If you live in a rural or even suburban setting, chances are you live near feral cats: skittish, rough-and-ready feral cats that can look like they need human help, only to run away when approached. These cats are not tame and by no means willing to be a house cat and are perfectly capable of living outside on their own whether it damages some of the ecosystems or not.
If you find yourself surrounded by these untamed creatures, you have several options. One, you could leave them alone and claim that they are simply not your problem. This is a favorite option for many, but it is by no means a good one. There are more than 70 million feral cats in the US alone, and scientists rightly blame the extinction of thirty-three bird species on that. enormous number of cats: cats that hunt, kill and eat all kinds of birds, reptiles and rodents. This overpopulation could quickly lead to the extinction of other birds and perhaps even some prey mammals. Plus, who wants the stench of a feral cat spraying their territory and under their carport? Gross.
The second option would be to start feeding them. This is a better option, but still not ideal as your third option, which we’ll discuss in a bit. Feeding these cats at set times in the mornings or evenings and setting up a home shelter for them is a good idea: cats that aren’t hungry will pounce half-heartedly and are much more likely to end up empty-legged after the hunt. But this also leads to various other problems: spread of disease and overpopulation. Diseases like toxoplasmosis, parasites and rabies can spread through a bite or scratch when a neighborhood pet mixes with a wild one. In turn, diseases can spread to unsuspecting owners when the animal interacts with them. Diseases can sometimes cause death, and mourning continues after an animal dies due to disease. This means the disease could spread to your outdoor cats and possibly to you and your family!
Along with this, cats are like rabbits when it comes to reproducing and if none of the cats are sterilized, there will be kittens. This adds to the population, increasing the risk factor of all the aforementioned points. As a cat keeper, you would also have to increase the food you give the animals on a daily basis due to the additional mouths to feed. You will also be tasked with taming and adopting the kittens, and will only be given a certain amount of time to do so.
The ultimate Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) option. This involved trapping the cats in humane catch-and-release traps before neutering and releasing them again. This eliminates almost all the problems of having feral cats in your garden. Now that they are neutered, they will not have any more kittens, they will be vaccinated and dewormed so that they do not spread parasites or diseases, and they do not feel so much desire to fumigate their territory.
Don’t be afraid to get your local shelter or community involved! They can do most, if not all, of the catch and castration for a very low price or even for free, depending on where you live. They will also remove the upper part of the cat’s ear so that other well-intentioned people and rescue groups do not catch it and catch it again.
Now for the final topic: What about the birds? That’s where you start feeding the cats. Keeping them fed once or twice a day ensures that they are well fed. This also strengthens their immune system, making them less likely to contract possible diseases that are not eliminated by vaccinations or deworming. And now that they are fed daily, they are less likely to bother as much with hunting.
Feral cats are not bad. They help keep mice out of their barn, they are interesting to watch and all they need is a bowl of food every day and space to be free-roaming feral cats. All you have to do is give them that opportunity!