No good deed goes unpunished!

[IheartMickey]

Originally Posted by mimmi

That's right. we learned in preschool (grew up in a forest area) to never ever touch deer, especially babies. Not only because they could have rabies but also would be abandoned by their mother if they smelled like humans.

I laughed a little about the swan petting, those can be the most aggressive and meanest creatures, although they look pretty and innocent. I would never go near a swan.
My father inadvertently got too near a swan nest when water skiing once, you should have seen the mother chase him around the lake, hissing, the enormous wings spread. My father was scared of her (of course, it was a funny sight for us, to bad it was before the days of digital photography where everbody always has a camera ready).

This is the swan:


And me close to it. The swan was pretty cool with people:

[mimmi]

Must have been used to humans as he was sitting so close to the street.

But it's really true, they can be awful beasts .

[sissy_ib]

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/...n-chicago-pond
Granted this was in a pond, not on land, but it goes to show what swans can do. PLEASE stay away from all animals not in a petting zoo.

[phorsenuf]

Originally Posted by IheartMickey

<snip>

Oh, and for the mean people in the thread I did call up a free clinic about the cat scratch but they said they couldn't see me until May! My only option is the ER. I did look up more information on cat scratch fever and things like a staph infection and mostly all things could be treated with amoxicillin which I'm already on a high dose of because of a lingering sinus infection. I really doubt any of you care about my well being but are just merely finding something to pick on me about. I just honestly don't understand why some of you keep coming back just to be mean. If what I've said really bothers you so much, or you think that I'm ignoring your advice wouldn't the obvious thing to do would be to stop offering it? I just don't get it.

I thought most Disney fans had kind hearts because they believe in the magic, but I'm not really seeing that in some of you.

Really? people are being mean in warning you about the dangers of the diseases that stray animals can transmit. People giving you advice on what to watch for in case some thing does happen, and how best to deal with wild animals? Hmmm......guess I need to reread what the definition of mean is.

[disney1990]

Originally Posted by gemini2727

"And the odds you'll become ill or die due to a scratch are roughly the same as winning the lottery."

And once in a while, someone wins the lottery, don't they?

Not to belabor the point, but rabies is nothing to play with. I agree that the OP will very likely not contract rabies from her scratches, but what a chance to take! The NYS Board of Health was clear to us that my daughter needed the vaccine after her feral cat scratch...

A Disney online community may not be the best place for advice on proper animal rescue, but it is also not a great place to get medical advice on something so serious, which is why I would recommend calling her doctor.

I guess I should play the lottery more often. DH and I have both had cat scratch fever - developed within a few hours of the scratch.

We have an area near us in Maryland where they take feral cats. The cats are caught, "fixed" and released into the very large area. It contains various shelters and the cats are provided with food.

To the OP, yes we are on the DIS board and we feel the magic. But, don't think that you should take a chance on a feral cat. Big difference.

[ImAllEars]

Originally Posted by kimblebee

You picked the one that looked like he wanted to be an indoor cat? What, did he have a suitcase with him?

[NHdisneylover]

The "not kind hearted" and people being "mean" thing reminds me a lot of a teen saying her parent hates her when the parent does not allow the teen to do something that the parent has experience with as being dangerous, but the teen s only seeing that she wants to do it.

So what would you consider to have been kind hearted OP?
Saying "oh you poor thing, and that was such a nice thing to do"?

I think it would be mean to NOT give you some advice about medical care since you seem a bit naive about the issues. My daughter will be off in college in 2 years--if she were in your shoes and did not realize that she should see a doctor really hope people would advice her to do so.

I think it would be wrong to encourage you, by telling you it was nice, to continue to treat wild animals as you have been doing--in a way that is harmful to them and puts you, your pets (isn't one a service dog--I think that would really be an animal you would not want getting ill) and possibly your neighbors at risk. It is NOT kind hearted to encourage such--but just might be to take the time to point out the various risks and possibly save you from further issues down the road.

[IheartMickey]

Originally Posted by NHdisneylover

The "not kind hearted" and people being "mean" thing reminds me a lot of a teen saying her parent hates her when the parent does not allow the teen to do something that the parent has experience with as being dangerous, but the teen s only seeing that she wants to do it.

No, that was my attempt at saying it in a nice way since I was given an infraction the other day for being sarcastic. I could have said what I felt in a much different way but it wasn't appropriate.

[Bonnie151]

I agree with Mimmi about the swan - swans can be vicious! I wouldn't attempt to pet any wildlife, but swans can be extremely aggressive, particularly if they are in an area where they are used to being fed bread by people- they can appear to be tame but can turn nasty if they realise you don't have any for them!

I posted in your other thread about the family of 9 feral cats that we had when I was a child. You do need to be very careful around ferals. My mother used to trap ours individually to get them spayed, vaccinated and to the vet when unwell. She lost a thumbnail once after being bitten by one who decided there was no way they were going to the vet that day.

