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| Stray and Feral Cats |
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| Every community in the country is facing a stray and feral cat crisis. Often people move and leave their cats behind, or allow their unaltered cats to roam freely, and sometimes a pet cat gets out of the house just once, and becomes pregnant or gets a stray cat pregnant. The combination of these factors has lead to millions of stray and feral cats left to fend for themselves, and millions more being euthanized in shelters. But there is hope! Here is some information about how you can get help with the feral cats in your neighborhood. |
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| What is a Feral Cat? Literally “gone wild” a domestic cat that was lost or abandoned and has reverted to a wild state, or a cat that was born to a stray or feral mother and had little or no human contact. Adult feral cats are usually impossible to tame and are not suited to cohabiting with people. They live in family groups called colonies that form near a source of food and shelter. Feral cats can survive almost anywhere and are found worldwide. (source: www.alleycat.org) |
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| What is a Stray Cat? A domestic cat that strayed from home and became lost or was abandoned. Because a stray cat was once a companion animal, he or she can usually be re-socialized and placed in an adoptive home. (source: www.alleycat.org) |
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| The Feral Facts The fact is, there are stray or feral cats in almost every neighborhood. Unfortunately, most people assume that they are someone's cat, or don't feel obligated to step in to help because they are not their cats. Without the help of concerned citizens, the number of cats will quickly multiply. One unaltered female cat and her offspring can produce up to 420,000 cats in just 7 years! Studies have shown that removing the cats will not solve the problem. Removing the cats creates a "vaccuum effect". As long as food and water exists, new cats will move in to take advantage of the food and water source, so removing the cats has no effect. By spaying and neutering the cats and returning them to their colony, their numbers stabilize and the cats protect their territory from new cats moving in on their food and water source. The colony will only allow the number of cats that the food and water source can sustain. |
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| What Can I do to Help? The most important thing you can do is make sure that you cat is spayed or neutered. Even if your can gets out of the house once, it can add to the problem. The next step is to become involved with Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and become a colony caretaker. TNR is the process of trapping the cats in humane live traps, taking them to a veterinarian to be altered, and then returning them to their colony. A colony caretaker provides food, water, basic medical care, basic shelter if possible, and alters any new cats that move into the colony. Feral kittens up to ten weeks of age can usually be socialized and adopted into homes, but adult feral cats are wild animals and taming them is very unlikely. |
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| Getting Help There are several groups and organizations in the Austin area that can help with free or low cost spay/neuter of feral cats, loaning out humane traps, and rescue groups that can give you support or help with TNR, provide information, and teach you how to tame feral kittens.
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Learn how to do trap-neuter-return and how to manage a cat colony.
Connect with others in Austin that are helping feral cats. |
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| Feral Cat Information |
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