meow.. I mean hello!

[Janeyk]

Hiya (Meow)  and to Purrs,

I trapped lots of ferals in my area too    our local CP and vet were great too.  Our ferals are between about 2 and ooh 10 or more years of age so some have been with us a very long time now.  They either sleep in the allotments behind our house/fields or in our kitty kennels.  A couple will go into next doors conservatory because Tiggy was an ex-feral so he's like the ambassador for them.  Basically myself, and 2 other neighbours care for them, they are, I would say semi-feral now I can get within inches of most of them, I love them like my own and could never leave my regular visitors 

Good luck with yours 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Am so worried that one moley has had a family cos last night there has been so much activity................too cold to go and remove all the hills!

[Moggy]

Sadly no experience of clearing moles. I know you can get traps but have only ever had one last year who tunnelled from the field into my garden, hit our retaining wall I think and dissappeared! lol My old boss (I was his secretary) had a problem for years though so I can understand how frustraiting it is as they create such havoc when they get going.

Thanks again for the welcome and info. 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Hello Jane.  Welcome to Purrs 

Am so pleased that you and Gill have got chatting, as she's fairly familiar with the problems you describe, and it helps if you have someone to talk about it with - help crack the problem together, as it were.  Incidentally, d'you know anything about Moles?  Gill has a mole problem too......     He's an active little beggar who is currently enjoying tunneling about her garden.

When Liz happens along, she has loads of info about looking after ferals - bit of a speciality for her.   

[lau200]

welcome to the forum

you may find with a bit of patience that the feral cats become very tame and make wonderful pets. i have several ferals myself that i look after and they are lovely. you end up trying different things to see what works!

[Moggy]

Aww bless them! lol
I had a lovely black cat (snoopy) as a child who grew to a really old age. We were in London then though and he was an indoor cat. He was around 20 I think when he died. Lovely boy - I have never had another cat since as he was so lovely I always felt I'd never bond in that way again.
Will be interesting to be responsible for a cat again. DH had a few growing up.. indoor/outdoor cats but a couple got run over so he's a bit tender about having another indoor/outdoor cat. Mainly because of our girls, in case they're rough with it, but over the years maybe that'll change!  first things first though...

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I am also on a hill and its very very soggy!

I have 4 cats but the birmans are 17 yrs old and rarely go out and never in nthe winter...............heavens forbid they may get their white paws wet 

The two giant moggies go out all the time unless there is snow and they dont like that much.............flakes in the ears they tell me 

Misa even goes and sits in the rain cos it doesnt penetrate his coat as its rather thick 

[Moggy]

Sounds like we're fighting the same battle.. I'm just a bit behind you! Our bin store has 'evolved' over the years, and is sound now, no vermin interest. I thought we'd managed things pretty well the last year but I guess they decided it was too cold.
Am hoping the new addition will be willing to lend a hand, through paws n' claws or at least smell to keep them at bay. It's a good time of year to settle a feral as my girls don't go in the garden in the winter (we're on a hill so it's too damp), so it's just my dogs to get used to these days. They're terriers but pretend terriers.. they run away from mice let alone rats! 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

You are right rubbish will be a big issue and peeps round here put the bags in bins or sheds until collection day cos not only do they attract rats but also cats and other wild life.

I have a large wheeliebin which I bought refurbished and keep my bags in there.

I think the rats can also sense that there are cats around and mine do hiunt and sadly many a mouse, shrew etc has ended up a victim.......most died from shock cos my cats like to play with em.........sigh

However I have another unwanted 4 legged thingy in my garden and digging up lawn and making a real mess.................a bloomin mole.........sigh

[Moggy]

  Gill for the tip on the smilies!
And for other info on the rats, we did have veggies till last year (I was pregnant so stopped my veggies) and had chickens also but these went in the hope the rats would follow suit.
Rubbish is an issue in peoples gardens, we have a bin for black waste and recycle regligiously but our neighbours sadly leave black bags out so rats are frequent in the gardens.  I am hoping that by getting an outdoors cat that we are 'upping the ratio of cat to rat' if that makes sense, there are cats around but not in our immediate area.
The rats are of a 'good size' that visit, so getting an adult or near adult cat is also appealing.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Everybody types faster than me LOL

[Steff - Petsearch Bedford HQ]

Tee hee I typed faster than you Gill

Your right I've got the little monsters but I don't really know what I'm doing with them...Liz has been helping me loads and I still have questions to ask her (the same question Moggy asked being one of them). My 4 (not 3 Gill) love chicken roll though and even had the big hissy boy eating it out of my hand the other night which reminds me I must get some more.

