Does the act of feeding ferral cat colonies only worsen the nuisance?

Question

Is culling ferral cats the best solution? Some organizations actually capture them, sterilize them and release them--is this more effective? Or should they just be left to nature? I am asking for research purposes.

Answer 1

TNR trap-neuter-release is now the accepted way to manage a cat colony. If you simply feed them- you know what happens. If you remove them- another colony moves in. So what you do is fix them and vaccinate them and then care for the colony. Younger, friendly animals will be removed for adoption. Sick animals that cannot be treated (like FLV or FIV) will most likely be euthanized. The rest of the healthy adults will stay in the area, but not breed. They will defend their colony from intruders, so the group should not grow. Eventually, they will die out 'naturally.'

This is the absolute BEST group for this info:

http://www.alleycat.org/

I completely agree with this philosophy- one of the most studied feral cat groups is the 'boardwalk cats' of Atlantic City, here in NJ. Google this, too- you'll see how effective TNR really is.

Answer 2

If they are captured and sterilized then released it would be great. Unfortunately there are not alot of organizations in our area around to do that. My neighbor feeds all the strays in her backyard and it turns into nothing but a mating ground. She then in turn will try to place all these unwanted kittens and doesn't do anything with the adults. I have told her on numerous occasions that she is doing nothing for these animals other than making it a singles club for all the cats out there. Last week I went past her house and one of the little cute fuzzies got ran over, right in front of her house. Does it worsen the nuisance? In her case yes. She does no medical work for them, no sterilization, no vaccines, just provides food.
If you feed the stray cats in your area, you best name them. They have now become your cats. They will now look at you as their source of food. So, go ahead and feed them, they are now your responsibility. We will see how long you do that before you start trapping them, and taking them to the humane society and pass the cost off to the counties or organizations that pass the cost inevitably to you & I.

Answer 3

Domestic cats are a danger to themselves and others if 'left to nature'. They were not created by nature, but by man, and they are sentenced to a life of disease, infection, and starvation when left uncared for, sterilized or not. Feral cats are the largest pool of domestic animal in which the rabies virus is a major threat. Feline Leukemia and Immunodeficiency Virus also run rampant in feral populations because none of them are vaccinated.

For research purposes it is difficult to say which is 'better', because the other side of the coin would be anyone with a 'no kill' point of view, that any life is better than none. Perhaps if you're doing research and want a true answer, you could poll some random people about their opinion, euthanize for the benefit of the community, or leave each individual to its fate, good or bad.

Answer 4

Lifespan of an outdoor cat is under three years. In those three years the female cats can have up to six litters, between one and six kittens each litter.

By fixing the cats (spay, neuter) you stop the next generation while the current one holds the area as their territory so other cats don't come in. You get a stable population that's not producing more, and when those pass on, and new ones move in and are spay/neutered, the problem of feral cats is stable and not getting worse.

While the cats ARE there, they're at least fed well enough to keep illness at bay, are not starving, are not passing in disease. They also don't roam as far looking for reliable food and water, so you've got the best way of at least keeping the current population as healthy as possible without more being added as fertile replacements.

I definately advocate it. TNR works.

Answer 5

Where I live, there are groups of carers who feed the feral cats.
Young males are neutered whenever possible: older males are left alone.
Females are spayed regardless of age but depending on condition.
The cats are feral because these measures were never instigated in the first place. The "troubled" owner abandoned kittens somewhere, often with the Mum Cat.
Feral cats can fend for themselves in that the weaker ones will die, the stronger will fight for food and then do well for a while until they spread feline aids and other diseases (to pet cats aswell as their clan)and die young and unloved.
I think it is brilliant and saintly that humans look out for them.
It was never the cats' faults they were born and abandoned.
Nature also takes its course ... many feral cats live in a park in my City and many human carers come to feed them. But when kittens are born, no-one can stop the crows from snatching them as tasty snacks, still alive. Mum Cat, Carers and even the Boss Tom can't fight off the crows.
My opinion is please feed them! Neuter and spay them if possible (many vets or animal　charities will do this for free) and then, please feed the crows too! Those poor, poor kittens!

