What
is
the
difference
between
a
stray
cat
and
a feral
cat?
- A stray cat is a pet cat who is lost or abandoned. Feral cats are the offspring of lost or abandoned pet cats or other feral cats who are not spayed or neutered.
- Stray cats are accustomed to contact with people and are tame, but feral cats are not accustomed to contact with people and are typically too fearful and wild to be handled.
- Wheras stray cats may be reunited with their families or adopted into new homes, feral cats do not easily adapt or may never adapt to living as pets in close contact with people.
However,
there
are
many
things you
can
do
to
help
improve
the
health
and
quality
of
life
of
feral
cats.
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2.
Why
are
there
feral
cats?
Where
do
they
come
from?
Feral
cats
are
the
offspring
of
lost
or
abandoned
pet
cats
or
other
feral
cats
who
are
not
spayed
or
neutered.
Females
can
reproduce
two
to
three
times
a
year,
and
their
kittens,
if
they
survive,
will
become
feral
without
early
contact
with
people.
Cats
can
become
pregnant
as
early
as
4-5
months
of
age,
and
the
number
of
cats
rapidly
increases
without
intervention
by
caring
people.
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3.
Where
do
feral
cats
live?
Feral
cats
typically
live
with
a
group
of
related
cats
known
as a
colony.
The
colony
occupies
and
defends
a
specific
territory
where
food
(a
restaurant
dumpster,
a
person
who
feeds
them)
and
shelter
(beneath
a
porch,
in
an
abandoned
building)
are
available.
Since
feral
cats
typically
fear
strangers, it is
likely
that
people
may not realize
that feral
cats
are
living
nearby
because
the
cats
are
rarely
seen.
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4.
How
do
feral
cats
survive—find
food,
stay
warm,
etc.?
Many
don't
survive.
If
they
do
survive,
their
lives
aren't
easy
without
human
caretakers.
Females
may
become
pregnant
as
young
as 4
to 5
months
of
age
and
may
have
2 to
3
litters
a
year.
Being
pregnant
so
young
and
so
often,
and
having
and
nursing
kittens,
is
even
more
stressful
on
female
cats
who
are
struggling
to
survive.
More
than
half
of
the
kittens
are
likely
to
die.
Males
who
roam
and
fight
to
find
mates
and
defend
their
territories
may
be
injured
and
transmit
diseases
to
one
another
through
bite
wounds.
Feral
cats may
find
food
in a
restaurant
dumpster
or
someone
may
feed
them.
They
may
find
shelter
from
the
elements
beneath
a
porch
or
in
an
abandoned
building.
But
often
they
are
without
food
and
shelter.
Trap-Neuter-Return
is a
strategy
to
help
improve
the
health
and
quality
of
life
for
feral
cats
and
to
prevent
more
cats
from
being
born
into
this
dangerous
and
difficult
existence.
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5.
What
is
Trap-Neuter-Return
(TNR)?
Trap-Neuter-Return
(TNR)
is a
strategy
for
improving
the
lives
of
feral
cats
and
reducing
their
numbers.
At a
minimum,
feral
cats
who
are
TNRed
are
spayed
or
neutered
so
they
can
no
longer
reproduce,
vaccinated
against
rabies,
and
surgically
ear-tipped
on
one
ear
(ear-tipping
is
the
universally-recognized
sign
of a
cat
who
has
been
TNRed).
Dedicated
caretakers
feed
and
provide
shelter
for
TNRed
cats,
monitor
the
TNRed
cats
for
sickness
and
remove
new
cats
for
TNR
if
feral
or
possible
adoption
if
tame.
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6.
Why
are
National
Organizations
like
the
American
Society
for
the
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to
Animals
(ASPCA)
and
The
Humane
Society
of
the
United
States
supporting
Trap-Neuter-Return
(TNR)?
They
believe
the
best
and
safest
place
for
cats
to
reside
is
in
homes. Our
focus
in
the
past
has
been
geared
specifically
toward
pet
owners,
encouraging
them
to
act
responsibly,
have
their
cats
spayed
or
neutered
and
keep
them
safely
confined
on
their
property. This
would
reduce
the
number
of
abandoned
and
unaltered
cats
who
are
the
originators
of
most
feral
cat
colonies.
While
we
continue
to
educate
pet
owners
in
this
manner,
we
also
recognize
that
currently
there
are
millions
of
feral
cats
living
outside
homes
in
the
United
States.
