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My search terms were low cost spay neuter lubbock and feral cats tnr lubbock.
Good luck, I hope you find some help! I know it would be prohibitively expensive if I had to rely on "retail" vet pricing for various procedures; the low cost programs are great. Plus the vet I use mostly will waive the office visit fee if I bring in a cat or dog that isn't one of my personal pets, which I really appreciate.
I'm like you, JTAustin, I have been feeding ferals at my shop for the past 3 years every night. I have had as many as 10 at one time (plus families of Raccoons too ) and at least I know they go to bed at night with a full belly. Now I only get one cat who comes regularly, and sometimes two others that come occasionally. It is hard to see them disappear because I know something not good has happened to them.
Our local humane society has a program where they will spay and neuter them free if you are going to release them back into the outdoors. They clip a short section off of one ear so people will know that cat has been done already. I had mama cat done a little while ago, but had to trap her and keep her indoors for a few days to heal. You might look into something like that, but with MS I know it is hard to do for you. But at least you are seeing that they are not hungry, and that is a good thing, regardless of what some people say.
Don
Yeah, I just reviewed the web pages of the links given, and this still scares me. I'm not convinced that the local animal authorities have the emotional lives of the animals in mind. Our "shelter" here is a kill shelter, at least the one in town. I will not subject these animals to a lot of intrusion in their lives until I know more about these services. Very unlikely, it seems to me, that they are staffed by caring people.
Yeah, I just reviewed the web pages of the links given, and this still scares me. I'm not convinced that the local animal authorities have the emotional lives of the animals in mind. Our "shelter" here is a kill shelter, at least the one in town. I will not subject these animals to a lot of intrusion in their lives until I know more about these services. Very unlikely, it seems to me, that they are staffed by caring people.
So you will subject them to endless breeding, slow suffering death by disease and inbreeding birth defects, and predators instead? You are doing no kindness to these animals, and the future generations of these animals (which will happen much more quickly than you seem to understand) if you do not have them spayed and neutered.
Get on the phone and start lining up help. The places linked are experienced organizations created to help people like you. These cats are your responsibility now, and for their own health and well being, and to prevent the suffering of all the litters to come, you need to have them spayed and neutered.
Yeah, I just reviewed the web pages of the links given, and this still scares me. I'm not convinced that the local animal authorities have the emotional lives of the animals in mind. Our "shelter" here is a kill shelter, at least the one in town. I will not subject these animals to a lot of intrusion in their lives until I know more about these services. Very unlikely, it seems to me, that they are staffed by caring people.
My 6 month old kitten was feral. We found her dying of starvation in the middle of the road at 1am in the morning. It cost me over 1k in the first month to save her life. She's an awesome cat, but the reality is she shouldn't have been born.
It angers me that people are feeding unaltered feral cats knowing that they will give birth to kittens who will suffer and die from starvation, trauma, and the elements. You're feeding two kittens now. Hasn't it occurred to you that the rest of the litter died? At 6 months old, they can go into heat and get pregnant and give birth to more kittens where the majority of the litter dies.
A few weeks after saving Bobbles, I asked a woman who lives on the street where I found her. She happens to be the daughter of my next door neighbor. This woman was feeding the ferals! Fortunately, she loves animals so much she completely understood that she was causing suffering when I explained to her the condition I found Bobbles. She captured Bobble's brother and took him into her home. Then she captured the adults and took them to the spay release program at the local humane society (which is a kill shelter, but it does free spays for the public to release ferals back into their neighborhoods).
It's really important that you understand that you are contributing to the suffering of feral cats if you feed them without ensuring they are fixed. Caring people put animals out of their misery. Caring people don't create misery. You truly need to trust these organizations that exist to help the feral population. They exist to put an end to generations of suffering.
Everything you wrote is true, but it's so obvious and self-evident, I wonder why it hasn't occurred to you that I am aware of the difficulty.
Because I strongly believe that if people can't/won't get ferals fixed, they should not feed them and let nature take its course. Thinning the herd through starvation will save future generations from suffering because they won't be born. If you think it's too cruel to let them starve, catch them and take them to the kill shelter to be euthanized. Feeding them is not caring about them. Feeding them is perpetuating the suffering. If you get them fixed, feed away with a guilt free mind. But don't make excuses for feeding unaltered ferals.
Some of you need to come down off of your high horses. It is so easy for you to sit back and condemn someone for simply feeding feral cats and not having them fixed, but the reality is that catching them, finding a place to do it, and having he money to pay for all of these animals is quite an undertaking.
