City of Ithaca clan

I ran into Sara, who cares for a colony in Ithaca, in Wegmans a month or more ago. I promised to bring by new straw for her shelter box. Of the original 22 cats captured in this neighborhood swarm in 2001, only one remains. A new cat has shown up, so Sara is feeding two now. I had to run into town to fill up the food can for the Fast Food Ferals and finally remembered to toss some straw in the back of the truck for the ithaca shelter. (Donated straw--thank you!)


It was clear from the round nests in the old straw that two cats were using the box. I left the nests intact and added new straw to the bottom and on the sides. With the weather so cold, I didn't want them to have to start over.


It's hard to believe that this refurbished house, shed, and lawn nearby were once run down, and that the lot was full of tall grass and old vehicles. The shed, which is in the process of being sided here, had seven four-week old feral kittens living in it (pictures down below), and we found long-dead cats under the junk inside it. They were just bones and fur-felt. Very grim. Whoever owns it now has done a nice job of fixing it up. And the only cat tracks appear to be those of the two cats living with Sara now.

The previous owner and tenants of this house and lot never fed the cats. The cats living in this house were all fixed and confined indoors. But a person fed cats behind them for years, and then disappeared. This house had the shelter where cats could hide. Sara, who lived a few doors down, saw the cats were hungry and began feeding them. She did so in a very neat and orderly fashion, putting out paper plates in her back yard, and picking them all up and throwing them away when the cats had finished.

I had gotten a call on this area back in 1997 or so when the original person was feeding. I never found or met him. But because the only option then was to put the adult cats down (and I would tame and place the kittens) I could only get permission to trap on one property, and that lot was fenced and recently got a new puppy, so it was not an effective or safe trapping spot. No one else wanted to be know as the local "cat killer," and can you blame them? Certainly the unknown gentleman feeding the cats on a vacant lot (that backs this area) didn't want his cats put down. He was trying to save their lives. I ended up cut off at every turn, and was unable to help in any form.

A police officer called me in 2001. She had offered to pick up an orphaned kitten and arrived to find a whole swarm. I don't recall who she got my number from. (It occurs to me now I haven't spoken to her in years. She was seriously injured on the job and other than a few phone calls, I haven't been in touch. I must track her down).

When I pulled up in my truck and realized it was the same place I'd failed a few years back, I was a bit riled up. My reaction? If you refuse to let me put them down, then you damned well better care for them right! Of course, there was no person to yell at, because it was no ones fault. It was a neighborhood issue, and the people who had abandoned the original cats were long gone. All that was left were people who cared but didn't know what to do.

That's what's hard about most feral cat problems. The guilty party is long gone. He or she dumped the cats and ran. What you have left are people who either care about the cats and want them put out of their misery, or people who care about the cats and want them saved. Or both.


This is often all I see of the cats at the colonies where I provide backup support, because I'm seldom there, and I'm not feeding the cats. I promise to come back and trap new cats, try to provide shelters and bedding, and will take the cats should something happen to the landowner that they or their family members can't care for them.


I both smiled and shook my head when I saw this (photo above). This is the basement where some of the cat were living in 2001, in addition to the old shed. One rainy weekend I was called at midnight when the landlord heard squalling down below. He brought up two fly-egg covered kittens that were siblings of two kittens I'd been called for earlier in the day, found outside in the rain by a tenant. The next day I came back to make sure all of the cats were out of the basement, set some traps to be sure, and blocked off the access to the basement. For a few days it was rigged as a one way door, so cats could get out of the basement but could not get in. Then I used cement blocks to shut it off, and suggested to the landlord that he get it permanently fixed. Over three years and another owner later (who likely has no idea of the catty past of his/her house), after the house has been redone and even re-sided, the basement hole still exists with my "temporary" patch. All if would take is a passing kid to steal the cement blocks for other purposes to let a new stray cat (or skunk or raccoon) in. This is why cat problems--and wildlife problems-- exist.


Here are the kittens, two of whom were found in the basement mentioned above. 14 kittens were removed for adoption, one adult was tame and went to the SPCA and was adopted, and seven adult cats were returned. One injured a paw and was retrapped by myself. He tamed up in confinement and was adopted. A year later, four remained. They were all re-trapped for rabies boosters. One remains now, with a new cat. So a neighborhood that had been help captive by feral cats for over ten years now only has two cared-for cats walking about.


These are five of the kittens from the shed. It seems so long ago!

Kittens are the key to TNR. People say "What's the point of just putting them back out there?" But of 22 cats, only seven went back because kittens and "friendlies" could be adopted, and someone was there to watch for new cats. When you just ignore the problem, all of these kittens would have grown up feral, adding to the population. When you haul them all off to be killed, no one will report new cats when they see them. They think "If they are going to die anyway, I may as well just let them have their chance." And the problem continues. Offering spay/neuter as an option can fix a problem like this.


Because we do promise ongoing support, when Sara's daughter, who lives around the corner, reported that she had a feral mom cat and kittens living under a bush at her home, I came out and caught these guys last summer. People need to have someone to call. If these guys had been left to run wild, would they be over at Sara's adding to her work, when her work should be over?

This was the very first colony I managed via trap/neuter/return. I didn't believe in it at the time. I didn't want to do it. I was totally pissed off at the SPCA for no longer taking feral cats, and totally pissed off at the neighborhood for ignoring the problem since I had last been there.

Previously I had managed feral colonies by taming and homing all the kittens, and the adults were (let's be honest) euthanized at the SPCA. In this case, the new director of the newly "no kill" SPCA said he'd pay for the spays if I paid for the neuters. It's safe to say this was the very first managed TNR colony in Tompkins County, other than perhaps farm colonies that had been neutered by ultra-responsible farmers.

If someone "fixed" one before this, let me know! I'd love to post your story here. Here's a web story on a nearby farm that was fixing feral barn cats long before I'd ever thought of it.

This site changed my mind about trap/neuter/return. Sara did not want 22 cats, but the original feeder had gone off, and the cats were starving. A kind soul, she fed them. Would you want the kind of neighbor who would feed a stray cat, or the kind who would let a kitten starve? Even though feeding promotes the cat problem, I'd rather not have a "kitten starver" living next to me. Finding home for the kittens and adoptables, and neutering those that remain, turned this 22 cat neighborhood into a single home with 2 outdoor cats that are fixed and vaccinated.

Affordable, low-cost, or free spay/neuter makes all the difference.