Totally not related to WLS topic - Stray cats

We live in a somewhat rural area and from time to time see a stray cat or so around our property. I've never given it too much thought because it's always been part of country life and I figure they help keep mice from coming inside. I like cats a lot - we have too rescue kitties that are full-time indoor kitties. For the past week there is a kitten that has made the stoop beside our bedroom door her home. Our indoor kitties and her "talk" through the door quite a bit. We see what we assume is the mother once in a while. We're not in a position to have another indoor cat and I don't think we could catch her even if we were. I've been thinking about starting to put out some food for her. I know there are tons of pros and cons around that decision so I'm coming here to ask your thoughts. She looks healthy - clear eyes, etc., but I feel so bad seeing her out there meowing away. I'm thinking if I put food out when I know she's around at least she will get something to eat. But then again I don't want to draw in every cat in a five mile radius. What would you do?

What is your climate? Does it get below freezing outside? You mentioned the mother cat, ate there other cats around for her to join.

I would suggest catching her with a raccoon trap and taking her to be fixed and dewormed. If she is under 3 months she can be adopted. If she's older and you don't live in a cold climate, release her back into the area.

We live in south central PA so definitely gets below freezing. We see a few other stray/neighborhood cats on occasion. There are farms nearby so she may be a barn cat that wandered too far. I would say she is definitely under 3 months. She's pretty little (not sure if it's a he or a she, just have been calling it she). The hard reality is that we are not in the financial position to purchase a trap and pay for neutering and deworming. I think I'll call the local SPCA to see if they have any suggestions. She's a cutie and I wish I could do more for her. It tugs at my heart every time I see her.

That is a great solution.

No question I would catch the kitten and she would join the family! I had same thing happen. In my backyard was a very older very skinny weak cat found in my yard. Took her first to the vet to confirm no feline leukemia. And they dewormed her. She was all terribly matted and they had to shave her. She was about 14 years old they thought. She fit in well (took about 2 or 3 weeks) with my male and female cats I had, who were 7 years. Very sweet cat. She only lived about 3 years and it broke my heart when she died last year. I didn't want 3 cats but I could not turn my back when she showed up in my yard. I miss her.

We have since adopted another, back to 3! My daughter fell in love with a beautiful black cat last Summer that was advertised at the shelter and we adopted him. He is 4 and again fit in after a couple weeks. Love him.

We feed stray cats. Currently we are feeding one outside my classroom. I trap/neuter/return. There is a place in our town that does it for free.

There is a feral cat program here in Oklahoma City that comes and traps strays neuters/spays and then clips an ear so that people know that these cats are part of the program.

Might want to see if there is a program like that in your area? I live in a rural area outside of our city and they service us.

My home is in Northeastern Ohio -- so it's cold here. I also have 600 acres of maple trees behind my house -- so needless to say, we have lots of stray cats, wild turkey, raccoons, deer, fox, opossums, and even coyotes.

I cannot afford to take in all the cats -- and I also don't want a home that is a cat house -- but I am a sucker for animals, so I feed them all.

For the cats, I used several of my old chicken coops and stuffed them with straw. They are placed pretty far from the house, and provide a warm and dry place for them to escape the cold. I also bought a heated cat house that I plug in under the awning of my outbuilding. I also have a large heated water bowl -- that I have multitudes of animals drink out of through the winter.

Since I don't want to contribute to the suffering and proliferation of feral cats, I do trap, spay/neuter/ and vaccinate against rabies via a animal rescue organization here. The traps only require a deposit that is refunded when I return them. The program charges $25 for the first cat, and only $5 for each additional -- and I can return them after 24 hours contained. Most animal rescues have some sort of similar program for feral cats -- you just need to research your options. I do the rabies myself with vaccines bought from the local farm co-op -- less than $8 each. They clip the ear so it's clear that they've been spayed/neutered. I buy food in bulk from Sam's Club.

If you aren't able to do that, I am sad to say that the kindest thing is to at least trap the kitty and find a shelter/program that will take her, even if it means they will put her down. Just feeding her will mean that she will be free to create more suffering kittens in the future -- something that really just contributes to the problem rather than solving it.

When I had a farm in Portage county (Northeast Ohio) I did the same. I technically still have the farm but I'm only up there a couple of times a month and we have no barn cats so I'm not seeing the strays around anymore. I used to pay full retail for spay and neutering until they created the "friends of the APL" program, then they created a catch/release program. When I was paying full retail (back in the late 80s) it used to seem like investing in a stray cat almost guaranteed I'd see it hit on the road within a few weeks. None the less it was the only real option otherwise they would come in for our barn cat's food, then have a litter, then I was feeding over a dozen cats and there was no viable solution to keep a barn cat (outside cat) AND keep out the strays. Plus I quickly fall in like with a friendly cat ;)

I continue vaccinate my own pets and livestock, except for Neville, the new puppy, as I'm determined to have an actual vet record for a dog! I found out when I tried to adopt a dog from a breed rescue that since my local vet was only used for emergency care, I couldn't qualify for a rescue. It's still painful to pay $30 plus for a standard vaccination that only costs a few bucks.

I even gave myself my rabies vaccination before I was heading overseas to a country with a rabies problem. Obviously I researched extensively to make sure I was getting the right one, and was careful to watch for reactions etc... but $32 for the full series of shots vs. the $2700 quote from my organizations travel physician? Yeah - I'm OK with that. Like a veterinary friend said, we may not be exactly like apes or monkeys, but when the same vaccination works on all apes, all monkeys as well as a dog and a skunk - chances are it will work fine for humans... (Before I left I had my titers checked and the vaccinations did the job!)

when they're that young, you can usually domesticate them (that is, if you're interested). She would probably do fine. An older one, even a year old, probably not - but under three months you probably can. One of ours was feral - she was probably four months old when she was caught. She was a little shy the first few weeks, but she came around. My MIL had a family of strays in her backyard once. One of the kittens had a broken leg,and she took him to the vet. Ended up just keeping him inside - he did fine.