# Feral cat infestation!!!



## Prince (Jun 17, 2016)

We moved into a new house a few months ago. Little did we know that the previous owner fed a group of seven untamed, completely feral cats!! I thought they'd leave without someone feeding them, but it's been months with no signs of them leaving. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love cats. They're adorable. But these cats are pooping all over my yard, peeing on my porch right under a window so the smell makes its way inside the house, and ravaging the local wildlife. The amount of tiny bird corpses I've seen is so depressing. I've always dreamed of turning my yard into a haven for wildlife, but that's been put in hold until I can get these cats to stop running amok. 

Worst of all, the smell of their pee is freaking out my rats. The area of my porch they like to pee on is very close to our rat cage, and our rats get so stressed out until I scrub the patio with bleach. I'm worried that they'll get some kind of illness thanks to the stress suppressing their immune system. 

These cats have got to go, but I'm at a loss of what to do. They're absolutely feral, and cannot be handled. They don't even have the telltale ear tip notched to indicate they've been fixed or vaccinated. Cats are rabies vectors and that worries me too. 

My only idea is to trap them and take them to the local humane society, but they'll most likely be put down there. I don't want them to die, they didn't ask to be put here. But the local wildlife also didn't ask for an invasive species to slaughter them in droves. 

I've considered doing TNR (trap, neuter, release) but there aren't any tnr programs near us, so we'd have to find our own vet who would be okay working on a wild, angry cat. Plus, after that 600$ surgery for our one rat, paying vet bills on animals we don't even own doesn't sound like a fun time to me. I'm also not thrilled about releasing that same animal straight back into my yard, where it'll continue to kill everything it can catch for the next ten years. 

So what can I do? I love cats, but I love my rats and wildlife more.


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## Enne (Dec 12, 2020)

Call animal control and set up traps. TNR doesn't solve the inherent problems feral cats bring. They are an extreme danger to native wildlife, and are disease vectors. It's sad and not their fault, but they cause so much damage and aren't living a good life that way.


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## _dizzy_ (Mar 28, 2018)

I don't know where you live come up but you can also try seeing if a local farm wants them to catch mice. I know some humane societies have spay and neuter clinics that'll spay and neuter cats for cheap and notch their ears if they're feral. I have a place like that. My Grandma had a bunch of feral cats before and one of them had two litters so she had like 20 cats coming to her yard daily. She contacted the local farm and the farm got in contact with a TNR program. All the cats went to three different farms(the farmer contacted other near by farms to see if they wanted cats too because he couldn't handle 20).


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## _dizzy_ (Mar 28, 2018)

You can also spray lemon juice everywhere and plant mint.
Here's a link to a site that talks about chasing them away








How to keep cats out of the garden - David Suzuki Foundation


Make your garden beds less inviting, or less like a litter box. Try some low-cost, upcycled and even simple prickly solutions to deter cats.




davidsuzuki.org


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