Feral Cats and their Growing Population

Street cats and their growing population

Helping the feral and stray cats 

 

Crisis: 20,000 stray and feral cats roam the streets! That's the title from an article published in the Metro website in the end of October 2014 (read more about it here) about the growing population of feral cats in the city of Surrey, BC in Canada. Although alarming, this is not an isolated case - the increasing population of stray and feral cats is a public health issue in many cities across the country and a problem far from over.

Street cats all around Canada are procreating in a fast pace, making their colonies and overall population grow exponentially. It happens in big cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton as well as in small counties. Many cities in the US are facing the same problem -  even in the huge city of New York.
At first it seems like a natural process - cats returning to the wild - but this is not the case. Feral cats have ever lived among us humans, however something else is happening. So, what is really going on out there?


I'm not a specialist nor a scientist but as an animal lover and a person that is, somehow, committed to animal welfare, the subject got my attention. By simply following my interest, I've tried to learn more about this matter and made my own research to reach my own conclusions. I'm not saying that my opinion must be written in stone, but you may find interesting and maybe end up having acquired some good information through my findings. The exponential growth of cats' population has its origins in the abandon of cats by humans. Those cats that once were tossed away like trash by idiotic cruel individuals or simply left behind during moving or even vacations. It may sound ludicrous but yes, many people indeed have this absurd practice of while going on a long trip with the family, just put the cat outside of the house and let it fend for itself, as if this domesticated cat would from out of nowhere return to the wilderness and live normally like no human-cat relationship had never occurred.

After this evicted cat realizes that there is no coming back home, it starts to wander around looking for food, water and shelter and then that the magic happens. Its basics instincts of survival flourishes and gradually it starts to regain its natural background and making instincts the source of its well-being. So, the once lost cat now become the hunter it always was and there goes away the "safety" of birds, rodents and any small animal that lives in this cat's territory. The domestic cat now establishes itself as a powerful hunter and predator, acting as such - expanding its territory (the more resources, like food and water, the better), mating and building or becoming part of a colony.

Difference between stray cats and feral cats

With that said, it's logical to predict that one abandoned cat will eventually find another abandoned cat and they may bond, mate and hunt together, and that's exactly what happens. There's no rule that determines it neither there are evidences to prove what happens in each case, but as seen in the wild and inside shelters, the "colony bonding" happens between all kinds of cats, even between feral and domestic ones. That non-existent barrier between the ones that have born in the wild, the feral, and the ones that used to live with humans, acts as a boost on the growth because they learn from each other and united they are stronger. It's normal to see abandoned cats being "adopted" by colonies of only feral ones, there are no barriers in the relationship.

Chart credits for The Skunk Whisperer (site)

Once the colony is formed and they start to procreate, it's inevitable that they will succeed in the food chain of the urbanized locations. They will become the almighty predator of the habitat.

With the habitat unbalanced and without natural predators for them, beside some unpleasant human encounters and accidents in the busy streets of the cities, they will grow and grow and grow till the point that it will invariably become a crisis.

Feral cats have lived among humans for more than 10,000 years. During this period, their relationship with the environment was transformed by our hands. Human development changed the way animals - including cats - interact with nature, in a negative way.

Image credits Caster (article) and photo by Susan Weingartner

Feral colonies have ever existed, whether humans interact with them or not. In spite of that, the feral population has been rising, as domestic cats are abandoned and dumped in the streets. Actions must be taken to break this chain of events - one of them is spaying and neutering feral cats, and then return them to the wild. Another thing is keeping domestic cats inside, as well as sterilizing them - this will keep street cats at bay and reduce the urge that some indoor cats have to go outside - these actions combined will lower the population of street and feral cats.  
For those who want to go further, it is always possible to engage in volunteering or support shelters and other NGOs dedicated to the cause - by educating people, rescuing abandoned cats and sterilizing wild cats. This support can be done by donating money or supplies needed for their work and by adopting a rescued cat instead of buying cats from breeders.

There are very good initiatives and projects in many cities around the globe and definitely there's one going on near you. 

As you may already know something about the famous Jackson Galaxy you probably know his highly commitment in the subject and here you can read a very nice review about it made by him.

Image credits Alley cat Allies

Other project that's a must see about the theme is the Alley Cat Allies (here) that dedicate their time as a national advocacy organization focused on the protection and humane treatment of cats being the first organization to introduce and advocate for humane methods of feral cat care, particularly Trap-Neuter-Return, in the American animal protection community.

Image credits Alley cat Allies

As a simple volunteer in a cat shelter that works independently of government’s support and  keeps running by the good will of its volunteers and donors that support the cause, I can proudly say that I live this scenario and know the importance of the engagement of people on making a difference in those cats’ lives. 

I know that it will sound impartial coming from a volunteer, and you may think that it’s not right for me to talk about it, but I’ll do it anyway because of a simple thing, the love for all kinds of cats.

About the shelter

Image credits Furry Friends Animal Shelter

Just a little information about Furry Friends by the shelter's own words: "The Furry Friends Animal Shelter is a non-profit, no-kill organization dedicated to providing shelter and love to abandoned, lost or rescued animals in the Barrie community. We provide care to almost 1,000 animals each year - mostly cats and kittens. We do not euthanize healthy animals for any reason.

We are a registered charity, funded by generous donors and supporters and operated completely by dedicated volunteers."

Image credits Furry Friends Animal Shelter

 
If you want to learn more about the shelter and their projects and happy tales, just take a look on their web site here.

To conclude it's incumbent for us to get involved and do something in favor to help the controlling the feral cats population's growth and taking care of abandoned cats.

Look for some initiative in your city to help and remember always, don't buy, adopt!

The shelter is always needing donations of all kinds  and we're currently with a fundraising campaign going on. If you'd like do help them you can check the campaign here or at the widget at the right of the post. You can donate cash or get a perk like a gift card. Be sure that you'll be doing a great thing for the shelter's cats.