by Mike Phillips, NYC Feral Cat Initiative Relocating feral cats comes with a unique set of challenges. The consensus of opinion is to leave feral cats where they are unless there is a clear and present risk to their lives. These risks can include the threat of physical harm, or perhaps the cats have lost their caretaker and there is …
April 10th began as a fairly typical day for Evon Handras, a Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals staffer who spends a lot of her spare time helping feral cats (unsocialized, homeless cats) and stray cats in the New York City area. In fact, she had just dropped off a feral cat at the ASPCA Stationary Spay/Neuter Clinic in Queens, and …
by Mike Phillips, NYC Feral Cat Initiative With thousands of kittens and cats already in shelters awaiting adoption, you might ask, “Why tame feral kittens and add to that number?” Increasing the number of cats needing adoption is clearly a concern to weigh against any rationale for taming feral kittens for adoption. That said, taming feral kittens for adoption can …
This article is now outdated. An updated version of this information can be found at https://bideawee.org/programs/feral-cat-initiative/colony-care/kittens/ by Valerie Sicignano, NYC Feral Cat Initiative During high kitten season in the spring and summer, it’s not unusual to discover a nest of unattended kittens or a single kitten seemingly abandoned by the mother. You want to help, right? Before jumping to the …
What to Do (and NOT Do) If You Find a Newborn Kitten Read more »
by Mike Phillips, NYC Feral Cat Initiative Taming, or “socialization,” is needed when kittens have had no positive interaction with humans and are so frightened or aggressive that they cannot be handled at all, or at least not safely. If you want to easily tame feral or undersocialized kittens for adoption, there is a narrow window of opportunity between four …