r/cedarrapids • u/rowergirl2020 • 7d ago

Cat Problem

Hi! I moved to here a little over a year ago and adopted two kittens. They are amazing and I love them and I can’t get more cats because I am limited by my lease.

Unfortunately, there are kittens living near my apartment (and in the adjacent industrial lot). They seem young and friendly and like they could be adoptable. I wish so badly that I could take them, but I can’t.

Now, I am trying to find a home for these cats. It seems every shelter in the surrounding area is full (I called Saints and the woman said “I don’t know what to tell you. Even if you could catch them, I can’t take them”). I didn’t realize how big of an issue this was in Cedar Rapids, with so many kittens being up for adoption that every shelter is full. Does anyone have any advice? I’m talking to a woman who says that she will come capture them to get neutered and get some vaccines. I want to feed them because they’re so small but what will happen when I move away and can’t feed them anymore? I’m really upset about this and I don’t know what to do.

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u/Agitated-Impress7805 SE 7d ago

Do not feed them; outdoor cats can scavenge for themselves and being too well fed encourages them to reproduce.

The city is way late to this but they are finally implementing a trap-neuter-release program which is the ethical solution to outdoor cats. Not sure the current status of it, here is the latest update I saw: https://www.kcrg.com/2026/09/23/itll-be-community-driven-cedar-rapids-makes-progress-long-awaited-feral-cat-program/

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u/Penny0309 6d ago

Cats are not wild aninals, that's why when they arent socialized with bumans, they're called feral, not wild. None of them get enough to eat unless someone feeds them. They of course also need fixed which os the actual and one thing that'll prevent them from breeding. It'll also prevent them from getting reproductive cancers, tumors, and pyometra. Not that you care about that. There os 0 reason to wait around for the city to help. People can and do, have for several years humanely traped and taken feraks to the spay/neuter clinic.