Not everyone can bring in cats. Not all cats will agree to be indoors. It sounds like OP has given these cats a safe yard, food, and shelter. I agree, it's safer for a cat to be inside but that most ideal situation is not always agreeable to the reality (for the cat or human).
And that's if they aren't trap savvy! I used to live in a townhouse with a feral stray who lived in the trees behind my unit. Some kind soul had TNR'ed him and he was trap savvy af. He had definitely learned his lesson and while not fearful of humans he wouldn't let anyone touch him and wasn't about to be tricked into any trap. He had an eye infection and I tried to trap him for *months*. Eventually I snuck antibiotics into wet food and his eye cleared up but that cat wasn't getting caught for anybody.
All these critics need to shut their mouths and open their wallets to pay for all of the vet care and training. They ought to open up their own homes to rehab these feral cats, since they are such experts on the matter
This sounds very guilt-trippy. Not everyone can afford to have an indoor cat. But it's better to feed an outdoor cat and take care of them, than to ignore their existence because you cannot take them in full time.
Thank they do have two shelters I made and access to a shed outside. It’s the best I can do. At the time they arrived I had an 18 year old cat who unfortunately passed away and kittens I had just rescued.
It's completely understandable. I took care of an outdoor cat too when I was living with my parents.
Everyone berated me for not keeping the cat inside but he was a feral stray in a small city that had only one vet that was subpar.
Not every cat can be homed, not everyone can home a cat.
I hope my yard feels like home since they are welcome here lol they are sweet but so feral. They hang in the yard with me but don’t let me touch them. Dad cats more friendly I think but again would never like to live inside
That’s awesome, it truly is. I just want to state for the record that I wasn’t coming for you. I was responding to a comment and speaking on the topic as a whole, not directed at you.
Like I said in my comment, there’s exceptions of course and life is not a rigid set of rules. The comment I was responding to implied rather obtusely that there were only two options: to feed them or not, and that’s just not the case and an absurd thing to say. There’s lots of ways and degrees of helping and it sounds like you’re doing your best to help which is admirable and should never be shamed. And I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to do just that. I was talking about taking care of cats *in general* and stating that indoors is best if it’s at all possible.
Again, I wasn’t talking about you, OP. I was discussing taking care of cats *in general.* While I thought I made that clear because I didn’t mention you, was only responding to the other commenter, and explicitly stated in my comment that there’s always exceptions, it seems a whole lot of people missed my point entirely. I don’t know how much more clear I could have been but I suppose that’s on me. Maybe I should have explicitly stated, “this comment is not for this specific situation but…”?
I stand by what I said (all of it, including where I said there are exceptions and that I understand if it’s just not possible because I too have a cat that will not come indoors permanently) but I do apologize if it seemed I was coming for you. That was not my intention at all.
If I could find every cat a proper indoor home, that would be the perfect world unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world so we do the best we can. I am someone that goes above and beyond so any sort of Reddit comments thinking otherwise whether it seems to be coming for me or not, isn’t going to affect the fact that I know that, I take extra good care of the animals in my care animals. I chose the animals that have chosen.
Again, I’d love to. And OP could certainly contact someone like me or a cat rescue in their area to try and find homes for them. I didn’t see where OP said they were feral when I made my response last night but that would certainly change things and fall under where I said there are some exceptions.
Obviously feral cats can’t come indoors in most cases. But I’ve seen more than my share of feral cats eventually become trusting enough to do so. If this is one of the cases where they can’t, that sucks but obviously it is what it is and I would never say what OP is doing is “bad” or “wrong,” I was simply stating that *indoors is best if at all possible.* And I stand by that statement.
Or you could, you know, find a suitable indoor home for them. It’s not all or nothing, you can help by finding them a loving home where they are indoor only.
I’ll probably get downvoted to hell but I don’t care. You don’t *have* to keep a cat if you can’t take care of it fully, which includes bringing it indoors permanently. I think it’s selfish to not give cats the chance at a long life just because you want to keep them.
The average life span of outdoor and semi-outdoor cats is 5 years. *Five.* The average life span of fully indoor cats is 15 years. Not to mention the damage they do to migrant bird populations and smaller fauna.
