The Feral Cat debate
Feral cat colonies are of great concern to communities where they reside, especially because of their potential to dramatically alter the makeup of ecosystems through predation. Loss of wildlife by cat predation is a concern not only to conservationists, environmentalists, and bird lovers, but also to all members of the public who, knowingly or not, depend on the health of their neighborhood ecosystems to sustain their quality of life. The difficulties which attend problems such as dealing with the volatile population dynamics of cats cannot be avoided by use of cursory and ultimately ineffective methods of control. A thorough and intricate problem necessarily requires a comprehensive and sustainable solution.
What is the difference between a feral cat and a stray cat? For Felis silvestris catus, the domestic cat, there is a very large group of individuals which holds an uncertain status somewhere between "wild" and "domestic.”. Stray cats have been defined as cats which were once domesticated, but were abandoned, lost, or ran away. Because the environmental variables acting upon the descendants of such cats are essentially identical to those which act upon wild animals, first generation unowned cats are properly called "stray," and only later generations "feral." The distinction between a wild animal and a feral animal lies in the typically urban habitat of feral animals and the fact that members of the species are traditionally domesticated. Adult feral cats are nearly impossible to domesticate, while strays are sometimes re-socialized. Feral kittens, however, can be socialized before they reach about twelve weeks old. Feral cats often form colonies, or clowders, in a particular location around a common food source, such as a dumpster, open garbage dump, or where people offer handouts. The colony size is necessarily dependent on the size of the food source. Abandoned or lost domestic cats often join feral colonies out of necessity, the only readily available food source having been claimed by the colony.
How are feral cat colonies looked on by the general population? Feral colonies are a hot topic among cat proponents, bird and other small-species proponents, and some local governments and state agencies. The problems created by feral cats stem largely from their skill as hunters and their prolific reproduction (female cats can have two to three litters per year). A peculiarity of cats is that they continue to hunt even when well-fed. . For this reason, feral cat colonies have decimated species of wildlife, some of them endangered, in locations with island ecologies, including in Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Pacific Mexico. These particularly dramatic instances of cat predation serve both as examples of the effects of an unchecked feral cat population and as ammunition for bird advocacy groups, who suggest that feral cat populations are far too destructive to be left alone or placed back into the wild after being spayed or neutered. These groups support the eradication of feral cats by kill methods.
An additional objection to feral cats concerns their potential to carry and spread disease. While there is disagreement over the extent to which cats spread disease, they are known to transmit ringworm, parasitic worms, feline immunodeficiency virus, and feline leukemia. They also transmit toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and babies, and cat scratch fever, which also affects humans. In addition, cats are the companion animal most commonly infected withrabies in the United States. The question of how best to humanely deal with cat predation, disease, and overpopulation has resulted in controversy.
So what can be done? There are two schools of thought. The trap and kill method espoused by bird advocates is the most common method of feral cat population control. Groups that support this seemingly direct, simple, and immediate method of population control have several reasons for doing so. Bird advocates witness the present population of feral cats preying on the existing population of songbirds, and respond accordingly. Where significant numbers of songbirds are endemic, bird advocates point out thatTNR does not reduce the impact of cat predation on birds because the cats, no matter how well fed, continue to prey on the birds. They suggest that only elimination of the cats will prevent loss of birds, but that people can prevent the trapping and killing of cats by responsibly looking after and sterilizing their pets.
Then there is “trap neuter and release” or TNR method. This method is espoused by animal rescue groups like Hands Helping Paws from Norman Ok. Lu Willis of this group says that the numbers that are put on line for feral cat populations are exaggerated. For her area it is said that there is about 40,000 feral cats (or 224 cats per square mile)! Her group was founded as a TNR program then became an adoption program when the funding for the TNR program ran low. She also tells us that TNR programs are the best way to control feral cat populations because the established colony keeps out cats from other areas and over time the numbers decrease in the colony due to deaths in the colony. Established colonies of altered cats also have an improved quality of life because they are not always fighting over territories or mates, roaming and running the risk of getting hit by cars, and the females are not stressed by pregnancy and rearing kittens. TNR programs can work in any area where the laws do not consider the releasing of altered cats as abandonment and there are people willing to establish feeding sites for the colony. Ms. Willis agrees the best way to reduce the number of feral cats it to alter pet cats and reduce the number of unwanted kittens born.
