what do you do about wild cats (San Antonio, Roma: house, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

phillye · 05-06-2009, 08:28 AM

We have a wild cat in our neighborhood that just shows up sometimes. He finally saturday bit and scratched and messed my nieces arms up pretty bad. It ended up with an ER visit and the beginning of rabies shots. I am completely outraged at the fact that all the calls to the spca, pound, animal control, etc. will not come help me, says they don't pick up cats, say they are going to drop off a trap for us to trap him, they don't show up, in the meantime the cat is still roaming the neighborhood and now he's missing in action so I supposed it's going to take another child to be scratched and bitten and rabies. Here is the other ironic twist to this story. She got her 1st series of shots on saturday, was told to go to get second series on tuesday, and no one can get her in, no one wants to help her, and the kid is only 7 years old. I can promise you one thing, I have never seen someone work so hard as her mom and grandma trying to make sure this child is taken care of and followed up and help with this cat situation. And no one cares, passes the buck, and tells them they can't help them any more. Does anyone have any suggestions to pass along

LindaGrace · 05-06-2009, 08:38 AM

A friend of mine got bitten by a dog and had a hell of a time getting in for rabies shots - he went through the same thing your family is going through. No one has time, no one has the shot, blah blah blah. He finally found a clinic to give him the medication and his wife gave him the shots herself.

As far as the cat, I feel your pain there, too. I went through the exact same thing with trying to get animal control to drop off a trap. I finally ended up calling every day for about 10 days and they realized I wasn't going away.

Never did catch the cat.

Also, was your niece trying to pet the cat????? Tell her NOT TO TOUCH THE OUTDOOR KITTIES.

scuba steve · 05-06-2009, 09:56 AM

A middle schooler with a BB gun can chase off feral cats pretty easily...

phillye · 05-06-2009, 10:01 AM

So in the meantime what do you do. What is up with the city that they can't provide the trap. What is up with the doctors in this town that they don't want to help a child prevent her from who knows what. This isn't a scraped knee and yet everyone acts as though it is. I know animal control has a lot to do, that's not the problem but it seems like they should have more time to do things since they blow everyone else off. It is the most frustrating thing in the world. Now our question is that since she hasn't been able to get her second round, and the first one was Saturday, does that mean she has to start the series all over again or is it not going to take at all, questions even doctors can't answer. Amazing

cr1039 · 05-06-2009, 10:11 AM

About San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition

TNR is a great practice, you can read about it above.

I doubt the cat is fully feral though becuase they usually won't let anybody that near them if they are really "fully" feral, unless perhaps the cat was quite young. Most would be quite scared as their instincts would tell them to stay away from people.

Spock's Beard · 05-07-2009, 10:53 AM

Cats hate water, therefore water hose. After half a dozen times, the cat will get the hint.

Chaka · 05-07-2009, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillye

So in the meantime what do you do. What is up with the city that they can't provide the trap. What is up with the doctors in this town that they don't want to help a child prevent her from who knows what. This isn't a scraped knee and yet everyone acts as though it is. I know animal control has a lot to do, that's not the problem but it seems like they should have more time to do things since they blow everyone else off. It is the most frustrating thing in the world. Now our question is that since she hasn't been able to get her second round, and the first one was Saturday, does that mean she has to start the series all over again or is it not going to take at all, questions even doctors can't answer. Amazing

It's not that the doctors don't want to help, it's that there is a very limited supply of rabies post exposure prophylaxis available worldwide and so its use is much more limited than before. Every potential exposure is evaluated by the health department to determine the risk. This is based on the type of animal doing the biting and whether or not it was provoked. If the animal can be captured and tested all the better.

I know that's hard when you're talking about your own child, but the reality is that these tough decisions have to be made.

The doctors should have referred you to your local health department for an evaluation. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to discuss more.

eger · 05-07-2009, 01:23 PM

Wild cats? We have at least 6-7 in my neighborhood. We feed them, and if we can we catch the cats and get them fixed. I've rescued a few, have 1 living with me now that we rescued. He has a bad temper, attacks my cats and tears up pillows, eats shoes, and is like a disobedient child. But he is a loving animal, and wee were willing to look past his bad habits knowing he will eventually grow out of it.

I know it's tempting, even for a child but you should never go up to any animal and pet it. You can't blame the cat for biting and scratching, it has no idea you just want to be nice to it; it's instinct. We had a feral cat in our house for years and it took 7 years for him to come around.
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eger · 05-07-2009, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuba steve

A middle schooler with a BB gun can chase off feral cats pretty easily...

I don't know if it's just Texas, but most people around here have no regard for life, especially animals. Perhaps it was becuase you grew up with your parents shooting animals for fun or as a prize to hang on their wall.

scuba steve · 05-07-2009, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eger

I don't know if it's just Texas, but most people around here have no regard for life, especially animals. Perhaps it was becuase you grew up with your parents shooting animals for fun or as a prize to hang on their wall.

Way to draw wrong conclusions. See, there's this thing called sarcasm that you may not have heard of...

Care to try again, this time without the personal attack?