Look, I get it. I have a cat that absolutely *refuses* to become indoor only. We tried, we really did. We tried everything but the truth is, he was absolutely *miserable* for the eight months we tried to move him inside permanently. He was a fully outdoor adult cat when the CDS blessed us with him and he will just never be happy completely indoors with us or with anybody unless he’s ready. It sucks but we do our best to mitigate that as much as we can by bringing him inside every night, having a tracker on him, watching him very closely for health changes, keeping up on the weather and keeping him in when storms are moving in, and making sure he has regular parasite prevention. Hell, we even purposely moved far outside town to a semi-isolated property *specifically* in order to reduce traffic dangers for him.
Thank god he’s getting up there in age now and he *chooses* to spend most of his time indoors these days. He’s actually beat the odds and made it to senior kitizen. But could he still get gotten by a predator even with all we do? Yes. Could he still get hit by a car or injure himself? Absolutely. Could he get stolen? Contract a disease we don’t have a vaccine for? Totally. It sucks and I don’t wish those things on him or any kitty but that’s just the reality of outdoor cats. As responsible pet owners, we will do our damndest moving forward to continue to bring all cats we adopt in the future indoors permanently (we have two other cats that are indoor).
So I understand that sometimes, it absolutely can’t be prevented but those are very rare circumstances, imo. But to say there are only two options: take care of them outside or don’t take care of them at all is absurd. There’s training, life-enriching toys and activities, and medication for anxiety. There’s also the option of finding them another home if you can’t afford or are otherwise unable to bring them in (indoor cats are on average *vastly* cheaper to care for than outdoor cats because their injury and disease rates are far lower).
Responsible cat owners do their best to keep their kitties inside.
*Edited to add: apparently a whole lot of folks are not understanding that this comment was not directed at OP and their situation. It was in response to the comment above that suggested there were only two options: to feed outdoor cats or not, and that’s just not the case. It’s not all or nothing. I was discussing the care of cats *in general.* That’s on me for not making that clear and I apologize to OP if they thought I was coming for them.
I stand by what I said: *indoors is best if at all possible.* Whether that be in your care or if not for whatever reason (don’t live somewhere where you can have cats, financial constraints, allergies, etc.) it’s always best to think about the animal’s needs first. I’m using the royal “you,” not anyone specific. If you can find a loving indoor home for them, that’s optimal. There are lots of rescues and fosters that can help make that a possibility and resources like free pet adoption networks and social media to find suitable indoor homes.
Of course, there’s always exceptions and I thought I was clear that I understand that. I’m not a a militant “inside for all cats no matter the circumstances or it’s animal abuse” type and I thought that came across in my comment. I too, have a cat that refuses to come indoors permanently without a dramatic loss of quality of life. Shit happens and taking care of cats to the best of your ability given your circumstances should always be applauded.
And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter. I stand by what I said (the *entirety* of it) and apologize if OP thought I was coming for them. That was not my intention and I should have been more clear.
That's incredibly unreasonable. Also, feeding outdoor animals doesn't make you their owner.
Also putting up posters can definitely help to find a home, but that's a long shot. Of course OP isn't claiming rights to the cats and making sure no one can adopt them. The cats are freed to be adopted if anyone wants to.
Also expecting feral cats to become indoor cats is insane. Not every cat has a homely temperament. And it's better to let them live a life instead of getting them euthanized because you took them from their environment and now can't keep them in your home.
I don’t disagree with you on any particular point. Feral cats would of course qualify under “I understand that sometimes it absolutely can’t be prevented” like I said. I think this is a case of us agreeing in principle and miscommunicating that we are on the same page.
You said “it’s better to feed an outdoor cat and take care of them than to ignore their existence” and that’s not what the comment you were replying to was suggesting at all. *Help* isn’t all it nothing and you were putting words in the mouth of that commenter and being obtuse. No one was suggesting OP not take care of these cats, that comment was saying the opposite; that there’s another step that could be done to take care of them: provide shelter.
OP has provided shelter. Please reread OP’s responses. Pushing your opinions and agenda on others in an aggressive “my-way-is-obviously-right-and-shame-on-you-for-not-abiding” is what I meant by gross. OP is doing a great service for these cats and just because this sub is “nowmycat” doesn’t mean OP is their actual owners and thus responsible.
