Final word from hubby. They are now 8 months old. He won't let me keep any of them. He likes them but.... I wanted to keep one and find homes for the other ones. Momma cat took off a month ago. He thinks she had another brood and he's afraid she'll bring them back like she did these 4. I have been able to socialize the one I want and the greys are getting to that point, too. I'm just having a problem with the white faced one but it's slowly coming around. I think it's a male.

I had called all the cat rescues I knew about but they all had a full house. I was warned that the SPCA would euthanize them because they were feral, so we were basically stuck with them and just can't afford their care.

It's a very huge problem, no doubt about it.

People won't spend the money to 'fix' their cats from making babies.

If vets would at least offer free neutering for male cats, it would help tremendously.
You know, have a day or two each month set just for that. It would also make for
a good training for vet students to have them do it a few days a month.

I won't ever have another inside cat. I have most my life but when Mr Kitty is gone,
I will no longer have a cat inside. I don't want to fool with the cat litter any more,
cat litter bags, cat litter container, can cat food, etc.

In reality, outside cats are not expensive. An adult cat is really only suppose to be
fed once a day. I feed the 3 outside cats, three times a day. They get the Special
Kitty cat food. It's cheap but it has all the necessary nutrients and they like it. In
the mornings they each get a little pile of the food, in the mid afternoon again they
each get a little pile of food, and then at night around 9 0r 10 pm I feed them again
each a little pile of food. They hunt and get mice and other outdoor critters including
small snakes.

Of course, I am in the country so people that live in a city have it differently. Many
cats in a city get run over and that sort of thing.

You could look for a no kill shelter and drop them off.

Dry cat food, that is. I buy the large bags of Special Kitty Gourmet blend cat food.

I live in the country, too. They do have special neuter/spay clinics around here but you have to take them there. I haven't been able to pick them up (except the one I like to keep) and have no carrier and no money. Seriously no money. (I'm lucky if I have $26 left a month after bills are paid. My check stays in the bank for that purpose.) Hubby buys big bags of Kit and Kaboodle and they like that...sometimes. His friend has donated cat food to us, too. They have caught mice, voles, and killed some garter snakes, which they play with. The snakes certainly makes me happy.

SPCA wants money to take the kids and there is either rumor or fact that they would euthanize them because they're feral. I've been told by someone from another state that they don't, but they don't know our local SPCA. I won't go into the problems they cause but I would believe it's not a rumor about euthanizing the kids.

This is why I still have them, and they don't roam off the property -yet. They did when around 4 months old, but always came back within a day or two.

I have had indoor cats but never cat litter. My cats didn't like it and they wanted out to go, so that was fine with me. The last cat I had was a stray/lost cat that no one claimed after placing an ad and I had her for 16 years. I tried with another feral kitten but it was a male. He loved wrapping himself around my neck when I was outside walking. I had named him Shadow. Even though he was loving, he wouldn't stick around 24/7, and was killed on the highway south of us. That was 15 years ago and I haven't had a cat since.

I placed an ad but not having much success, probably because people generally look for house cats. We shall see what happens with that.

Now I have to go try to make some money.

You can teach an outdoor cat to be indoors but it takes time and patience. If you start as young as possible, it doesn't take as long. If you have rescues in your area, you might be able to ask them to at least come out with carriers and pick up the cats.

Even if you only spay the females instead of spaying and neutering all of them, it would help because already, those cats are all old enough to breed.

Certainly understand about the money. Vets are so high. Even the low cost spay/neuter programs are not so cheap. In my area, these program do have something they seldom advertise. People in the community will donate to them and this helps sponsor the spays/neuters for people who can't afford the surgery. They never seem to explain this to anyone. You may want to ask the programs in your area if they offer any free sponsored surgeries.

Good luck.

I don't have a hard case or I would send it to you.
Do what I do, use a thick cardboard box.

For feral cats, that is what they would probably need for transport.

I put Miss Lucy in a semi hard case after she had delivery of her kittens and she tore that
case to pieces before I could even get it to the truck. I was shocked because it was a very
cute heavy duty carrier. She shredded it, got out, ran for her life. I then put her in a
rather thick cardboard box and that did work. She couldn't get out of the cardboard.

Well, I don't know what else to tell you. Either allow them to run around outside and feed
them when you have the food to feed them or locate a shelter that is a no kill shelter.

The problem with keeping them, you are contributing to the over population without having
them fixed. One cat can result in thousands of offspring. One cat can have say six kittens
and those six kittens each have six kittens and those.....and so on.

THIS IS the problem. Find a no kill shelter.

Maybe one of your neighbors if you live out in the country need some barn cats to do exactly what the kittens are doing right now catching mice and all those critters and could come and pick them up there? That way you would know they are safe and doing what they love doing at the same time..

Wow,I feel for you. I.ve had cats in the past and a female
german sheppard that adopted the litter of cats I ended up with
after the mother that my ex foisted on me saying it was just a fat
tomcat. Me being the dummy that I am took it on as a companion
for my dog.They got along great until the kittens arrived and my dog
kept stealing the kittens to play mother to them. After a while the
mother cat just gave up and let my dog have her way.This was a long
time ago and they have all gone to where ever animals go when they pass on.
Now living in a very small 1 bedroom suite and limited budget there is no
room and/or finances for pets.Also I can not deal with the hardships of
losing pets that became such a big part of our lives.

Reading your post brought fond memories of my old companion Critter he was a BIG Maine Coon who traveled all over the country with me five years ago.He was a inside&outside cat with his own outside door and the protector of my small dogs.I was so attached to him that after he passed I quit using clixsense for 6 months because all the capchas of cats made me to sad to continue. As lotoole said earlier keep checking with local vets and shelters since many of them get donations and offer free or reduced spaying without advertising it to the general public.
My house is a happy one right now with the birth of 2 little american eskimo & bechon frise mix puppies on tuesday,I will have the fun and adventure of watching them grow over the next 10 weeks before finding them new homes.

PS my avatar picture shows me holding Critter while visiting New Mexico right after a cruise on my Honda Goldwing with Critter riding inside my coat to the Albuquerque balloon festival

Yes that is a mouthful dutch. It really really hurts when a pet is the same as family, if not more so
and they pass away.

It's a selfish emotion, however. That is the way I look at it. Sort of like the 'better to have loved
than to never loved at all'.

hummm, nobody need a coat ?