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 P.O. Box 1828 Morgan Hill, CA 95038-1828 Phone: (408) 779-5761 towncats@garlic.com  |
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| URGENT Town Cats needs your help!!
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| Question: Hello! I was wondering if you would come and retrieve the cat population at work. I am uncertain how many cats, or kittens there are but the number is out of control. Please advise. | |
Reply: We only loan traps to people who want to take stray and feral cats to the vet to spay or neuter then return them to their natural habitat. Go to our website, www.towncats.org home page, and click on spay neuter programs - there is a free spay neuter program for feral and stray cats, called Project Henry - click on it on our home page too...you can order vouchers on line. Also look up info on feral cats and the pros and cons of the nonlethal method of feral cat population control at the Alley Cat Allies website, www.alleycat.org too - they are the international experts and advocates for feral cats. Lots of good info on their site... We do not promote removing feral cats from their natural territory. Studies find that when feral cats are removed from their environment they are exterminated, because people won't adopt feral cats (they are wild); and there are no sanctuaries for feral cats around here either...new cats move in and start breeding all over again, so the problem is never resolved unless you neuter the cats there. Think of feral cats as lions and tigers in Africa, they bond with the land where they live and they do not do well in captivity. Many companies encourage trapping and neutering the cats on their sites, it's good for employee morale to help the animals that live there, you should sign up a group of co-workers who like cats to take turns feeding the cats, set up a feed station with water and dry food in an area away from cars and the people, so it's a quiet secure area - like against a fence in the bushes, you can lean a board up over the bowls to protect from rain etc. too...then we can loan you a trap to start catching them and get them spayed and neutered so you won't have more. Thanks, TC |
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| Question: "I am wondering if you know anything about cat birth control. my kitten is in heat for the 1st time and we dont have the heart to put her through surgery but dont want her to get pregnant either,please help" | |
| Reply:
"There is no such thing as a birth
control pill for cats. The only alternative is to spay them. It is
quite a simple operation on a kitten - they are smaller, their uterus
is smaller and the incision is smaller - it's a much quicker surgery
than performing a spay on a full grown cat. The kittens recover much
quicker from the anesthesia than adult cats do as well. Believe me,
they are out and do not feel a thing during the surgery so it is not
painful at all. She may be sore a day or two, depending how old she
is...the younger the kitten, the quicker they bounce back...we even
have kittens playing the same night after coming home from being spayed
or neutered. We recommend getting her spayed now before she gets pregnant. Millions of kittens are euthanized each year because there are not enough homes for them. Do the right thing, and get her spayed asap. It's also good for her healthwise as it reduces the chance of certain types of cancers too. See our website Articles section for more information on spaying and neutering and see our Home Page for list of low cost spay and neuter clinics in Santa Clara county. Just click on spay and neuter information on the home page. Thank you for caring for her and doing the right thing! TC |
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| Question:
Hi I have 4 cats that are indoor only. There are 2 stray cats in my complex that I have been feeding. (They are used to coming for food out front of my house) I just sold my house and am moving. The cats are wild and wont' let me pet them or get near them. Are they better off leaving in their environment or should I try to catch them in a cage and put them outside at my new place? I assume they don't belong to anyone else since they won't let me pet them and are always hungry. I am moving from San Jose to Los Gatos so it isn't a far move, it would just me a new environment for them. If you suggest I try to catch them, do you have cages I could borrow or rent?
Thanks for your help and suggestions. |
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Reply: Dear C,
You need to trap them and take them with you...we can loan you traps - while you have them in the traps, you should stop at the vet and get them neutered and an ear notch too. See our website home page and click on spay neuter info for the lowest cost clinics for feral cats...
We can loan you a big cage to hold them in for a month at your new place, they need to "imprint" their new territory before letting them loose; if you have a shady area or patio that's best...somewhere protected from the rain...let me know and we'll loan you the gear!