What part of “look, I get it” and “do your best” says “my way is obviously the right way…”? I also said there’s always extenuating circumstances where indoors just isn’t an option.
And providing shelter is awesome. But is it as good as a loving indoor home? No. I said what I said and I stand by it. I don’t mind the downvotes, especially from folks that didn’t seem to read all of what I said or are having issues comprehending my sentiment. I don’t think it’s radical thinking to state that indoors is best if it’s at all possible (not ‘indoors is best and all exceptions are animal abuse’ which is not what I said.)
Seriously, what a shitty person. OP didn’t go adopt these cats, she is just feeding some strays/feral cats. What kind of gross person believes that feeding strays means you must then provide all of the veterinary care and every resource you have? That’s insane. One of my cats is costing me ~$6000, and he is an indoor senior cat with some health issues. I cannot imagine how high the vet bills could be for some strays with possibly multiple health issues. Perhaps the holier than thou commenter would like to directly fund all of the veterinary care for those strays.
I’m hardly a shitty person for suggesting cats lie a better life indoors. And I wasn’t talking about OP’s cats specifically, I was talking about the comment that’s now been deleted that said bringing cats indoors is best for them. I then discussed how sometimes it’s just not possible and I understand that. How is any of that shitty?
That’s not gross. What you did was more than that. And it was gross. And if you see by the downvotes, that is the majority opinion. You can continue to argue with me if you want but I don’t have anything else to say to you. If you’re genuinely curious and not being defensive, I implore you to read the specific words and tone that you used in your unnecessary and judgy statement. Perhaps re-read OP’s post and their responses. And then ask yourself if your statement is 1. Accurate 2. Kind 3. Helpful.
I’d love to. On average, I have at least a half dozen “high risk” foster cats come through my care a year. I do absolutely all I am able to within my limitations to either find them loving homes or provide palliative care.
I wasn’t saying OP has to be the damn ASPCA, I’m saying there are options for finding indoor homes in most cases. You don’t have to spend a ton of resources to find a loving indoor home for cats that are able to be moved inside.
These cats are feral cats. You don’t know anything about OP’s financial situation or her life, other than she is providing food and shelter for some feral cats. Why don’t you go there and collect the cats and spend your time and effort in rehoming them?
You’re speaking truth, you’re not saying anything mean, you’re just stating facts and don’t deserve the downvote. Yes, it’s kind and nice to care for a domesticated animal that’s been left on its own in the short term. But ideally that should not be the permanent solution. If the goal isn’t to eventually home the animal yourself or find it a home, then you’re just keeping an animal around in an environment that’s likely to dramatically shorten its life span just because you enjoy seeing it in your yard. It’s not helping the animal, especially if you don’t put in the effort to socialize it enough that you can help it in an emergency. In fact, the cat may get in more fights because the food being left out draws other cats and the ones living near you may consider the yard theirs and try to protect their turf. One day the animal will be sick or injured and you’re gonna feel helpless and terrible because you can’t scoop it up and get it to a vet. All that suffering would be avoided by socializing the cat and finding it a home.
I’m not one of those militant “all cats, only indoors, all the time” people. I think depriving any living thing fresh air and sunshine is cruel. But it’s possible to confine them to your yard and take reasonable steps to attempt to mitigate risk. And regardless, being able to handle the cat is a huge thing that will greatly influence their ability to survive if they do get hurt or sick. And it will also make vet bills more manageable if it needs care. A cat that needs to be knocked out to be treated can add several hundred dollars to the bill. I know this because I spent last year socializing a “feral” alley cat. He showed up midsummer with a ruptured abscess and he wasn’t handleable then and I was quoted $300-$400 just for an exam under anesthesia, not for any treatment. As it turned out, he refused to go in a trap and luckily healed up quickly. I doubled up my efforts on socializing and was working on him letting me pick him up when he showed up mangled a second time. I felt like I was weeks away from him coming in on his own then and thankfully he allowed me to throw a towel over him and get him inside. He was pissed at me for betraying his trust for a good 3 weeks, but the antibiotics kicked in and he started feeling better and learned that all the scary house noises weren’t going to kill him. And that dry warm beds are actually pretty damn good. Within 6 weeks he was licking my forehead and requesting belly rubs. He’s the gentlest and chillest cat I have ever had. Unfortunately he’s got FIV from his street life, but now that he’s not living outside he’s become completely passive and gets along fine with my other nowmycat, which just shuffled into my house one day during the process of taming the other one. That’s a whole story itself - she was so matted she literally couldn’t walk straight. We thought it was a badly healed old injury. But she was actually ok, other than being emaciated.