It is significant that the two opposing sides of the TNR debate are essentially in agreement over at least two critical issues. First, all concerned agree that the behavior of cat owners toward their pets must be addressed in order to get this problem under control. There would be no feral cats without careless or irresponsible pet owners who either purposely or inadvertently allow their unaltered cats to roam free or "dump" them. The potential for unaltered cats to reproduce in exponential numbers when supplied with a sufficient food source is staggering. Under the circumstances, legislation, at least at the local level, pertaining to the licensing, sterilization, and control of pet cats is in order. Many, if not most municipalities have ordinances addressing the responsibility of owners toward dogs. Such ordinances can be used as models for cat laws.
The second point of agreement is that, except for a few instances of mass predation on islands, feral cat colonies exist only where there is a human-supplied food source. While colony managers are well aware that an increase in the number of cats requires an increase in the amount of food that must be provided, it is equally true that an increase in food results in an increase in the number of cats, where the cats are unaltered. The basic biological reality that birth rates decrease where food is scarce and increase where it is plentiful should lead us to focus on how humans are feeding free-roaming cats.
A critical area of local focus should be the elimination of open containers containing edible garbage. An entire colony of cats might exist in and around single garbage dumpster behind an apartment complex. The cats are generally not there looking for food; they are there because they have found food and are protecting it; this is what defines a feral cat colony. Several generations of cats within the colony have survived potentially off of this one dumpster. By properly sealing such containers from access by cats, the birth rates within the colony will decrease and the colony will reach a sustainable size. Although policing dumpsters is hardly a priority of most local governments, rethinking waste management policies is critical to feral cat population control.
The welfare of feral cats depends on the willingness of people to deal with them responsibly and intelligently. The intelligent and responsible thing for citizens, conservationists, cat lovers, and bird lovers to do is turn their attention to finding workable solutions specific to their localities. Whether or not the law will treat feral cats as wild animals, there is reason to do so in practice. A feral cat is an actor within its ecosystem just as wild squirrels, deer, and birds are. The problem is not the fact that they are cats, but rather that we do not see cats as we see squirrels, deer, and birds—as wild animals. People must confront cat overpopulation both by refusing to created more wild cats in the first place through abandonment, and by preventing the inevitable cat population expansion which occurs where human food is made abundantly available to cats.
What is the difference between a feral cat and a stray cat? For Felis silvestris catus, the domestic cat, there is a very large group of individuals which holds an uncertain status somewhere between "wild" and "domestic.”. Stray cats have been defined as cats which were once domesticated, but were abandoned, lost, or ran away. Because the environmental variables acting upon the descendants of such cats are essentially identical to those which act upon wild animals, first generation unowned cats are properly called "stray," and only later generations "feral." The distinction between a wild animal and a feral animal lies in the typically urban habitat of feral animals and the fact that members of the species are traditionally domesticated. Adult feral cats are nearly impossible to domesticate, while strays are sometimes re-socialized. Feral kittens, however, can be socialized before they reach about twelve weeks old. Feral cats often form colonies, or clowders, in a particular location around a common food source, such as a dumpster, open garbage dump, or where people offer handouts. The colony size is necessarily dependent on the size of the food source. Abandoned or lost domestic cats often join feral colonies out of necessity, the only readily available food source having been claimed by the colony.
How are feral cat colonies looked on by the general population? Feral colonies are a hot topic among cat proponents, bird and other small-species proponents, and some local governments and state agencies. The problems created by feral cats stem largely from their skill as hunters and their prolific reproduction (female cats can have two to three litters per year). A peculiarity of cats is that they continue to hunt even when well-fed. . For this reason, feral cat colonies have decimated species of wildlife, some of them endangered, in locations with island ecologies, including in Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Pacific Mexico. These particularly dramatic instances of cat predation serve both as examples of the effects of an unchecked feral cat population and as ammunition for bird advocacy groups, who suggest that feral cat populations are far too destructive to be left alone or placed back into the wild after being spayed or neutered. These groups support the eradication of feral cats by kill methods.
