Social responsibility quandry with Feral cats

I’ve got a quandary.
Feral cats abound here. Since the ancient cat passed on leaving his (and mine) territory undefended I’ve had problems with them moving in and taking over. Spraying the walls and door, lot of cat fights under the house in the middle of the night, serious war with the fleas. Loathing to walk out to my car in the morning getting 20 – 30 new bites each time before all the poison I spread around worked its way through their abundance and dealing with what I tracked into the house…those were the worst.

Haven’t had any looking in the kitchen window and complaining they were hungry for hours, darting out of sight when I’m outside, showing up in the house recently, but a week ago there was a pretty nasty sounding cat fight under my bedroom which is next to the garage.

I heard mewing for three days in the garage and was getting a lot of flea bites again this week. Last night two little kittens I’m judging to be 3 - 4 weeks old looking pretty bad were out in the open. Both have goopy eyes and to say they were heavily infested with fleas would be an understatement. I washed them thinking I could drown the fleas but they all just scrambled up and into their ears, mouth and nose. Didn’t have the heart to try drowning the kitten with the fleas so it was hours of picking off fleas.
This morning the eyes aren’t gooped up as bad but they still have teensy little fleas I suspect. But maybe they are just flea bite scabs, I can’t pick them off with tweezers and almost as many as the zillions of fleas I did. Neither will drink nor eat any thing I’ve offered. They appear happier than when I first saw them but still weak, only the bigger male has any feistiness. I picked up a wild kitten before and it ripped me to shreds, the bites need antibiotics. These guys haven’t even scratched me. They can be sicker than they look or genetically disadvantaged and I’m not financially comfortable.

I’d like a cat around for the company and rodent control but I have a feral rescue I’d hoped I could domesticate. Mom was rescued a couple of days after giving birth and I took him at 5 weeks old. He is 4 and comes around about every 3 months and spends a couple of hours with me. He looks great with a sleek shiny coat, no medical problems and not hungry. I hit him up with Frontline and haven’t found a flea on him. Cost quite a bit to make him a responsible member of the population. Broke my heart preferring the solo life over my undemanding company with access to wilderness on two sides.
I had another rescue, from the streets of Brooklyn no less that was sold to me as a real sweetheart (and, I’ll pay for the flight.) I named her Psycho shortly after biting me to the bone upon first contact. After three years her personality had improved to the point she was biting me out of the blue, for no apparent reason, less often.

My quandary is:

• I can just haul them as is to the pound and feel pretty bad. And continue to wait for a domestic opportunity to save from the pound or dropped off at the end of the street where I’m the nearest house. (Many of the unwelcome, unencouraged cat visitors don’t look and act like Feral.)
• I can try for an emergency visit to the vet today, for two cats, treating them and leave them out where they were and hope Mom shows up in time. And worry about their future, another flea explosion, and what to do about the dead cat smell.
• I can pick one. Of course they both show equally charming personalities and cute with no visible defect, just a bit worse for wear and needing medical attention.
• I can keep both, double the investment in spay and neuter, shots and whatever else and hope for the best.

Suggestions?

can't tell you what to do with the kittens you have in your care now, but here on Maui we have a group that will pick up feral cats (they use humane traps) spay/neuter them and then release them back where found. The idea being they will live out their lives but not propogate any more. You may have a group like that on the BI that your humane society knows about.

We have a similar problem where I live as there is a neighbor who had 40+ cats when I first moved in (11 years ago) frequently have litters under the buildings etc. Fortunately my lil' beagle chases them off property (never caught one for which I'm grateful ... she'd probably get hurt pretty badly)

For the fleas can you use those monthly application things on kittens? and maybe a time released ground treatment (I use one in my yard that kills fleas for a month after application) Neither is an instant cure, but might help in the long run.

Hope you find a solution,

Aloha, Tim

I don't see how you have any obligation toward these cats. The whole point of having pets is for your enjoyment and these cats hardly sound enjoyable.

Do you know anyone with a gun? (Just kidding...well, almost!)

omg...get a dog. or a wolf. or a bb gun?

that sounds awful. I thought you meant bit by the cats 20-30 times on the way to your car!

I like the pills for the dog, once a month.

Feral cats are a significant threat to native wildlife. There is something to be said for a quick, clean kill if no better option presents itself.

Richard.

Thanks guys. Independently places here like some shopping centers trap, spay and return cats but there isn’t a pick-up, way too many cats.
I came to the conclusion they were too young for my ability to care for. Feeling pretty bad I took them to the pound and the officer was very supportive. Mom had abandoned them since they were sick (overrun with fleas is a serious symptom) and insisted I shouldn’t feel so bad.
I don’t like the feral around the house in general but willing to accept it, except for the fleas. I just cannot take the fleas; I’m very reactive to the bites. Heading home I restocked the armament, going to fog bomb the garage. Better living thru chemicals, sigh.

Lisa, euthanasia is just like going to sleep. You did the right thing, I'm sure it was tough. Thanks for caring.
yea, the chemicals, I hear you. I had centipedes crawling into my house a couple years ago and was told my hill is covered with them. I did not want to put those crystals out but finally I did when one showed up in my bed. (I think it came through the ac

You know, one positive thing about the dog quarantine (even though it is a money racket and not based on science), was/is that people had to really want their animals to go through all that, timewise and financially. Lots of islands have wild dogs (Bali, Palau) and I hope we never get the irresponsible dog-ownership thing happening here. Once it gets too easy, every surfer dude from Cali will show up with his dog, and leave them when finances and lodging gets too tough.

Talk to the folks at Advocats on the Big Island.

Hi, I don't mean to intrude on local talk here, but stumbled in - and I got to agree with taking strong action. The feral cats are a result of irresponsibility by others, and sadly - trap and turn over to animal control is best. I don't even like the idea of neuter and release, as they are a threat to native wildlife, carriers of fleas as you know, and perhaps worse. Any cases of rabies on your island? Feline distemper? Other diseases they could spread?

I see people feeding feral cats at times. Just makes the situation worse. Trap and humanely as possible reduce the problem.

good luck...!

I don't like cats, but last night I discovered my neighbors who just moved, abandoned their cat. I admit I fed it a bowl of dog food in the driveway. he was so hungry. Then , when he was done eating, I let Marley out and he chased him off.

It was the same family that called security on me because Marley would swim in their pool. I am sending him to Andy. Hope he still has some names left.