Survival of free-roaming domesticated cats? Need help to make me feel better.

Basar

I need to feel better about leaving these two cute meows behind when I move away. We found them roaming in our backyard in July and they have been with us ever since. We didn't let them in at nights but they casually came in and slept/played on our sofa. Now I move to Spain and my parents have too many pets already so it is out of the question for us to adopt them. We posted ads on newspapers, online boards, etc. but nobody called or emailed back I even offered to give 6 months worth of food and all their shots but nope, nobody. As some of you already know, I am from Turkey and stray cats and dogs are a big problem here. There's a shelter in this city but we don't trust government owned ones because of their history with poisoning animals (and if you care, please be a part of this).

So anyways, my question is, how likely are these cats to survive out in the wild? Winters are not extremely cold but very windy where I am (eastern Aegean) and not many people stay here during winters. Most other free-roaming cats find stuff from trashbins AFAICT but when there aren't enough people, there won't be enough food waste. There're some lizards, a lot of bugs, grasshoppers and of course birds around but not sure.

It just stabs me in the heart to leave them like this because they are the most amazing cats I have ever seen in my life and I have seen a lot of them. They love cuddling with each other, love getting picked up and played with, heck they even love sleeping on my chest when I leave the door open and fall asleep watching TV.

Here they are They are about 6 months old I believe, both male.

Erandus

Call an animal shelter?

Basar

Erandus wrote: »

Call an animal shelter?

As I said, the government run shelters here are not to be trusted. They'll prolly live longer outside than in a shelter and the private ones are all full and have 6+ month waiting period to accept any new ones.

Erandus

Whoops, I missed that part, sorry.

Ask friends and neighbors if they want a cat. Post some fliers offering them for free to a good home. I know you've done a lot of that, but you can only keep trying.

Otherwise, the cats will live just fine over the winter. They have fur and claws and teeth and hunting instincts for a reason.

Richard_Dastardly

If you honestly can't take them with you, then be sure to at least get the neutered/spayed. Make sure they get their vaccinations, too.

I think the survival rate really depends on the cat and the location. I'm no expert on this, but I'd assume that if there was a lot small wildlife running around then they'd at least be able to hunt. If the cats were born from more feral parents, then they would probably do better than more domesticated stock.

All in all, they'll probably die of starvation, disease, at the claws of other predators or through human involvement. Such is life.

Erandus

If they're in a populated region at all, starvation is probably less likely... they'll raid livestock or refuse if they have to, and cats are good hunters.

There are hazards to living outdoors though, and there's not much you can do about it.

Elin

The life expectancy of an outdoor cat is 5 years, an indoor cat is 13-20. Try to find them a home as hard as you can. If you can't, well, you have to do what you have to do. But do neuter them, don't let them add to the population of unwanted pets.

YourFatAuntSusan

I bought a house this spring and the bastards that lived there left two cats. On male, one female. Both not fixed. They also told their kids that they were "gone to grandmas" (heard this third party from one of the local kids)

Please don't be one of those people. Do anything you can to find them a home.

Fellhand

Call a shelter that doesn't euthanize for space or based on time. Better to drop them off at a shelter than let them get mowed down by a car or attacked by a wild animal.

Basar

Ok so I create a webpage for them: http://basarcv.googlepages.com/kaplanvekaraoglan

And I am posting it on every Turkish pet / animal / wildlife forum I possibly can. Oh well.

Wish me luck

Thanks everybody ....

(Also, I am thinking of buying 20 lbs of dry cat food before we leave for them but don't know how to manage securing it. There are some dogs and adult cats around which could probably find and finish it quickly).