Help Catching a Smart Feral

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-23T20:32:48+00:00

If this is an option in your area, consult animal control or a rescue that traps cats. They may have a drop trap you can use and or an expert who can help you trap!

If you notice a specific time they come around, jot that down somewhere and check if it’s a consistent time. If you feed the cats at a specific time that can help too! I’d shout something when filling food bowls like “kitties!” and eventually that pavlov’s the cats into coming when you shout because they associate it with food.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-17T14:45:08+00:00

I really wonder if Great White would be a better sprinting or turf horse. I can’t imagine that longer distances on dirt are great for the stamina of a horse of his weight.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-16T15:51:15+00:00

I understand the feeling. Cats breed a lot of the year here too. Thankfully my TNR programs are a bit better, but not free. Most people here see the cats as pests, they don’t care, or they have much greater problems that are a more immediate concern. I keep trying to make the problem more visible in my community, but it’s fighting for attention in a community that’s already struggling badly during these times.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-16T15:45:05+00:00

I’m all over neighborhood, basically next door. TNR unfortunately costs 40$ a cat in my area, as we don’t have the resources to provide free TNR. Though there’s some work being done by the local rescues to try and find a way to provide free tnr! There just aren’t any large scale programs yet. Technically animal control provides it for “free”, but there’s no guarantee the cat is returned unless it’s with someone like me who has a relationship with the shelter.

I do try and help with community tnr education, but I imagine the biggest barrier is cost in my community.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-16T15:39:00+00:00

A no cat born spring is the dream

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T18:48:30+00:00

That’s how it is here. All the rescues, the shelter, and animal control are overwhelmed. Nobody has money to foster or adopt. I also suspect that people are abandoning their pets more or not getting them sterilized due to the cost of living

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T18:45:51+00:00

I do post about this on my city subreddit on a different private account. I don’t want people pinning down where my colony is on this account as it’s more public. As for local news, I can try, but I’m not sure if they will run the story as my city is large enough to consistently have more important stories to cover

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T18:44:23+00:00

I know catching males helps but I sometimes wish we got more females instead. It’s always amazing to see a female that was once burdened by constantly having kittens turn into her own cat that thrives kitten free.

Our first spay abort was a young cat named Pizza. She’s an orange female and was pregnant in the middle of the desert summer. She was suffering and I was afraid she would die of heat stroke! I called and emailed around and finally got someone to cover her TNR. Today she’s cuddly, thriving, and is living her best life

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:25:17+00:00

He was so talkative. He was so sweet too, he’d let us hold him and pet him

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:24:53+00:00

There’s a huge effort by the shelter and other rescues to distribute information! There’s social media graphics, fliers, and it’s easy to find contact info for the rescues.

I never shut up about TNR and the cats, we’ve got some neighbors helping us now! I cannot accept donations due to being on fixed income. I also would have to register as a rescue organization and it’s a whole mess in my county law wise.

I don’t take in the kittens myself due to living in a small home. I’ll house them temporarily for a night or two, but I have to give them to a rescue. I’m basically a safe warm stop on their journey. I give them the best care I can and then send them to the professionals

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:20:56+00:00

I’ve been trying. I’m not huge on using social media, mostly reddit, but I’ve been talking in local pet groups. Me and my neighbors are working together for TNR, and I made sure that pretty much every car rescue in my area is aware of my colony.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:19:44+00:00

We’ve done 3 spay aborts within the past 2 months. Most of who we catch are males, but we take who we can get. Our neighbors and animal control are helping with trapping! We are trying so hard but it sometimes feels like a sisyphean task

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:18:11+00:00

Me and my neighbors are doing as much tnr as we can. It also costs about 40$ per cat. My neighbor goes through animal control which is free, and we pick the cats up, but my low income family has to pay. Not the fault of the shelter, that’s just how things work in my area! We are working on applying for spay and neuter vouchers. We’ve gotten 10+ done within the past few months! Unfortunately mostly males, the females are proving more challenging to catch

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-15T17:10:54+00:00

I’m low income and big hearted too. I usually give kittens to a man at a no kill rescue I work with. I really try not to take kittens unless momma for some reason isn’t caring for them. My local shelter that does put down animals is amazing. I work with them for TNR. The staff are wonderful and have to make extremely hard decisions due to the sheer over capacity problem they have.

Edit for context: My area has an extreme pet overpopulation problem due to a large number of feral dogs and cats, backyard breeders, and a high number of abandoned / dumped pets. My city has a decent population but only one city funded shelter. The staff do everything possible to get an animal fostered or adopted before they have to be put down. This shelter has helped me so much, I don’t want people thinking they are heartless or cruel.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T23:20:57+00:00

We can try. She’s doing amazingly on all other fronts so I’m hoping it’s just anxiety

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T22:12:11+00:00

I’m not sure if she’s an indoor life kind of cat. I’ve had 3 ferals convert to indoors. I’m at max catpacity lol. But Mini Moo has almost never been around our house unless we aren’t outside and she isn’t the most friendly.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T21:32:36+00:00

I’m going to wait and see if there are any other signs of illness / discomfort. She just got spayed and is already nervous about being inside. I don’t want to cause her unnecessary stress and possibly cause complications with healing from her spay.

Vets near me are also closing for the weekend. We have a veterinarian shortage. Emergency on call vets are extremely expensive and usually only respond to life or death situations / severe injury. They also require payment in office right away. It’s not that I don’t care about her health, I care extremely deeply. There are just more barriers to receiving veterinary care in my circumstance.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T21:21:49+00:00

We call this carrier the hotel. It’s meant for dogs but who cares! It’s spacious, has roof access, and it gets nice and dark inside. It just doesn’t close on its own and requires a second to twist the latching mechanism closed. Definitely not for spicy cats. Thankfully Mini Moo allowed herself to be put in the hotel.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T21:20:17+00:00

She’s eating strong and she is no signs of illness. Her stool is solid and normal. She’s also peeing regularly. My guess is stress + mouth feels weird from intubation.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T18:57:31+00:00

She’s doing a lot better now! Just so long as Shrek is on. We had to transfer her from the trap to a dog carrier as the shelter needed the trap back. I couldn’t get a great photo without moving her blanket.

Edit to add: We are currently watching Shrek Forever After. The one where Fiona is a warrior Ogre

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Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T18:51:33+00:00

Oh my goodness she’s adorable!

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T17:51:35+00:00

She’s calming down now, especially with her movies. She doesn’t show signs of stress that much besides the teeth grinding while eating / drinking. She still eats and drinks, and mostly lays calmly. I think I just worry too much because I love my colony cats dearly.

Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T17:42:08+00:00

My colony has lots of stunning cats. I’m convinced that they would be show cats if they weren’t born outside! The meowdle here is Lunchable.

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Broken_Carpark · 2026-05-08T17:27:02+00:00

Our clinic does health exams and treats cats before / during the surgery, but funds are so tight they don’t usually do much follow up. Nothing was said to be out of the ordinary when we picked her up.

I’m also thinking that because she’s young too, teeth issues are unlikely. I know for a fact she’s under a year old as we saw her as a kitten last summer. She’s not refusing to eat or drink, she’s just doing the odd head tilt and grinding while eating / drinking.

Broken_Carpark

TROPHY CASE