Ferral Rescue

[rach1980]

Hello there,
as you may have seen from kazz's thread HELP ferral kittens, i have decided that what id like to do is start a ferral rescue, the only thing is i wouldnt know where to start, also as i live in a council property ghow big a chance is there that i would be allowed to do this??
its something id love to do especially after lilly, as i feel it is arewarding venture and is a good thing all round.
all/any help/advice/info offered would be greatly appreciated,
thanks in advance,
rachxxxx

[smudgley]

When I first decided I wanted to help with rescue cats - I thought of starting up on my own, but I know that it would be hard to finance it, to neuter them all & to buy wormers / frontline / food & litter then any additional vet bills.

So I looked on the internet & looked into Cats Protection. Within a month I had my 1st foster cat (RTA victim) & Within 3 months I had 4 pens in my garden full of needy felines. Now I am very involved with them, doing fostering / trapping / lost & found & microchipping! I can only spaek about my local branch but we let people foster whatever they want to, some people only want friendly cats, some people only want litters, some people prefer adults, some people like the ferals. So I would suggest initially try contacting your local branch (details will be on the Cats protectoin site) then give them a call & say you are interested in doing some fostering & would be willing to have a pen (or several:shock: ) & that you are interested in ferals & trying to socialise & tame them. That way you are helping them & they are helping you. There will be support should you need it, but otherwise you would be able to do things how you want to. I know if you were local we would very much welcome you into our branch to look after some ferals. & If you do set up I'll always find you some cats if ever your short of them.:cool:

[rach1980]

ok cool, will do that tomorrow, thank you again smudgely
my only worry now is do you think the council will allow it??
as im making no money fromit so it isnt exactly a business. i know you cant speak for the council but have you known anyone else in a council property do it??

[smudgley]

Some of our fosterers live in council proprties. :)

It isn't really anything to do with the council.

As far as I know the only restriction from the council is the amount of cats you have in at any one time, but that's the same for any type of property. Which I think varies from council to council.

[smithdouglaswood]

I am looking into the fostering etc for my local cats protection and try to help the lady who does the feral cats, well I have 2 from her I is Fluffy and the other is in the stables - Tom who is very friendly - will get him inside through time!

Have spoken to them and will be following up asap.

Angie and the gang

[alexgirl73]

Smudgley, I'm finding this quite interesting, but obviously would need to think about it more. What size are the pens, are they outdoor only, how many cats go in a pen and do you have to take on more than one cat at a time?

[smudgley]

Again - can only talk about my branch & each branch does work differently, but you can have as many or as little as you want. Indoor or outdoor. The outdoor pens have to be a minimum size (can't remember what it is now) but mine are about 12" x 12" total (that's 4 pens & a safety corridor)
Some people prefer to foster inside, with an indoor kitten pen. The foster cats must be kept seperate from any other cats & aren't allowed out (for obvious reasons) but other than that it's up to you what you do with them & how you manage things. We are desperate for fosterers. I do most of the fostering & I don't really have enough time to do it, but when you know about so many unwanted cats / pregnant strays it's hard to say no.
One piece of advice from me would be to limit yourself, if you wanted to do some fostering decide whats acceptable & stick to it.
I decided I'd have 2 pens..... but we were offered a cattery with 4 pens in it as a reasonable price so we had that (with the intention of using 2 pens only) But I've had 4 pens full ever since I started. & Often I have a kitten pen in use too. Don't get me wrong there's no pressure to have more, but I take some of the calls so I get to hear 1st hand some of the sob stories & it's really hard to say no sometimes.
Go for it..... Contact your local branch.:)

[Liz]

We have just been turned down without a visit from CP at our new place and am currently fostering for our old branch!

New CP here decided after no visit that my own mob - all injected for everything, id chipped, neutered, wormed, and all FIV checked after we lost Holly - a foster from our old vet.

We always loved fostering and CP made about £3000 a year from our fostering and charity matching from hubby's work so its nice to hear some branches want help, and our old branch are willing for us still to help and they ahve met the current 37 including our feral colony who came to and are now adapting to house cat life with gusto I have to say. New place is 4 times size of old place with 4 acres and no neighbours to worry about.

So if you ever have feral kitttens who need trained please drop us a line

Also have isolation wing in house with own shower rooom!

[rach1980]

ooooooooooooops look what i did, hehe!
nahjust kidding, its good to so many wanna help, now im worried though what if i get turned down??:?

[smudgley]

sent you a pm Rach.

[Booktigger]

Are you anywhere near Leeds RAch?
Good on you for wanting to help - like Smudgely, I knew I couldn't afford to do it by myself, so I volunteered for CP, but only did a short stint with them, I now foster for Cat77, and am a lot happier - I no longer just have one foster at a time, get more say so on who I take and I also fundraise and deal with some enquiries too - this year has been the biggest for me realising the extent of things, and I have been fostering for 2.5 years now. I have a spare room which has been converted, and some of my fosters are integrated. It is very important to realise how many you can handle though, I have been a bit over my head at times, so quickly learnt what my limit was - the only prob is when you have learnt by being over it, you are snookered till someone goes!!

[rach1980]

i am about a 1 1/2 hr drive away and unfortunately dont drive, i am in bridlington, east yorkshire and know how long leedsis away from us cos thats where i was born and brought up till i moved here.
why do you ask????

[Booktigger]

I only ask cos there is a Cat Action Trust branch there, and they deal with ferals, so you could have had some support.

[rach1980]

oh,
i do you think they may accept me?? i know im a fair way away, but do you think its worth a try??

[Booktigger]

Anything is worth a go Rach.