Feral Cats: A Social and Humane Issue for All of Us

Feral cats made the front page of the Detroit Free Press.

To see a story of this magnitude would be to believe this is a new problem when, in fact, it has existed for a long time.

It’s a story that must be told and retold. 

I’m still not sure a lot of people know what a feral cat is. For the record, a feral cat is not a stray cat. A stray cat was once a companion animal. A feral cat is a cat that was born outside or has been outside so long that it has converted back to a feral (wild) state in order to survive. Feral cats are not social, nor are they adoptable.

Feral cats live in colonies and form close bonds with one another. A colony is defined as a group of cats gathering around a common food source.

Often, when compassionate, softhearted citizens see cats living outside, they want to help it, but don’t know exactly what to do. So, they offer food. And, if you feed them, the cats will come. 

Colonies become a problem when their populations go unchecked. Cats breed and the colony grows. Or, the cats breed with a domestic cat that is allowed outside without being spayed or neutered. Sometimes the cats are sick. Diseases such as Feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS put healthy cats at risk. Often there is fighting and urine marking. 

Yet, simply withholding food is not an answer to the problem. In most cases the cats will relocate and become someone else’s problem and starvation should never be seen as a solution.  Trapping and killing the cats is not a solution either. Not only is it inhumane, it creates a “vacuum effect” whereby more cats move in to the vacant territory.

The problem has a two-word solution – personal responsibility.    

Personal responsibility begins at home. People must spay and neuter their pets. Some people are still hung up on this concept. To neuter a male cat or dog might be considered “unmascline,” while others want their children to experience “the miracle of birth” without any thought to the consequences -- more kittens (or puppies) that are born into a world where there are no homes for them.

The numbers are astounding. According to forgottenfelines.com, two cats and their surviving offspring left to breed unchecked for one year results in 12 cats. After two years, there will be 66 cats. After three years, 2,201 cats, and after five years, 12,680 cats. The calculations assume two litters per year with 2.8 surviving kittens in each litter.

But, what if there was a way to control the feral cat population in a humane way so that humans and cats could coexist? There is, but it’s not easy. It requires work and dedication. The process is called Trap, Neuter, Return, or TNR. 

In a TNR project, humane box traps are used to capture the cats. Then, they are transported to a veterinary facility where they are spayed or neutered and, after a brief recuperation, returned to their environment where they are cared for by volunteer caregivers. This includes feeding, cleaning, and providing shelter.

The colony is monitored and the process is repeated if any new cats join the colony. It does work. It controls the colony population and many of the problems associated with colonies, such as marking, fighting and spreading of disease, are eliminated. Ideally, the colony will shrink over time.

I can tell you TNR works. I’ve seen it in my own neighborhood where TNR has been practiced since 2001. Our population, which was small to begin with, is now down to three cats and there have been no births since 2005. My neighbor and I are the cats’ primary caregivers. 

We also did the trapping and funded the project ourselves with some initial help from a local grassroots organization. Other neighbors paid to sponsor neutering/spaying. Others were indifferent.

Yet, the humane thing to do is not always the easiest thing to do. 

One of the most common excuses people make is, “I can’t afford to spay and neuter these cats.” Yet, the cost is greater in the long run.

Our biggest problem was finding a sympathetic vet who was willing to treat the cats. Many vets don’t take on feral cats. Many practitioners are overbooked. It takes time, and there is no profit or return business associated with TNR. Thankfully, organizations like All About Animals of Warren sponsor low-cost spay/neuter clinics where senior veterinary students usually do the spay/neuter under supervision. There are also vets who volunteer their time.

But what about the high numbers of feral cats? The numbers can make the task daunting, yet every bit helps. Every cat that’s “fixed” is one less cat producing more cats – think again about those numbers. 

Of course, the feral cat issue is complex, and there are many factors to consider before starting a TNR project and there is much more that could be written on this topic. An excellent resource is Alley Cat Allies, a feral cat advocate association.

TNR is an experiment in both humane population control and social activism. My personal philosophy has always been that we are the Earth’s caretakers during our lifetimes. If we take this vocation seriously, then we must take personal responsibility to find a way to help and coexist with our fellow earthlings.