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FERAL CAT PROBLEM


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A giant Tomcat discovered our roof and moved there with his harem some months ago.  The reproduction rate has been awesome and all our planters have become litter boxes.  We have a small space between the back of our house and the neighbors' walls with no exit.  Kittens get down there and wail for momma.  They can't climb out, and catching them to remove them is nearly impossible for old folks since they turn into greased lightning in the attempt.  Is there any solution to this overpopulated feral cat problem?  Any entity that deals with this to call?  (And no, we don't want to install a roof dog)

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Many people  catch  spy/neuter and release the feral cats back The cats do a good job of taking care of mice rats etc and as long as they are not producing kittens you would be surprised at how quickly the colony starts to shrink.

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1 hour ago, sue said:

Many people  catch  spy/neuter and release the feral cats back The cats do a good job of taking care of mice rats etc and as long as they are not producing kittens you would be surprised at how quickly the colony starts to shrink.

I am talking about more than a dozen cats with a longer lifespan than mine.  One or two, such as hung out on the roof ten years ago, took very good care of the rodent matter.  ....and then, there's the matter of "catching" them.🙄

(Plus, a neutered cat poops just as much as one that isn't, si?)

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In Chiapas we have the same problem and they can really cause damage.. They pee on the tile roof, the peed oxidizes the gutters and metal roofs under the tiles and I had 15 000 pesos of damage a few months ago. The only thing to do is to trap them and have them euthanized, , havethem fixed and release them . Our neighbors put poison out as well and that causes other problems..

It needs to be done quickly when they appear because they reproduce really quickly

 

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6 minutes ago, bmh said:

In Chiapas we have the same problem and they can really cause damage.. They pee on the tile roof, the peed oxidizes the gutters and metal roofs under the tiles and I had 15 000 pesos of damage a few months ago. The only thing to do is to trap them and have them euthanized, , havethem fixed and release them . Our neighbors put poison out as well and that causes other problems..

It needs to be done quickly when they appear because they reproduce really quickly

 

Do you know what it costs to get one euthanized?  The trap and euthanize plan sounds good if it doesn't get too expensive for so many of them.  The one problem is that the big tom is the size of a medium sized dog and has rings around his tail.  Someone said this is a variation on the usual "cat, cat".

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Many of the vets here refuse to euthanize a healthy animal. And, if you do find one who will I doubt they would kill a whole colony for you. It would definitely be expensive. I sympathize with your problem. Maybe talk to the people who care for the cats at the shelter in the store next to Dr. Ladrone’s. They do not accept feral cats but might have some ideas of how to discourage them from living on your roof. 

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We had this problem when we lived in Texas.  Got traps from one of the shelters.  If the vets won't kill them, as mentioned by another poster, they can be sterilized and released. Sometimes you can get one to do it at no cost or a very low neutering fee due to the circumstances.

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2 hours ago, Xena said:

Many of the vets here refuse to euthanize a healthy animal. And, if you do find one who will I doubt they would kill a whole colony for you. It would definitely be expensive. I sympathize with your problem. Maybe talk to the people who care for the cats at the shelter in the store next to Dr. Ladrone’s. They do not accept feral cats but might have some ideas of how to discourage them from living on your roof. 

I've tried a few methods:  chili powder; lemonade mix..........and others.  So far, the cats prevail.  We've covered the open parts of planters with pieces of tile, and in revenge, they go #2 right on the roof.  I do realize this is almost funny, BTW.  Almost.🙄

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We have 3 (sometimes 4) who visit our property almost daily.  No kittens, thankfully.  Not certain all are feral...I believe some may be free-range pets.  Have seen their 'leavings' on the roof but rarely.  And only once a week do I see a mess in the garden (or maybe I am not looking hard enough 👀). 

I'm ok with them unless they jump onto patio furniture...when they have in the past, I make a racket slamming nearby heavy metal doors/windows.  Have you tried annoying them by beating on pots and pans or other noises?  I rarely see them attempt to go on our furniture anymore. 

We seem to have reached a sort of detente.  

I just saw ibbocat's post....we effectively used a motion water sprayer against tlacuaches (opossums) in the past at a previous home here.  It was a Scarecrow brand.  

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Thanks for the suggestions. They were coming down and getting on the patio furniture, but we made that difficult.  We can't see what's happening on the roof because there's no reason to climb the stairs.  The only room on the second level is the guest room and bath.

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The Vet across from the Wednesday market has helped a number of people with feral colonies. He gives you a good break on the cost of Spay / neuter. You can borrow the traps from LFA as well as some of the Vets.. If you keep them from having kittens than they tend to wander off when the food supply ( ie Rats  etc ) are no longer sufficient  they look for other homes.

The cats do a great job of keeping the rodent problem under control 

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1 hour ago, sue said:

The Vet across from the Wednesday market has helped a number of people with feral colonies. He gives you a good break on the cost of Spay / neuter. You can borrow the traps from LFA as well as some of the Vets.. If you keep them from having kittens than they tend to wander off when the food supply ( ie Rats  etc ) are no longer sufficient  they look for other homes.

The cats do a great job of keeping the rodent problem under control 

As I mentioned before, the rodent problem was well under control ten years ago when there were a couple of neighborhood cats doing the job.  I'm not understanding why keeping them from having kittens would result in their wandering off.  They would need a larger food supply when having kittens.  Right now, they all look well fed.  LCS is in my neighborhood.  I'm hoping they aren't getting the food from the LCS cats supply.

What is LFA?

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There have been a lot of repies to your problem with some very good suggestions. It seems that the only way to solve the problem of too many cats is to live trap the tom and as many of the females as possible and have them neutered or spayed. The Lakeside Friends of Animals at the store and cat shelter in Riberas will loan the traps with a returnable deposit. They can probably also give you suggestions on how to attract the cats. Free neutering service is availoable to Mexican nationals of limited means, but perhaps the LFA could also offer some financial or other assistance. The sooner you take some action the better. The problem will not go away, it will only be compounded. It would be worth your while to talk with the people at the cat shelter. It will be better for you and the cats.

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6 minutes ago, Ozalene said:

There have been a lot of repies to your problem with some very good suggestions. It seems that the only way to solve the problem of too many cats is to live trap the tom and as many of the females as possible and have them neutered or spayed. The Lakeside Friends of Animals at the store and cat shelter in Riberas will loan the traps with a returnable deposit. They can probably also give you suggestions on how to attract the cats. Free neutering service is availoable to Mexican nationals of limited means, but perhaps the LFA could also offer some financial or other assistance. The sooner you take some action the better. The problem will not go away, it will only be compounded. It would be worth your while to talk with the people at the cat shelter. It will be better for you and the cats.

Thanks, but in a previous post I already said I'd be in contact with the cat shelter and would proceed from there.  I appreciate all the suggestions given.

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