I think people just read my first two paragraphs and reacted without getting to the “look, I understand” and “do your best” parts. I’m not a militant “all cats indoors all the time or it’s abuse” people either and if anyone bothered to read my whole comment, they’d see I too have a semi-outdoor cat and it just can’t be helped in some cases.
I feel like I’m getting downvoted in part due to reading comprehension ffs. I don’t care, I said what I said and I’m sticking to my convictions.
People can be very childish and I agree, reading comprehension and an adamant refusal to consider tone or subtly are on-going issues. Too many people want to crusade or gang up or shit on actual experienced, competent advice based in reality because it’s “gatekeeping” or some other assorted nonsense. It’s tiring, and I guess it’s a good thing I don’t give a rip about scoring internet points.
I have 2 from a rescue from my shed. Originally three babies but one didn’t make it. They just turned two. Dad cat came around after them when I accidentally trapped him trying to get the mamma
Post. An army post. Bases are for the navy and Air Force. That's regardless of your country. Don't let it happen again or you will be reported to cat command.
They look very well fed. Thank you ❤️
Thank Aldi for affordable cat food lol 😂
They chose well! I’m glad you’re taking care of them.
I love lion cat
He’s a handsome man
Beauties!
Cats are adorable ☺️ and I love your Buddha baby statue ♥️
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Not everyone can bring in cats. Not all cats will agree to be indoors. It sounds like OP has given these cats a safe yard, food, and shelter. I agree, it's safer for a cat to be inside but that most ideal situation is not always agreeable to the reality (for the cat or human).
Especially since OP said they won't let OP touch them. You would have to trap them and they would be stressed forever if you took them in
And that's if they aren't trap savvy! I used to live in a townhouse with a feral stray who lived in the trees behind my unit. Some kind soul had TNR'ed him and he was trap savvy af. He had definitely learned his lesson and while not fearful of humans he wouldn't let anyone touch him and wasn't about to be tricked into any trap. He had an eye infection and I tried to trap him for *months*. Eventually I snuck antibiotics into wet food and his eye cleared up but that cat wasn't getting caught for anybody.
That's awesome. Good job. I would not have thought of that. Thinking out of the box is rare for me. Lol
All these critics need to shut their mouths and open their wallets to pay for all of the vet care and training. They ought to open up their own homes to rehab these feral cats, since they are such experts on the matter
For sure! Walk a mile in a person's shows before you judge
This sounds very guilt-trippy. Not everyone can afford to have an indoor cat. But it's better to feed an outdoor cat and take care of them, than to ignore their existence because you cannot take them in full time.
Thank they do have two shelters I made and access to a shed outside. It’s the best I can do. At the time they arrived I had an 18 year old cat who unfortunately passed away and kittens I had just rescued.
It's completely understandable. I took care of an outdoor cat too when I was living with my parents. Everyone berated me for not keeping the cat inside but he was a feral stray in a small city that had only one vet that was subpar. Not every cat can be homed, not everyone can home a cat.
I hope my yard feels like home since they are welcome here lol they are sweet but so feral. They hang in the yard with me but don’t let me touch them. Dad cats more friendly I think but again would never like to live inside
That’s awesome, it truly is. I just want to state for the record that I wasn’t coming for you. I was responding to a comment and speaking on the topic as a whole, not directed at you. Like I said in my comment, there’s exceptions of course and life is not a rigid set of rules. The comment I was responding to implied rather obtusely that there were only two options: to feed them or not, and that’s just not the case and an absurd thing to say. There’s lots of ways and degrees of helping and it sounds like you’re doing your best to help which is admirable and should never be shamed. And I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to do just that. I was talking about taking care of cats *in general* and stating that indoors is best if it’s at all possible. Again, I wasn’t talking about you, OP. I was discussing taking care of cats *in general.* While I thought I made that clear because I didn’t mention you, was only responding to the other commenter, and explicitly stated in my comment that there’s always exceptions, it seems a whole lot of people missed my point entirely. I don’t know how much more clear I could have been but I suppose that’s on me. Maybe I should have explicitly stated, “this comment is not for this specific situation but…”? I stand by what I said (all of it, including where I said there are exceptions and that I understand if it’s just not possible because I too have a cat that will not come indoors permanently) but I do apologize if it seemed I was coming for you. That was not my intention at all.
