Help!

[LionHart]

Dear animal lovers;

I know that I don't post much here, mostly 'lurk' and learn, but I'm asking for your prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts in a situation I and my roommate are dealing with.

For nearly 4yrs we have been caring for and fostering ferals and stays. In that time we have TNR close to 30 kitties, sadly a few tested positive and were put down. Many have become tame enough, thanks to my roomies' 'cat whisperer' gift, to pet, some even pick up and some even come inside for a little TLC.

We live in an apt complex and really haven't had any problems. The manager has given us her blessing for the work we're doing. This was the first spring/summer that no litters were born!

Recently a resident has stirred up a mess. For what ever reason she seems to be afraid of cats and has accused one specific cat of 'attacking her'. She lives in a different section from us and the majority of the cats rarely stray from our section. Stormy, the vicious attack cat, likes to follow the kids to the bus stop and we believe this is the only time the young lady (!!)has contact with him. She has complained to apt management . They said she was on her own about calling the authorities. She did! At first the authorities said they were told by the apt management Animal Control could not place traps on apt property, also they didn't really believe the woman because of her demeanor. We thought the issue was over.

Well, this morning bright and early there's a knock on the door. I open the door and it's animal control questioning me about the cats he saw outside of the apt. I told him they are ferals and have been TNR. He said they had gotten several complaints about them. We suspect that the resident has gotten her friends to call. In fact, our neighbors came out and told animal control that no one in our section has any problems with the cats. Animal control left saying that we needed to stop putting food outside and keep the cats confined! We have 9 cats in the apt now and will attempt to bring more in.....God help us! Literally!

Bottom line: we don't want to loose ANY of these kids! Nor do we want to get kicked out of the apt or get arrested! So please, keep the kitties and us in your thoughts!

Thank you!

PS: if I can figure out how to do it, I'll post a pic of Stormy....

[lvpets2002]

First of All Welcome to Pet Talk & enjoy the talks & pics..

Second of all Your baby is just so Cute & Adorable..

Third of all Don't you just hate trouble makers.. Sounds like just a Peskey Ole ???..

Third of all Keep up the Loving Good Work.. You sound so Caring & Loving for these babies..

[Taz_Zoee]

Oh yeah, that Stormy sure looks like a vicious kitty. Why can't some people just keep their noses out of others business? The cats are healthy and well cared for. I think she should leave if she doesn't like it. I'm sure the cats were there first!

I will be hoping for you and your roommate (and the kitties) that everything works out for you. I'm sure other PTers will have some excellent advice and/or ideas for you. Good luck!

[Cinder & Smoke]

The manager has given us her blessing for the work we're doing.

Animal control left saying that we needed to stop putting food outside
and keep the cats confined!

We have 9 cats in the apt now and will attempt to bring more in ...

I'd be careful with 'inviting the Herd INSIDE' your apartment ...
Doing that might cause the Manager to withdraw her "Blessing"
on the Cat Project.

I'd do some research to see just what The LAW in your community says -
It's possible the AC Agent is calling your bluff with telling you that you
"can't" put food outside and must "confine" a bunch of feral kittys that
do NOT "belong to" you.

Work on training The Kids to *vanish* when they spot the AC vehicle!

GOOD Luck!

[Emeraldgreen]

I think it's great that you and your roommate have taken on this responsibility of caring for feral cats and that no litters were born this spring/summer! That is amazing.
Stormy looks quite content in those pics and could just about pass for a housecat! Until something is figured out you might want to try and keep her inside 24/7 so she no longer follows people, including that woman. Hopefully she will back off and stop calling the authorities if the one cat that she is particularily bothered by is no longer around.
The Animal Control officers will probably check back now and then but this would hopefully reduce the frequency of visits and give you some more time to figure things out.
The only other thing I can think of at this point is to bring in the friendliest cats of the bunch and try to further tame them so they could then perhaps become adoptable. If you could find those particular cats new homes and keep litters from being produced, hopefully the situation will get better and better.
Please keep us posted.

[kimlovescats]

You better lock that big vicious Stormy up tight!
Bless you and your roomy for what you have and are trying to do! I pray that this troublemaker goes away and you can continue your good work! Pet that Stormy for me please!!!

[Catty1]

Would it help for the building manager to call AC?

Also, the Humane or some org must be aware that you are doing a TNR, and that it is successful - get their help!

If nothing else, call in the "dogs of war" - the media!

