Helping feral cats poses a particular set of difficulties:
- Feral cats do not typically fare well indoors, so most shelters do no want them, or they will be forced to euthanize the cats. (Tabby's Place does not accept feral cats, because our experience shows that they are unhappy indoors and hate human interaction.)
- Adult feral cats do not usually make good pets. Note that feral kittens will usually become adoptable if time is spent socializing them.
Feral cats do best in a managed colony where the cats are located in a safe area and are sterilized, fed, provided shelter and medical care.
Helping feral cats is a wonderfull thing to do. It takes persistence and effort, but is very rewarding. Here are some things you can do, in order of decreasing desirability.
DIY
The best way to help feral cats is to get directly involved. Sure, you might be able to find a group to do the work, but the best hope these cats have is you. We're all busy and you have lots of other things to do. But if you've gotten to this page, you care about these cats and they have so little going for them.
Best: Get Hands-On
You can hook up with a local feral-friendly group, or gather some friends and start your own group. Getting hands-on with the ferals, and maintaining a feral colonyis a lot of work, but extremely gratifying. We won't go into detail here, as there are much better resources available, but the basic idea is care for the colony's basic needs in a relatively safe outdoor location. Maintaining the colony involves providing shelter, food, water and necessary medical care. Here are the basics. You will find helpful information on all of these items
- Location: Since the cats live outdoors they are unavoidably exposed to some dangers, but you want them to be in a location where they are not exposed to hostile humans, high levels of vehicle traffic or other constant danger. If this is not the case, the colony will need to be relocated. This should be your last resort and is often a difficult task, as it involves finding a suitable location, then trapping and moving the cats, where they will need time to settle in.
- Sterilization: one of your most important tasks will be to see that all cats are sterilized (spayed or neutered) before they are old enough to breed. You will have to pay attention to newcomers to the colony and keep track of kittens. And, be sure to have the kittens sterlized well before they are of reproductive age. Most feral experts recommend sterilization as earlly as eight weeks of age, depending on the size and health of the cat.
- Shelter: feral cats usually do very well with a minimum amount of shelter. An abandoned structure might just need to be fixed up with some blankets and beds. Or you may need to erect simple shelters.
- Food & water: In climates where it gets below freezing, you will also need to be concerned with water freezing, since cats should have always have water available.
- Medical care: feral cats are usually given medical care only when necessary. These cats are difficult to catch (usually requiring trapping) and do not like to be handled, so there is significant stress associated with medical treatment.
Good: Get on the Phone
Maybe you care, but you just don't have the time, willigness or ability to get involved directly. It's certainly worth spending some time on the internet and the phone trying to find someone to help these cats.
This is a difficult task, but see our Resource page for some places to start.