Community Action to Save Strays

There is a stray cat in my neighborhood!

• There are stray cats in every neighborhood. Some are pets wandering the neighborhood, and some are feral residents.

It seems hungry. Should I feed it?

• NO! Do not feed a cat unless you are willing to take responsibility for it!

It is very friendly.

• If it is friendly and looks clean and healthy, just leave it alone. It probably belongs to someone and is just out for a walk. If you feed it, it may get confused about where home is.

It does not have a collar. Does that mean it is homeless?

• No. Many family cats never wear collars. Some wear “breakaway” collars that come off when snagged on a tree or fence. Lack of a collar cannot be seen as lack of a home.

It has been around for days and truly seems lost. What can I do?

• If it remains in your yard for several days and is friendly but dirty or emaciated, and you are willing to take responsibility, then take it in and try to find out where it belongs. If it is sick, take it to the vet. If you cannot afford vet care, call CATSSbefore taking it to the vet to see if they have funds to help. Try to find its owner. Call the police department and the local veterinary clinics. They may have received a call about a lost cat. Read the Lost and Found ads in the Oberlin News Tribune, on the Oberlin.edu classifieds, or on the CATSS Facebook page. Place a “Found Cat” ad describing your visitor in all these places yourself. Look for a poster at the public library and put one up yourself. If you do all these things with no response, then you will need to work on finding the cat a new home. (see #13 below) CATSS may be able to help you need help spaying or neutering this cat if necessary.

It will not let me get very close and seems fearful of people.

• If the cat is skittish or even fearful of people then it is probably feral. Feral means it has lived their entire life outside and has never been a house pet. It is basically a wild animal like a raccoon or woodchuck. After about 8 weeks of age, a feral cat can be socialized to people only with months and even years of patience.
  Look closely at its ears. If one ear does not have a point, there is a good probability that it has been trapped, spayed and neutered, given a rabies shot, and returned to the community. (Cutting off the point of one ear straight across is a universal sign among cat rescuers that this is a feral that has been sterilized. This keeps the cat from undergoing the stress of being recaptured multiple times.) If both ears come to points, then you may have a cat who has not been spayed or neutered and is breeding more and more feral cats.

What can I do about the feral cats who are not spayed or neutered?

• First, go to the website www.alleycatallies.org. Watch their video on how to trap a feral cat. If you are willing to trap yourself, thank you in advance for helping solve this problem. Call the CATSS line and tell them your name and address and that you need a trap. You will be told where to pick up a trap and who to call to take the cat to the clinic for you. Using the instructions in the video, and your knowledge of the cats’ habits, you can set the trap. When you catch a cat, immediately call for transportation to the spay/neuter clinic. The cat will be taken, fixed, have its ear tip clipped and returned to you or your neighborhood within a day or two. If it stays in your neighborhood, you can keep an eye on it and let us know if it needs medical attention in the future.

What if I trap a friendly stray?

• If at the vet clinic they assess the cat to be adoptable, they will not clip the ear and CATSS will try to find it a new home.

Why do we return them? Is there no other place for these animals to go?

• These cats are part of our community and have nowhere else to go. They are not adoptable so at shelters they are usually euthanized. Even if they are relocated several miles away, cats often return to their original neighborhood. Some studies show that if cats are successfully removed from an area, other feral cats simply move in. It is better to have a stable healthy feral cat population in your neighborhood than an ever-changing un-spayed or un-neutered population.

Is this going to cost me anything?

• CATSS will provide the trap, transportation and veterinary services for all ferals at no cost to you.

I found a litter of kittens and the mother is nowhere in sight. What do I do?

• Unless the weather is severe, leave the kittens where they are and watch for the mother to return to them. She may just be off finding food for herself. If the mother does not return or if it is cold outside, take the kittens inside and put them in a box with a warm towel or blanket. Warmth is more important than food!
  If their eyes are not open or of they cannot eat soft cat food on their own, call CATSS for advice and assistance. If you are willing and able to try and raise the kittens yourself, an experienced kitten foster mother will give you advice and backup. If not, CATSS will try to find a foster home for the litter.
  If they have teeth and are able to eat on their own, you will need to provide them with warm place to sleep, a litter box, and food. They will need to be tested for serious diseases and then vaccinated. If you are unable to keep them or find homes for them yourself, call CATSS to see if a foster home is available.
  All infants have the best chance of survival when reared by its mother. However, feral mothers are often ill, and can face lethal challenges from cars, dogs, coyotes, raccoons and even other cats. They can find it hard to find enough to eat. They frequently misplace one or two kittens when moving a large litter to a safer spot. Feral kittens grow into feral cats who have very hard and short lives of 4-5 years. Fostered and adopted kittens grow into friendly, healthy pets who can live for 10-20 years.

I cannot keep my cat any more.

• We understand that sometimes a family cannot keep a cat for reasons beyond their control such as health issues, financial crisis, death, etc. As with a lost cat, advertizing is key. An ad in the News Tribune, posters on bulletin boards, telling all your friends, etc. If you give CATSS a digital photo of the cat, we can post it on our website and on PetFinder.com.

I want to adopt a cat or kitten.

• We have adoptable kittens and cats in foster homes around Oberlin. Let us know what you are looking for: male, female, kitten, adult, playful, quiet, barn cat, lap cat, good with children or dog, etc. and we will let you know if we have anyone to match your needs. Our adoption fee is $70 (tax deductable) donation to CATSS. (The fee covers about ½ our cost of caring for a cat.) All our adoptable cats have been tested for FIV and Feline Leukemia, wormed and given the vaccines appropriate to their age. If old enough, they have been spayed or neutered. If not, the surgery can be done at the vet or clinic of our choice at no cost to you. In addition to the donation, you need to have a stable living situation where pets are allowed, be able to afford routine and emergency vet care, and be ready to make a commitment to a feline companion for the next 15-20 years!