prayer request for one of our outside cats

[flowermama]

She is/was a feral cat, but we feed her, and so I guess she is our's. :) She's such a sweet cat. She lives outdoors and had kittens earlier this year, but I think they died. Then she had some more the other day, and we found a wee kitten dead in our yard. I think it was her's because she was hiding nearby in the bushes with the other kittens she had just recently given birth to.

She moved her kittens somewhere else when we found her there in her hiding place, and I don't know where she moved them. Well, I think they died because the mama cat was on our porch last night (Wed night) meowing some and pacing back and forth. We saw her yesterday afternoon alone. Now she is on our porch again this night, and she is curled in a ball sleeping and there is no sign of her kittens. :(

I feel so badly for her. :( I feel a tad silly asking for prayer for her, but if you wouldn't mind, could you please say a quick prayer for her?

I wish we could get her "fixed" so that she (and us) wouldn't have to go through this year after year (two of her kittens whom we had grown attached to died last year). I'm not sure how to catch her, and it costs so much to have a cat spayed around here (a lot to me, anyway). Maybe we could save money, though, for it and it'd be worth it. I'll have to look into how to catch her. We are also afraid that if we get her fixed she will run away, since I've heard that sometimes happens with feral cats. *sigh* :sad2

[arwen]

i would call around to your vet's office and explain to them the situation.....
there are places that will get your cat fixed for very inexpensive to free...
i know the pound get's really good deals.
you could also call petsmart if you have one in your area....they give good deals as well.

:pray that you'll be able to find a place that would understand your situation.

my grandmom catches cats like that in her back yard all the time.
they just get an animal cage and put his food in the cage.....when he goes it the cage closes...i'm sure the humane society would lend you a cage to do that.

i know it's hard and i'm sure it's hard for her but those little kittens are dying each year as well....and then if they were to live they would just go off and do the same things she is doing :(

:hug

[Ali]

Call around to vets and your local SPCA. Often vets will do a deep discount, or free spay to help rescued animals. The SPCA may be able to help also. They have cage traps they can set up and they often do low-cost/free spays. Maybe if someone other than you catches her or if they place the cage away from your house, she won't associate the bad experience with you or your home... Just my thoughts... :shrug
:pray I can see you have such a kind heart. It's hard to know what to do for feral cats. :hug :pray

[Amber]

In my neck of the woods we have a non-profit group called the Feral Cat Colition. I can't remember if they help trap the cats or not, but they do low cost/free spays and neuters for feral cats to help keep the population down. There are some humane live traps out there that work really great. One of the best ways to "bait" the trap for a cat that has a litter is to use the kittens. But since it looks like hers might be gone you could use any kind of really stinky cat food, or even some tuna. I haven't heard of feral cats running away after they have been spayed. If anything I think it would be the other way around since she would not be going into heat and would not have to go looking for a tom. If she has been living around your place for a while I wouldn't worry too much about her leaving...think of it this way, she chose to come and live with you...it has always been her choice if she wanted to stay, she must love your family.