The
welfare
and
control
of
these
cats
is
necessary
in
every
community. Effective
strategies
for
permanently
reducing
the
homeless
cat
population
are
essential
and
Trap-Neuter-Return,
when
properly
implemented,
offers
such
a
solution.
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7.
Do
people
take
care
of
feral
cats?
What
do
they
do?
Many
people
see
a
homeless
cat
and
start feeding
the
cat
even
though many
communities have
feeding
bans
meant
to
discourage
feeding.
Ideally,
the
person
quickly
does
more
to
help
the
homeless
cat:
- If the cat is tame, the person should take steps to find a permanent home for the cat.
- If the cat is feral, unapproachable and wary after several days of feeding, the person should find out if there are any groups in their community that are currently doing TNR and consult one of the many resources to learn about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).
Once
a
cat
or
colony
of
cats
has
been
TNRed,
a
dedicated
caretaker
provides
food,
water
and
shelter,
monitors
the
cats
for
sickness
and
removes
new
feral
cats
for
TNR
or
new
tame
cats
for
possible
adoption.
Trap-Neuter-Return
is a
strategy
that
many
dedicated
caretakers
pay
for
out
of
their
own
pockets
to
help
improve
the
lives
of
feral
cats
and
reduce
their
numbers.
Without
TNR
and
a
dedicated
caretaker,
the
population
of
the
colony
would
continue
to
increase.
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8.
Why
can't
animal
shelters
rescue
feral
cats?
Animal
shelters
already
care
for
and
try
to
find
homes
for
thousands
of
lost,
injured,
abandoned
and
relinquished
pet
cats.
Whether
the
shelter
is
an
independent
non-profit
organization
or
is
funded
by
the
municipality,
many
do
not
have
the
resources
to
proactively
trap
and
remove
thousands
of
feral
cats.
Animal
shelters
that
receive
complaint
calls
or
calls
of
concern
from
the
public
may
attempt
to
humanely
trap
and
remove
feral
cats.
Or,
they
may
provide
information
and
loan
traps
to
citizens
interested
in
humanely
trapping
feral
cats.
If
there
is a
local
group
helping
feral
cats,
the
shelter
may
refer
callers
to
that
group.
Feral
cats
brought
to
the
shelter,
especially
those
who
cannot
be
identified
as
members
of a
known
TNRed
colony,
are
likely
to
be
euthanized
right
away
or
after
a
mandatory
holding
period.
It
is
difficult
to
safely
care
for
a
feral
cat
in a
typical
shelter
cage,
and
it
is
very
stressful
for
a
feral
cat.
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9.
Would
it
be
better
if
feral
cats
were
euthanized?
Some
people feel
sorry
for
feral
cats
because
of
their
difficult
and
dangerous
life. Others
are
annoyed
by
the
cats'
behaviors
and want
the
cats
removed. But many
people
don't
feel
that
the
cats
should
be
euthanized. Even
if
there
were
enough
people
and
money
to
remove
and
euthanize
feral
cats,
other
feral
cats
would
move
into
the
vacant
territory
to
take
advantage
of
the
food
source
and
shelter
now
made
available.
It's
an
endless
cycle.
The
alternative
is
Trap-Neuter-Return.
When
feral
cats
are
TNRed,
their
health
improves
because
they
no
longer
have
kittens
and
fight
over
mates,
and
nuisance
behaviors
are
greatly
reduced
or
eliminated.
The
colony's
dedicated
caretaker
provides
food,
water
and
shelter,
watches
over
the
health
of
the
cats
and
removes
any
newcomers
for
TNR
(if
feral)
or adoption
(if
tame).
TNR
improves
the
quality
of
life
for
existing
colonies,
prevents
the
birth
of
more
cats,
and
reduces
the
number
of
cats
over
time.
Additionally,
many
groups
that
provide
resources
for
TNR
have
calculated
that
the
costs
associated
with
TNR
are
considerably
less
than
those
associated
with
removal,
shelter
care
and
euthanasia
of
feral
cats.
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10.
What
are
problems
associated
with
unneutered/unspayed
feral
cats?
A
colony
of
unneutered/unspayed
feral
cats
can produce
a
number
of
problems,
including:
- a growing population of cats
- frequent and loud noise from fighting and mating behavior
- strong foul odors from unneutered male cats spraying to mark their territory
- flea infestations
- visible suffering from dying kittens and injured adults.
