Feral Cat Program
What is a Feral Cat?
Feral cats live and can thrive in the outdoors and are typically wary of humans as they have generally been born and raised outside. Feral cats’ needs are generally not met by an adoption process. When feral cats are removed from a location, new cats move in and survivors breed to capacity (this is called the “vacuum effect”). So, how can our community humanely approach feral cats?
Before we get to that, YHS implores anyone adopting or owning a cat to please keep it as an indoor only cat! Feral cats often carry feline communicable diseases that can have a fatal or lifelong negative medical effect on your pet cat. Feral cats also often viciously fight other cats and can kill or seriously injure your pet. Roads and other wild animals are also extreme hazards to any cat. Please keep your cats inside!
What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) benefits the cats and the community. Cats are spayed or neutered, eartipped (the universal symbol of an altered feral cat), and then returned to their outdoor home. The colony’s population stabilizes–no more kittens! TNR improves their lives and the relations with their neighborhood–the behaviors and stresses associated with mating. TNR is the humane, effective approach for feral cats. When TNR is employed effectively, all the feral cats in a neighborhood are trapped, sterilized, and returned to the area where they were trapped. Once the colony cats are all neutered, new cats tend to be recently abandoned domestics that can be captured and placed for adoption.
- The population will be controlled with no new litters
- Annoying behaviors of mating like howling, fighting, and marking territory will usually decrease dramatically
- It’s the right thing to do
Where can I get Spays and Neuters for Feral cats?
Click on the links below!