A stray I don't want

[laohaire]

A few weeks ago a stray cat adopted us. DH and I care for animals and we fed him and gave him medical attention for immediate needs.

I called the shelters and none will take him. Too full.

He is not neutered, and it will honestly be a hardship for us to do it. I have a tooth that is infected and basically given our money situation it's either the cat or I wait on the tooth and get it pulled later (holistic dentist says it needs to be dealt with "now" though I might lose it anyway).

Our other two cats have been seriously disrupted by the newcomer. He is a juvenile and not neutered yet, and he dominates them both to the point where they are afraid to do anything - go outside, eat, use the litter pan.

I feel very stuck. Some people have suggested I dump him on a farm (believing he'd live happily ever after chasing mice, I guess) but, um, no way. Somebody needs to take responsibility for this animal, and I can't find anyone who will, so in the meantime he's still here.

Any suggestions?

[laohaire]

Forgot to add - we've also already tried to find the original owners, by posting notices, calling shelters and vets to see if they have any matching reports, and asking around our neighborhood. Based on the cat's condition and the tightness of his flea collar, we think he's been on his own for maybe 3 months before winding up here, so his original owners have probably given up (or kicked him out in the first place, and therefore never looked for him).

[phatchristy]

Can you do a search for trap neuter release programs in your area? Then they could perhaps take care of him for you...or at least give you a cheap/free doctor who would do the neutering.

That would take care of the agressiveness at least within a couple of weeks as the hormones are eliminated. Experts agree it's not a good idea to feed any feral/stray cats that are intact long term...that just helps them to be more fertile unfortunately. But definitely, now that he trusts you he should be able to be trapped and neutered.

Or, you could turn your cats into indoor only cats. That would be safer for them as well overall.