Sadly, it never ends....
 

I've discovered another young feral cat by Sweetbay. It must be a half-sibling of the siamese looking kittens I am feeding. It has a lot of the same features. It hangs out on the other side of the parking lot and someone told me the large very very skittish grey cat I keep seeing is the mom to my ferals. Guess I have to start putting another bowl down across the lot. So sad because these cats are so beautiful.

Do you not have a catch and neuter programme here?

No program. There are people who do it themselves, like I did with these cats, but no formal program. There are a few places around that offer discounted surgery for ferals.

so these have been caught and neutered?

Loving Animals is an angel. :angel:

Kitty, One has been caught and spayed. The other was a bit more trap savvy so I'm trying again Monday night (someone else feeds them periodically, which is great, but makes it hard for me to make sure he/she is hungry enough to enter the trap). And now that I know about the new cat, I will try to get that one. The grey momma has only come around twice before so I have not been able to get her yet as I don't want to leave the trap unattended all night.

Bare and Terri, I can't thank you enough, now more than ever!!! Your donations will be put to good use!

If, by a wild chance, the person who periodically feeds these cats reads this website and sees this, pm me and we can work a schedule out if you'd like.

I agree!

I am coming for a visit in November. Do you want me to pack the trap? Luckily, I haven't had the need to use it here for a while.

I've had luck with the trap savvy ones with tuna fish. Will send a little something to the fund. Good luck with catching Mama cat!

I have one trap I'm borrowing from a woman here in TV that does rescue but if you have a trap and can fit it for the ride, that would be great. I can try to get 2 at once!

Loving animals, when I get back from vacation, I will help you with food and see about buying another trap. Plus transport to the clinic. We will be back 10/24.

Bless you.

Thanks CFrance! Have a safe trip back

I saw a woman putting dry cat food on a walk way and I heard someone ask her what she was doing and she said that she was feeding the stray cats. The woman works at the swimsuit shop at Lake Sumter Landing and she was putting the dry food on the walkway behind her store. I guess prior to the cutting of the shrubs behind her store the strays were hiding in those shrubs but now they are bare so I'm not sure if they are hanging there anymore. Hope that helps you and I would like to donate to help you if I could. Where can I give a monetary donation.

Unfortunately I know of a few other areas in LSL where people are feeding cats. But at least they are getting help :) There are quite a few hiding places in that area for them to go during the day to stay out of sight. Thank you for your offer of a donation. I will post my address on my page so just click on my username above. I have been depositing it into an account for when I trap and take them to the vet. Thank you!!

Unfortunately she is also feeding stray rats, squirrels etc and other unwanted animals you do not want around your house.

Well then, from your point of view, it must be a good thing that this is in the town square, and not near your house.

I noticed that you have your address listed as The Villages, CT 32162...I'm sure that is a miss print and you mean The Villages, FL 32162

God Bless all creatures great and small. Thanks to you who open your hearts and $ to take care of the haplessly born critters with little chance to survive as strangers among us.

Still not good. You are creating problems for the businesses and the people trying to enjoy the square.

I'm sure everyone here is well-intentioned and I can see both sides of this. What strikes me as in most posts about animals is that some people step up and take action and others say what they think should be done.

I have trapped coons and possums that were a nuisance in my yard and it is not difficult. I assume that anyone could take responsibility for removing the cats. Of course you'd have to decide whether to relocate them in the wild or take them to a shelter. Thinking back, people used to talk about drowning cats, but we don't do that anymore, we "put them to sleep."

My hat is off to lovinganimals for taking action, yes for feeding the cats but more for getting them spay/neuter care, which is a forward-looking highly responsible social action. Without that there would be kitties all over paradise.

:agree::bigbow:

LOL, yes it is! I just moved here in late June from CT. Thanks, I will change it. :)

Well, the good news it that a gentleman who works at Sweetbay and has seen and fed these cats, wants to take them home. He would like me to trap and fix the second one and then give him both of them. I have mixed emotions about this, but if they have a shot at a home instead of living in a parking lot then I guess I should give them that chance and cross my fingers that they adjust.

Hopefully he knows how to slowly integrate feral cats into his life. My friend did it with three young cats, and it took months and months of patience before they grew to trust her. But I think you're right, this is good news. A shot at a good home is preferable to life in a parking lot.

I think your story is going to have a happy ending, lovinganimals. Are you feeding any other ferals? Do you still need help with food, transportation, etc.? It would still be nice to have a group set up that can be contacted for help with neutering strays.

My ex tamed a wild cat. She liked being fed, but did not want to be petted. It wasn't a problem.

Cfrance, yes I am feeding the mom and another one of her kittens. They don't come around as often but I still leave food every night for them too. Its going to be hard to trap them as I have only seen the mom a dozen times and the other kitten once.
The reason I am having mixed emotions on the other two is that I am not sure this man knows how to integrate the ferals as Bare said. Where as I can pet and play with "squeekers" and am starting to be able to let the sister sniff my hand, he goes at them with his hand very high and makes a noise that is a little harsh rather than soothing and they both run. He keeps telling me that he can pet her and even pick her up but then I see her run and he admits that when he picks her up she freaks out (well, that's not picking her up, that's lifting her and upsetting her). He also has 4 Siamese at home. He did say he would separate them and introduce them slowly so he knows to do that, but I will have to sit with him and make sure he knows how to let them adjust to him first. He also says if it doesn't work out his mom in Virginia will take them but does he understand that they are feral and he won't be able to just pick them up and put them in a carrier for a day or so to get them there? Am I making too much of this? I want them to have a good home and would take them myself but I have a bully cat at home that terrorized everyone so my cats are separated as it is. My husband says "the hotel is full". I want the best life for these sweeties, and they are so sweet, but I don't want to give them to someone who doesn't know how to handle them and I don't want to deny them a good home at the same time. I also don't own them so he could somehow trap them or get them another way if I don't do it.

Boy, why would he want to try to integrate two ferals with four cats. Chances are at least one of those four would object.

Oh dear, it does seem like he is good hearted and means well. But when you describe the way he approaches the cats, it makes me leery. And if they don't "work out", I can't see how he could think that shipping them to Virginia would be a good idea.

I know that you care about the cats and you'll do whatever feels right in your heart. Good luck. You're in my thoughts.

At humane society cat rooms they mostly seem to get along fine with cats all over the place.

feral cats and kittens
 

:posting:I feel so bad for feral kitties and have been feeding a momma cat and her two three month old kittens. I would like to trap, neuter and release these kitties. I believe the window of socializing the kittens has passed. I was told by the vet that the kittens have to be five months old to neuter so I need to wait a couple more months. Although an outside life is a hard one, my commitment is to make it the best that it can be by providing food and water. Would anyone have a trap I could borrow when the time comes to trap? A big thank you to everyone else who cares about these cats. Don't blame these cats for being around. It is because of some people discarding their cats like rubbish and now they are just trying to survive. Lets all be kind and try to help them.