feral cats

Feral cats are cats which have been born in the wild and have had little or no contact with human beings. Consequently they live secluded lives and are as wild as the heather. Occasionally they might latch on to somebody who has left food out for them (a lot easier than hunting for the meagre wildlife they might come across), and this is fine while that food is being offered, but sometimes something happens to that 'carer', the food no longer appears, and they try to obtain it from somebody else, causing a nuisance. We're often contacted at this point and requested to take them in.

In the past we have always done this (you'd be surprised at the threats which are made against these unfortunate creatures) as, through our rose coloured glasses, we thought we could tame them down and rehome them. Unfortunately, this rarely happens - though one cat might bond to one person - and we now have approximately 40-45 feral cats in our care, some of whom have been here for around 15 years with no hope of release from their life sentence. They are safe, warm, neutered and fed, but they lack their freedom. Attempts at rehoming them to farms, stables etc very often fail as the prospective carers find it very difficult to find somewhere very secure for the first 2 weeks of their life in their new home, and the cats get out and simply run away unaware of their good fortune!

Our policy now is to trap, neuter and return to where they came from. (Most shelters are now doing this) To remove them from their home and incarcerate them for the rest of their lives is extremely unfair, and it has been found in the past that when a feral population has been removed it creates a vacuum allowing other ferals to move in.

It is illegal to remove a feral cat from its location and 'dump' it somewhere else. Not only might it be causing a nuisance somewhere else, it is also an offence and classed as abandonment as it removes the animal from its shelter and food source.

We are happy to lend traps out to those who have a feral problem, but we will not lend a trap out for the purpose of killing.

We expect a guarantee that the trapped cat will be taken to a vet, neutered, and returned from whence it came. We can usually help out with the cost of this providing one of our local vets are used - Oban, Lochgilphead or Fort William. We have an account with these.

We are happy to take in pregnant feral mothers providing they can be returned to their base once the kittens are weaned and the mother is spayed.

Feral Kittens

Kittens are cute to watch, and feral babies are no different. However, there is a definite window of time when they should be caught and socialised. The older they are the more difficult they are to handle as they are taught from a very early age by their mothers that human beings are among the things to be afraid of.

Although we hate doing it, and providing the kittens are weaned, we attempt to remove them from their mothers between the age of 4 to 6 weeks. By this age they can hiss, spit and bite, but can usually become affectionate little kittens quite quickly.

Kittens past the age of 8 weeks (as their eyes are changing from the blue colour to their permanent colour) take much more time to socialise. After the age of 10-12 weeks it is very time-consuming to start trying to handle them. Sometimes it's possible, sometimes it's not.

If you find feral kittens, please let us know as soon as possible!

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