Favorite Pest

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Batalov

While this was very common in the places where I grew up (this was -- and probably still is -- a thing in Eastern Europe), I would recommend leaving them. Let the cat raise them for 7-8 weeks and then give them away. I am sure that there is demand for cats there and now.

Consider this culture-reference anecdote from Eastern Europe (a real one, I am not making this up):

In US midwest farm country, decades ago, after weaned, excess kittens might be bagged up in a burlap sack and given live to a neighbor with a rodents problem. Elsewhere, no-kill humane societies will accept surrenders and if necessary transported to locations hundreds or thousands of km to re-home them. I once adopted a well-traveled older cat whose records included veterinary care in Arizona and New York. Sacking in air is now considered inhumane treatment. Drowning kittens is very bad for the kittens, and prospective pet owners, and can earn the perpetrator prosecution.
https://www.globalanimallaw.org/data...nal/index.html

[rogue]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Raw meat or fish look to me like reasonable things to try. Or if the cat could catch some nice, juicy mice...

It can be difficult to switch an older cat to a raw diet, but just a single raw meat does not supply them all of the nutrients they need. I am speaking from first hand knowledge.

For a raw meat diet, we have a recipe that includes ground pork, ground chicken, ground beef, eggs, and sardines. Quite a mess to make when mixing by hand, but the foster cats loved it. They were on that diet for a long time as we were trying to get their digestive systems under control. They had a lot of runny poop on whatever they were fed before. They are on a high quality kibble now.

If the cat is not accustomed to a raw diet, consider a high protein kibble. It is a little more expensive than the regular kibble, but there are plenty of options from better pet stores and online from chewy. Since cats can be finicky it might take some trial and error to determine which one they like the most.

In any case the vet will point you in the right direction.

[Dr Sardonicus]

In urban areas, there is a problem with feral cats. They cause serious depredation of songbirds. And any bare soil along a foundation - particularly the south wall - will become a litter box. Ugh!

Annihilation of local feral cat populations is impracticable - besides their being evasive, their ranks are continually being replenished by reckless owners. The best that local animal control agencies seem to be able to do is catch, spay/neuter, and release.

In more rural areas, problems with animals, be they wild or stray pets, are in the hands of County Animal Control. However, the chief enforcement officer for stray pets is Wile E. Coyote. Animal Control deals with animals that have injured people or domestic animals, or damaged property. They don't come out to round up strays. People can live-trap stray cats and bring them in - if they have a live trap and the time.

Here in the good ol' USA there is fairly widespread suspicion toward any cat or dog with black fur. Cats - especially black cats - have long been associated with witches and the devil. Being predators probably aggravates their bad reputation.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

However, the chief enforcement officer for stray pets is Wile E. Coyote.

I knew someone rural whose very large male cat came running to them one day making an unhappy sound they'd never heard from him before. Quick inspection showed a 4" longitudinal gash in his belly. My current formerly feral friendly feline fella is missing a sort of ragged part of one ear. The vet thought that might be due to frostbite. However, he lived for a while on the edge of a small woods, near a home which deterred the numerous local coyotes from approaching. He's now indoor-only, in protective custody.
In my experience, mostly with other species such as chipmunks and squirrels, live traps are very ineffective.

[xilman]

Just had my two positively vetted. Apart from a bit of tartar on their teeth they are in fine condition.

Expensive though

[rogue]

I have read that catching, then spaying/neutering, then releasing is more effective than culling.

It should be a requirement for all breeders and pet shops to spay/neuter any cats that are not going to be be used for breeding before they are adopted. The upside is that spaying/neutering will decrease the probability of behavior issues that lead to owners letting them roam free outside of the hosue.

[RMLabrador]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

The thing I find most objectionable about this is, you're asking for advice about dealing with your present circumstances, from people who know far less about your present circumstances than you do.

In particular, I don't know what bad consequences might ensue if you care, or try to care, for the kittens. But you certainly might.

they fine. they happy than me)) and mother and Gabi

I'm dont need an advice to kill or not to kill))) imagine, how much of mice life will be wasted
Their mother kill the mice with cruelty beyoung to our imagination -
she play with half dead mice and then chow them alive - Im hear the crack of their bones and last cry)

[storm5510]

Originally Posted by chalsall

His nose is *very* different than yours. He can smell things we can only imagine.

Seriously. 8^)

To share... One of our newest memebers, Shacky, got *really* sick and refused to eat for about two weeks. The reason turned out that he had a dead worm in his nose (no joke).

Cats won't eat what they can't smell. And, then, of course, what they like.

No matter how hungry they are, they won't eat unless it passes their tests. It's an evolutionary defense mechanism.

Keep trying his regular food. Also, try presenting to him some unsalted tuna fish; available retail everywhere. Maybe some chicken.

I copy you. Loud and clear.

As rogue and I have suggested, perhaps you can bring things under control yourself. Using "off the shelf" stuff.

Again... We do everything for our family. Sorry if I'm telling you how to chew gum.

Well, I know his nose is working just fine. I ate some spicy soup a few nights ago and he wouldn't get near the bowl when I finished it and offered it to him. I offer him little bits of other things and he likes them. Potato salad (the liquid, not the solids), plain potato chips, liverwurst, saltine crackers, and bread.

I have read tuna is not good for cats. It supposedly has some sort of enzyme in it which is not good for them. Fact or fiction, I don't know. He likes it though.

He definitely likes chicken. Every once in a great while, I will get a little can of cooked chicken at the grocery store. It is so expensive that I rarely buy any. He goes for the broth more than the solids.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by storm5510

I have read tuna is not good for cats. It supposedly has some sort of enzyme in it which is not good for them. Fact or fiction, I don't know. He likes it though.

Flea collars, second hand smoke, and significant tuna in their diet are prominent risk factors for oral cancer in cats, which is swiftly fatal after diagnosis; a few months if aggressively treated, several weeks otherwise. https://cat-world.com/oral-cancer-in-cats/
My previous cat loved salmon based kibble and treats. And died of oral cancer, rapidly and unpleasantly, at 12.5 years, two of those years with me. None of the prominent risk factors were present here, but may have been in the previous decade. I suspect concentration of heavy metals or other risk factors also applies to predator fish other than tuna, including salmon, for cats as for humans. https://www.discovermagazine.com/hea...y-cause-cancer

[RMLabrador]

I'm have 3 three-colour she-cats and one rude cat, here in Ukraine, near Kyiv! They do not afraid of any loud sound below 118 Db, and for free for everyone)!

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by storm5510

I have read tuna is not good for cats. It supposedly has some sort of enzyme in it which is not good for them. Fact or fiction, I don't know. He likes it though.

In addition to the increasing scarcity of tuna in our collective oceans... And I really like Tekka maki!

Basically, there's a lot of scaremongering about mercury in tuna. And many other vectors... Do we really have to explain the whole concept of the food chain? What about micro-plastics, while we're at it?

At the end of the day... My rule is to give the animals what they want to eat. Here at Mindseye, we give our cats "treats" at about 7 pm, which consist of a wide selection of different meats (fish, land-animal liver) and tasty treats, etc.

We then lock them in at about 11 pm, when they get dinner. Again, many different types of meat.

High-quality "kib" is available 24 hours a day.

This might explain why we're now up to 8.5 cats...

Originally Posted by storm5510

He definitely likes chicken. Every once in a great while, I will get a little can of cooked chicken at the grocery store. It is so expensive that I rarely buy any. He goes for the broth more than the solids.

Do what you can. Offer a wide range of things. He'll eat what he needs, and walk away from what he doesn't.

IMO, there's just something so regal about the cat worldview... 9^)