redrover
Guest
Ive got a quandary.
Feral cats abound here. Since the ancient cat passed on leaving his (and mine) territory undefended Ive had problems with them moving in and taking over. Spraying the walls and door, lot of cat fights under the house in the middle of the night, serious war with the fleas. Loathing to walk out to my car in the morning getting 20 30 new bites each time before all the poison I spread around worked its way through their abundance and dealing with what I tracked into the house those were the worst.
Havent had any looking in the kitchen window and complaining they were hungry for hours, darting out of sight when Im outside, showing up in the house recently, but a week ago there was a pretty nasty sounding cat fight under my bedroom which is next to the garage.
I heard mewing for three days in the garage and was getting a lot of flea bites again this week. Last night two little kittens Im judging to be 3 - 4 weeks old looking pretty bad were out in the open. Both have goopy eyes and to say they were heavily infested with fleas would be an understatement. I washed them thinking I could drown the fleas but they all just scrambled up and into their ears, mouth and nose. Didnt have the heart to try drowning the kitten with the fleas so it was hours of picking off fleas.
This morning the eyes arent gooped up as bad but they still have teensy little fleas I suspect. But maybe they are just flea bite scabs, I cant pick them off with tweezers and almost as many as the zillions of fleas I did. Neither will drink nor eat any thing Ive offered. They appear happier than when I first saw them but still weak, only the bigger male has any feistiness. I picked up a wild kitten before and it ripped me to shreds, the bites need antibiotics. These guys havent even scratched me. They can be sicker than they look or genetically disadvantaged and Im not financially comfortable.
Id like a cat around for the company and rodent control but I have a feral rescue Id hoped I could domesticate. Mom was rescued a couple of days after giving birth and I took him at 5 weeks old. He is 4 and comes around about every 3 months and spends a couple of hours with me. He looks great with a sleek shiny coat, no medical problems and not hungry. I hit him up with Frontline and havent found a flea on him. Cost quite a bit to make him a responsible member of the population. Broke my heart preferring the solo life over my undemanding company with access to wilderness on two sides.
I had another rescue, from the streets of Brooklyn no less that was sold to me as a real sweetheart (and, Ill pay for the flight.) I named her Psycho shortly after biting me to the bone upon first contact. After three years her personality had improved to the point she was biting me out of the blue, for no apparent reason, less often.
My quandary is:
Feral cats abound here. Since the ancient cat passed on leaving his (and mine) territory undefended Ive had problems with them moving in and taking over. Spraying the walls and door, lot of cat fights under the house in the middle of the night, serious war with the fleas. Loathing to walk out to my car in the morning getting 20 30 new bites each time before all the poison I spread around worked its way through their abundance and dealing with what I tracked into the house those were the worst.
Havent had any looking in the kitchen window and complaining they were hungry for hours, darting out of sight when Im outside, showing up in the house recently, but a week ago there was a pretty nasty sounding cat fight under my bedroom which is next to the garage.
I heard mewing for three days in the garage and was getting a lot of flea bites again this week. Last night two little kittens Im judging to be 3 - 4 weeks old looking pretty bad were out in the open. Both have goopy eyes and to say they were heavily infested with fleas would be an understatement. I washed them thinking I could drown the fleas but they all just scrambled up and into their ears, mouth and nose. Didnt have the heart to try drowning the kitten with the fleas so it was hours of picking off fleas.
This morning the eyes arent gooped up as bad but they still have teensy little fleas I suspect. But maybe they are just flea bite scabs, I cant pick them off with tweezers and almost as many as the zillions of fleas I did. Neither will drink nor eat any thing Ive offered. They appear happier than when I first saw them but still weak, only the bigger male has any feistiness. I picked up a wild kitten before and it ripped me to shreds, the bites need antibiotics. These guys havent even scratched me. They can be sicker than they look or genetically disadvantaged and Im not financially comfortable.
Id like a cat around for the company and rodent control but I have a feral rescue Id hoped I could domesticate. Mom was rescued a couple of days after giving birth and I took him at 5 weeks old. He is 4 and comes around about every 3 months and spends a couple of hours with me. He looks great with a sleek shiny coat, no medical problems and not hungry. I hit him up with Frontline and havent found a flea on him. Cost quite a bit to make him a responsible member of the population. Broke my heart preferring the solo life over my undemanding company with access to wilderness on two sides.
I had another rescue, from the streets of Brooklyn no less that was sold to me as a real sweetheart (and, Ill pay for the flight.) I named her Psycho shortly after biting me to the bone upon first contact. After three years her personality had improved to the point she was biting me out of the blue, for no apparent reason, less often.
My quandary is:
- I can just haul them as is to the pound and feel pretty bad. And continue to wait for a domestic opportunity to save from the pound or dropped off at the end of the street where Im the nearest house. (Many of the unwelcome, unencouraged cat visitors dont look and act like Feral.)
- I can try for an emergency visit to the vet today, for two cats, treating them and leave them out where they were and hope Mom shows up in time. And worry about their future, another flea explosion, and what to do about the dead cat smell.
- I can pick one. Of course they both show equally charming personalities and cute with no visible defect, just a bit worse for wear and needing medical attention.
- I can keep both, double the investment in spay and neuter, shots and whatever else and hope for the best.