Cats are SO opportunistic!

[Alice Abbott]

I don't get much time for socialising with the neighbours but this morning a small bunch of us "collided" at the bottle bank and ended up sitting over a coffee in our kitchen. It was a cross section of the village - French, Brits and Dutch (I put myself in the Brit category by association).

The discussion meandered around to the local stray cat population. I think there are about two stray cats for every person in the village. However as there are only about 20 people it isn't quite as bad as it might sound. We don't feed any of them because we don't generally have meat scraps, cat food doesn't star too highly on our budget, Morris (our lurcher) doesn't like them much and to be honest neither do I. But then we discovered which of us DO feed them on daily...

It turns out that there is a hard core of five or six cats who are eating on a regular basis at the FOUR different households represented at our impromptu coffee morning. No wonder they look so sleek and well-fed. They could well be eating elsewhere too, although it was noted that they are particularly wary of the houses of the older "country folk" in the village who are known to chase them off and dispose of any stray kittens they find.

None of these cats are actually "owned" so we are thinking of starting a programme of catching them and having them neutered. Has anyone else tried anything similar?

[MKG]

Did you know, Alice, that a skinned and beheaded cat (minus lower limbs too) is indistinguishable from a rabbit treated in the same manner? Not, of course, that I'm advocating such treatment. I love moggies - but I was taught a very sharp lesson by the feral ones in Barcelona.

What am I saying? !!!!!!!!!!

Mike

[ADG]

before the mad influx of eatern europeans , about 20yrs ago I used to sell a lot of rabbits to the aging polish community in peterborough but they always used to say Dharrun (Darren) leave the coats on, turned out during the war etc they were often fed what they THOUGHT was rabbit but was infact cat

[thesunflowergal]

I have heard from Grandparents of Butchers selling cat, posing as rabbit during the war too.

Alice - I used to help a farmer collect up his feral cats to have them neutered, but the cost proved too much. We tried to get some of the animal charities to help, but they where as much use as a chocolate teapot. In the end we just got the Toms done, but as we all know other tom cats will visit Queens that are in season. We also used to handle the kittens from as early as possible, then rehome them.

[Graye]

I have a friend who does exactly this in a village in southern Spain.

She rounds up every stray she can get her hands on in the village and has them neutered. The females have a tiny ear clip so she can tell which ones she has dealt with. She cares for the ones with kittens then has them neutered and passes the kittens to her tame vet who puts them for sale in his pet shop (it's very common for pet shops to incorporate veterinary surgeries in Spain).

Last time I spoke to her she had dealt with around 50 cats, rehomed about ten adults and lots of kittens (we have one of her rescued kittens here) and sent on dozens to be rehomed via the pet shop. She is apparently now really making a difference in the village, one of her main problmes is the Spanish themselves who dump cats and kittens into her garden for her to deal with. She funds all this through cleaning jobs and coffee mornings. The vet also gives her huge discounts. Many of her patients decide they like living with her - I think she has about a dozen permanent residents now.

If you are going to seriously try this then can I suggest you start over the winter before kitten season starts, plan some fundraising and be prepared to have some of the cats decide they like the good treatment they get and move in. I believe someone once said there are 8 million cats and 24 million cat owners out there. They certainly know how to look pitiful and scrounge their meals and a warm cushion.

[Thomzo]

I have a friend who used to live in Bristol. She took pity on a 'stray' that was hanging around her garden. I tried to tell her it was too well fed to be a stray but she was convinced. Turned out the cat had about four 'homes' in the area and spent time at each.

I am a cat lover but wouldn't ever feed a stray. Cats are surprisingly good at looking after themselves. Feeding them only encourages them to get fat and lazy and lets the mouse population flourish.

Good luck with the neutering plan. Sounds like a good one if you can get the money together.

Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

Ah here's the thread where you explained about the cats! I don't know how I missed this one.