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A Fresh Start On A New Life

March 31, 2009, 12:26PM MT
By Cheri Moon
Four Directions, a lifeline for feral and stray cats

Four Directions, a lifeline for feral and stray cats

By Stephanie Rommel, Best Friends Network Volunteer

HELP WANTED: Safe, cozy place to sleep and eat protected from the sun, rain and snow, but with space to roam for me and a few friends. In exchange we’ll take care of any rodents or critters harming your garden or crops. Call Best Friends.

Relocating feral cats is really no laughing matter. It’s an option that literally means life to the cats. After trapping and neutering, feral cats are normally returned to their colony location for their own welfare (trap/neuter/return). But what if that site is unsafe or no longer there?

For more than a decade Best Friends has developed the Four Directions Community Cat Program for caregivers. Kate Willer initiated it in 1997 and Diane Young, Best Friends Specialist, No More Homeless Pets, continued its growth.

Program Spay/Neuters and Relocates Feral and Stray Cats
When Shelly Kotter, Campaign Specialist for Feral Felines, took the program over, she was able to expand its scope. “We’ve gone from spaying/neutering 600 cats to 1,200 cats a year now,” Kotter states. The program also works with veterinarians in other towns by pre-purchasing spay/neuter appointments, which added another 500 cats, bringing last year’s total to 1,700 sterilized cats!

And Four Directions has expanded in other vital ways: It currently has 250 volunteers, 3,500 cats receive food through its program, and has organized an effort to spread awareness and support about the plight of feral felines through local city councils.

In addition, Four Directions finds suitable habitats for feral and stray cats. For instance, a Paria, Nevada organic farm experienced crop losses of 60% due to rabbits, squirrels and rodents. Once the Four Directions cats were comfortably relocated to the farm, the kitties put an end to the produce damage.

“Our main goal is to reduce the cat euthanasia rate in shelters as much as possible,” says Shannon Riddle, now the Four Directions program coordinator. Last year Four Directions relocated 50 cats.

Best Friends’ Staff Experiences Program First Hand
Always on the lookout for new locations, Four Directions found a perfect spot complete with built-in caregivers right under its nose.

Jason Watt, Best Friends Supervising Video Producer, and his wife, Juliette, Best Friends staff member, agreed to care for two colonies of 12 ferals on their open 13-acre property. These cats were found in a shelter… saved from certain euthanization.

Watt shot a video of the entire relocation process, including the building of an eight-by-eight foot enclosure covered in chicken wire. This allows the new arrivals four to six weeks to safely acclimate to their new environment. Once they adjust to the area, the enclosure door is left open for a week, the cats scatter, and they eventually return one by one to their food/water/shelter stations, set up in numerous protected areas nearby.

Heeding Riddle’s advice, the Watts also put out moist canned food daily—in essence telling the cats they are a wonderful food source!

Click on the top image to the right to watch the construction of the enclosure, along with Riddle’s tips on the care and feeding of the cats, on Watt’s educational video.

Click on the bottom image to see the four-month update on how the cats are adjusting.

A Successful Venture
It’s been such a successful adventure; the Watts recently agreed to receive another feral colony, bringing their band of cats to 17.

Watt enjoys watching the cats play together and sun themselves. A couple of cats even hang out at the goat shelter. Up in the trees, several cats share a breeze peacefully alongside the birds. “As much as we love coming up with names for some of them, we are not expecting to domesticate them,” Watt states. He intends to shoot video updates every so often.

Juliette Watt thinks it’s just great to see them live their lives in a happy, safe environment where she can keep an eye on them if any become ill.

She says, “These little guys didn’t ask to be born, and it’s nice to know we can use our property to help them.”

How You Can Help:

• Contact Shannon Riddle, Best Friends Community Cat Program Director, shannonr@bestfriends.org, if you wish to provide a safe location, inquire about spaying or neutering or ask about other Four Directions Community Cat programs.

• For more information on the care of ferals, visit Feral Cat Resources.

• Join the Feral Cat Campaign on the Best Friends Network.

Photos by Jason Watt, Best Friends staff
Posted by Cheri Moon, Best Friends staff
Comments
Posted April 05, 2009, 6:26PM by Kelly4cats
I just watched the bottom video for the fourth time. That tortie is such a goofball! What lucky kitties they all are. To think if it wasn't for this place they all would have just been another sad statistic at the shelter. Thank you BF and their wonderful caretakers.
Posted April 02, 2009, 8:32PM by georgebailey47
Covering all of the bases.

That's what makes Best Friends the best!

Never being satisfied with being good, always wanting to be great,, and always striving for perfection, knowing that 5 million lives are stolen every year in places calling themselves "shelters".

