A "feral" cat is a cat who has reverted in some degree to a wild state. They originate from former domestic cats who were lost or abandoned and then learned to live outdoors or in environments involving little human contact, such as warehouses, factories or abandoned buildings. In most cases, feral cats are not completely wild because they still depend on people for their food source, whether it's a caretaker who comes by once or twice a day, a dumpster outside a restaurant or garbage cans. Relatively few feral cats subsist only by hunting. To what degree a feral cat is wild depends on several factors. One factor is the age of the cat. Young kittens are more capable of being socialized and successfully adopted into a home. Another factor is what generation the feral cat is. A kitten born outdoors to a mother who was herself formerly domestic is likely to socialize easier than one born to a mother who is seventh generation feral. The extent of daily human contact also plays an important role in determining how wild a cat will be. If cats have regular interaction with people, such as in a community garden, they will tend to be friendlier and more approachable than if they live in a back alley where people rarely venture. It's important to recognize that if a cat is truly feral, then the most compassionate choice might be to allow them to live outdoors. Trying to domesticate them would be no different than trying to make a squirrel or a raccoon a household companion - you might succeed somewhat, but never fully and only with a great deal of time and patience.Some people think that feral cats should just be destroyed in order to remove the problem or to prevent them from destroying birds. Feral cats live in certain areas because of the resources available there. If you destroy the cats, more will simply take their place. This is called “the vacuum effect.” The arguments that feral cats destroy wildlife or spread rabies are myths. Habitat destruction and pesticides are the main cause of diminishing wildlife. According to Alley Cat Allies, "the last confirmed cat to human transmission of rabies occurred more than 30 years ago. While it's possible for feral cats to become infected with rabies, feral cat colonies themselves do not generally serve as a source of the disease. 'We see rabies more often in raccoons and bats than in the cat population,' says Roberta Lillich, DVM, president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners." Studies have shown that Trap-Neuter-Return, commonly referred to as "TNR," is the only method proven to be humane and effective at controlling feral cat population growth. Using this technique, all the feral cats in a colony are trapped, neutered and then returned to their territory where caretakers provide them with regular food and shelter. Young kittens and friendly adults are placed in foster care and eventually adopted out to good homes. TNR immediately stabilizes the size of the colony by eliminating new litters. The nuisance behavior often associated with feral cats is dramatically reduced, including the yowling and fighting that come with mating activity and the odor of unneutered males spraying to mark their territory. Another significant advantage to TNR is that it lessens the number of kittens and cats flowing into local shelters. This not only saves countless taxpayer dollars. It results in lower euthanasia rates and the increased adoption of cats already in the shelters. To learn more, please visit these web sites:
Never Say Never
We created the feral cat crisis; it's up to us to resolve it - humanely. TNR - Trap, Neuter, Return - is the only proven method to help feral cats while helping ourselves.
Rev 10/24/11
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Paws4Change
Paws4Change
your values are expessed
through the choices you make
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FERAL CATS AND TNR
(Trap-Neuter-Return)
