Need some help/advice on barn/feral cats

[RockRiverTiff]

I hear ya!!! I finally gave up trying to chase them away, and found a cat rescue that was willing to help. I set out traps, and took caught four, and had them spayed and neutered. Ticks me off that it is I who had to pay out the $$, but it is better than my cats constantly being injured; ant the wild ones constantly breeding and having kittens in my barn...plus the spraying on my hay is driving me nuts. Hopefully this will help...there are about six more to go, but have to wait for another pay-day to recoup.

We have a very similar situation here. If you are in an accessible area (we are at a fairly busy country intersection) then be prepared for the cat situation to become a long-term issue. We do have some roaming ferals every now and then, but the majority of the strange cats that show up here have been dumped - we've had everything from very senior house cats to a purebred Siamese dropped out here (to say nothing of the dogs). I found that after getting caught in the live trap once our own barn cats are smart enough to avoid it again - plus they get their meals far away from where we set the traps - making it easy to trap new cats when they show up. But like Sue C. mentioned, if you choose the humane route be prepared to pay - the animal shelters here are so full that we have to pay a drop-off fee for each of the cats that's been dumped on us.

 

[Katiean]

Holy crap! I thought a pellet gun would be like a paintball gun or something where it would just sting. I had NO idea it would cut the skin, break a bone or take out an eye. I realized that if I hit an animal in the eye, that's a very sensitive area and could potentially harm them, but I was thinking more of in the butt. But I didn't want to actually injure or kill the cats, just make coming here "uncomfortable." That looks like WAY more than uncomfortable!

My brothers at age 10 and 14 had a BB gun war. My oldest brother got shot at the cheek bone and it dug in. He pulled it out and when mom saw it and asked what happened he told her he had a runaway zit. It could have put out his eye. As it was it penitrated the skin. So, even a BB gun can cause a lot of damage. It may take longer but, I think I would stick with trapping the unwanted cats.

 

[Riverdance]

Dang,

I should not have talked about my barn cats and that stray male. My female cat with extra tows is in heat. She is locked in the barn with my other cats as well as my white male. Tonight when I went out to feed the horses, the front door of the barn opened itself while I was in the back feeding. Darned if that stray cat was not in the barn. How could he tell that I had a female in heat if she had not been outside? My male cat had him trapped in the furnace room.

Right now I would like to use something to chase him away and keep him away.

 

[HGFarm]

Yes pellet guns can be horrible, but so can even a .22. Depending on how good a marksman your shooter is.... a .22 can seriously injure, but not kill, a cat. I know from personal experience.

I am one that just cannot stand to see anything suffer. If you have to shoot something- make sure you are a dead on shot and that it is immediate- not going to run away and die a slow and horrible death somewhere else.

I would do what Majic suggested- lock your cats in and set the live trap at night since cats like to be nocturnal mostly as that is when the mice, etc... come out. Once caught, take them to be spayed or neutered or move them elsewhere far away as cats can go for MILES and find their way home. Ha, know this from personal experience too!

 

[Sue_C.]

Dang,

I should not have talked about my barn cats and that stray male. My female cat with extra tows is in heat. She is locked in the barn with my other cats as well as my white male. Tonight when I went out to feed the horses, the front door of the barn opened itself while I was in the back feeding. Darned if that stray cat was not in the barn. How could he tell that I had a female in heat if she had not been outside? My male cat had him trapped in the furnace room.

Right now I would like to use something to chase him away and keep him away.

The thing that will help keep him away is spaying your own female cat. That is how I began the problem I have now...I did raise bob-tailed cats, and my females, even though in the house...would attract toms from all over...not long after that I decided to spay my females...too late, the path to my place was already formed.