Feral cat has been living on a roof for four years

NEWS AND COMMENT- Sungurlu, a town in central Turkish province of Çorum: A feral cat who appears to be thoroughly unsocialised has been living on a roof for 4 years and her lifestyle is ongoing. It is highly unusual because it appears to be an example of self-isolation but she is being fed regularly. This may, indeed, be partly why she refuses to come down. She is female and most ginger tabbies are males.

Female ginger tabby has lived on a roof for 4 years and has no intention of coming down. Photo: IHA Photo.

This certainly isn't the case of a cat being stuck up a tree or in a high place. She remains on the roof voluntarily. Locals and firefighters have tried to get her down without success. We don't know the details of those efforts. It would be interesting to hear them. It is certainly possible to get her down by placing a trap on the roof and then bringing the trap down from the roof. So I think we can probably argue without knowing more that efforts to bring her down have not been carried out effectively.

The roof is on a building which is part of a bazaar. Muttalip Yavuz, who runs a coffeehouse said that this ginger tabby cat jumped onto the roof from a building opposite. He also said that firefighters have come multiple times to bring her down and failed. And shopkeepers have tried a few times but they couldn't capture her either. They have, therefore, decided to leave her and feed her.

The cat is unsocialised and fearful of people said Ahmet Köylü. She eats the food left for her but it appears that people who feed her have to remove themselves from the roof before she feeds. Apparently she constantly meows when she begs for food as it is not always provided on time. This is not a satisfactory state of affairs!

As mentioned, the solution is to employ standard TNR techniques. I'm surprised that this is not been carried out but of course no one is to blame. It's a question of finding somebody in Turkey, living nearby, who knows about TNR work. That will resolve the problem. I am sure there are TNR operatives in Turkey who'd assist. The cat can then be socialised with patience and hopefully rehomed.

Perhaps, the shopkeepers below quite like the idea of a cat living on the roof because it is a form of advertising for them. I sense that that is part of the problem too.

The story comes from İhlas News Agency (İHA) via Daily Sabah.