How to Control Feral Cat Populations
The concept of "stray cat" is familiar to virtually everyone. However, "feral cat" is a less well-understood category of stray cats. Feral cats are simply abandoned cats that have grown up without human care, or their offspring that have never known human care and love. Over time, these cats tend to lose characteristics of domestication. They tend to live in colonies, are unfriendly, distrusting and may appear aggressive.
As innocent as they are, they present health risks to humans and the domestic animal population. It is for this reason that animal lovers want to control the feral cat population.
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Instructions
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Beware of approaching feral cats, which can appear to look domesticated. Organize or join the efforts of a local trap, neuter and release -- or TNR -- program in your area. If there is not a local TNR program in your area, contact the humane society and they can provide guidance. These TNR programs are run by a coalition of community members and animal lovers, in conjunction with the local humane society and area veterinarians. TNRs are designed to provide a humane solution to the overpopulation of the animals by providing subsidized sterilization. The emphasis of this type of program is to enhance the quality of life of a feral cat by providing medical care and vaccination, reducing the population over time in a humane and caring way. Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered and then released back into their home environment. Additionally, reducing the potential for negative feral cat impact on wildlife is also a goal.
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Adopting feral kittens helps reduce overpopulation by potentially saving the kitten from a short-lived life. Organize a group of caring animal lovers into a band of colony caretakers that will reduce the negative impact that a feral colony has on wildlife. These caretakers can watch over the colony as it shrinks in size, provide shelter, food and water, and monitor for sick or injured animals. Newborn kittens can be removed by these caretakers and shuttled to an adoptive home.
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Post information to educate the public on what it can do to keep overpopulation down. Embark upon a public education and adoption campaign. TNR programs and colony caretakers alone will not be enough to stymie the negative reach of the feral cat population. Public education and adoption measures consist of working with the local humane society to educate the public about what they can do to help. Without a public education campaign, more cats are abandoned or born into the feral population as a result of the neglect of sterilization measures in the domestic cat population. The general public should be educated on what options are open when they are presented with an unwanted litter of kittens.
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Publicize and campaign for the last-resort measure of euthanasia. Help to see that posters are strategically located on community bulletin boards, and work with the humane society to get the word out via word of mouth and the distribution of flyers. As a last resort, for the benefit of the human population, the domestic pet population and the feral colony, euthanasia is considered to be a humane solution to the problem.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not approach any domestic or wild animal that is unfamiliar to you. Stray cats and other unfamiliar wildlife may carry disease. Call animal control.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit cat image by nutech21 from Fotolia.com cat image by FotoWorx from Fotolia.com boy and his pet image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com spay and neuter poster image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
Comments
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Jean Boileau
Jan 17, 2011
i have spent nearly 15 years managing a feral cat colony as well as dealing with ferals. I have handled them by hand and I wish that people would take the time to learn about them. Shame on eHow to post this stating "As innocent as they are, they present health risks to humans and the domestic animal population. It is for this reason that animal lovers want to control the feral cat population." Do your research. I have! and I can guarantee you that you have a 1 in 3 chance of contracting disease or illness from another human being as opposed to getting sick from a feral cat. Feral cats avoid human contact at all cost. Obviously whoever wrote this needs to get his or her head out of the clouds and do some research on feral cats.
