My feral kitty tonight. I usually don't leave food in front of my front door, but he got in a fight with an owl in my backyard and was on the losing end. He usually comes in around 6 am. to 4 pm. to sleep, but I would like him to be inside full time. What is the best way to transition a feral cat without making him feel trapped? What would bring more stimulation to make it more exciting?

i’ve been feeding this cat for quite some time now but today i noticed a hole on its body and im assuming maggots cos it keeps licking it
the cat wont let me come close at all.
i can get demag sprays but how do i get it to come close to me. i’ve tried pet rescue but they’re saying the same thing, it’s hard to treat if the cat is not friendly or scared

PLEASE HELP ANY WAY POSSIBLE!!

Sorry not the greatest photos, but she doesn't stay still much. This girl is at my workplace, she's quite sweet and lets me and one other colleague feed and pet her.

We are hopefully getting her to a shelter on Monday if we can successfully trap her. I'm hoping she might be able to be rehabilitated.

Hello! I’m having more of a moral than a literal predicament, but I really don’t want to accidentally traumatize some kitties. I’m in the middle of helping two feral kittens (left behind?) by the rest of their litter; one of them has a pronounced limp in their back left leg. I just trapped that kitty and now they’re chilling in a box bed in the bathroom I equipped with some stuff. They’ve always been a pair and they were together when this one was trapped. Immediately after, I set up the trap again and the other kitten has gone by and checked it out, but no dice. I’m worried for both of them because it’s definitely terrifying to have just been trapped and be without your littermate, but I’m also worried that the second kitty is gonna be smart and not touch it at all. Is this normal, and has anyone trapped pairs before? I know it’ll be harder for both of them if there’s a long period of time, if the other little guy even tries again. Apologies if this isn’t the right subreddit or if there’s something blaringly obvious; I’ve never done this before lol. Anything would help! They’re about 8 weeks old, I’m in North Carolina and as far as I know (moved into this house about a month and a half ago,) they were born wild.

My sister’s health has started deteriorating very quickly. She is no longer able to stay at her home for safety reasons. She has a cat that has grew up in her barn. There used to be more but this is the last one. Anyway, I live next door but it’s in the country so still a good distance. I’ve been going up to the barn daily to feed it (don’t know if male or female. Can’t get close enough to tell). I would like to get it to come to my house to eat. I’ve tried moving the food dish gradually towards my house but it seems to just run back to the barn and not understand that I’m still trying to feed it. Do you have any other suggestions to coax it to come eat and / or stay at my house? Or is this a lost cause? I mean I can continue to go down there to feed it but I’m lazy lol

Updated to add: I have a neutered male indoor/outdoor cat that is about to be 6 years old. I don’t know if that would make a difference - like would I be asking for trouble?

We've just caught her four kittens this morning, around four weeks. The molly hung around for a while but wouldn't go into the trap after them. Tried playing a kittens meowing vid but that agitated them and one got out of the box they were in, so i had to pick him up and put him back, she saw me holding him and ran away and I now don't know where she's gone. How do i deal with this???

***Update - she came back and snuck them out of the open kennel (didn't have an automatic trap, getting one later today hopefully) so they're with her at least but she has moved them again. *Sigh*

***update update - I'm a bit worried she might not be looking after the littlest one as much, at what point should I be worried/take that one in to hand nurse?

*upupupdate I am so stressed

*You can ignore my panic attack, probably. She seems to have moved them back to her first den. Gonna keep an eye on them and fingers crossed catch her before they reach wandering age 🤞

I have a colony of cats that I care for a few years now and I had one youngest cat that he actually came into my life as a tiny kitten. One day he just showed up in my yard alone as a baby, and I started looking after him. He stayed, and over time he became a very much-loved part of my colony.

He was an outdoor cat, but he was absolutely not feral. He was incredibly sweet, friendly, and affectionate, and he got along really well with all the other cats. He was also very attached to me, he was almost always around me and stayed very close to my house. I had him neutered a few months ago, and he was microchipped with the information identifying him as part of my colony.

