Wanted Please - Harrogate / York / Leeds area

[LuckyChickenLover-]

(I don't know what section to put this in so I'll put it here until someone moves it)

 

Okay so, if any of you have read my other posts you'll know that I have problems with cats. Now I've got another problem .

 

There's this cat in my neihbourhood, I'm convinced she's a stray because she was so skinny. But now she's got really fat all of a sudden so I think she could be pregnant. When I put the rabbits out today she made a beeline for them even though there were three people in her way. I feel really bad now. If she is a pregnant stray, she'll need more food for the kittens inside her, and of course she won't be getting any food because she's a stray. I have to feed her, otherwise she might die, but if I do feed her, she'll come back every day to my house and try and eat my rabbits (and the chickens when they're old enough to go outside). People replied to this thread saying that the cats will become wary of the chickens and that I don't have to worry about cats attacking them, but I honestly don't think that this applies for this little cat though, as if she's really hungry and has a few hungry kitten mouths to feed I think she'll do anything for food (like I said earlier, it didn't matter that there were three people standing round the garden, she still made a beeline for the bunnies).

 

I wouldn't mind her being in my garden, if only she didn't pose a threat to my pets. She's really lovely, she rolled on to her back and we stroked her after we tried to pick her up, and she's very clean for a stray, so it makes me wonder if she even is a stray. If she isn't a stray I need to have words with her owners about the ammount of food she gets. I also think that it's irresponsibe for them to breed from her- there are too many cats in my street, any more and fights will break out over territory. A pet cat should have been spayed, which is why I'm pretty sure she's a stray.

 

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent here. What do you guys think I should do? Save her and risk my pets' lives, or possibly let her starve, but keep my pets resonably safe?

 

Again, sorry for the long post

 

Thanks

~ Lucky Chicken Lover

[Blackrocksrock]

It a difficult decision - I love my cats and they do not touch my hens but they would touch rabbits if I had any - can some of your neighbours feed her? Can the cats protection take her in and keep her till she has her kittens and then spay her? If you feed her you will have to keep on doing so so as said a difficult decision. RSPCA are also another line to try.

[LuckyChickenLover-]

It a difficult decision - I love my cats and they do not touch my hens but they would touch rabbits if I had any - can some of your neighbours feed her? Can the cats protection take her in and keep her till she has her kittens and then spay her? If you feed her you will have to keep on doing so so as said a difficult decision. RSPCA are also another line to try.

 

Thanks for your help

Unfortunately I can't be certain that she is acctually a stray so I can't take her to Cat's Protection or the RSPCA. I think that asking the neihbours to feed her is a very good idea though and I might try it.

 

Thanks again

[Olly]

I would be careful here - you are not sure if she's a stray, nor are you sure that she's pregnant, if I read your above email correctly. I have cats, and I would be very upset if someone else was feeding them regularly - the fact that she is friendly, and hangs around asking for food, doesn't mean that she doesn't have a loving home.

 

My advice would be to get a collar and attach it, with a message with your phone number on, asking the owners to ring you. This is how I found out that my cat had been 'adopted' by neighbours, who believed he was abandoned despite the fact that he was well-fed and had free access via a cat-flap at all times to my home. It's easy to assume that she might be a stray, but several of the things you've said above contradict that, so I'd try and find out first.

 

And whilst I can't speak for bunnies, my cat who is both very big and a ferocious hunter is terrified of the hens, he won't go near them. I doubt if this cat will be a problem as far as your chickens are concerned.

[Blackrocksrock]

Olly has raised very good points - I misunderstood and thought you meant you knew she was a stray - there is quite a difference as one of my nearest neighbours - a field away was feeding my cat last summer and he was eating there and getting rabbits at the top of the field till I told her to stop feeding him and he came home to eat - otherwise I would not know what had happened to him!. But the difference is she knew he was my bengal cat with 3 and half legs!

[Janty]

The collar idea sounds good. My fat Sausage is happy to wear his collar and there's certainly no doubt that he is being fed regularly. However, his half sister, Smegul hates her collar and I think she is too skinny (vet disagrees and actually laughed at me during her last visit but thats another story). Smegul is lucky if her collar lasts a week before she gets it off. If I saw a cat as skinny as Smegul without a collar I too would think that she wasn't being looked after.

[Willow]

If you take her to the vet they can scan and see if she is micro-chipped. Neither of my cats wear collars (the older one got so good at removing them he could do it within 1/2 hr of it going on) but they are chipped.

[Chucky Mama]

I would go for the collar option initially. How sure are you that she is pregnant (not just a saggy bellied fat puss) and how tame is she? Can you handle her? If she is truly a pregnant stray it is probably best that you do something before her kittens are born.

[chickenNutter]

I have never heard of cats, however hungry, eating chickens or adult rabbits, although I have seen adult cats catching very tiny baby rabbits, so I would not worry unduly about your own pets. I would follow previous advice about finding out if she is a stray before you intervene. Inthe meantime, just ensure your own pets are secure.