An additional objection to feral cats concerns their potential to carry and spread disease. While there is disagreement over the extent to which cats spread disease, they are known to transmit ringworm, parasitic worms, feline immunodeficiency virus, and feline leukemia. They also transmit toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and babies, and cat scratch fever, which also affects humans. In addition, cats are the companion animal most commonly infected withrabies in the United States. The question of how best to humanely deal with cat predation, disease, and overpopulation has resulted in controversy.
So what can be done? There are two schools of thought. The trap and kill method espoused by bird advocates is the most common method of feral cat population control. Groups that support this seemingly direct, simple, and immediate method of population control have several reasons for doing so. Bird advocates witness the present population of feral cats preying on the existing population of songbirds, and respond accordingly. Where significant numbers of songbirds are endemic, bird advocates point out thatTNR does not reduce the impact of cat predation on birds because the cats, no matter how well fed, continue to prey on the birds. They suggest that only elimination of the cats will prevent loss of birds, but that people can prevent the trapping and killing of cats by responsibly looking after and sterilizing their pets.
Then there is “trap neuter and release” or TNR method. This method is espoused by animal rescue groups like Hands Helping Paws from Norman Ok. Lu Willis of this group says that the numbers that are put on line for feral cat populations are exaggerated. For her area it is said that there is about 40,000 feral cats (or 224 cats per square mile)! Her group was founded as a TNR program then became an adoption program when the funding for the TNR program ran low. She also tells us that TNR programs are the best way to control feral cat populations because the established colony keeps out cats from other areas and over time the numbers decrease in the colony due to deaths in the colony. Established colonies of altered cats also have an improved quality of life because they are not always fighting over territories or mates, roaming and running the risk of getting hit by cars, and the females are not stressed by pregnancy and rearing kittens. TNR programs can work in any area where the laws do not consider the releasing of altered cats as abandonment and there are people willing to establish feeding sites for the colony. Ms. Willis agrees the best way to reduce the number of feral cats it to alter pet cats and reduce the number of unwanted kittens born.
It is significant that the two opposing sides of the TNR debate are essentially in agreement over at least two critical issues. First, all concerned agree that the behavior of cat owners toward their pets must be addressed in order to get this problem under control. There would be no feral cats without careless or irresponsible pet owners who either purposely or inadvertently allow their unaltered cats to roam free or "dump" them. The potential for unaltered cats to reproduce in exponential numbers when supplied with a sufficient food source is staggering. Under the circumstances, legislation, at least at the local level, pertaining to the licensing, sterilization, and control of pet cats is in order. Many, if not most municipalities have ordinances addressing the responsibility of owners toward dogs. Such ordinances can be used as models for cat laws.
The second point of agreement is that, except for a few instances of mass predation on islands, feral cat colonies exist only where there is a human-supplied food source. While colony managers are well aware that an increase in the number of cats requires an increase in the amount of food that must be provided, it is equally true that an increase in food results in an increase in the number of cats, where the cats are unaltered. The basic biological reality that birth rates decrease where food is scarce and increase where it is plentiful should lead us to focus on how humans are feeding free-roaming cats.
A critical area of local focus should be the elimination of open containers containing edible garbage. An entire colony of cats might exist in and around single garbage dumpster behind an apartment complex. The cats are generally not there looking for food; they are there because they have found food and are protecting it; this is what defines a feral cat colony. Several generations of cats within the colony have survived potentially off of this one dumpster. By properly sealing such containers from access by cats, the birth rates within the colony will decrease and the colony will reach a sustainable size. Although policing dumpsters is hardly a priority of most local governments, rethinking waste management policies is critical to feral cat population control.
The welfare of feral cats depends on the willingness of people to deal with them responsibly and intelligently. The intelligent and responsible thing for citizens, conservationists, cat lovers, and bird lovers to do is turn their attention to finding workable solutions specific to their localities. Whether or not the law will treat feral cats as wild animals, there is reason to do so in practice. A feral cat is an actor within its ecosystem just as wild squirrels, deer, and birds are. The problem is not the fact that they are cats, but rather that we do not see cats as we see squirrels, deer, and birds—as wild animals. People must confront cat overpopulation both by refusing to created more wild cats in the first place through abandonment, and by preventing the inevitable cat population expansion which occurs where human food is made abundantly available to cats.