Really the lady to talk to is Liz...she has a whole clan of cats some of which a ferals at all different stages of tameness :D

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

  to Purrs 

I live in SW Wales and also have a field behind and my first year here there were rats cos all fields have them. They were coming after the bird food and the tomatoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I then built a 6 ft high gate across the gap at the back from the shed to the end and as there is also a wall down one side now and a 5ft fence on the otherside, I havent seen them since BUT I do have two hunter killer cats now that I didnt have that first year. 

Usually they are being attracted by something and think the rats here would be too big to get in the cavity LOL

There is a lady on here called Steff and she has just trapped 3 feral cats, the mother and two kittens and am sure you will find the thread in rescue and rehoiming.

Best to post in that section your question about the ferals 

Oh yes and one little thing , to make the smilies work you have to leave one space behind them or infront 

[Moggy]

Aww thanks for the warm welcome (not telling me off for getting a semi-feral) and for helping out your two!
I'd happily help out if I was closer, but Im' in SW Wales (Llanelli - well just outside) so a bit too far. I'm sure you'll find someone around your way though, we lived on the outskirts of Hemel before moving here, lots of horse yards there might need a couple of workers. 

Will go and post on the main board then, 

[Steff - Petsearch Bedford HQ]

Hi Moggy and welcome

If I known you were in the market for ferals I woulda tried to get to you first as I have two beauties I am trying to rehome after I rescued them from a hotel car park area and got them all sorted and neutered etc

These guys are my first experience of ferals so unfortunately I don't know the answer to the question although I'm pretty sure a few on here will (...Liz, Liz, where are you?) And when you get an answer I'll be very interested cos I would like to know myself for when I rehome my two

It may be worth actually raising it as a new topic on the general board as a few more people may see it.

Good on you for trying to help out in a problematic situation

[Moggy]

  How cute are these smilies! 

Hello!
I'm a newbie, but you know that by the section. What you don't know is I'm a 'newbie' in that I haven't had a cat for a looooooong time!
So, I thought I'd tag along here and get some knowledge, advice and friendship.
Long intro - feel free to skip if you don't have time! lol

My DH is a 'cat man' as I'd call him.. i've always been a dog person - we have two dogs (small terriers).
we moved to SW Wales 3 years ago and our semi house has a fair size garden with fields to the back ... great eh. Except for the furry four legged things in the garden no one really wants.. yep you guessed it Rats.  we've tried for 3 years now to manage them with traps and against my better thoughts poison. To no avail.. the whole street has a problem and the council won't sort things.

Well the final straw came with the pitter patter of little feet in my loft! they are going up through the cavity walls  So traps are now up there and we have one down, one to go I think. Also think we've sorted the route in.. but not 100% sure.

so.. here I am! I have a horse at a livery yard, so we and our children (3 girls) are used to being around semi-feral cats. So we have found someone with too many on their farm and are able to help out with one to live in our shed. Of course, I realise if it's a female we'll have to get her checked and neutured - and a male for that matter. Also flea/worming. Have seen most of the cats there, and they are all clean looking, clean eyes etc, no wounds and come for feed. We are doing a bit of 'be-friending' by being around feeding etc, rather than just grabbing one and going... yeah that'll be easier said than done! lol

We have a big sized shed, so have read up on them having to 'live in' for a couple of weeks to get used to it being their home. This is really my first question? Does this work? my going in to feed etc and the cat then knowing it's a warm bed and shelter? with room service twice a day? 

Thanks for any advice you can give me / experiences you can share.