Thanks, TC |
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Dear D You've been her (sorry you didn't mention kitty's name) guardian for 10 years - has she ever bit you before? Think about it, if she was your friend (a person) who had a bad day and was acting erratically, but she's someone you've known for 10 years and has always been a true and loving friend, wouldn't you wonder if maybe she was ill or something else was going her with her before dumping her as a lifetime friend? I advise you take her into your vet for a physical exam. You may have touched her someplace that's sore that caused her to bite. Cats need dental exams regularly too as their gums can become inflamed causing them much pain, but there are lots of things that are painful if left untreated, so I'd take her to the vet and if not physically related, you can ask your vet for a recommendation to a good animal behaviourist. Try the San Francisco SPCA at 415-554-3000 or check out their website and email them...they have wonderful behaviourists on staff. I believe their website is: www.sfspca.org - do a search if I'm incorrect We get bites and scratches all the time when the cats are upset and we handle them the wrong way...the older cats have it rough too because people only want to adopt kittens. Good luck! TC |
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up: TC, The details behind the bite...we were getting ready for bed. I usually spend about five to ten minutes giving her scratches and loves right before bed. Then I scoop her up and take her upstairs with me. Everything was fine right up to the scoop her up and take her upstairs thing. I scooped her up from behind, my left arm under her tummy, everything was alright at first and then all of the sudden she turned around very quickly, looked me right in the eyes, hissed at me and then went for my face. She dug her jaws into the entire right had side of my face. I was shocked, my husband says I screamed (which probably frightened her more) but I let go of her completely, and closed my eyes. She hung there for a second before she was finally able to get unhooked. I was bleeding like crazy, one of the puncture wounds is literally an 1/8 of an inch away from my eye. I have various scratches all over my face. I am at a loss because she went after me, not like I was facing her and her face was right in mine, she had to turn around and go after me. I have had Jenny for ten years. Yesterday I took her to the vet for a full examination and she came back as clean as she was in May when she had her annual physical. She is eleven years old, her teeth are in great shape (the dentist is actually amazed at how good her teeth are considering how old she is), she only has slightly elevated liver enzymes, but we have been working on that in the last couple of years. She has been on a diet and lost four pounds and the vet would like her to loose one more. Her vet looked for tumors, tested all of her blood related functions and she came back all within normal ranges. There isn't a medical explanation for what she did. I can't explain what she did either. It is completely uncharacteristic of her. She has never bitten me before, not even in play...she is so gentle and has such a wonderful disposition for a kitty that was abused before I got her. I'm grasping at straws and I don't know what to do. She viciously went for me, and she's a fraidy cat, she would rather run then fight. I didn't hear any strange sounds before it happened and I don't believe that I pinched her in anyway. Hence my confusion. Over the last several years she has gotten more and more solitary...I know that is normal as cats get older, but she was never very social to begin with. When I got her she hated everybody...even had a bit of a hard time with me. I don't want to give her up, but I feel like there has got to be a better place for her. My husband is scared of her, has always had a healthy respect for her, because even though he has been a part of my life for eight years, and we have been living in the same house for four of those years, she has never really warmed up to him. He was mortified that she would do something like that to someone she trusts as much as she trusts me. And now he is scared of her more then he was before. I'm not sure what to do. We talked about keeping her in the house. Not picking her up, not touching her unless she comes up and solicits it just so she can stay in our house. We would have to lock her up at night, he doesn't want her coming into the bedroom getting freaked out by something and attacking either one of us. I can completely understand that.But, I am not sure I could live with like that. For the last ten years I have been able to cuddle with her, love her, play with her, and it's all been fine, whenever either of us wants. To not be able to do that unless she wants it and solicits it, and to not be able to pick her up, to not have her sit on the couch as my husband and I eat dinner because she is at face level, it's scary. I don't want to be scared of my cat, I don't want my husband to be scared of my cat, and I really wouldn't want to have children around her for fear she might do that to them. I am lucky in the fact that my husband will support whatever I decide, and that it is my decision. I'm looking for guidance and ideas. Right now everybody that sees my face, and then sees my cat (or knows my cat) all asks me the same question "She (Jenny) did that to you?" HELP!!!! Sincerely, D O |
