I’m a cat person. Really, I am. Havoc and Pixel are my babies, and rule the house with an iron paw. But….
A year or so ago, a calico cat took up residence under our house. She was pregnant, probably abandoned by her humans when she got knocked up, the little hussy. We took pity on her, and put out food and water for her, and later for her three kittens. No biggie. They had a large wild area to play in across the driveway, and could sleep under the house and patrol for mice. We were planning on trapping the four of them and taking them to the local shelter, but never got around to it. Then Mama got pregnant again. The first litter had apparently moved on, so it was no big deal. The new litter were 5 of the cutest little critters I’ve ever seen. The vow was to keep them fed and watered until they were weaned, then the whole batch was off to the shelter. Then the first litter came back, knowing where they could get food. And guess what. One of them was pregnant! Her kittens are just now poking their heads out of the safety of the foundations and nosing around. There are at least three in this new batch. That makes 14 cats I’m feeding now. This must stop! These cats all need to be fixed and adopted by good families. They are not going to be staying here…….
There had better be a decent no-kill shelter to take these cats, or I am going to be known as The Crazy Cat Guy. I won’t abandon them to the wild, but really, enough is enough.
(Not venomous enough for the Pit, really. But who am I going to Pit, the cats? Nope…the only person to blame here is me, because I am such a :wally )
Aren’t there some neuter-and-release programs for feral cats? It would be expensive for you to do it at your own cost but maybe the Humane Society or other local groups might be able to help.
By simply feeding the strays and not stopping the reproduction cycle, unfortunately you’ll ultimately make things much worse 
(which I think you already knew). Good luck finding a no-kill shelter as that would surely be the best outcome.
If there isn’t a no-kill shelter, try to find a feral cat trap-neuter-release group in your area. It’s difficult to socialize kittens after they are about 6 months old, and most shelters won’t take unsocialized ferals. If you can’t find a TNR group in your area, you may be able to find a vet who will work with you on this and do the spays/neuters for a reduced rate. Your local animal control or Humane Society may have traps you can borrow. If not, sometimes hardware stores or feed-n-seed stores will have them. Do-it-yourself pest control places sometimes carry them. Or you can get them online.
Canned cat food is a good bait. For the more difficult cases, I used canned mackerel. (Wear latex gloves when working with that stuff, as it stinks to high heaven) For the impossible to trap cats, my never-fail was warm Church’s chicken. (bones removed, of course.) Put an old towel or tarp over the trap (leaving the entrance end clear, of course) - this reduces the stress on the cat once they are in the trap.
If I can help in any way, my e-mail is in my profile. Thanks for trying to help these babies.
Unless things have changed, California clasifies cats as “wild animals” :dubious: :smack: and will not send animal control to trap them.
I don’t knw where in S Calif. you are, but there are a number of no kill shelters in San Diego. I haven’t lived there for several years, so you’ll have to search for them.
Good Luck.
PS, those are some cute kittens!
