Has a Cat Crossed Your Path? Find Out More About Our Feline Neighbors

Lost or abandoned cats live everywhere -- in cities, the suburbs, the countryside -- yet many of us give little thought to the true nature of our feline neighbors. Feral cats may be the most misunderstood of all the animals that share our communities.
What is a feral cat? Simply a domestic cat that was lost or abandoned and has reverted to its wild instincts, or a cat that was born to a stray or feral mother and grew up with little or no human contact. Feral cats gather near a source of food and shelter in family groups called colonies. Scientific studies have demonstrated that feral cats generally share the same level of good health as pet cats and, when spayed or neutered and living in managed colonies, they can live long and peaceful lives.

To get the facts out about feral cats, volunteers nationwide are hard at work organizing events to celebrate the fourth annual National Feral Cat Day (NFCD) on October 16, 2004. NFCD was proclaimed in 2001 by Alley Cat Allies, the national nonprofit clearinghouse for information about stray and feral cats. NFCD’s goal is to educate communities and governments about the true nature of feral cats and to raise awareness of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), the most effective and humane method to reduce feral cat populations.

With TNR, volunteers humanely trap feral cats and take them to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated. The cats are then returned to their outdoor homes, where caregivers feed and monitor the colonies on an ongoing basis, including trapping and sterilizing any newcomers who join the group. Over the years, the colonies naturally die out because no kittens are born.

“Too many jurisdictions are still trying to control their feral cat populations by trapping the cats and destroying them,” says Becky Robinson, national director of Alley Cat Allies. “But decades of experience have proven that killing feral cats does nothing to reduce their overall numbers. Fortunately, hundreds of communities, animal organizations, and local governments are now implementing TNR as a far superior and more humane solution.”

“Promoting TNR is a challenge because there are many misconceptions about feral cats,” says Donna Wilcox, executive director of Alley Cat Allies. “To understand why TNR works, it is essential to understand that feral cats are akin to wild animals living without human contact. While feral kittens trapped at an early age can often be socialized and placed in homes, adult feral cats can rarely be tamed and are not adoptable.”

Since 1990, Alley Cat Allies has worked with local communities and caregivers to educate the public about feral cats and TNR. National Feral Cat Day was created in large part to provide groups and individuals across the United States with a day to carry out fun, educational NFCD events in their communities.

This year, groups will be setting up public information tables about feral cats and TNR; conducting cat food drives to assist feral cat caregivers in defraying the cost of cat food; and, to keep the spirit of National Feral Cat Day alive all year long, establishing permanent spay/neuter clinics in their communities to stop feral cat overpopulation.

“NFCD grows in size and scope each year because hundreds of volunteers across the country organize events to raise awareness about TNR,” says Robinson. “We couldn’t do this without our feral friends. They are truly the backbone of our organization.”