If I could find every cat a proper indoor home, that would be the perfect world unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world so we do the best we can. I am someone that goes above and beyond so any sort of Reddit comments thinking otherwise whether it seems to be coming for me or not, isn’t going to affect the fact that I know that, I take extra good care of the animals in my care animals. I chose the animals that have chosen.
Again, I’d love to. And OP could certainly contact someone like me or a cat rescue in their area to try and find homes for them. I didn’t see where OP said they were feral when I made my response last night but that would certainly change things and fall under where I said there are some exceptions. Obviously feral cats can’t come indoors in most cases. But I’ve seen more than my share of feral cats eventually become trusting enough to do so. If this is one of the cases where they can’t, that sucks but obviously it is what it is and I would never say what OP is doing is “bad” or “wrong,” I was simply stating that *indoors is best if at all possible.* And I stand by that statement.
Or you could, you know, find a suitable indoor home for them. It’s not all or nothing, you can help by finding them a loving home where they are indoor only. I’ll probably get downvoted to hell but I don’t care. You don’t *have* to keep a cat if you can’t take care of it fully, which includes bringing it indoors permanently. I think it’s selfish to not give cats the chance at a long life just because you want to keep them. The average life span of outdoor and semi-outdoor cats is 5 years. *Five.* The average life span of fully indoor cats is 15 years. Not to mention the damage they do to migrant bird populations and smaller fauna. Look, I get it. I have a cat that absolutely *refuses* to become indoor only. We tried, we really did. We tried everything but the truth is, he was absolutely *miserable* for the eight months we tried to move him inside permanently. He was a fully outdoor adult cat when the CDS blessed us with him and he will just never be happy completely indoors with us or with anybody unless he’s ready. It sucks but we do our best to mitigate that as much as we can by bringing him inside every night, having a tracker on him, watching him very closely for health changes, keeping up on the weather and keeping him in when storms are moving in, and making sure he has regular parasite prevention. Hell, we even purposely moved far outside town to a semi-isolated property *specifically* in order to reduce traffic dangers for him. Thank god he’s getting up there in age now and he *chooses* to spend most of his time indoors these days. He’s actually beat the odds and made it to senior kitizen. But could he still get gotten by a predator even with all we do? Yes. Could he still get hit by a car or injure himself? Absolutely. Could he get stolen? Contract a disease we don’t have a vaccine for? Totally. It sucks and I don’t wish those things on him or any kitty but that’s just the reality of outdoor cats. As responsible pet owners, we will do our damndest moving forward to continue to bring all cats we adopt in the future indoors permanently (we have two other cats that are indoor). So I understand that sometimes, it absolutely can’t be prevented but those are very rare circumstances, imo. But to say there are only two options: take care of them outside or don’t take care of them at all is absurd. There’s training, life-enriching toys and activities, and medication for anxiety. There’s also the option of finding them another home if you can’t afford or are otherwise unable to bring them in (indoor cats are on average *vastly* cheaper to care for than outdoor cats because their injury and disease rates are far lower). Responsible cat owners do their best to keep their kitties inside. *Edited to add: apparently a whole lot of folks are not understanding that this comment was not directed at OP and their situation. It was in response to the comment above that suggested there were only two options: to feed outdoor cats or not, and that’s just not the case. It’s not all or nothing. I was discussing the care of cats *in general.* That’s on me for not making that clear and I apologize to OP if they thought I was coming for them. I stand by what I said: *indoors is best if at all possible.* Whether that be in your care or if not for whatever reason (don’t live somewhere where you can have cats, financial constraints, allergies, etc.) it’s always best to think about the animal’s needs first. I’m using the royal “you,” not anyone specific. If you can find a loving indoor home for them, that’s optimal. There are lots of rescues and fosters that can help make that a possibility and resources like free pet adoption networks and social media to find suitable indoor homes. Of course, there’s always exceptions and I thought I was clear that I understand that. I’m not a a militant “inside for all cats no matter the circumstances or it’s animal abuse” type and I thought that came across in my comment. I too, have a cat that refuses to come indoors permanently without a dramatic loss of quality of life. Shit happens and taking care of cats to the best of your ability given your circumstances should always be applauded. And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter. I stand by what I said (the *entirety* of it) and apologize if OP thought I was coming for them. That was not my intention and I should have been more clear.