[catmandu]

WHAT A SHAME IT IS THAT ONE LOUDMOUTH , BY LYING CAN UNDO ALL THE GOOD WORK THAT YOU ARE DOING WITH THOSE POOR HOMELESS CATS
ITS PEOPLE LIKE THIS WHO HAVE SO MUCH MEANESS IN THEM THAT STOP PEOPLE FROM TRYING TO HELP OTHERS
AND FOR SOME REASON THE AUTHORITIES WILL LISTEN TO LIARS LIKE THAT "PERSON" MORE THAN THEY WILL TO SOMEONE WHOS TRYING TO HELP, YOU AND THE ANIMAL CONTROL SHOULD BE ALLIES
I HOPE THIS " PERSON " GETS WHATS COMING TO HER.

[jazzcat]

Just want to say Hi and so sorry about your problem. I sure hope you can get it worked out.

Stormy is adorable!!!

[Freedom]

How absolutely frustrating!!!!

Check the web site for Alley Cat Allies. I 'think' they have a place where you can find TNRM groups in your area. If not, then place a free post on craigslist for your area, asking to learn how to contact TNRM groups in your area.

Once you find a local group (or 3 or 4), call them and talk with them about the situation. Each state - and within the state, each municipality -- has its own rules and regulations. Some are extremely progressive and support TNRM. Others are quite like the dinosaurs and consider ferals wild animals. Most are somewhere in between. But you need to find out what the rules are where you live.

Also while talking with them, see if they have any ideas / suggestions. But I would START but learning the rules, THEN move on to explain the situation and ask for ideas.

You can't start bringing all of them in without knowing the rules, either. For example in the city next to me, they have a limit of 5 cats per household. My city doesn't have a numeric limit; we have an "anti hoarding" rule. So even if the cats are well cared for, all up to date on vetting, the ACO can say a person is hoarding and needs to remove x number of cats.

Here is the link for Alley Cat Allies:
http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity...d=191&srcid=-2

Read a bit on there, it will help you organize your thoughts and get a handle on what questions you need to ask.

Hang in there, many of us on here are involved with TNRM, and hit up against "real jerks" now and then.

[LionHart]

Thank you all for your encouraging words and suggestions. I tried getting copies of the city ordinance for animals but didn’t have enough money at the time. Hope to eventually. Things seem to have calmed down thanks to our neighbors. We’re sharing custody of Stormy the Attack Cat! A few days with us, and a few days with them. What we cat loves will do to protect those fur balls!

We’ve managed to keep him in now for couple days without much trouble. He even left a jumbo tootsie roll in the litter box, which we of course praised him for! We also have taken in Miss Stubby. We call her that because she as the cutest little stub for a tail. We’re not sure if she’s a Manx or if something happened to her. She and Stormy are playful buggers and at first our kids didn’t quite know what to make of him. But it didn’t take long until a few of the younger kids joined in.

To keep things less obvious to the authorities of what we’re doing, we’ve cut back on the amount of food we put out as well as not leaving it out all day and night. If we see that no one’s come around after a period of time we pick it up. Funny, they seem to know when breakfast, dinner and late night snack is! I don’t know if it’s that we’ve trained them, or they’ve trained us. Some how I think it’s the latter! LOL. Also we’re in contact with a wonderful lady in the area who, along with her husband, runs a feral program. She’s been a BIG help.

In talking more with the apt manager it seems the resident who started this mess has caused problems for others over different issues. Management said she lives with her mother who is a sweet lady; they don’t understand what’s with the daughter! Apt maintenance is also aware of her AND Stormy and just shake their heads and chuckle about Stormy the Attack Cat! The darn thing has been known to visit the office for hours to sleep, eat or play, with no complaints from management!

Again, thank you for you input and thoughts! All much appreciated, please keep’em coming!

God Bless!

PS: here are 2 pix of Stubby. One she's playing w/Stormy and the other she's resting. BTW, if you notice in the background of the 2nd pic, there's jewelry hanging. It's handmade/custom made by my roomate and myself. We sell it to help suppliment feeding the kids. I'm hoping to post photos of our work on my 'myspace'. If anyone's interested, I'll let ya know when that is. Thanks.

[Catty1]

Lionhart, you can post a jewellery thread right here on PT. Go to:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/forumdisplay.php?f=29

And post away!

Glad things are happening.

Re: the daughter - is her mom elderly? I am wondering if the daughter is being a caregiver that she might really be getting stressed and going literally around the bend.

Not suggesting anyone get involved...but if she is in that position (the manager would know), some Googled information for your town/city could be printed out and slipped under her door.

Glad all is working out otherwise.

[catfamily]

Thank You so much for all your doing for these lovely cats