How to Handle Feral Felines

Felines have a way of knowing which house might have a friendly adult inside, which one might have a child old enough to be gentle with his affection, which one might offer food, which one won’t shoo it away.

But even animal lovers with kind hearts might be unsure what’s best for the cat. What is the right thing to do when a stray feline shows up? Set out a dish of your pet’s food? Call Animal Control? Bring it inside and hope it sleeps next to you?

Such efforts are a good idea, but you have personal options as well. When you see a feral cat in your neighborhood, consider your choices: Cats who live in the wild are often referred to as feral, or community cats. They are not a new phenomenon, but recent community efforts to stop the pet overpopulation have involved trapping and neutering or spaying the feral cats before releasing them back into the wild.

·         Give it a home. If they are friendly, and you have room, by all means, take them in. Most people obtain their pet cats as neighborhood strays or from friends and family, rather than embarking on a search for a new pet.

·         Give it food. If the cats are unsocialized or you are already at your pet limit, then you can help the cats by feeding them. If you feed a feral cat, be prepared to offer it outdoor shelter and to continue feeding it.

·         Get it fixed. If you feed feral cats, find out about your community’s trap-neuter-return program. Most have one, even if it’s small. Organizers can help you set a trap for the feral cats to capture them so they can be sterilized and vaccinated, then returned. These programs improve the health and welfare of the cats, while they stop the cycle of reproduction.

·         Think carefully before calling Animal Control. Most animal shelters are overrun with cats and hope that residents will exhaust all other options before bringing cats to the shelter. The vast majority of cats that enter shelters are euthanized, simply because there are not enough homes for them. Unsocialized feral cats rarely leave shelters alive.

Of course, before deciding to claim a cat that showed up on your doorstep, it’s best to decide if the cat is truly feral. If the feline is tame and you can catch it, take it to a veterinarian or a shelter so they can scan for a microchip. It might just be lost.

All information in this post is from AAHA.