P.S. Culling any animal is an out-dated and barbaric practice that should be made illegal!

Answer 6

Don't let your kids run after the feral cats. It's not like the feral cats are gonna come up and attack them when they're outside. Aside from that, ask if she can do one or two feedings a day. Put the food out for a half hour and put it away after. If you have a trap/neuter/release program in your area, make sure she's aware of that. If the animals are fixed, hopefully the bunch dwindles over time.

Answer 7

A single individual cannot solve the problem, unless he/she makes an effort to sterilise the cats he/she is feeding. But feeding them is only a humane action. what is the alternative, starce them to death? This is unacceptable for any living creature. But it is important to be captured and sterilised, by the local authorities or societies. This is what has happened in Athens with dogs during the Olympics. There are still many stray dogs, but they are well fed by the people, but at least there are no new puppies born on the streets (unfortunately there are many thrown in the streets by irresponsible dog owners). If the same happened with cats, it would be much better for the cats themselves actually, who do get fed, without causing any nuisance (in fact they catch mice), but mating causes disease and dead kittens to them.
So, bottom line: feed them, this is good, but also make sure to spay/neuter them, as an individual or as a society.

To judy: so you invite them over by feeding them, then you decide you don't like them and get them killed? And you call this humane? If you don't want them near you, just don't feed them, they will go elsewhere where they are wanted. What you did is called baiting and murder.

Answer 8

Personally I believe that TNR (trap neuter & release) is the best way of controlling the numbers of feral cats. Also educating people about the full responsibility of pet ownership would help too. Here in Cyprus, so many ex-pats adopt cats and then dump them in the streets to fend for themselves when they decide to return to their own country. Sadly too many pets world wide are also abandoned when the owner tires of them, or the pet has behavioural or expensive health problems.

The extermination strategies are enthusiastically supported by those who view ferals as nuisance animals. However, extermination isn't simple or straightforward and is often counter-productive. No eradication method is 100% effective in eliminating cats from large areas and cats which evade the exterminators, breed several times a year depending on climate and available food/shelter, quickly re-colonising the area. Cleared areas have under-utilised food sources which attract new cats from outside. The only way to keep an area cat-free is to remove food sources (edible refuse, prey species, handouts by cat-lovers), something which is often impossible or impractical.

There are those who argue that cats are killing all local wildlife and should be culled. However, complete removal of cats will also lead to population booms in rabbits, rats, mice, pigeons and other pest species which compete with, or prey upon, desirable wildlife species.

Aside from being inhumane, most methods of culling such as poisoning, trapping or shooting are indiscriminate, and result in pet cats, dogs and desirable local wildlife being killed as well.

A study carried out by C.A.T.S. (Cats Assistance To Sterilise) found that the trap-neuter-return of cats in 84 colonies led to an overall reduction in cat numbers: unneutered cats were no longer attracted to colonies and no kittens were born to replace cats which died. The resident populations deterred other cats which would have swarmed into an area vacated by an extermination method.

For more information on this subject, I can highly recommend several articles written by Sarah Hartwell which you will find on the Messy Beast web site.

http://www.messybeast.com/catarchive.htm#health

Answer 9

I am enjoying your questions.

While many do trap and release they don't take into consideration the diesease that is spread amongst the colonies which eventually continues into other single strays the just got lost and could be saved if it weren't for such diseases like FIP.

Another thing those that want to save them all don't take into consideration is the dangerous way stray cats die. Children tormenting, adults tormenting, poisons, hit by cars, prey to other animals. My opinion is I would rather see them euthanized humanely than to be suffering from a raccoon eating its guts. Or laying in agoning foaming at the mout from poisons in the environment. I don't think the bunny huggers realize or have the ability to think further than the pet NOW.

People need to think about the future quality of life of the cat colonies.

Answer 10

We in Canada have a Ferrel cat colony on Parliament hill... its become so popular that people go there just to see the cats.. plus it keeps the mouse/rat population down..
They are well cared for...
Check out the link for into...
http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/explorecatsanctuary_e.html