Leroy is one of the outdoor cats of Riverfront Cats, Miami. Please click to enlarge image.

I wish for a day that every cat had a safe and loving home and that the streets and shelters were not overpopulated with literally millions of cats. Sadly, not only is that dream a long way off,  but many people don’t share that same mindset and that is why today, National Feral Cat Day, is so important. Feral, or outdoor community cats as would be the proper term, are part of the fabric of society and until the world at large has a greater knowledge about these animals, the battle of escalating overpopulation, misconceptions, lack of respect, and mistreatment will continue to exist and my hopes will be nothing more than an elusive dream… 

Communities did not become overrun with outdoor cats as a random consequence of nature. Feral cats are actually a domestic species that were released into the wild, many years ago, unaltered, primarily to rid cities and farms of rodents by mankind. When days turned into years, that turned into decades, that turned into centuries, it is no wonder we have an overpopulation epidemic of upward of 70 million stray and feral cats in the United States alone, according to the ASPCA.

The message and solutions are actually quite simple in theory:

1. We must educate on the imperative need to implement community wide TNRM programs (Trap, Neuter, Return, Manage) to stabilize and manage colony populations.
2. We need to dispel the misconceptions that feral cats are wild, dangerous, disease ridden animals so that those that do live outdoors can do so in peace and dignity without persecution.
3.  We need to act responsibly in the first place by NOT dumping unwanted, unaltered cats on the streets.

In order to spread the message and solutions in an effective way to institute positive change, it must be presented in easy to understand concepts that people can share with other people so that eventually the information becomes mainstream vocabulary, second nature, and community wide. Many people genuinely have no clue that a problem exists, or the extent of it, and many people are just too overwhelmed by the scope of it to think they can help make a difference or that it is their problem to solve in the first place. To aid in that aspect, I have put together a very simple list of the misconceptions of feral cats so that people can arm themselves with information. Knowledge is power and it is the first step to change:

1. Even if you don’t have a cat, or don’t like cats, by virtue of living in a community it should be your civic duty to be responsible. Stray and feral cats roaming the streets will procreate and the cat overpopulation will continue to escalate unless TNRM programs are instituted . Support your community shelters, either by donations, volunteering, or by understanding how important it is for these programs to be put in place and managed. If you chose to turn your head and have the attitude that it is not your problem, nothing will be solved.

2. Feral cats are not dangerous and do not attack people. While they may become familiar with a caretaker, these cats tend to avoid humans and usually only come out at night.

3. It is not cruel for a feral cat to live outdoors. Because they are not socialized to humans or indoor settings, they are typically unable to cope and do not adjust to the confinement or human contact. In fact, it can actually be detrimental to the cat to try to tame and socialize it. A feral cat may exhibit adverse behavioral problems in an indoor setting that are insurmountable to change, which often results in the cat being unfairly brought to a shelter where they are labeled “unadoptable” with an almost certain consequence of euthanization (according to Alley Cat Allies, almost 100% of feral cats brought to shelters are euthanized).

4. Feral cats are not responsible for the depletion of wildlife. In reality that is caused by urbanization, global warming, pollution, and construction. A managed feral colony is actually well fed and does not have a need to excessively hunt for food.

5. TNRM works. Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage is the safest and most beneficial program available to both the feral cat and the community. The colony’s population decreases (and stabilizes) and the negative behaviors associated with cats such as spraying and noises from mating and aggressive fighting is significantly reduced.

6. You can identify a cat that has already been part of the TNRM program by the universal practice of clipping the tip of the left ear of the cat.

7. If you do not know how to properly trap a cat or don’t have a trap, this should not dissuade you from helping. Contact your local shelters for assistance, or call a national organization like Alley Cat Allies for advice. Typically they will send someone out to help so that the cat is trapped in a humane manner and can be spayed or neutered, ear tipped, and then released back into the colony after it recovers from surgery.

8. Feral cats are not a filthy and disease ridden creature. In actuality, feral cats have a low rate of diseases and live a long and healthy life. This is particularly true because the feral cats that have been spayed or neutered are also vaccinated.

9. Cats can reproduce at an alarming rate when not managed. An unspayed/neutered cat pair leads up to 5,000 cats in 7 years. Because only 2% of feral cats are sterilized, there is an enormous need to institute proper TNR programs within a community. Most communities offer low cost or free spaying and neutering programs, so expense should not be an excuse to be irresponsible for not altering a cat.

10. *There is a distinct difference between stray and feral cats that can often be confusing. A feral cat that is not adoptable should be returned to its outdoor home after it has been spayed or neutered. A stray cat found on the street at one point in its life had social contact with a human and can usually be adopted. A stray cat who is frightened might act like a feral cat when trapped and might mistakenly be brought to a kill shelter. The cats need several days of observation after being trapped to determine what type of cat they are.

11. Feral kittens can be socialized and adopted into a home if they are accustomed to people at an early age.

12. Feral cats are considered a domestic animal and are protected by anti-cruelty laws. Any crime against a cat should be reported to the proper officials.

Probably the most effective way to educate people about feral cats is visually so that they can actually witness firsthand what the above points mean. To help in that regard, I am re-posting two videos that I made with Christine Michaels earlier in the year about her Riverfront Miami cats that she cares for. These videos give a hands on glimpse of what these cats look like, how they act, and what a typical day is like for  Christine as the caretaker.

People will quickly see that these cats are just like house cats, exhibiting “typical” cat behavior. One cat was daintily licking his paw without a care in the world. Another was rolling on her back enjoying a ray of sunshine and none of them were mangy, filthy, frothing at the mouth monsters who were living in a pungent environment that reeked of urine, or worse. Instead, people will see cats with their tails held high in happy anticipation that their beloved caretaker was coming by for her nightly ritual to give them food, water, and a little loving and socialization.

I do want to caution however, that these videos are not intended to glamorize the situation. There is a very tragic and dark side to all of this and that is why it is so critical that we work within our communities to educate people about the rights of these cats, the misconceptions about them, and the critical need for TNRM. We must give meaning to National Feral Cat Day so that we don’t have to hear about cats being electrocuted looking for shelter, cats with broken bones, cats hit by cars, cats being abused and mistreated by uncaring and cruel people, cats trapped for euthaniztion to control population rather than TNRM, and so much more.

All I ask is that National Feral Cat Day be more than a subject title. Whether you share my post and videos, or you write your own post to share, or maybe it is a conversation or a story about a feral cat in your life… just please, talk about it and share. The more we give voice to the cause, the better off we will be. And lets all make a promise to try to think outside of the box so that our message begins to spread beyond our current circle of cat people. Lets make National Feral Cat Day a mainstream event.

Blessings to all these beautiful outdoor creatures and a special congratulations to Savannah NanaMo who is the winner of our  “Taming Me: Memoir of a Clever Island Cat” autographed book  giveaway! This book written by Cathy Unruh is about Lucy Miracle, a formerly feral cat who you will just fall in love with!

*The subject of distinguishing a feral cat and a stray cat in an outdoor setting is often extremely difficult to determine and there are several guidelines to follow to ensure the proper classification of these cats. Unfortunately, these are not hard and fast rules. To learn more about this subject, the nonprofit organization, Alley Cat Allies, offers several extensive and informative articles on this subject. Please click the link Feral and Stray Cats – An Important Difference and Faux Ferals: How to Soothe a Scared Stray to Increase Her Chances of Adoption for more details.