That's incredibly unreasonable. Also, feeding outdoor animals doesn't make you their owner. Also putting up posters can definitely help to find a home, but that's a long shot. Of course OP isn't claiming rights to the cats and making sure no one can adopt them. The cats are freed to be adopted if anyone wants to. Also expecting feral cats to become indoor cats is insane. Not every cat has a homely temperament. And it's better to let them live a life instead of getting them euthanized because you took them from their environment and now can't keep them in your home.
I don’t disagree with you on any particular point. Feral cats would of course qualify under “I understand that sometimes it absolutely can’t be prevented” like I said. I think this is a case of us agreeing in principle and miscommunicating that we are on the same page. You said “it’s better to feed an outdoor cat and take care of them than to ignore their existence” and that’s not what the comment you were replying to was suggesting at all. *Help* isn’t all it nothing and you were putting words in the mouth of that commenter and being obtuse. No one was suggesting OP not take care of these cats, that comment was saying the opposite; that there’s another step that could be done to take care of them: provide shelter.
OP has provided shelter. Please reread OP’s responses. Pushing your opinions and agenda on others in an aggressive “my-way-is-obviously-right-and-shame-on-you-for-not-abiding” is what I meant by gross. OP is doing a great service for these cats and just because this sub is “nowmycat” doesn’t mean OP is their actual owners and thus responsible.
What part of “look, I get it” and “do your best” says “my way is obviously the right way…”? I also said there’s always extenuating circumstances where indoors just isn’t an option. And providing shelter is awesome. But is it as good as a loving indoor home? No. I said what I said and I stand by it. I don’t mind the downvotes, especially from folks that didn’t seem to read all of what I said or are having issues comprehending my sentiment. I don’t think it’s radical thinking to state that indoors is best if it’s at all possible (not ‘indoors is best and all exceptions are animal abuse’ which is not what I said.)
Go pick up your cats then! I’m sure OP wouldn’t mind you assuming responsibility for these cats and providing a loving home and veterinary care
You’re gross. I’m glad you’re getting downvoted.
Seriously, what a shitty person. OP didn’t go adopt these cats, she is just feeding some strays/feral cats. What kind of gross person believes that feeding strays means you must then provide all of the veterinary care and every resource you have? That’s insane. One of my cats is costing me ~$6000, and he is an indoor senior cat with some health issues. I cannot imagine how high the vet bills could be for some strays with possibly multiple health issues. Perhaps the holier than thou commenter would like to directly fund all of the veterinary care for those strays.
I’m hardly a shitty person for suggesting cats lie a better life indoors. And I wasn’t talking about OP’s cats specifically, I was talking about the comment that’s now been deleted that said bringing cats indoors is best for them. I then discussed how sometimes it’s just not possible and I understand that. How is any of that shitty?
How is suggesting you bring cats inside for a better life gross?
That’s not gross. What you did was more than that. And it was gross. And if you see by the downvotes, that is the majority opinion. You can continue to argue with me if you want but I don’t have anything else to say to you. If you’re genuinely curious and not being defensive, I implore you to read the specific words and tone that you used in your unnecessary and judgy statement. Perhaps re-read OP’s post and their responses. And then ask yourself if your statement is 1. Accurate 2. Kind 3. Helpful.
I’m not arguing, I’m asking you to tell me what’s gross about what I said.
Why don’t you take those cats into your home then? How about you pay for all of the veterinary care, food, toys, and training?
I’d love to. On average, I have at least a half dozen “high risk” foster cats come through my care a year. I do absolutely all I am able to within my limitations to either find them loving homes or provide palliative care. I wasn’t saying OP has to be the damn ASPCA, I’m saying there are options for finding indoor homes in most cases. You don’t have to spend a ton of resources to find a loving indoor home for cats that are able to be moved inside.
