Stray cat problem

dvshaw

So our neighbor feeds all the stray cats. Which, at first, may seem like a sweet thing to do. But none of the cats are fixed, and now there are WAY more cats. Well, our dog chased a 10 week old kitten into our basement. I can't figure out where the cat went, but I know he's still in there. This is a two part question:

1. What do I do with the kitten when I find it? He's probably about 8-12 weeks old. (I didn't get a good look at him, and I'm not a cat person, so I could be wrong)

2. How can I put an end to the colony of cats without calling animal control? I obviously don't want anything to happen to the cats, but at this rate, cats might outnumber humans in this neighborhood soon, and that can't happen. Humane societies? No-kill shelters? (if there are any of those left) 

kelnyc

There are still no-kill shelters left if you want to somehow wrangle up all the kitties (which I would not recommend), but this sounds more like a job for animal control (including getting the one out of your basement). They usually just have a vet look at them to make sure they aren't injured or sick or flea-ridden or anything, and then they often take them to the SPCA. Maybe if you found a no-kill shelter to take them to, you could arrange for that with animal control? It can't hurt to ask IMO. They all need to be fixed so they don't keep multiplying exponentially.

wittyschaffy

Honestly, the first step I'd take is calling the city about your neighbor feeding them.  They'll probably get animal control involved.  I live in a decent sized city and it is a problem here too - the humane society goes and does a mobile "fixing" event every so often where they cage them, fix them, and let them back out since euthanizing them is considered unpopular.  I guess I'd personally not try to wrangle any of them - feral cats are just not something to mess with.

dvshaw

So animal control doesn't necessarily kill the animals? Sorry for my ignorance, I have no idea how any of this works.

Karen2905

dvshaw:

So animal control doesn't necessarily kill the animals? Sorry for my ignorance, I have no idea how any of this works.

Some do, some don't.  It's best to ask.  PAWS Atlanta will also probably be a helpful resource: http://www.pawsatlanta.org/ .

Have you seen the kitten in your basement yet?  You probably should put a bowl of water and maybe some tuna down there(if you don't have anything else)  until you figure out how to proceed. 

 

dvshaw

Yeah, we put some food and water in the basement. I saw it dart from the one side to the other, but now I can't find it....

I'm going to look into calling animal control and the others today.

One benefit of having stray cats, they're killing the moles in my garden. I saw a dead mole laying on the pavement this morning. 

Cipolla2Be

dvshaw:

Yeah, we put some food and water in the basement. I saw it dart from the one side to the other, but now I can't find it....

I'm going to look into calling animal control and the others today.

One benefit of having stray cats, they're killing the moles in my garden. I saw a dead mole laying on the pavement this morning. 

Want me to send my dog over?  She'll get that cat out of there in a quick second...

dvshaw

Cipolla2Be:

dvshaw:

Yeah, we put some food and water in the basement. I saw it dart from the one side to the other, but now I can't find it....

I'm going to look into calling animal control and the others today.

One benefit of having stray cats, they're killing the moles in my garden. I saw a dead mole laying on the pavement this morning. 

Want me to send my dog over?  She'll get that cat out of there in a quick second...

Yeah, I thought that my dogs would get rid of the cat. Dog fail.