In
addition,
the
shelters
in a
community
with
a
large,
unneutered
feral
cat
population
may
experience:
- higher intake rates of cats into shelters due to the rescue of feral kittens and the capture of feral adults
- higher euthanasia rates for all cats due to the unadoptability of feral adults and the necessity to euthanize adoptable animals due to limited cage space
- higher animal control costs due to trapping efforts and/or costs associated with caring for and euthanizing feral cats
- a constant rate of nuisance complaints about feral cats.
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11.
Why
doesn't
simply
removing
feral
cats
from
an
area
work
to
reduce
their
numbers
and
nuisance
behavior?
There
are
many
reasons
why
feral
cat
problems
are
rarely
solved
by
efforts
to
trap
and
remove
them.
Feral
cats
live
at a
certain
location
because
the
habitat
is
suitable
for
their
survival
and
offers
food
and
shelter. If
the
cats
in
any
one
colony
are
removed,
feral
cats
from
surrounding
colonies
move
in
to
take
advantage
of
the
newly
vacated
habitat
and
start
the
cycle
of
reproduction
and
nuisance
behavior
anew.
In
addition,
if
all
the
cats
in a
colony
are
not
trapped,
then
the
ones
left
behind
tend
to
have
more
kittens
that
survive
to
adulthood
due
to
lack
of
competition
for
resources
until
the
colony
reaches
its
former
population
level.
Other
factors
which
usually
make
removing
feral
cats
ineffective
include:
- the difficulty of catching all the cats in a colony
- the lack of animal control resources available to accomplish this task
- the unwillingness of volunteers to trap cats who face an uncertain fate upon capture
- the ongoing abandonment of unaltered domestic cats who can also repopulate a vacated territory
- the lack of cooperation of the cats' caretakers—the only people who really know the cats' numbers and patterns and who can control whether or not they're hungry enough to enter a baited trap.
Trap
and
remove
will
only
result
in a
temporary
reduction
in
the
numbers
of
feral
cats
in a
given
area.
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12.
Why
don't
feeding
bans
work
to
eliminate
feral
cats?
The
logic
behind
bans
against
feeding
feral
cats
is
that
if
there
is
no
food
available,
the
cats
will
go
away.
This
is
not
true.
Feral
cats
are
territorial
animals
who
can
survive
for
weeks
without
food
and
will
not
easily
or
quickly
leave
their
territory
to
search
for
new
food
sources. Instead,
they
tend
to
encroach
closer
into
human
habitations
as
they
grow
hungrier
and
more
desperate.
Their
malnourished
condition
will
make
them
more
susceptible
to
parasitic
infestations,
such
as
fleas,
which
they
will
spread
into
work
places,
garages,
homes,
etc.,
within
their
territory.
The
cats
will
also
continue
to
reproduce
despite
the
effort
to
"starve
them
out,"
resulting
in
the
visible
deaths
of
many
kittens.
As a
result,
feeding
bans,
if
enforced,
tend
to
make
the
situation
much
worse
instead
of
improving
it.
A
second
reason
why
feeding
bans
are
rarely
effective
is
that
they
are
nearly
impossible
to
enforce. Repeated
experience
has
shown
that
people
who
care
about
the
cats'
welfare
will
go
to
great
lengths,
risking
their
homes,
jobs
and
even
their
liberty,
to
feed
starving
animals. Someone
determined
to
feed
the
cats
will
usually
succeed
without
being
detected,
no
matter
the
threatened
penalties.
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13.
How
does
TNR
solve
common
complaints
associated
with
feral
cats?
- When feral cats are trapped, neutered and returned to their territory, they no longer reproduce.
- When the colony is then monitored by a caretaker who removes and/or TNRs any newly arrived cats, the population stabilizes and gradually declines over time.
- The cessation of sexual activity eliminates the noise associated with mating behavior and dramatically reduces fighting and the noise it causes.
- Foul odors are greatly reduced as well because neutered male cats no longer produce testosterone which, when they are unaltered, mixes with their urine and causes the strong, pungent smell of their spraying.
- Neutered feral cats also roam much less and become less visible and less prone to injury from cars.
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14.
What
can
I do
to
help
feral
cats?
Helping
feral
cats
can
be
very
rewarding.
There
are
many
options
for
you
to
be
involved.
First,
you
may
want
to
look
for
an
existing
feral
cat
group
or
individuals
who
are
practicing
TNR
in
your
area
to
help
you
learn
the
ropes.
Contact
Pet
Savers
in
Spokane
Valley
for
more
information
