What in the world are people doing trying to save feral cats?

Question

This has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. These people are animal lovers, but they prefer cats over song birds, chip monks, rabbits, and all the other NATIVE animals that feral cats kill by the billions. Whole species have been wiped out by cats.

BUT, yet there are people who go trap the wild cats, spend the money to go have them neutered, and RELEASE THEM BACK INTO THE WILD. They feed them, but still cats eat anything that moves.

In a world where PEOPLE are starving and dying by the millions why in the world are we saving feral cats.

They are not even from America, they are an introduced species. They are nothing more than weeds.

Answer 1

I agree that people should not feed feral cats. I'm an animal lover myself, but even I'm smart enough to know that one little scratch/bite from a cat will kill a bird/squirrel b/c of infection.
I wish there were no feral cats. As much as it pains me to write it, I feel like they should be captured and humanely euthanized. These cats are always sick, and they're not socialized enough to be adopted. In Toronto there are colonies of like 20-30 cats!
Obviously there are domestic cats that are let outside and kill birds etc., as well, and I believe these cats should not be let out.

Answer 2

It's been already pointed out repeatedly in Smithsonian and National Geographic magazine that while cats do act as predators, the GREATEST threat to songbirds is habitat loss and chemical poisonings people put down. We kill far more than all the cats combined.

I do TNR. I watch the 5 year old feral we're taming down as he hunts--he got the mice and rats, leaves the squirrels alone (they learned early to threaten cats, I've seen squirrels do kamakazi runs at full tomcats, running them off), and while birds ARE a natural prey for cats, it's only the unwary who get caught. I've seen many MANY attempts at healthy birds by him and he never even gets close.

He does occasionally get the sick ones, and the ones with that scale thing around their eyes (it showed up on the purple house finches, some sort of infection spread by bird to bird contact in summer), but healthy birds are in flight before he can even get in pouncing distance.

Oh, and the rabbits hold their own too. The strays leave them alone.

Our ferals here aren't sick, they have a reliable food source so are not skin and bones, they have healthy immune systems to get them past any illness. The 15 I took in this year for TNR did NOT have ear mites, were not FIV positive and only one had fleas. Yes they had worms, but those were treated. They've been vaccinated for rabies and against the main cat diseases as all housecats are, and microchipped.

It's not a cat's fault if it gets dumped by it's owner, is born wild, or whatever. We did take 4 out of the environment who were tameable, kept two, adopted the other two out, and are taming down two others who are tolerant of people. By keeping the TNR going, no new kittens are being born, no other ferals are moving into this area, and the ones that are here are at least able to get a meal every day to stay strong. There's been no ringworm, no mange, nothing to say 'these are disease ridden' showing up in the population here.

Answer 3

"They are not even from America, they are an introduced species." WOW - that's one of the funniest things I've ever read on here! HUH? Do you think "feral" is a breed of cat? No. Feral cats are cats that have been born in the wild or abandoned, and hence, turned "feral" - look it up at http//www.dictionary.com. They're pets that have been abandoned or dumped or kittens born in the wild to housecats that owners don't spay and allow to roam outdoors.

The reason they spay and neuter the feral cats is so they won't keep breeding. And the reason some are released back is because they're too wild to live in homes.

FYI - these feral cats aren't the only ones killing songbirds. Every cat owner who owns a cat that they allow to roam around outside contributes to the killing. Do you REALLY think that only the ones without owners kill the birds? That's almost laughable!

Next time you want to rant about something please educate yourself about the issue first. Not doing so just makes you look foolish and annoys those of us that DO know about it.

Answer 4

It isn't the cats fault they were brought here, or born. Just because they arn't native doesn't mean we should kill them when we can, or let them starve. By nuetering them, you are helping prevent hundreds of new cats. With time, this method will help the population.

And, do you know how many of these speices pet cats kill? And dogs?

And the rabbit population isn't exactly suffering.

And, as for people starving.... Hello, America is fighting a war in Iraq costing billions. We could have spent that money on starving people. Don't blame the cats.

And I find this insulting that a person from the human race could be so heartless.

Answer 5

TNR is actually the only way to reduce feral cat populations. If you destroy all the ferals in an area, then they will simply be replaced by other ferals, as obviously it is a desirable location, ample food and safe territory. If you practice TNR, then the population will naturally decline as the cats die off, and there will be no replacement population. Feeding them means that they are less inclined to feed on wild species. However, few of the endangered birds in the U.S. are of a size to be feline prey, and certainly squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits are not endangered.

Answer 6

don't forget that ferals help with the rodent population and isn't that a good thing?

Although I don't 100% agree with TNR, the fact is, feral cats do not kill as many song birds as one thinks. Rodents and rabbits reproduce at such fast rates, I can not believe that you would see a difference in your community of the population decreasing among the chipmunks, mice, rabbits or even the song birds.

Feral cats are not introduced from out of the country, they are simply wild cats...if they were domesticated and thrown outside to fend for themselves, reproduced and their kittens would then be wild (a`hem, feral).

Answer 7

Unless you're a Native American, you're not from America either, you're an introduced species too. Maybe we should put you to sleep? or at the very least, spay you and release you back into the wild..

Answer 8

feral cats are partly credited with halting the advance of the plague and other diseases that are spread by vermin...(the plague was spread by rats)

rats and mice also cause immence crop damage.. thus cats help keep fields more productive..

deer mice can kill people (something in their poop) I forgot the name of the diesase..

ok so if you catch and SPAY or NEUTER the feral cats it also helps because NEW Feral Cats will not move into the area... sooooo in the long run it keeps populations under control by having cats pressent.. and having them spayed or neutered...

anyhow yes people are dying by the millions.. but dont forget the United Nations has stated that our own over population will is the # one threat to our continued existance.. at over 6.5 Billion of us.. we should be controllling our own species growth to the same extent we controll the population growth of other species...


the biggest killer of Song birds is NOT cats.. its people - deforestation, and pesticides used on bugs.. and windows in sky scrapers in birds migration routes...

Answer 9

CF's points are valid and responsible. Where cats are a nuisance, they are being hunted down and eliminated. But the also aid humans in our ongoing fight against rats and mice. Even chipmunks can cause a lot of problems in a home.

Answer 10

Because they are ignorant and cat crazed loners who think feral cats are their friends. feral cats are useless and destroy environment and kill wildlife, but sure lets make sure they are saved, **** the wildlife.