Nicola H Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Hope you back feels better soon lesley.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Lesley, so sorry to hear about your back. Is it feeling any easier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Hope your back feels better soon Lesley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Glad the piggies went off ok and so sorry about your back - what a nightmare day I shan't forget Carl tho, he's got to rewire the trailer and sort the car out!! A xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 25, 2007 Author Share Posted August 25, 2007 Feeling a lot better now thank you - just the trailer to sort out now The little Dinners are happily scratching around now - I'll post photos soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Glad to hear your back is better Mark is if to the Osteopath in a bit to try to sort his out karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lost-sheep Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 harold?? Martin?? CYRIL??.. second thoughts maybe not... no offence u guys called cyril! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Those of you who were around last year will remember the saga of the cats When we looked at the farm, there were around 30-40 farm cats, we asked them to leave us two as they were going to 'get rid' of them all. The day we moved in they told us there were two, a brother and sister "but they are un-neutered" they also told us the female wouldn't be pregnant Two weeks later not only did she have two kittens whilst still a kitten herself, but two more of his sisters were around and they were pregnant as well. I phoned everywhere to find help - we needed help to catch the cats and then to get them spayed and we would keep them. No-one wanted to know! Cats Protection would only help if we were on benefits and wouldn't let us pay, RSPCA said they would put us on a waiting list for a loan of a cat trap.....etc. We eventually borrowed a cat trap from the Vet's and received some vouchers from a friend of a friend of my son who is quite high up in the RSPCA and was appalled at the response we had received. We managed to catch all the cats and have them neutered .......... except one. She was very feral and she disappeared......... until about 4 weeks ago. Looking around the farm on Saturday evening, with Louise as she stayed over after the 'Do', we came across Mum and three adorable kittens .....and so, we start all over again We had to wait until last night as it was Bank Holiday but we managed to catch Mum and she had one kitten in the trap with her. We've transferred them to a puppy crate and will be off to the Vet's as soon as they open. We didn't manage to catch the other two kittens overnight but we heard them run under a big shed this morning. Mum will be spayed but in a few months, we will then have to catch all three of the kittens - provided they stay around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Blimey....Mum doesn't look too friendly! The grey kitten is very pretty... What will you do when they have been neutered...keep them as ratters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Yes, we keep them all. She's really not friendly She's poo'd in the corner of the crate but we're going to have to take her as she is - the Vet will have to sort that out! We've tried to put newspaper over it through the side but we'd rather quite like to keep all our fingers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 You could always use the bacon tongs....and remember to get a new set on the way back form the vets! Never a dull moment at Chez Lesley! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 Now that's an idea! - I'll go and tell Carl..... he'll be so pleased Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Gosh mum looks very feisty but the kitten is pretty Good luck catching the others for speying karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGirlsMum Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 The Mum certainly looks a nasty piece of work, wouldn't want to put my hands anywhere near her. Its really upsetting that you are trying hard to control the situation and when you ask for help none is forth coming,perhaps you should have told the RSPCA you had a camera crew Thanks for continuing to fill us in on your lives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 well done for catching mum at last Lesley. I know she's being aggressive but it is out of her being terrified. Good that you have one kitten as well. hopefully you'll be able to get the others before any more girls get pregnant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 That's really bad that no one would help - you're trying to get feral cats spayed, you'd think ALL the charities would want to help you out with that one! Mind you, I haven't got a very high opinion of the RSPCA (sorry for anyone that has) as I'm not really sure what they actually DO do anymore. We have to call them through work sometimes for trapped or neglected animals and you're lucky if they even answer the phone half the time never mind come out. Presumably they have more calls than they can deal with but would they rather you left all the cats unspayed?!! Rant over, well done you for catching the mum, she looks very VERY fierce! Pretty kitten though Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel19 Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 At least you are willing to take responsibility and and get them neutered and spayed - I've just got back from Corfu and the English couple running the pool bar are just letting the stray cats run riot around the complex. They feed them and give them water but none of them were neutered and there were about 10-15 of them including 4 very young kittens and I spotted at least 3 pregnant cats. They are going to have huge problems in a year or so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Wow Lesley you dont even have to do anything and you get more animals on the farm! You could try adding a little rescue remedy to the cats water to see if she will calm down a little she looks very highly strung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Are you going to get the RSPCA to rehome the kittens? They might be a bit old for taming now sadly. Did your vet just happen to have that cage? Do you know where I could get one? It's just that I came down AGAIN this morning to find the feral tom had been in my kitchen, eaten all the food, sprayed over the entire house and beaten the cr*p out of arthur, who was sat bleeding in a corner. It's either catch him and neuter him, or buy an airgun. This is the third time this month. I bought an electronic cat flap so only my lot could get in and he just barges straight on through. And Dilly is still too tiny to push it open so I still have him in the house, and she can't go in the garden. He may even be owned by someone, but I just don't care, it's so irresponsible to leave him running around if someone does own him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 28, 2007 Author Share Posted August 28, 2007 We just asked at the Vet's Aunty, they have a trap and we paid a returnable deposit on it. The little kitten went along for the ride as we value our hands and were'nt going to try taking him/her out I also wanted to ask what age they thought the kitten was - about 8 weeks. I was hoping we could catch the other two together today and try to get them rehomed. We caught one this evening ....... and let it go again. We brought Mum home at 4pm - she's been named Amber as she has much more orange colour in the tabby. We were going to keep her in one of the small sheds overnight as we did with the others but I decided she would probably be more stressed especially as two of her kittens were on their own. We let her out by where she has made her home under a pile of tractor tyres and she took off. We took the kitten out and cuddled him - Lauren and Jake loved him to bits. We need to keep an eye on the calendar now and make sure we try to catch the three kittens as soon as they are old enough to be neutered. I can see this saga running and running I did actually say to the RSPCA last year that I might as well let them all breed and then when we have hundreds of cats perhaps they'd come round with TV cameras - they were not amused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam42 Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 What colours are the other kittens? Will you be trying to home them, if so, I may be interested in having one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joojoo Posted August 29, 2007 Share Posted August 29, 2007 I'm really surprised that Cats Protection weren't willing to help you. In Shropshire they have an active programme to trap and neuter all feral cats regardless of where they are and/or if the person who has reported them is on benefits!! I think that it is terrible that they are just allowing the problem to escalate. It may he worth you trying their head office and see if you can get any sense out of them. Hope you do For what it's worth I think you have done remarkably well to catch that many in such a short space of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 30, 2007 Author Share Posted August 30, 2007 The feral cats neutering service was where I started - I was ecstatic when I found that on their site - but they will only do that for people who claim benefits I explained that we needed someone who was used to the problem, to come and catch the cats. We were happy to pay to have them neutered and we would have them back. They just didn't want to know. Sam - we did think about rehoming but the vet has said that they are about 8 weeks old. The other two are grey with white socks - we caught one in the trap on Tuesday but let it go again. PM me if you're still interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 The world has gone mad...here you are wanting to do the right thing, and being prepared to be considerably out of pocket to do so ...and no one will play ball. If you were to put them in a sack, weigh it down with a brick or two and chuck it in the river the very same people would be pursuing you through the courts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 If you were to put them in a sack, weigh it down with a brick or two and chuck it in the river the very same people would be pursuing you through the courts. I misread that as you telling her to do that note to self "to avoid heart attacks read posts a little more carefully!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
