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2 new ferals showed up this weekend. Initially I thought one was a really young mother of the other approx 8 wk old kitten. She is pretty skinny and very very timid. Now I don't think so. The kitten just stays on the patio pretty much 24 7. The older kitten only shows up a couple of times a day to eat quickly and disappear, there doesn't seem to be a 'relationship'. Maybe she was the kitten from a previous litter, same mother? Or somehow the kitten lost his mother and just started following her till they arrived at my place.
He(?) seems very alone out there. I have a wooden chair out there that I tied a dangly toy to and he plays with that. I have a "coffee table" with a plywood board over it just below the window and with a slight cool spell opened the window. He and the 5 month old not feral anymore kittens made friends through the screen. So he was sleeping on the table. I put a cutdown shoebox out there with a dishtowel and he was sleeping in that when the nights were cooler. The heat has moved back in and he's mostly laying on the cement or in the chair.
I just worry about all this all the time. The Humane Society and another independent rescue org have had free cats all august, discounted kittens. The HS just announced they were going to keep going in Sept.
I could trap him and put him in the bathroom and try to tame him down, but to what end? The city is overrun with kittens and cats. The HS tries - As a kitten he might get adopted, but how many cats get forever homes? From the few craigslist responses I've screened I say not many. They cycle through the system and get harder and harder to adopt out. It would be really quite stressful to bring him in my small apt with the 2 kittens I can't find homes for already even to just socialize him then dump him at the shelter = gee is this how hoarding starts?
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. So I had two to trap, now I have 4. (I've done 7 and should have done more faster and some wouldn't have died). And I have to travel to see my elderly mother over labor day.
I worry about finding someone to feed them when I'm gone, I worry about the apt complex finding out that I'm feeding (even if I'm also s/n) I would like to move I hate my apt but don't feel like I can.
I'm not looking for sympathy per se but sometimes I post here because I'm in this all alone and it's hard to worry all the time.
Perhaps your vet could help you find homes for them...? Our vet does that for their clients, they usually have kittens (or a cat sometimes) in a large dog crate in the lobby and they get adopted pretty quickly. They've had at least 15 kittens and cats get rehomed this way over the summer. Currently I'm fostering 2 feral kittens for them! Using the vet to help rehome definitely helps with screening because they know their clients and would never let an animal go to someone they were unsure about. I worked there so I know this about my vet in particular, are you close with your vet?
Well the vet techs were the ones who talked me into not releasing them when I picked them up from neutering (they have their ears tipped). Said I could put up a flyer, which I did. Said they would try to find a home. I'm sure they have. They seem pretty nice.
But, everytime I go in there, there is a cat behind the counter that someone dropped off they are trying to rehome and 2 more in back from someone who died or whatever. Its just to much.
Meanwhile last night I heard something being killed in the wooded lot behind my apt (where the cats live apparently). I hear this periodically and always jump out of bed and go out and make noise trying to interupt whatever is going on. Last night I was worried it was the kitten. There are HUGE racoons that come eat any leftover food.
But he was still there, just off the patio watching the woods. Not there this morning but I saw him afterwork.
Well the vet techs were the ones who talked me into not releasing them when I picked them up from neutering (they have their ears tipped). Said I could put up a flyer, which I did. Said they would try to find a home. I'm sure they have. They seem pretty nice.
But, everytime I go in there, there is a cat behind the counter that someone dropped off they are trying to rehome and 2 more in back from someone who died or whatever. Its just to much. Meanwhile last night I heard something being killed in the wooded lot behind my apt (where the cats live apparently). I hear this periodically and always jump out of bed and go out and make noise trying to interupt whatever is going on. Last night I was worried it was the kitten. There are HUGE racoons that come eat any leftover food.
But he was still there, just off the patio watching the woods. Not there this morning but I saw him afterwork.
My God, I could not handle that. I hope it's just fighting (I know that is probably is not).
Bless you for caring for these kits; I know this isn't the first time you've posted about a predicament involving ferals and/or strays. I don't know what else to say except thank you--sending good thoughts and vibes that a viable solution might somehow come your way
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