It's a very big commitment to decide to look after a feral family. We had 4 acres of land and were surrounded by a mix of corn fields, apple orchards and woods. Our house had large porches where the cats could shelter during the winter (though eventually some of them became tame enough to come in the house). It was feral cat heaven. My mother decided she was going to take responsibility for them in terms of giving them one meal a day and taking care of their health. Other than that they had their freedom and we kept our distance, letting them decide when they wanted interaction with us. Some did become pretty tame and when I was a child a couple would take great delight when I would go into the fields to play - they'd follow me around meowing, tail straight up as though they were proud to be showing off their world to me. :lol:

In your situation I agree with the other posters. They aren't pets and unless you are in a position to have them spayed/neutered and look after their health needs I'd be leaving them alone.

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Originally Posted by IheartMickey

No, that was my attempt at saying it in a nice way since I was given an infraction the other day for being sarcastic. I could have said what I felt in a much different way but it wasn't appropriate.

I did not know you can get a infraction for that I guess I better go over the rules

[funkychunkymonkey]

My grandma got a staph infection from her fully vacinated indoor cat. She ignored it and ended up going to the er EVERY 4 hours for iv antibotics.

[IheartMickey]

Update: I spoke to the animal rescue again, the one with the broken paw hasn't been around but they told me to call if I see him and they will come trap him. Very happy they are willing to do it themselves as they have lots of experience.

[DMRick]

I've never heard of a group that only neuters the males. We neuter (and spay) both. If someone comes to us with thirty or so cats, we ask for the females first, but will eventually do them all. Cats from other colonies do wander in, and it's the females getting pregnant that are the problem. They end up with kittens. Why would anyone fix just the males?

We will take in the youngest feral kittens as we can usually turn around any under 8 weeks) and do have a few people who will work with ferals but usually it's trap/neuter (we often use that word as do feral groups for both male and female) and release. Removing them doesn't help, as a new bunch will move in. We want them to eventually die off.

As of last year, 3 people have lived after getting rabies. One was a worker for NY State wildlife, in the lab where I worked. It wasn't pretty..he lived, but had a sad life. That said, it's pretty unusual to contract rabies, at least in our area, which I'm happy about as being in the cat rescue business, I've had my fair share of scratches. Bites I would be more worried about, but I don't mess (we use traps) with the feral guys!

Also, I'd be much more afraid of a cat having Bartonella (cat scratch fever) than rabies. My nephew had it and it wasn't pleasant. We are seeing more and more of that in our area.

Originally Posted by coopersmom

The best, and most humane, way to cull a colony of TRULY feral cats is trap-neuter-return. You trap only the males (females are released immediately, without handling), have them neutered and then release them back WHERE YOU FOUND THEM, again, without undue handling. You take them in the morning, or the night before, and they're ready to be released that evening, with zero recovery time. Many rescues and clinics will do it for as little as $10-$20/cat. The colony will then die out very quickly. You can get rid of a 50-cat colony in less than six months, simply by neutering the males. The life expectancy of these cats is extremely short.

Trapping these cats and taking them to animal control will ultimately just lead to them being immediately put down, as no organization will even attempt to re-home a feral cat, when there are millions of non-feral cats needing homes.


For real information, check out reputable local rescues or start with this ASPCA FAQ on feral cats: http://www.aspca.org/adoption/feral-cats-faq.aspx, or this step-by-step guide to helping feral cats from the respected Alley Cat Allies: http://www.alleycat.org/document.doc?id=461.
.

[DMRick]

All great info.

We also sponsor several feeders with food each month. Most of them are also pretty good hunters.

I loved seeing the cats lying on the shore sunning themselves and on top of their home made feral houses along the water just past where the Queen Mary is anchored in Long Beach. All well taken care of.

Originally Posted by WDSearcher

Depends on the colony -- we've had a 10-cat feral colony living in our neighborhood for going on seven years. All cats (male & female) have been spayed & neutered and have a food source that is actually sponsored by the HOA. Same cats have been around for over 6 years. Everyone knows them, and the cats are so smart I've seen them look both ways before they cross the street. One possible outcome of TNR is that you can "get rid of a 50-cat colony in less than six months", but it's also possible for the cats to live on happily for quite some time. On the plus side, our neighborhood has no snakes, mice, possums or other "wildlife", and no other ferals dare enter!


Not true. While it is rare to find a shelter or rescue that will put time into trying to socialize ferals, those groups are out there. The shelter I work with will rehabilitate and try to socialize feral cats if they think the cat is "feral" only because it was abandonded. They do personality checks on every cat and kitten that comes in, and a large number go out to foster for socialization. Two of my rescue cats started off as "ferals". I raised one from a kitten (foster-to-own kind of thing) and adopted the other one as a 2YO cat. How do I know it used to be feral? It had a tipped ear, indicating that it had been trapped, spayed and released at some point before it ended up in the shelter. It's not an automatic that ferals will be put down, but you do have to do your research if you want them to have a chance.


Again ... careful how you generalize. You'd be surprised at the number of TNR people who also plan vacations (or work) at Disney. WDW property itself has a huge managed feral cat community.

[castmemberb4]

I haven't read any of the other posts, but I thought you posted on someone else's thread that you were going to find a rescue group for these kittens. Rescue groups will have humane traps and be able to give them the medical attention they need before they get adopted.