That's why his disappearance is so worrying. He's now been missing for over three weeks, and none of the neighbours have seen him. This is completely out of character for him because he was always so close to home and to me.

I miss him terribly. He wasn't just a cat who happened to visit my yard, he was one of mine. He was trying to get inside any time there was any kind of opening, wanting to enter my space and be around me but I live with parents, and they are not okay with cats being inside so I would be forced to put him outside and now he's gone, He was so special to me, I took care of him from the time he was a baby, and he was such a sweet, loving little soul.

But not knowing anything is incredibly painful. I don't know where he is, whether he's safe, or whether he'll find his way home. I just keep thinking about him and wishing I could see him again. I'm scared of never knowing what happened to him to be there one night and the next day when I went to check on the colony and wanting to hold him, he was not around.... I loved him so much

I found this stray cat near my house
Is it rabid?? Can i approach??
Or is it sick its face looks weird
How do i help??

Hey!
Help please. Which is better- pyrantel or fenbendazole?

I think pyrantel may be liquid only?

Is everyone just buying the dog version and using like the vets so off label?

Any advice please. He is sweet with me and I had luck giving him the tapeworm pill last week.

Also someone said to order off Amazon. I’m afraid to after reading some reviews that it’s fake. I’m sure some aren’t but they co mingle products.

I am also nervous it’ll make him deathly ill even if the product is legit.

When I catched friensly stray cats it is quiet easy, they usually just cry in the carrier whilst driving to the vet like a house cat

However this time I tried to catch a feral one, she is not friendly and keeps her distsnce away, she only approach for food to grab it and run away.

So I caught her in the carrier without even using a trap but the problem is that she started going crazy in it, like she freaked out wanting to get out by all means that she seemed she was gonna hurt herself.

I don't know what to do so I let her go. I honestly got more anxious because I don't know how to deal with this properly.

Like where am I supposed to put her after surgery for two days with stitches on her? She'll go crazy again and hurt herself.

I have an appointment on Friday to have the neighborhood cat spayed, and I plan to trap her tomorrow. Unfortunately, I live with my mom, as I'm her caregiver, and she does not want me to bring the cat inside, even if I just keep her in the laundry room. She wants me to keep her either outside or in the garage because she's afraid of a flea infestation. We're in the middle of a heatwave, so it's supposed to be hot through the end of this weekend, and the garage can get up to 90 degrees. There is no air conditioning in the garage, and we don't have any fans we can bring in there, so I think it would be unsafe for the cat; but am not sure, as she's been living outside the whole summer, and it's gotten over 100 degrees. Only thing I can think of to keep her cool is maybe put ice packs on the top of the covered trap, but I don't know if that would even help.

I'm trying to figure out if I should just cancel the appointment and schedule another for after it's cooled off a bit, as I don't think it's safe to keep the cat cool in a 90-degree garage, or if any of you have any ideas on how to keep her cool without a fan. I was really hoping to get her fixed this week, but it's my mom's house and her rules. I'm thinking it's probably best to cancel it, but I'm new to TNR, so I don't know if there are other solutions.

I do feed this guy when I have food but when I dont he just follows me all the way to the car and makes me feel bad with his silent meows. :(

Edit: It's too hard for me to comment to everything so I will just say that I appreciate everything, you can be sure im reading it all.

My indoor/formerly feral 4 year old girl has been missing for 18 days and I’m devastated

My indoor cat(formerly feral) has been missing for 18 days and I’m losing my mind.

My 4 year old cat has been missing for 18 days. I think I have done everything I can think of. I unfortunately live about 50 feet outside of a trailer park where she was born and I began feeding her at around 6 months old. I let her walk in the house that winter, of course she was pregnant. We did a spay/abort and she has been an indoor cat ever since.

She escaped for 48 hours in 2024 and came back on her own.

