from wood and felted all over to keep it waterproof, for the winter that's coming.
Hopefully they'll use it and shelter, warm in the blankets.

I'm dead chuffed :) Cats protection has been fantastic to do this for us for free, and also Fran who is the lady that does trapping for them and helps others. She is an amazing woman.

Thanks to EVERYBODY on pet talk who have inspired me to do this and try and make a difference to these cats lives. You are all my inspiration!

Success! How wonderful! Thanks for the update. And give your Dad a big hug for spending time on the backyard kitty home.

What a great thing you have done for the cats!

Thanks to you and to your dad for the house. I'm sure the cats will all be grateful for a warm place to sleep. They will realize that you're a friend, but it may take some time.

We're proud of you!

That is fantastic news! Very well done! I'm sure the cats will hang around. Where else would they get such good food and accommodation? You must let us know how they get on.

WOW!

I hope they like their new house, and get to adopt you a little more each day.

Wonderful people you have! And your Dad is just too cool! :D

Okay here are a couple of pictures of the ferals and their house.

Picture 1: The mum cat, she's very pretty, we think she's lovely :)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10.../MumFeral2.jpg

Picture 2: Again waiting to be fed
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...t/MumFeral.jpg

Picture 3 This is their little house my dad built

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...beat/House.jpg

Picture 4: This is the inside, the top opens so I can change their blankets and stuff

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...nsideView2.jpg

Picture 5: Another shot

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...InsideView.jpg

Videos:

1: This is mum having something to eat this afternoon

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...t=PICT0282.flv


2: This is dad, we call him sylvester, having a meal on the windowsill. I really want to tame him, he's my favourite.

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...t=PICT0184.flv

Wow, they are so pretty and you've done such great work. Do they use the house? That is really neat!

Absolutely WONDERFUL! You and your family are amazing!!!

Oh, that mom is SOOO pretty! And you can sure tell who the babies take after!

But I would like to think they get their pretty heart and ear bands from their Mom's prettiness!

I hope they take to you more now - with being neutered, they may settle down just a bit.

Mom is eating like there is no tomorrow! Wow!

Bless you again for saving these lives, and getting them taken care of.

That reminds me of the Found Cat Hotel where the Strays all come around.
I have to put the food out late as the Welfare Drunks send thier dog over to eat.
What jerks they be.

They have used the house yes, my mum has seen the kittens and the mum go in and out, I'm not sure about Dad Sylvester yet.
Now the kittens are older and go about themselves the mum tends to growl at them and swat when they're feeding. So no love lost there mum!
I think once the weather turns and it gets cold and raining they will use it.
They're not in the garden 24/7 they do go elsewhere though we don't know where, but I certainly don't think it's far, they climb over the back fence and appear. Sometimes they decide to stay in the garden and are there waiting for breakfast when my mother gets up and draws the curtains, then woof! there are four cats on the windowsill! It's very sweet, though sometimes difficult cause they sometimes fight over food. There's usually one that gets less than the others.
My mum knows them better than I do as I live about a mile and half away, so I don't get to see them all the time, but we share buying food for them, and if I'm there and they appear I get to feed them which I love doing.
My father was kind enough to build the house using all old bits and pieces he had lying around in his shed. He never throws anything away, he's a very good recycle-er!
Though he moans about it! lol, I think he did it to shut myself and my mum up, hehe. But I'm glad he did it, cause I want them to have somewhere safe and warm.
I'm really hoping they'll stay with us now and use the house and basically live in my mums back garden, it's safe there and enclosed.

I think your dad is grumbling to cover a soft heart! That house is just what the kitties need and he knew it. My dad grumbled a lot too but he was a real animal lover underneath.

I can't watch the videos but the picture of momma shows that she is very pretty.