Skip to content
  • HOME
  • TRAPPING
    • TRAPS
    • HOW TO TRAP
  • CAT VOLUNTEERS
    • TRAPPERS
    • CAREGIVERS
    • DRIVERS
    • VET LIAISON
  • HELP US
    • DONATE
    • FUNDRAISING
    • BUSINESS LIAISON
    • TEACH
    • CIRCULATE FLYERS
    • TRAP
  • TNR ALTERNATIVES
    • LOW COST VETS
    • SPCA LISN
  • FAQ
    • WEBSITE HOW-TO
    • ABOUT THE PROBLEM
    • WHAT IS TNR
  • NEWS
  • SITEMAP
  • CONTACT US
Tipped Ear

TNR – Trap, Neuter, & Return Cats – POLK TX

Trap, Neuter, Return Cats of Polk County Texas

ALREADY STARTING A COLONY?

Posted on March 5, 2022March 28, 2022 By tnrprogram 1 Comment on ALREADY STARTING A COLONY?

If you are already starting to care for feral cats, Thank You!! I am going to share some suggestions here that might help someone who is just starting to feed outside cats, at your home. I learned some of these by caring for colonies during trapping process.

  1. First, and most importantly, connect with a vet or a TNR program to get the cat neutered.  If you do not, you will go from one or two cats to a ‘totally out of control’ amount of cats in a couple of years.
  2. If you, as a community caregiver, handle the cats often, you may be giving them an option to be adopted through your local shelter once neutered and checked out.  Talk to your local shelter about these possibilities.
  3. If you are going to feed them some where, make sure that it is under a porch roof or something so that rain/snow will not get in their dry food.
  4. Remove the food dishes after feeding time.  If you do not, they may hang around and pee and poop on your porch.  In other words, they could ‘settle in’.
  5. If you leave food out overnight, you may attract some critters that could hurt the kitties and damage your property.  You could also attract ants inside the food and worse, like inside your house.  Take the food in after they have finished eating.
  6. Make sure you also leave out water with their food.  That can be left out for a while.
  7. Use either disposable dishes or take the non-disposable dishes inside and wash them.
  8. Consider an outside litter box to keep them from using your porch or flower beds as a little box.  If you have a larger colony, you can build a ‘sandbox-styled’ one for them.
  9. For us in Texas, there are occasional hard freezes.  Feral cats can die during these times, especially any young ones.  Build them a place to stay warm.  One of my caregivers has taken a metal troth and filled it up with hay under a porch roof.  Another one has done the same thing on a flat trailer that is not often used and covered it with a tarp.  Some people, up on pilings, have built a wind break section under the house.  (Keep in mind, they might use the area as a bathroom.)
  10. Remember, once cats are settled into a community, it is very hard to get them ‘re-homed’ into a different place.  So, know that you have made a commitment to your colony.  If you will be away for a time, make sure someone will feed the cats for you.

Neuter, Neuter, Neuter, keep a ‘well managed’ colony for the sake of your neighbors and the cats.  I have seen community female cats actually injured, severely, during the mating process by overly aggressive male cats.  

–> Making a Cat Shelter

CAREGIVERS Tags:care, caregiver, cat, feed, feral, shelter

Post navigation

Previous Post: POLK COUNTY SPCA – LISN
Next Post: ADVANTAGES OF TNR COLONIES

Comment (1) on “ALREADY STARTING A COLONY?”

  1. Loretta Forbus says:
    March 22, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    Testing Testing

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Archives

  • January 2023
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022

Categories

  • ABOUT THE PROBLEM
  • BUSINESS LIAISON
  • CAREGIVERS
  • CIRCULATE FLYERS
  • DONATE
  • DRIVERS
  • FUNDRAISING
  • HOW TO TRAP
  • LOW COST VETS
  • NEWS
  • SPCA LISN
  • TEACH
  • TRAP
  • TRAPPERS
  • TRAPS
  • VET LIAISON
  • WEBSITE HOW-TO
  • WHAT IS TNR

Recent Posts

  • LIFE OF A CAT TRAPPER – TNR
  • FERAL CAT SHELTERS
  • TAKING A FERAL CAT HOME
  • STARTING A NEW TRAPPING EVENT
  • ANTS IN THE SUMMER IN TEXAS

Recent Comments

  1. tnrprogram on DROP TRAP
  2. Loretta Forbus on ALREADY STARTING A COLONY?
  3. tnrprogram on HOW-TO

Copyright © 2023 TNR – Trap, Neuter, & Return Cats – POLK TX.

Powered by PressBook WordPress theme