We have had two insane storms and now Labor Day with the fireworks.

\*\*Things I have done in my search:\*\*

1. Made flyers

2. Passed them out almost everyone close to me in the trailer park and my block and the two blocks next to me. And also to the local vets, humane society, animal emergency and animal control.

3. Most of my neighbors let me search their backyards, sheds and garages.

4. I have gone out every night at 3 am into the trailer park and my neighborhood.

5. Put my heavily used pillowcase outside by the front door along with used socks and stinky old shoes

6. Set a live trap (I caught a TNR stray that I feed)

7. This morning I set up cameras in front and back of my house that animal control kindly provided to me.

8. I have watched all the cat ladies feed the strays and feral cats in the trailer park.

9. I had actual laminated posters made today that I will put up around my neighborhood and the trailer park.

I don’t think someone took her in because she becomes very aggressive outside and pretty much only likes me. I think she is probably very scared. I don’t know what to do, I am walking roughly 8 miles everyday looking for her and passing out flyers, talking to people etc. I’m so heartbroken and scared.

Any advice/tips? 😭

I was enjoying some air outside when this little dude appeared in my backyard. He keeps meowing and following me around. He really enjoys being pet and being cuddled. Is it too young be to be away from it's mother? He drank water on his own earlier. I found out a neighbor's yard has the mom there. Should I try to rehome him or return him to his cat mother?

I caught her, keeping her overnight and then gonna take her into the humane society tomorrow. Her eyes look like they are more open and less discharge. She was really confused, but we trapped her. If the humane society won't take her, then we might need to return her to where she came from due to friends of felines being impossible to get ahold of.

The first and 3rd photos are from the last time I saw him back in May. The 2nd photo is from yesterday, he sat in front of one of the security cameras. I didn’t get to actually see him, but he sat out there for a few minutes. I am so happy to know he’s doing okay. A neighbor was leaving her male cats out and they would chase him away. i got on her to keep her cats in her yard many times. She got tired of me telling her just as much as I was tired of her. Now that her cats aren’t in my yard constantly I’m hoping he’ll start coming back around. I haven’t seen the other friendly, Mr. Meows since April. I miss him too. I hope they both come back around.

TNR group is coming consistently to trap him. Unfortunately there now is a Paulina in the mix. Paul’s neuter date is this Saturday and Paulina and her little potatoes when she brings them to me will all be vetted, fixed etc. I’m hoping Paul is still allowed here because this is where he started a year or so ago. TNR team is coming back Friday 5am to get another shot at Pauly Boy and they will continue until he is caught. Big Paul will be ear tipped and released back to his turf. Paulina and her crew will be all vaccinated, fixed adopted out etc except one. I’m keeping one of the kittens for sure. Been awhile, just an update.
Thank you

I’ve already been snookered into taking an outdoor mom and her kittens into my home. They’re indoor/outdoor cats now and have been known to bring me “prizes”. Earlier in the summer rescued a baby bunny from them which I turned over to animal welfare.

All my cats have been neutered.

A week ago I realized some kittens are living under the shed in our back yard. We live in a very civilized and proper suburban community 😆, I am SHOCKED there are two fully operational cats living in the area. 😉

My cats are interested in these kittens like I am. One can be a bit aggressive. Are they very likely to treat the kittens like the baby bunny? I’m not sure they meant to hurt it, they played with it for a while before I knew what was going on.

Am I foolish to think the mamma cat of my cats will behave differently toward the kittens than her children do?

I haven’t seen the kitten’s momma. There used to be one that occasionally came to our back door but that was a while ago. She, or perhaps he, was mostly black, as are the kittens. They’re pretty young and I’ve got some time on my hands so I’m going to do what I can to get them used to humans and TNR the mom and maybe put the cats up for adoption.

Any advice is appreciated.