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up: Dear D, We have a cat at Town Cats, named Ozzie, he's the huge black and white male cat who's on our adult adoption page. He attacks people's legs for no known reason...so we all steer clear of him. Well two months ago we received a donation of flower essences and were trained on their usage. We mixed up a special batch for our aggressive cats - we have about 4 - who fight with the other cats and Ozzie, who not only starts fights with other cats, but with people too. The essences are not medications, just balancers. So we call this mixture our anger management mixture and we give it to Harper, Ozzie, Patty, Alanna, Peppy and others when they seem upset or annoyed as cats will living in a shelter with 80 other cats...you add 3-6 drops to the water, and we were amazed that Ozzie really calmed down! We use it all the time at TC - it's natural, doesn't hurt them and it really works! We have a mixture for the depressed cats, as cats go throught separation anxiety when their owners get rid of them after having lived with a family all their lives; and it's well known cats do not like change...we have a general mixture for all the cats who arrive to relieve fear and anxiety and help them live in a group setting...You should do a search on the internet for Bach's Flower Essence Remedies for Cats and read up on it...we hold adoption fairs at a holistic pet store in Sunnyvale called For Other Living Things, you can contact them if interested in trying it to reduce Jenny's anxiety...it may help. Now our traditional vet who met Ozzie recommended Prozac to help with his mood swings and anger. We went the holistic approach instead since it balances their bodies and relieves stress. Now Peppy, the big orange and white cat on our site in Special Needs ('cause he's FIV+); will turn his whole body around and cling onto my shoulder every night when I pick him up to put him in his condo - we lock up all the aggressors so they can't start fights all night while we're not there...I have to scruff him by the neck and turn his body real quick and toss him over my shoulder, as once he was faster than I was and he scratched my face real good. I think that Jenny probably didn't want to go to bed, was mad or cranky about something and it just bugged her and she bit...biting is a reflex for cats and dogs, not necessarily vicious. So don't be afraid of her...she's much better off with you than at a shelter where she'll be overlooked because people only want kittens. Our older cats have a hard time, and we have to give them extra special attn - but it's never like home...we've had older ones die from broken hearts, or just sit staring, not wanting to move...it's really heartbreaking, but the shelter's not the best place for her. You are her friend and she loves you...try the essences, they're easy to administer in the water...if the holistic store doesn't sell the flower remedies, let me know and we can connect you with a gal who donated ours to us so she knows where to get them. Also do call the SF SPCA behaviour hot line and talk to a behaviourist about this too...415-554-3000. Thanks and let me know if we can be of further help! TC |
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up: TCi, Thank you for your help! I will definitely look into this herb. That is an easy thing to Good news, after all the research we hadn't found much in the way of places she could go that we could trust. We are going to watch her for the next couple of weeks and see if she acts just like she normally does. So far so good, we have gotten through night one. We are going to change a few things, like closing our door at night so she can roam the house instead of being locked up in her own room, no more picking her up, stuff like that. When all is said and done, I think we will end up keeping her, changing our lifestyle a bit (there are other things we will need to change that I haven't already talked about) and I am crossing my fingers that it will work. No more bites!!! That is the goal. I really appreciate all the time you and TC have put into helping me find a good solution for my family...I would have hated to give Jenny up. She has been a part of my family for the last ten years, and it hurt so much just thinking about it. Sincerely, DO |
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Hi. I was just wanting to seek some advice.I have an orange tabby stray that has been showing up in my yard. Well, I have been feeding it and it has adopted me! It finally let me pet it last week and seeks my attention now and has become very friendly. It expresses an interest in coming into the house. However, I currently have a female cat, 6 years old Caroline |
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Dear Caroline, Which cat did you adopt from us a couple of years ago? Hope she or he's doing great! On the stray, do you have a vet? Any vet can look at the cat and let you know if male or female, neutered or spayed. We use AMC in SJ, 267-7387, tell them TC sent you and ask for reduced rates to check out the new cat for you. He'll need a test for leukemia - FIV, dewormed, defleaed and FVRCP vaccine. Most cats adjust quickly to life indoors - they love the warmth and soft things to lie on. Keep him in a separate room from your cat at first - slowly introduce them to each other - your cat may know him already by watching him through the windows, so it may simpler than expected for them to accept each other... There's a free spay neuter program available now too - see our site home page for details on Project Henry and enjoy your new kitty! Thanks for writing! rosi |
