Feral Cats

Feral cats are domesticated cats that have returned to their wild state. It can be difficult or impossible to distinguish them from strays. Strays are pets who have been abandoned or lost, or ownerless cats who maintain social contact with people. Ferals are sometimes cats who previously had owners, but more often were born to strays or other feral cats, and do not engage in social contact with people. Strays are tame, feral cats are not.

Population Control

Until recently, the standard practice with feral cats has been trapping and euthanization. Many cities and counties continue to exterminate them, but that is changing. Obviously, many people are morally and ethically opposed to trapping and killing cats, but the method is being abandoned for practical, not emotional reasons. Extermination is an expensive, time consuming, and completely ineffective means of reducing feral populations. It may even have the opposite of the desired effect.

Trap, Neuter, Return

The new standard for controlling feral cat populations is commonly referred to as trap, neuter, return or simply TNR. The method is just what it sounds like. Rather than trapping and killing ferals, the cats are sterilized and returned to their area. This immediately begins the process of reducing the population. The spayed or neutered cat will no longer add to the population by producing kittens, but will defend its territory. Rather than creating an opening for another fertile cat, the infertile cat discourages other cats from moving in, and discourages reproduction. As all the cats in one area are caught and sterilized, the population ceases to grow.

Colonies and Caretakers

Most TNR programs rely on volunteers who trap the cats, and watch over the colonies, providing food, shelter, and in some cases medical attention. Many veterinarians offer discounted spaying and neutering services to caretakers of feral cats. Of course, caretakers exist at all different levels of involvement. Some merely provide what food they can afford. At the other end of the spectrum are caretakers who provide many acres of land, shelter with regularly refreshed bedding, and a comprehensive trap, evaluate, vaccinate, and neuter program for every cat.

Ear Tipping

Organizations all around the world provide education, traps, support, and standards for TNR programs. When feral cats are sterilized a small section of their left ear is removed. This is the universal sign of a spayed or neutered feral and prevents unnecessary trapping and surgery.

Socializing Feral Cats

Feral kittens, under about five months old, can be socialized with patience and care. Kittens are in their prime stage of social development from three to nine weeks of age. The best results are seen in kittens who start getting used to people by the age of eight weeks, and kittens up to twelve weeks can still make great candidate for taming and re-homing. Older kittens can be socialized quite well, but may not make good candidate for adoption.

Most adult feral cats cannot be tamed. A few will establish a friendly, but cautious, relationship with people. Because the failure rate of socializing and re-homing adult ferals is so high, it is best for them to live in colonies with other cats without the stress and dangers of trying to force them to live in people’s homes.

Ferals in Society

There are millions or billions of feral cats all around the world. While some see these cats as a nuisance, others recognize their practical benefits to civilization. The life of a cat on its own is a hard life, often marked by starvation and disease. By reducing their populations through TNR programs, we help to reduce their suffering. Yet historically, and even today, a reasonable population of wild cats remains a necessary part of the balance, controlling pests and keeping down diseases.

We know now, that in the Dark Ages, the spread of the bubonic plague was caused by mass killings of cats which led to a surge in the rodent population which spread the disease. Today populations of barn cats help to maintain the balance in rural areas. The precise impact of ferals on pest control and disease in urban areas is unknown, but we can reasonably assume that if all feral cats were removed from cities the results would be disastrous.

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