Help Please. How do I catch and neuter feral cats that I am feeding?

The following link is from Alleycat Allies. They have wonderful information about TNR, how to do it, who to contact, etc. This should also be of great value to you in your quest for saving these precious ferals…bless you! They may also be able to put you in touch with local assistance. Please let us know how you make out.

The situation in which the cat and litter must surely control the situation. Food will have made a good start I am sure.

The situation when we took our first two feral cats from a litter of six in Southern England my friend made sure there was food and water etc and then slowly concentrated on the mother as time went by, by moving the food away from the litter. When she was beginning to move away from her babies for a little more time she was caught with little trouble and then a concerted effort was to catch and move the family to a barn nearly. The kits seemed to split into natural pairs over a period of time and finally they were taken as pairs to the vets and we took the first pair home with us. Fun and games – as soon as our back was turned or overnight they would find different ‘safe’ havens like inside the gas boiler, in a wellington boot, in a bucket. In the end their natural curiosity overcame their fear of humans I would sit on the floor with a feather and just wait. There are many stories I could tell of this pair. They were ostensibly females and named Jessie and Lucie but soon Lucie who was completely black was clearly a boy – a big boy – and hence got know as Big Boy.

There seems a natural tendency for these cats to like dark places and if one leaves a cat carrier down in a darkish place many of our kits over the years have just put themselves in the carrier. Makes life easy!

I know where I live you can call the shelter the day before you plan to bring the cat in if its a feral. For a regular housecat I had to wait a month for an appointment on my Lola. Furby had an appointment the week after I called.

But they usually try to get you in fast when a feral is involved.

My Lola was a nightmare before the surgery. All she did was go through the house crying day and night. Now both of my cats are very happy. I won’t say calm because Furby is an accident waiting to happen.

Good luck with your kitties.

https://pictures-of-cats.org/feral-cat-coalition-and-feral-cat-education.html. Also go to feral cat coalition website.

When trapping a feral be sure not to set the trap the first few days so the cat gets used to going in to eat and then leaving. If you don’t do this the cat may be able to escape before the gate closes them in. Once you’ve earned the cats trust it will be more relaxed eating and you won’t have the escape issue.

Good luck!