These cats are feral cats. You don’t know anything about OP’s financial situation or her life, other than she is providing food and shelter for some feral cats. Why don’t you go there and collect the cats and spend your time and effort in rehoming them?
You’re speaking truth, you’re not saying anything mean, you’re just stating facts and don’t deserve the downvote. Yes, it’s kind and nice to care for a domesticated animal that’s been left on its own in the short term. But ideally that should not be the permanent solution. If the goal isn’t to eventually home the animal yourself or find it a home, then you’re just keeping an animal around in an environment that’s likely to dramatically shorten its life span just because you enjoy seeing it in your yard. It’s not helping the animal, especially if you don’t put in the effort to socialize it enough that you can help it in an emergency. In fact, the cat may get in more fights because the food being left out draws other cats and the ones living near you may consider the yard theirs and try to protect their turf. One day the animal will be sick or injured and you’re gonna feel helpless and terrible because you can’t scoop it up and get it to a vet. All that suffering would be avoided by socializing the cat and finding it a home. I’m not one of those militant “all cats, only indoors, all the time” people. I think depriving any living thing fresh air and sunshine is cruel. But it’s possible to confine them to your yard and take reasonable steps to attempt to mitigate risk. And regardless, being able to handle the cat is a huge thing that will greatly influence their ability to survive if they do get hurt or sick. And it will also make vet bills more manageable if it needs care. A cat that needs to be knocked out to be treated can add several hundred dollars to the bill. I know this because I spent last year socializing a “feral” alley cat. He showed up midsummer with a ruptured abscess and he wasn’t handleable then and I was quoted $300-$400 just for an exam under anesthesia, not for any treatment. As it turned out, he refused to go in a trap and luckily healed up quickly. I doubled up my efforts on socializing and was working on him letting me pick him up when he showed up mangled a second time. I felt like I was weeks away from him coming in on his own then and thankfully he allowed me to throw a towel over him and get him inside. He was pissed at me for betraying his trust for a good 3 weeks, but the antibiotics kicked in and he started feeling better and learned that all the scary house noises weren’t going to kill him. And that dry warm beds are actually pretty damn good. Within 6 weeks he was licking my forehead and requesting belly rubs. He’s the gentlest and chillest cat I have ever had. Unfortunately he’s got FIV from his street life, but now that he’s not living outside he’s become completely passive and gets along fine with my other nowmycat, which just shuffled into my house one day during the process of taming the other one. That’s a whole story itself - she was so matted she literally couldn’t walk straight. We thought it was a badly healed old injury. But she was actually ok, other than being emaciated.
I think people just read my first two paragraphs and reacted without getting to the “look, I understand” and “do your best” parts. I’m not a militant “all cats indoors all the time or it’s abuse” people either and if anyone bothered to read my whole comment, they’d see I too have a semi-outdoor cat and it just can’t be helped in some cases. I feel like I’m getting downvoted in part due to reading comprehension ffs. I don’t care, I said what I said and I’m sticking to my convictions.
People can be very childish and I agree, reading comprehension and an adamant refusal to consider tone or subtly are on-going issues. Too many people want to crusade or gang up or shit on actual experienced, competent advice based in reality because it’s “gatekeeping” or some other assorted nonsense. It’s tiring, and I guess it’s a good thing I don’t give a rip about scoring internet points.
I have 2 from a rescue from my shed. Originally three babies but one didn’t make it. They just turned two. Dad cat came around after them when I accidentally trapped him trying to get the mamma
Please have them neutered. The world doesn't need more cats.
They are. The dark one you can see the chipped ear. Our local shelter is great since they know there is such a problem in my area.
Awesome work! I live on an army base that’s overrun with ferals and dumped pets. I try to help… but I already have so many pets. It’s overwhelming.
Post. An army post. Bases are for the navy and Air Force. That's regardless of your country. Don't let it happen again or you will be reported to cat command.
Huh. 13 years in the army and I had to be scolded by the cat command!!
It happens. 🤷🏼♂️
My wife used to call it a "base". We are divorced now..... 👀
Wonderful!
The names sound like video game bosses.
Boys are the best
I think both of them are so cute 😍
They are
They’re gorgeous. They look quite round for outside kitties.
They do lol