What can be done about a feral cat?

[HadloxB]

Girl cat came flying in the house last night after another fight with the local feral cat.

Her ears are bitten and scratched and she has fur missing off her cheek. She was terrified and hid under the table for an hr. had to wrap her up in a towel to get her out.

Feral cat comes through any open window and sprays on the sofa or rug, girl cat then starts weeing in the same place .

There’s only six houses here and nobody knows who’s cat it is. You can’t get near it, it runs off or hisses. ITs a bloody massive stripy boy which got next doors kitten pregnant.

The local rescue won’t do anything about it, they don’t take ferals anymore. I have a cat trap I can borrow. Would it be awful to catch it and drive it elsewhere (no idea if that’s ok or not!)

Yes, that would be a horrible thing to do.

It's £50 to neuter it. If it's an entire Tom the vets will help you. Aggression drops in neutered males.

That would be an unforgivable thing to do. He would probably get killed on the roads trying to find his way home. If you are prepared to go to the trouble of trapping him then yes, trap him and get him neutered. That will solve the problem and help the cat at the same time. You can often get vouchers from CP/The Blue Cross for neutering if money is a problem. Some vets do free feral neutering.

And it's not the fault of the tom that it got next door's kitten pregnant. It's the fault of the owners that didn't get her spayed soon enough.

PETAs advice is to have them PTS as the most compassionate thing to do. Not sure going to the trouble of spaying and setting loose again is worth it for anyone

Would rather pay to have it PTS

Next doors kitten was an indoor cat. Feral cat came through an upstairs window, hardly their fault

Of course it's not the most compassionate thing to do. It just needs neutering. I can't believe you own a cat and yet you obviously don't care about them at all.

And as I said, if you don't want to pay a lot of charities will give out neutering vouchers for ferals.

And yes, next door's kitten was still their fault. Indoor only cats need neutering in exactly the same way as cats that go out. Otherwise they fling themselves out of windows when in heat and then get chased away or, if they can't go out they end up becoming psychotic because of constantly coming into heat. So they should have had her done at five months. Totally their fault.

I don’t care about cats.....

If that was the case I would give permission for the farmer to come catch it and shoot it as he’s asked to do a number of times

I doubt neutering a feral cat which lives on its wits will suddenly make it placid,protected from diseases or lesson the risk of it being hit by a car and crawling into a bush to die painfully. What purpose does it serve to keep this cat alive?

Well have it pts then. It's better than being predated/run over.

It's probably an abandoned pet chucked out when the cuteness wore off.

Cats get into fights and get injuries. Mine cost me over £400 last year in wound care at the vets.

I don't go along with everything PETA say personally.
Best thing trap him, take to vets, neuter and as others say contact CP or Blue Cross who may cover neutering. Vets will check for chip tho doubt he'll have one.
He may not even be a true feral. I know do someone who had a similar situation to you. They borrowed CP trap who were going to cover his neutering costs turned out he was a big softie who had clearly had a home at some point. CP rehomed him.

Ok more posts while I was typing.
What purpose is there of keeping any wild animal alive then?? If he is truly feral that's what he is

A farmer thinks it's ok to use a gun in a residential area? You know that's illegal & would lose him his firearm licence?.

I am yet to meet a farmer opposed to cats.

Is it a mouse farmer?.

Indeed. What is the point of any of us being alive? The cat will think there is a point to it.

And yes, being neutered lessens all those risks. Neutered cats don't get fight injuries very often, become far more placid, don't roam so far as they're not chasing females ... Being neutered protects to a large extent against all those risks.

And yes, how could it possibly impact the farmer?

Residential, we are rural

Farmer has a big aviary and cares for wild birds. Cat has killed them before. Along with magpies which he does shoot. Residential cats keep the mice down and he has his own farm cats.

Email back from the rescue woman saying no they don’t take them in, either find another farm, neuter and clip ear/release, or PTS which is what they did with ferals before they stopped taking them as they were overwhelmed

Feral cat “lives” on my land. Roams as far as farmers land and a couple of miles either way

If someone TNRs it then it’ll calm down and stop the cat population expanding.

It’s a cat, it doesn’t know it’s pissing people off.

Personally I would trap it and get it neutered.

We took an injured feral cat to the vet to be stitched up and neutered. We brought him home; vet said we couldn't let him go that night - he'd be woozy from the anaesthetic.

So we took him indoors and gingerly opened the cat carrier we'd borrowed.

He huffed his way onto the sofa and didn't leave for another 14 years.

That's a lovely story Mumsnut*.

I 2nd the neutering option. I'd imagine the cat thinks his life matters.

Four of my six cats were ferals, the toms were aggressive things that were a nuisance, but they were simply surviving.

I trapped neutered and fed them, and they all became the most wonderful affectionate cats and three of them have become indoor only cats that like nothing better than a fuss on your knee.

I'd get your feral neutered and provide food and shelter so he doesn't have to steal your girls food. Aggression will be drastically reduced once he's done.

Driving him e;lsewhere would be incredibly cruel to him. Cats Protection usually offer vouchers for neutering.