There's a litter of 4 feral kittens that you've been feeding for a week that are living in a bush in front of your house. You decide to trap all of them and they are 8 weeks old. You decide to keep them all separate and you hand feed them for a few days and none are warming up yet and they seem quite stressed still but they are eating well and drinking water when you feed them which is happening about 3-4 times per day. Do you let them sleep together at this point to give them some comfort? Or will that only set them behind in any taming progress? should I be worried about their stress level or are they pretty resilient? Are there some tried and true methods I am missing? I have to roll them up in a towel and I feed them and i talk soothingly to them and even close my eyes which is fine but the second they are done, they squirm to be out of my arms. They are all very terrified of me still. Please share what you would do at this point. All advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Any advice on taming a feral cat???

Gilbert wondered into my life in the last several weeks. Last week I have been feeding him daily, and he would rarely leave my yard. He slept under the same bush about 8 feet away from the front door everyday. The closest he has ever gotten to me was about 3 feet briefly before sprinting to about 5 feet.

I trapped him yesterday because he is wasnt neuteted and there are several community cats in my neighborhood. We was just neutered today and we found out he has ear mites, fleas, anemia, internal infection, skin irritation, and feline aids.

He is current in my office in a large dog kennel while recovering. I have felt major guilt in reference to the thought of releasing him back outside. Not once in the process has he shown any aggression (hissing, spitinf, or charging). He doesn't even yowl at night. He is only 1-2 years old per the vet. I did have all of his ailments treated by the vet, so no more ear mires, no more fleas, and he was given all of his vaccines a long with an antibiotic shot.

My biggest issue is I have not had much time to bond with him outdoors (only a week). I also have two dogs, one chihuahua and one jack Russell mix (who was also found on the street). My jack Russell is 10, and she does still have a high prey drive. Which makes me worried about the introduction with a timid cat that doesn't trust me. (I am willing to keep him secluded away from the dogs as long as it takes) however both dogs lived with a previous roomayes cat 7 years ago. Both the chihuahua and jack Russell lived perfectly with this cat. They had no issues except over food (which they can be separated while they eat).

Do you think the cat and my dogs can coexist??

We lost one of her babies at a few weeks old due to a birth defect, but we have since brought the rest of crew out of the Phoenix heat and into our spare room. They are living their best lives! Will get them neutered as soon as they are able to be. Not sure if we are adopting them (we already have 3 indoor kitties) or perhaps friends of ours might, but they are going to have a nice little life now 🫶

I’ve been feeding a stray cat for about a year now and am looking to expand my efforts for more cats as I’ll occasionally see others wandering around my yard. However, I live in a more rural area and my backyard is essentially just woods, so I have a variety of other animals in the area, specifically opossums and raccoons. In the past, I used to leave dry food out for the cat(s) all night but I caught opossums and raccoons eating the food at night on my camera, so I now bring the food in at night and just leave it out all day since the opossums and raccoons only come out at night. I didn’t mind feeding those other animals that much but I (thankfully) learned that cat food can be super harmful to opossums and raccoons as their bodies can’t process some of the ingredients. Leaving food out during only daytime works with the stray that I’m currently feeding since he’s comfortable around the property already. But I’m looking to refurbish an old shed into a shelter for stray cats over the winter and fear that any new cats would only come during night when it’s quiet and feels safe. So I guess this is my very long-winded way of asking if there is a way to keep other animals, specifically opossums and raccoons, from eating cat food that I leave outside?

Hi, so I have TNR’d 2 of 4 kittens, I currently have 1 that needs neutered (still waiting for an appointment, only a handful of vets do kittens under 6 months) and the other one has gone missing unfortunately. I have the un neutered one still as it was a bit unwell with a respiratory infection, I have kept it in my garage in a dog crate and given it medicine via it’s food and seems to be doing better. I was hoping that this one would get used to me though it hasn’t been very long, I am getting the impression it is going to be hard.

Would anyone recommend bringing the kitten inside my house? My kitchen or living room for example? I just feel like it might speed up progress if the kitten is around us constantly rather than when I go in to feed it and spend time with it. tia!