I’ve been feeding a wild mother cat and her kitten at my airbnb in Limeuil. I was hoping to get them used to humans and find them homes in my three weeks here but my progress has been slow. I have to leave the area on Thursday and am looking to pay a cat lover who has experience with trapping to help me catch them and take them to a vet. Can. you recommend anyone???
try to get a trap from the SPA
Find a local cat expert
Ask the local vet for help
Thanks.
(better than most people)
Ask the local SPA, they will probably be happy to help if you are happy to continute!
I’m not sure one can domesticate a feral cat. Many years ago I was staying in with a friend who lived near Hampstead Heath and when we came home one evening there were three feral kittens in the hall of the apartment block. Lovely little bundles of fur but impossible to approach much less catch. We called the RSPCA and they were round in no time and caught the little fellows. However, their view was they couldn’t be tamed and would probably have to be put down 
Depends on the cat I suspect, and how young they are when you start.
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Well, nine out of ten cats……. 
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I’ve gotten to know these two (mom and kitten) and I have hope for them. I have acquired a trap. Now I just have to figure out what vet or association to take them to once i trap them. They will obviously need to be de-fleaed and the mom spade.
I wish you success and I am sure that where ever you place them will turn a blind eye to the law. After all this is France. The cats legally belong to the village and are the Maires’ responsibility and from the 1st May this year it became illegal to remove ferral cats to another location. But my sympathies are with you.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Reading between the lines of people’s posts and posts in other threads on here I have a feeling there is a risk of one or both of them having a shorter life if handed over.
What were they doing before you arrived? Unless you have a named person who has agreed to take them in, they may have a longer life going back to that.
I know we like to be needed and feel we have helped, and am a cat lover myself, but intended good actions can have bad consequences and I am trying to put my worries gently.
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Agree! I’d forgotten that many shelters have quite tight euthanasia policies.
They may be better off if you get them spayed and bring them back to the environment they know to live out their lives.
Quite right Jane and that is what the law says should be done. The kittens need to be at least 4 months to be sterilised and the chances of trapping them together is about zero.
Try this link, I know they cover quite a lot of areas.
I wished I lived closer to you.
This one looks like heaven
Any news ? It’s great that you managed to have a trap. These cats are coming in your garden to be seen and watch you : it is absolutely possible to socialise them, more or less quickly consequently, with trusting patience. On the picture, it is obvious that she’s staring at you calmly without escaping immediately while being careful : this beautiful black-white mother is definitely feeling that she’s safe in your garden, wondering who you are yet trusting you already in “serenely” sitting there now…They FEEL it. She will be quick to socialize, if only you enable it - and you will. Not to mention the young kittens far easier to go on that confident path. I was born with cats, and have currently 12 rescued cats : my favorite are exactly the ones who take time to TRUST, although it is amazing how quickly confident they can be even if “semi-feral” at very first. Things are not taken for granted as they suffered : the bond is special then, something Unique.
Do not call any legally linked “fourrière”, councils (mairies) and SPA in France, since Overwhelmed they are : no future for them at all, to put it simply. Small associations are against “putting to sleep quickly” procedure, with host families to individually take care of them most of the time. There might be some around where you’re living, try and try as Summer is a hard time…around 200 000 abandoned animals in France (western Europe’s champion in this area) compared to around 16 000 in England per year, to give a bit of a pragmatic idea. We’re not in Romania, but there’s quite a lot to do here…
Otherwise, “Phoenix association” created by an english couple would suit perfectly : why not negociating to share the travel as soon as you’ll manage to catch the mother and the kittens. If she has kittens now, we can be hopeful that she won’t do some in the next coming 2 months. Are you coming back in France soon ? Who’s hydrating-feeding them meanwhile ? Any neighbour you gave some food to, to put in your garden regularly, including vital water ?
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