I didn't know there was such a thing, but apparently there is a feral cat mating season.
Yay.
Not only is Tandoori all grouchy about it, he's fixed but having cats in the yard makes him even more grouchy than having cats in the house, but Shawarma and Zaytoun, who are not fixed yet (Shawarma is going this week) are just all bent out of shape. Falafel can't figure out what has gotten into all of them.
This is our yard. There is one particular female in heat who is being stalked and chased and harassed by either 5 or 6 males.
They are a mangy lot. They yowl and fight at all hours of the night and day. They are spraying everything, scratching up the little bit of grass we have, and being a nuisance. What this city doesn't need is more cats, either, but I don't think that female has much say in the matter.
I'm working on it. It's been too cold at night to set out the humane trap (it's a Havahart 1079, and it made it through the DPO) then have a cat in 30-something temps just sit there all night. Tonight it's closer to 40F at night and it gets steadily warmer from here on so I feel confident that I can trap them and get these guys, and gal, squared away.
I put this photo up on our vet's facebook page as well. There are those who believe that feral cats should be left unspayed and unneutered because, well, that's how they should be. I, of course, heartily disagree. These cats are all dirty, living on garbage, and daily risk cars, disease and plenty of nasty humans. They breed like crazy. It's a rare day when I drive that we don't pass kitten and cat carcasses in the street.
Yay.
Not only is Tandoori all grouchy about it, he's fixed but having cats in the yard makes him even more grouchy than having cats in the house, but Shawarma and Zaytoun, who are not fixed yet (Shawarma is going this week) are just all bent out of shape. Falafel can't figure out what has gotten into all of them.
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| Pick out the female? She's the white one with orange splotches facing away from the camera on the chair. |
They are a mangy lot. They yowl and fight at all hours of the night and day. They are spraying everything, scratching up the little bit of grass we have, and being a nuisance. What this city doesn't need is more cats, either, but I don't think that female has much say in the matter.
I'm working on it. It's been too cold at night to set out the humane trap (it's a Havahart 1079, and it made it through the DPO) then have a cat in 30-something temps just sit there all night. Tonight it's closer to 40F at night and it gets steadily warmer from here on so I feel confident that I can trap them and get these guys, and gal, squared away.
I put this photo up on our vet's facebook page as well. There are those who believe that feral cats should be left unspayed and unneutered because, well, that's how they should be. I, of course, heartily disagree. These cats are all dirty, living on garbage, and daily risk cars, disease and plenty of nasty humans. They breed like crazy. It's a rare day when I drive that we don't pass kitten and cat carcasses in the street.
But I'll end on a happier note. Apparently one of the cats decided to offer up a mini mouse to the water gods. It reminds me of all the times Masala would offer up rubber bands to the water gods and there were soggy stretchy blobs floating in the bowl. Those were his favorite.
All I can say is that better not end up on my bed.
Living in Amman was one place where I really noticed feral colonies. Not just random cats, but specific family groups. They are very social, but yes, mating season is a group effort. Good of you to trap cats and get them fixed. I feel sorry for so many of the street cats. Our pets would not have survived had we left them. We took them in when we noticed the mom had stopped feeding them. She was starving herself. I like the mouse in the bowl too :) Our cats' favorite offering to the kibble gods are hair bands. I can tell how hungry the are by how many sacrifices were made.
ReplyDeleteThe three we've gotten here wouldn't have either. Falafel needed her eye surgery or she'd have died from the infection, Shawarma was the runt and literally starving, and Zaytoun was so skinny and covered with so much ringworm I think winter would have probably ended it.
DeleteHow cooperative are the vets there? In Muscat you had to put down a $150 deposit to borrow their trapping cage, and if you did catch and bring a stray in for spaying or neutering it was another $100 or so plus dollars again. To tell if a stray was fixed they would clip one ear. Economically it was not feasible to try to catch every stray that wandered into our yard for refuge or transit. The most severe I would take in for help - a small abandoned kitten with a head wound and damaged eye. I had to pay around $150 again just to have him treated and cared for to have them put him up for adoption. Too many cats, constant cat calls, and too few vets or options.
ReplyDeleteFor us, I bought my own $50 trap from Havahart off Amazon (it came through DPO fine) and our vet neuters the stray males for free. Females strays do cost because of the more difficult surgery, but I haven't caught one yet. He'll even neuter our own males for free, because we are always in there getting vaccines and antibiotics.
ReplyDelete