New to the Cat World

I am brand new to the cat world.

I don't have pet cat's per say, but I've had 2 cats hanging around my home for about 6 months now. One seems like it's semi-feral and the other runs away as soon as it sees me. I have decided to set up an area for them to keep them safe from the cold/heat and from other wildlife that can potentially kill them (as I live in a rural area) plus fresh food and water. I would love to get them used to people, but I am highly allergic so can't have them in the house, plus I have a house full of dogs so don't think that would go very well. I have also been looking for feral cat organizations to help me get them spayed/neutered and vet checked.

I'm not sure if they are boys or girls. Hopefully I can catch them quickly to get them vet checked. I haven't been able to get pictures of the other one, just the little grey one. I named him Mijo (if he's a boy) or Mija (if a girl), pronounced "me-ho". It means "my boy/girl" in Spanish If the other one is a girl i'm going to name her Katica.

Sorry about the long post.

What a lovely colour and well done to you for thinking about them.

I'm more of a dog person than cat but after we agreed that when our two (12 and 17 years) pop their clogs we would be cat free, along came another one.

She walked into our shop one day and never left!

They do say cats choose their owners and not the other way round.

Can I just say one thing about this semi adoption of wild or stray cats.

A lot of well meaning people here in Cyprus do the same thing. They either cannot take the cats into their homes or the cats don't want to leave the outside area where they are usually hanging around. There's even a little 'cat city' set up in Da Soudi woods alongside Limassol beach where they've built little shanty shelters for them and go down to feed them daily. Quite a sight to see them all turn out for food. And we have a beach local to me that is commonly called 'Cat Beach' where a couple of ladies go to feed a quite large community of cats.

However, when any of these ladies has a crisis or has to go away, they are desperately then calling for help from the public to go and feed these cats in their absence. And currently municipality has cleared away some of the home made shelters made for them and they are also desperate to find somewhere else 'safe' for them nearby.

As most of these cats will not easily allow you to pick them up and cart them off anywhere it is difficult to 'move them'.

All I'm saying is that if you make them 'dependent' on you for food and shelter, it's a good idea to have some sort of backup if for any reason you cannot continue doing so.

I think it's very difficult to actually ensure cats are safe from 'predators' and going by the same ones I've been seeing for many years over here - they seem to be able to look after themselves quite well. It's the cats who've been used to a home with humans and are subsequently kicked out or abandoned who have trouble surviving on their own.

wonderful post tang.
difference a you express so well between feral and dumped.

these two look street wise and wary!

with my feral; have learned to sit lightly. they are aggressivly territorial as they need to be to survive and i have had to limit him because he wants house as well as garden and he has no indoor manners

these two look like survivors and seek food and shelter and no more. and that i respect and would not restrict or confine them.

my family in canada do the same. some cats are hand tame, others are not and that is fine.

Like yourself, I'm not 'new' to the cat world Rosebud! Having owned a few and worked with many who need homes. Here are just a few of those who need homes - these are not feral or wild. These have been ill treated, abandoned, kicked out or dumped at the Sanctuary. Seen here with my son and his wife on one of my many visits back there (worked there for more than a year when I lived near it)


And with my daughter (it's very important that they continue to be socialised as well as fed and kept disease free so that they are suitable for rehoming.


With my stepgranddaughter (who wanted to take this one home back to Poland with her)


Couple of pals of mine with some that just live on the street. These will take food if you throw it to them but watch out if you try to pick one up! I even keep Bella away from most of the street cats (telling her they are NOT her friends!)

When I helped a farm with a high feral cat population we got help from the Feral Cat society who loaned traps and then paid for the spaying and neutering of the ones we caught. They were then released back as the farm did not mind feeding them. Any that were ill we had PTS. that included testing for Feline Aids.

tang that is a wonderful sight in your post. thank you...

i can do so little now so it is grand to see others .

my wee feral is a crazy mixed up cat ...half longing to belong, but with no domestic manners and still a tendency while demanding he winds round your ankles purring to suddenly lash out with a deadly right claw.

he goes missing for days and always when there is a storm he vanishes. comes back hungry and sometimes a little tattered.

i think of him now as like a wild fox or the pine marten i fed for years. i think i put his photo up at some stage.

tnr is great. they do that here.

Cat wandered into my garden and right over to my patio doors and stuck its head round the curtain earlier! Great big black and white one that I know Dick, the gardener feeds every day. I made the kissy noise and it ran off! Next time I won't make a sound!

awww!

when i came home late afternoon yesterday the first sound i heard was the feral whose wail would cut glass. when i let the dogs out he hid under the car...wee dog was sooooooo mad she could not get at the cat...bounced up and down, nose under the car, backside sticking out....street wise moggie.

my two cats were up in my bedroom window watching the show