What is the number one killer of cats in America? Nope, it’s not cancer or chronic renal failure. It’s being killed in animal shelters. And what type of cat is almost guaranteed to receive such a death sentence? Maybe you already know the answer: feral cats. Because adult ferals are not acclimated to humans and cannot be adopted out, once they wind up in an animal control facility, there is little more that can be done with them.
National Feral Cat Day is this Sunday, October 16, but I am posting about it now in hopes that some of you human readers will go out and do something to help feral cats this weekend. It is only Monday, and I know how important “schedules” are to you all, so I wanted to give you enough time to plan. If you are in the U.S. or Canada, check out the official National Feral Cat Day website to see if there is an event near you that you can attend or help out at. If there isn’t, you can still help by learning important facts, and spreading the word:
- Feral cats, for the most part, cannot be tamed. The exception are feral kittens: if they are captured at a very young age — for example, along with a mother, who is nursing them as newborns — they can be raised to be human friendly.
- The primary wild diet of feral cats consists of small mammals such as mice. While they do catch birds, this is a secondary food source, and human destruction of bird habitat is the main reason for declining bird populations. There are a lot of bird groups that are trying to say different, but they are twisting facts and using misinformation to promote their agenda.
- Destroying a colony of feral cats creates a vacuum that will eventually be filled with more intact (unneutered and unspayed) cats. The most effective, and proven, way to control feral cat population is by TNR — Trap, Neuter and Return — in a managed group.
Consider studying the facts and writing a letter to your local editor, or putting up a poster at your vet clinic to help people better understand and help feral cats. Like any cat, ferals are impossible to control by force. Understanding them and working with their nature is a far more effective and compassionate method.
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Very important post Sparkle. Thank you.
I had no idea that TNR was an option for feral kitties but it certainly beats the alternative. I checked out the site and there are 2 events near the Small Town. I am going to see if I can attend one.
I have supported the feral care group in the large city very near me. Time to help again.
Thanks for the info Sparkle. I’ll be posting this message to my vet clinic.
This is such an important message Sparkle. We’ll do our best to spread it! I was a feral kitten–but I was not too easy to tame and I’m still not what you’d call “Human Friendly” MOL!
Before our mom lost her jobbie, she fed the feral cats at work for many years. She got quite attached to them. She has lots of pictures of them.
Great info, Sparkle!! We will be doing a commentathon later this week to raise some green papers for Alley Cat Allies to help the feral kitties.
Great post, Sparkle! except for Hollie, we were wild kittens when our mom found us. She kept each of us cause she knew we’d have less of a chance at the shelter unless the people could work with us and tame us. TNR is very important and also responsible spaying and neutering of pets.
Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, Hollie
We have several TNR programs around here. TW hardly ever sees a stray anymore w/o clipped ears.
Sparkle, this is a great post. Mama is a big supporter of TNR groups. We did not know that there are some states where it is illegal.
Sparkle, this is a very informative post about feral kitties! Our mommy has always tried to do what she can to support TNR groups and spreading the word about feral cats. Thanks for this great post!
We have to care for our feral cousins too. Thanks for the post.
It’s a hard life for a feral no matter how you cut it…TNR is the best way to go!!!
We are affiliated with the local No More Homeless Pets chapter in our area. They work on spay/neuter of feral cats in our area. It has decreased the euthanasia rates in our area dramatically. We wish more communities had organizations like FCNMHP! Good post Sparkle.
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥
The ferals need all the help they can get! Thanks for lots of great info!!!
Sparkle, Mommy gets really upset knowing so many kitties are killed in shelters, that’s one reason there are so many of us! There is a TNR group in Las Vegas (on the Strip!) that manages colonies for rodent control in the casinos, it’s pretty amazing.
Thanks for writing this post, Sparkle. We will see if there is a way we can do something in our community. I know people here are afraid of feral cats being allowed to exist so close to homes because of possible rabies. What do you know about what can be done about that? Are there ways to use food for vaccination in some way?
My human mom use to help a lady trappng feral kitties for TNR. This lady moved across the country. I should do research in this area for TNR and see how I can help.
A very informative post Sparkle.
Feral cats is important! We live in a rural area and there are lots of cats that in the city people would call feral but they has important jobs – especially for the farmers! These colonies are taken care of. They are spayed and neutered to keep the size manageable.
But there is a problem with people in the city who think they can dump a pet they no longer want. These cats can not fend. We won’t talk about what happens to them.
Ww will see what we can do here about feral cat day! Thanks for the heads up!
Kisses
Nellie
The publicist is all in favor of TNR
mom is still trying to catch that “beepin” calico cat that keeps defying her!!! 🙂
As you know, I am a feral fanantic. Everyone here is a feral cat except one or two. And the kittens that had a feral mom are tame around our Mom but most of them run when a stranger. I have been trying to think of a way to help out on Feral day and I think doing a post is a great idea. I didn’t know there were states where it is against the law to TNR. Anyway, terrific post Sparkle.
Interesting post Sparkel! 🙂
Dear Sparkle, thanks for this important reportage and all information!
Luna
Great article sweetie. My peeps are a little handicapped with volunteer work these days, but we’ll try to think of something they can do.
Thanks for the great info, Sparkle…. We’ll put it to use.
pawhugs, Max
Brilliant post, Sparkle. In our state, TNR is illegal. Many of the rescue organisations here actively work against TNR, telling everyone it’s cruel to force the colonies to live out their lives in the wild (ignoring how different a properly managed colony is to a group of cats simply living wild). It makes mum rage.
Excellent post, Sparkle. There’s a group in our city that is working to manage the local feral groups and they’ve recently received some funding from our local shelter. They trap the kittens that they can and then adopt them out. There’s also a vet clinic outside our city that now offers low cost spay/neuter and they work with this group too. It’s a never-ending problem because so many humans don’t respect four-legged Beings or understand that we’re all One, and so just don’t care. :-/
What an informative post. Thanks for sharing. xx
Harley’s mom was a feral cat who was at the shelter to be spayed and released. Since it turned out she was actually full-term, the vet decided to let the kittens be borned, and the momcat was then spayed and released.
Interesting Post, Sparkle !
I’m sure it will lots of human to join on that day
Purrs