How do I help?

It is undeniable that feral cats live a stressful and often sad existence. Naturally many want to help and fortunately, there are some things that people can do! 1.) If you have a pet make sure to spay/neuter it. 2.) If willing you can get in touch with groups that practice TNR. You can report feral cats you see that need to undergo TNR or you can even help out the organization and volunteer yourself! 3.) After the feral cats you may be aware of have undergone TNR become their caretaker and provide food and if possible shelter! 4.) Do research and inform others! Speaking of research there is much more to learn about the feral cat issue. So stay tuned for more information!

Why can't humans just take in feral cats?

It would be wonderful if feral cats were safe for humans to be around. However, the fact is that feral cats are often fearful and therefore can react violently to human interaction. Unfortunately, many of these cats are diseased and are therefore capable of spreading disease. Finally, feral cats are extremely hard to domesticate. Animal shelters can't exactly take them in either. These shelters are dedicated to finding homes for animals that are able to coexist with humans easily. Feral cats don't fit in this category. Sadly many of them are often brought in and euthanized on the spot. This sad reality could come to an end if people took more responsibility in spaying/neutering their cats. 

Population Control: TNR

TNR is one of the most recent tactics being used to control the feral cat population. TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return. This is a method in which cats are captured, spayed/neutered, vaccinated against rabies, and surgically ear tipped to indicate that they have undergone TNR. This method has been proven effective, and it definitely improves the lives of existing feral cats. Organizations such as the Humane Society encourage TNR. However, they also encourage current owners to have their cats spayed/neutered. After all it is these domestic cats that are often the origin of feral cats. 

The Problem: How do Feral cats Survive?

The life of a feral cat is often a sad struggle. These cats have no humans to feed them, provide them with shelter, and a loving home that would protect them from the elements. Female feral cats are often under much stress considering they are capable of getting pregnant so young and with so many. Male feral cats generally try to protect what territory they have. This often results in fights among the cats, and unfortunately injuries that are prone to disease. Surely life would be better if feral cats could not reproduce. The existing cats would be under less stress, and it would stunt the population growth; hopefully to the point where the only cats are those with loving homes. There is a method being used to reach for such a goal. 

The Problem: Where do they live?

Yes there are a lot of feral cats. The amount is an issue, but to understand the full problem one must be knowledgeable about the feral cat lifestyle. The feral cats live in colonies. They are extremely territorial so they defend whatever their homes may be. These could include makeshift shelters such as allies, dumpsters, the back of buildings, etc. These are places that humans occupy, but the feral cats are rarely noticed because again they are fearful. This is one reason as to why humans are unaware of the actual amount of feral cats. This also results in humans not realizing that the issue is closer to home they would expect. 

Where the issue begins?

So feral cats are different from stray cats, what's the issue? The issue begins with feral cats that are result of abandoned strays who have not been neutered/spayed. According to the Humane Society of the United States, cats can become pregnant as young as 4-5 months of age. A female cat who is able to become pregnant can become pregnant as many as two to three times a year. This is extensive considering that a cat can have huge litters up to twelve kittens or more. If these kittens go on to survive, they will be fertile feral cats who are likely to reproduce. It is obvious with these statistics that the amount of feral cats is growing rapidly. You many wonder "okay there is a lot of them, but where is the problem?"

Feral Cats in Our Environmental Hat?

It's true! Feral cats are in our environmental hat, and just like in Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat book; they are causing a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, many people are uneducated about the issues that result from feral cats. As a result, people do not often realize or take seriously the consequences of such a problem. It is a common misconception that feral cats and stray cats are one in the same. In fact they are different! Stray cats are domesticated cats that have been abandoned, while feral cats are the offspring of stray cats. Many would wonder why this is a significant difference. The difference is in fact significant because stray cats can be taken in and usually domesticated again. However, feral cats are often too fearful to handle and this is where the issue begins.