Getting some strays prowling around my house (male, feline, food)

[dspguy]

I adopted a 12-year-old female cat last year. She has always lived outside and apparently has no intentions of living inside. I got her to sleep in the garage during the colder winter months (live in SC, so not so bad anyway).

During the afternoon in the winter, I'd open the garage door just a little bit so she could run out and enjoy the warmer part of the day. At night, I'd put out her food bowl in the garage (still with the door open a bit) and wait for her to come back. Then I'd shut her in overnight.

At some point, I realized that she was sharing her food with a couple cats that I think are strays. They are pretty scraggly looking things, no collars. Personally, I think my adopted cat is being a dirty stay-out and has a couple of boyfriends. A couple nights, I've caught the two strays outside the garage howling (presumably for her). My cat is spayed, so I suppose if she wants to mess around with a bunch of dirty cats, that is her business.

Anyway, now that the summer is here, I was hoping to let her stay out full time (she never liked being inside anyway). But I have this issue of feeding her. Like most cats, she won't eat all her food immediately and then go on with her day. If anything, I swear she only eats a bit so she can spare some for her friends.

I'm getting concerned that these cats are urinating on/near my house and clawing up my screen doors, etc. Is it cruel to catch/release them? Any ideas on what can be done?

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by dspguy

Is it cruel to catch/release them? Any ideas on what can be done?

The answer isn't simple. Cats are territorial and if you trap and release it where there are existing males, you're asking for trouble. Cat fights are serious business and cat bites very easily cause abscesses - and if there's no one there to treat the abscess, it's not going to be very pleasant.

However, trapping, neutering and releasing back to their original territory is not cruel and - in fact - is the best thing for them. The cats will be rid of those pesky hormones that cause this behaviour in the first place.

There should be local feline welfare organisations or the SPCA or similar that should be able to offer cheap/no cost to you "TNR" - Trap, Neuter, Release.

[PantherPride]

I agree gerttting them TNR is the best thing

[luvmycat]

3X on the TNR...! They clip part of the left ear off as a way to let Animal Control know he's been fixed so they don't trap him, confine him, and then put him on death row. I know...ouchie...but it's the lesser of 2 evils in this case...

[moved]

Clipping ears on a male cat to let Animal Control that he's neutered is unnecessary. It's quite obvious from a male cat's rear end if he's been neutered or not. The ear clipping is only done on females, so if they're picked up, the vets don't open them up again.