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up: Thanks for the info. It was Tilly I adopted around Feb. 2001. She is doing great. :-) Caroline Follow up: Caroline, I thought that was you! So happy Tilly's doing well! Thanks, rosi Follow up: Can all that be done at once? (The sexing of the cat, giving the vaccine, testing them, deworming and defleaing?) I just wonder how much is too much at once. Don't want to traumatize this cat :-) I am gonna be housesitting for a bit and my roomie will be taking care of my cats while I am doing that. I plan on making an appt. for after I am done housesitting to get all this taken care of and then maybe introduce the two. Tilly has already been sort of introduced through the screen door. (We made her walk up to the other cat and look at her/him while my roomie closely supervised the introduction in case one cat might act up and try to claw through the patio screen door.) Seemed to go ok. We shall see when the time comes. Meanwhile, the outdoors cat tries to follow me into the house, and I feel so bad not being able to let it in, but have to wait til I get all this stuff done. Any ideas on how to keep the outdoors cat free from getting wet in the rain, if there is any, before I get him/her to transition to indoors? I have a little cat bed I put out for it with a nice blanky, but need to figure a game plan for if it rains anytime before I bring into indoors. Thanks as always for your advice! Also, I am interested in maybe being a cat socializer (meaning, coming to the shelter and spending time with cats that need socialization...) How do I do that? Caroline Follow up: We use doghouses with an extra hole cut in the back as an escape route for shelters - they like that with a blanket inside. If you apply Revolution, it's a dewormer and defleaer, the test is not a treatment, so you're really only giving him 2 shots, rabies and FVRCP, plus one dose of Revolution that deworms and defleas plus a test. Not traumatic at all...we do it all the time. Good luck! And say Hi to Tilly! I'm looking out the window at the spot where I found her right now as I type this... Rosi Follow up: Thanks for the recommendations on vet. I called and scheduled an appt. for Willow for Nov. 5th, when I am done with my housesitting stint. Meanwhile, my roomie has no problem with me making this cat an indoors cat, but feels I am being mean by bringing it indoors only to never let it go outside ever again. Tilly has been strictly an indoors cat and is doing great as far as I am concerned. He feels like I am taking the cat away from "its turf" permanantly by making it strictly indoors. I disagree. What has been your experience with making an outdoors stray into a strictly indoors cat? We did bring Willow into the spare room to put a collar on him/her and he/she meowed alot while in the spare room with us. (Meanwhile, I had the door to my room shut so Tilly would not be directly exposed to this cat yet before being able to get it tested etc..) I anticipate that Willow will meow alot the first few days that I am trying to get him/her adjusted to being in the spare room initially. My roomie suggested maybe I could sleep in the room with him/her a bit during the transition, but then Tilly might get jealous because I am not in my own room with her! Hmmm...how to handle this transition. Any ideas? Thanks again as always, Caroline Follow up: Hi Caroline, Nice to hear from you again! First of all, don't sleep with Willow rather than Tilly right away as it's important to Tilly that she's still number 1 so she will accept him coming into her life more easily - but once Willow's tested and they can meet more face to face, see how they react, she may accept him more quickly than we think... Here's some background info which is leading up to my in vs. out recommendation...as you know we house 80-90 cats at the TC "hotel" at any given time and keep the peace amongst them all, including aggressive or alpha cats and the more timid ones by creating lots of individual sleeping and resting places for them all; maintaining a peaceful environment with lots of condos, scratchers - enough for all 90 to share contentedly; we have lots of litter boxes so they can go potty in privacy; we give lots of treats like boiling big pots of chicken and passing out turkey deli meat so they all get some; we use lots of feed and water bowls so they don't have to fight for their own eating space; we are using flower essence mixtures in their water to calm and balance them; and more than anything we are there a lot watching and breaking up fights as needed and putting them away for "time out". We put the lights down and play bird videos for them or soft music to keep them relaxed and happy. At home I live in the country on acreage set way back from any roads where I have 3 housecats - Tiger, a 12 year old grey and white tabby male short hair; Cheyenne, a 10 year old tortoiseshell shorthair and Celine, a 6 month old black short haired kitten. All go in and out but all 3 sleep inside with us at night. Now Tiger prefers being indoors mostly all the time, he only ventures to the garden with me on the weekends and nibbles grass while I pull weeds and water...Cheyenne, who's a hunter by nature (we hand raised her from 2 weeks old, so she was socialized by humans, not feral at all - but she's got the hunting instinct which torties are famous for), hangs out in the bushes all day in our front yard waiting and watching for bugs and flies to conquer...and the baby Celine is only allowed out for exercise, she bounces off all the trees and runs around etc. when we are outside with her. I also kept one of the most dominant cats we've ever had at TC - Renfield - who I made my office cat and who resided at my