You all make it sound so easy, simply put out a trap, the cat will willingly go inside, and there are lots of free or cheap places to take them. (Oh, and you simply take time off of work to get this all done). Anyone who has fed ferals every day knows how expensive it is and how much of your life it consumes.
Sounds great, how about some of you kicking in some money to get all of these cats fixed and taken to the vet for checkups ? The person who is lovingly feeding these poor animals is at least not letting them starve, which sounds like what some of you prefer, to " stop their breeding". You all call yourselves cat lovers, but if you truly were you would be happy that at least cats that would otherwise starve to death are being given some food so that doesn't happen.
It is so easy to sit back and criticize someone, but I wonder how many poor kitties all of you are saving.
Some of you need to come down off of your high horses. It is so easy for you to sit back and condemn someone for simply feeding feral cats and not having them fixed, but the reality is that catching them, finding a place to do it, and having he money to pay for all of these animals is quite an undertaking.
You all make it sound so easy, simply put out a trap, the cat will willingly go inside, and there are lots of free or cheap places to take them. (Oh, and you simply take time off of work to get this all done). Anyone who has fed ferals every day knows how expensive it is and how much of your life it consumes.
Sounds great, how about some of you kicking in some money to get all of these cats fixed and taken to the vet for checkups ? The person who is lovingly feeding these poor animals is at least not letting them starve, which sounds like what some of you prefer, to " stop their breeding". You all call yourselves cat lovers, but if you truly were you would be happy that at least cats that would otherwise starve to death are being given some food so that doesn't happen.
It is so easy to sit back and criticize someone, but I wonder how many poor kitties all of you are saving.
I have successfully encouraged two feral feeders in different parts of my neighborhood to take on this responsibility. They didn't have to pay for the spays/neuters because the humane society has a free catch and release program. All it takes is the commitment of time to do right by these animals. It seems from my vantage point that education is the key. I'm spreading the word in this thread.
To date, I've saved 9 cats in my life directly. The most recent is Bobbles. And at least 20 cats within the last year in my neighborhood via impressing the importance of catch and release to feral feeding neighbors. So, 29 cats to date, but I only started my feral catch and release quest last year when greg42 told me about the program here on CD.
If you're not going to do it right, I do think you're doing a disservice by feeding the animals because they are going to create more and more sufferers. If you can't see how you're part of the problem, I can't help but continue to do my best to spread the word that there is a solution and it's spaying/neutering the ferals that are being fed.
You live in Ft. Meyers. Here's a link to the catch and release program in your area. It's free.
Ignore the extremists. They are always extreme, not just for your thread.
If I were in your shoes I'd go ahead and contact the TNR groups in your area that were recommended to you up above by C...... Just call and talk with them in person. If possible for you given your health issues, go visit them, or if you can't, invite them to your home.
Maybe after talking with individuals from various groups for a while you'll feel better about getting involved with them and asking them to help with the cats in your yard. People who do TNR (trap, neuter, release) are usually very wonderful, kind people and you might like getting to know them. In fact, they probably share your concerns about what happens to the cats in your area.
It's wonderful that you are caring enough to try to figure out the best thing to do for these cats. We appreciate you!
To Update this: I contacted the authorities here, and told them the circumstances, and they said they'd be out this week. The kittens will be put up for adoption at the no-kill center outside of town. I was comfortable, talking to them, and glad I got the information here, as I wasn't able to find it myself. I'm hoping to see them today, though they did say "this week."
I do think that the responses from two of the posters could have been better. You gave me the right information, but it would have been better to present it differently; if you come across as accusatory and self-righteous you will, in most cases, only succeed in offending and angering the person, and their behavior will be less likely to change. Unless they already agree with you, as I do, you will not accomplish your goal.
An analogy to this would be my support of veganism: I think factory farming is a crime, meat eating is gross, and that humanity will, eventually, change this behavior. But if I present my views by denigrating, accusing and insulting others, it will not change their behavior, only make them defensive. There are more effective ways of doing this.
The model is Jane Goodall. As most people know, this is a noble person who as spent her life studying and trying to protect primates. And someone asked her, when you go into a primate facility and the animals are kept there without reference to their physical and emotional needs, don't you feel like blowing the place up? And she said, yes, but if I did that, it would not help the animals.
If you really care about the animals--and I'm sure you do--then consider tailoring your responses such that the poster feels supported, and not attacked. It will be more effective.
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) and at least I know they go to bed at night with a full belly. Now I only get one cat who comes regularly, and sometimes two others that come occasionally. It is hard to see them disappear because I know something not good has happened to them. 