On behalf of cats everywhere:

"Meow!" ("Thank You, we love you!" in Cat Speak)
Posted April 03, 2009, 4:6PM by Linacuracao
Thanks for your informative video clip. I'm surrently working on relocating feral and didn't quite know when and how to release them.
I hope mine will be able to come back after I release her.
Posted April 03, 2009, 5:51PM by Kelly4cats
Maybe Shelly can tell us how she finds a lot of these relocation places. I really admire what she's doing with this program.

How do they control where the kitties go to the bathroom. With that many cats, if they just go on the property its going to be unhealthy for them and will attract lots of flies too. They can put litterboxes out there but some will probably prefer going on the dirt.

I've always wondered what Best Friends does with all their animal poop! They must accumulate tons of it every month.
Posted April 16, 2009, 9:36AM by Joy
Our feral food program runs on donations from companies. We have been searching hard for cat food donations since before the new year. We are currently giving out Fancy Feast that was generously given to us but have not yet received any dry cat food. We have always been proud that we can pass along so much food to regional caregivers and last year we passed along over 100 tons. That said, we will pass along more food as soon as we are able to procure it.
Posted April 03, 2009, 5:47PM by georgebailey47
Kelly4Cats is right.

Feral cats have lots of love to give...they are just afraid of humans.

As Best Friends knows, ANY individual, whether a feral cat, fighting dog, etc, if given enough of a chance and enough love and attention, can be transformed and adopted.

The term "unadoptable" is a myth which allows kill shelters, pounds, some animal control officials, PETA, etc. to end lives, instead of saving them.
Posted April 09, 2009, 9:44PM by jmuhj
LOVE these videos! They are wonderfully informative and positive. Wow! And yes, that torti is a charmer!
Posted April 02, 2009, 9:48PM by carrie_fosters
Woo Hoo . . . love these videos. I could watch that beautiful, playful tortie all day long. Thanks Jason and Juliette!
Posted April 02, 2009, 11:33PM by akanana
This sounds so wonderful. Thanks!
Sandy
azsandy@q.com
Posted April 03, 2009, 10:11AM by mytwocats
hello!!!!!i like what your doing for the cats in utah!!!i would LOVE to do something like that in phoenix,az!!!lori
Posted April 13, 2009, 3:20PM by LauraB
It is great what u did in Iowa. We need help in Steubenville, Ohio. They are rounding up all the stray cats and dogs and from what the news said, they are going to kill them all. I don't know if they are using lethal injection or gas chambers. Please help.
Posted April 03, 2009, 2:49PM by Kelly4cats
Do they have a coyotee or fox problem there? Maybe the dogs keep them away. The kitties sure look happy! I'm wondering if they keep food out during the night which can attract more wildlife.

ps-feral cats do like people! some will probably come around to be petted eventually. others would want petting but aren't quite brave enough to ask.
Posted April 10, 2009, 9:22PM by ahughes798
I love cats. I have 6 of them, all but 2 of them are former ferals.

TNR is great...but what TNR doesn't address is the issue of the impact on small wildlife that cats have.

I have a very pregnant female stray in my back yard that we are feeding. After her kittens are born, we are going to trap mother and kittens. We can't bring her in now, because we don't know her health status. We'll keep mother(and spay her) and a couple of the kittens(and spay/neuter), but any others we will find homes for. We'll have them neutered, too.

I would not in my wildest dreams return them to the colony. They decimate native wildlife.

And if BF is not feeding the stray colonies in their back yard....SHAME on them. I'll be reconsidering my donations.
Posted April 16, 2009, 9:13PM by caseycassidy
To LauraB: You might contact Alley Cat Allies and see if they can help. They help with the legal stuff and all of us on their mailing list, send letters/e-mails to cities, townships,etc, who are killing ferals. Many times, the bad press they get, leads to changing the laws and allowing for TNR. Good luck. Act quicky.
To Onemorechance-BF has let you down by waiting for donated food. REALLY, BF, you can't afford to help feed the ferals? I read your reply, which is quite lame.
All the big pet food companies donate the broken bags, out of date food, etc. Perhaps Onemorechance , you can contact those companies yourself and see if they will help. Target, Petco, Petsmart and even vet hospitals, can donate their broken bags, etc. People return food that their animals won't eat-that can be donated for the ferals too. Try it. They do it here.
Posted April 15, 2009, 10:2PM by onemorechance
I too am a caregiver of about 60 cats (feeding only), I used to get some help with food, but now all of a sudden there is none available. I just hope that Best Friends is not keeping it from the ferals. I cannot afford to feed these guys. The cost of food has gone up. What am I to do? Best Friends makes millions through donations and the food for the strays is donated. I get no assistance except for what food I can get. The last food was one 18 lb bag and 2 cases of small cans. Just how long do you think that will feed 60 cats? How about it Best Friends, can you loosen up the donations and let the poor kitties have some food?

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