office for the past 2 years. When I closed that business, and became a consultant with the new company, I could no longer leave Renfield at the office overnight and on weekends, so he sleeps in my van at night. He has a bed, a litterbox and his food and water and is content. Oh he'd love to come in and has tried to start fights over it, so I take him to work with me 3 or 4 times a week for his quality time and the other days he rests in the garden or on the patio with the other cats (he doesn't start fights when he's outside, only when he's in)... Renfield only has 3 legs, as he lost one, and he's got gum disease that needs constant tending to - it gets painful and causes him to be irritable too. I would bring him in, but he'll wreak havoc with my pet cats, so he comes to work with me and is happy sleeping in the van at night as evidenced by him jumping in it every night and hopping in it when I go to town - he rides with me in the van just like a dog travels with his owners - but he's so smart, he just stays, doesn't try to jump out until we get home - it's uncanny how smart he is and this is our quality time - he loves his neck scratching. Now we also have 5 feral cats (1 who's not feral at all, but his owner moved and left him behind and he's been an outdoors cat all his life here so Tag stays outside with the feral guys) - their names are: Tag is the friendly one about 10 years old, Apache is 8 now, Cinder is 3, Parker is 3, Amber is 5 and she has a short hind leg so limps. They all live around our home and all prefer to stay outdoors - Cinder comes in sometimes, but the others never try when we invite them in. We do have condos, beds and baskets along with our patio furniture on our covered porch which they all use for comfort; plus we have a tough shed that we put cat condos and blankets in with two small holes for escape routes. We also feed a family of raccoons (we're on a large acreage that buts up to a wildlife preserve) who come every night for food and make a big mess and lots of noise if I don't feed them, so of course I do...they coexist with the cats, never start fights so be it. Anyway, my point is this on him being outdoors vs. in: if your area is not on a busy street and you have nice garden, I'd let him go in and out. If it's on a busy street, maybe you can go in the backyard with him or train him on a harness and leash. Just follow his lead to make them comfortable with the least amount of stress as possible. So be creative and enjoy them! They'll settle into a routine that you will be instrumental in helping to carry out so that their lives are full and happy! Keep me posted once his test results come back! -rosi |
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Hello, My name is Shannon and my family and I are in desperate need of a good home for pet cat. Her name is Kiki and she is half Persian, and half calico. She is very unique in appearance. Unfortunately we have run into some major problems with her. She is very unfriendly to our kids, and when we had a birthday party for our daughter she scratched one of the children attending. She also has been urinating all over the house. We have tried it all, and for the last year, she has ruined so many things. It has come to a point where we have just run out of options. We have multiple pets so I do feel that could be the cause of all this. We do not have the heart to put her in a place that may put her to sleep in the end. We hope with your help you could take her and find a home, preferably with no children or other pets. She has had all of her shots, as well as spayed. She does have quite a personality. If you could please please, get back to me. As difficult as this is for me, it has just become a health hazard for our family. Please Please we need your help!!!
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Reply:
Dear Shannon, Have you talked to an animal behaviourist? Call the SF SPCA and Humane Society Silicon Valley animal behaviour hotlines - 415-554-3000 and 727-3383, ask for the behaviourist. Usually they come out and do home visit and see what can be changed to make her happier. Things like when kids are there, put her in a bedroom - set up a special quiet place for her away from all the noise, like in the master bedroom or someone else's bedroom who likes her where she can go when stressed...make sure she has her own litterbox, her own food bowls, that she gets treats...what other types of pets do you have? Does she get along with them? We swear by Feliway plug ins at our shelter where we house 90 cats...see www.feliway.com it really works to calm the cats down and help them get along and eliminates spraying! This is sold over the counter at all pet stores. For litter, we use World's Best Cat Litter, it is made of corn and they seem to like it, the rule is one litterbox per 3 cats, but with an aggressive/alpha/sprayer type personality, she needs her own box...we use open boxes and scoop 3 times daily - in a home with a couple cats, twice daily scooping should do it... The other thing we use to ease tension and calm aggressive cats that helps with stopping spraying too is Flower Essences in their drinking water. You can buy it premixed over the counter called Bach's Flower Essences Rescue Remedy for cats...most pet stores carry it, it's homeopathic, I know For Other Living Things has it, they're in Sunnyvale on Mary and Fremont...See this site about it: http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/bach/floweran.htm
Again, thank you for your help! We hope that some of the alternatives work. Thanks,
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