- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
Anyone who’s seen a wild kitten scrabbling for scraps in a junkyard or a pregnant mother with a dull coat nipping after fish parts knows how it tugs at your heartstrings.
I was living in Brooklyn when I first got up close and personal with feral cats. My own two cats, Anouk and Ramon, were rescues, so when my coworker asked if I’d take in two feral kittens and get them ready for adoption, I was all in.
It would be just like life with Anouk and Ramon, right? Wrong.
My coworker showed up at my door with a cage holding two terrified bundles of electricity and strict instructions on how to socialize them, a slow and intense process that left me with a number of scars and a completely annihilated IKEA recliner. If they ate, it had to be food from my finger. If they came out of the cage, it had to be for short bursts directly into my arms. If I deviated from these instructions, there were swift consequences that usually ended in me bleeding profusely as the kittens hissed and spat.
Every day, I wondered if it was even my right to have taken these miniature tigers out of their native habitat and forced them into my own. I was really no better than a zoo…and I was very conflicted about zoos! But sure enough, very slowly, after three or four months, the kittens were cuddling, beginning to trust, happy playing with their catnip-stuffed mouse toys, and acting like real house cats. Almost.
I’ve stayed close with their adoptive parents and have housesat for them many times. Eleven years later, the now-pets remain slightly distant from humans but are important members of the family. Their connections with one another are much stronger than their connections with humans, but they’re definitely a success story and enjoy a level of health and contentment that would’ve been nearly impossible to find on the street.
Common Misconceptions About Feral Cats
According to most organizations, from Alley Cat Allies to the Humane Society and ASPCA, feral cats are not house cats, but rather cats that have been born in the wild and raised without socialization. WebMD describes feral cats to be similar to “wild animals, like raccoons. They tend to stay away from humans, hide during the day, and when adopted, are very difficult to socialize.”
Alley Cat Allies has an incredible “Stray vs Feral” comparison chart to help you determine if a cat is a stray, a scared lost pet, or a feral cat. In their extensive experience working with feral cat communities, they’ve found that, unlike the stray cats who live amongst humans and are fairly socialized, feral cats have close to zero interaction with people. Even if they’re shy or wary, stray cats understand that “humans” mean “food” and may enjoy weaving in and out of our lives and homes. Feral cats, on the other hand, are completely wild, self-sufficient animals with no need for human interaction.
How Best to Help Feral Cats in Your Community
Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR)
According to WebMD, a single female cat and her kittens can produce 420,000 more cats in seven years. Spaying and neutering programs greatly reduce the population of feral cats in any given area over time. They also significantly reduce the opportunity for disease to spread amongst the feral cats and from the feral cat population to the stray and homed pet population.
TNR (also called TNVR—Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release) is a long-term approach that reduces populations over time by halting the endless breeding cycle while improving the colony’s health through vaccinations. This method is widely embraced by community and national organizations alike as the most effective way to help feral cat populations and reduce their numbers. The ASPCA takes it one step further and advocates for TNRM (Trap, Neuter, Return, Monitor), which adds a component where the “community cat” colony is monitored by a caretaker or group of volunteers who monitor the cats’ health and provide food, water, and appropriate shelter.
It may come as a surprise that TNR programs are actually more effective than “Catch and Kill” programs. Alley Cat Allies explains, “Each time cats are removed, the population will rebound through a natural phenomenon known as the ‘vacuum effect,’ drawing the community into a costly, endless cycle of trapping and killing.” Feral Cat Focus of WNY agrees and underscores the ineffectiveness of relocating the cats and advocates for colony relocation only if the cats are in immediate physical danger.
Many towns and cities have TNR programs and are glad to have new volunteers. What’s great about joining forces with an established program is that they have everything in place, from veterinarians to capture cages to food and beyond. Often, cats will be dewormed and vaccinated during their brief stay at the spay and neuter clinic, which also gives them a leg up. Alley Cat Allies says to look for cats with a docked or notched ear so you can tell who’s already been spayed, neutered, and vaccinated.
The best way to help improve the quality of life for these wild cats—and the lives of pet and stray cats that might come into contact with them—is to work with your local Humane Society or TNR organization to trap them so they can be spayed or neutered. After they’ve recovered, they can simply be returned to their original stomping grounds to go on their merry way, living a human-free life.
BestFriends.org has a number of case studies highlighting the incredible effectiveness of TNR programs in helping feral cat populations. Neighborhood Cats in New York City provides TNR workshops for city residents who want to help and has outstanding resources for humanely capturing single cats, as well as entire colonies.
Set Up a Food Station & Feeding Schedule
Another way to help and support feral cats is to set up a food and water station.
When it comes to placing the feeding station, Neighborhood Cats recommends giving them privacy and locating the feeding station near their shelters. Talk to your neighbors or community members about where it would be best to feed the cats, as many people don’t want these wild animals coming into their yards and interacting with their pets. Sometimes, just moving the feeding station from one side of a property to another is enough to avoid grumpy neighbors.
NYC Feral Cat Initiative stresses that food should not be left out around the clock unless you want to train coyotes, rats, insects, and raccoons to come to the station, too.
They recommend that you:
- Choose a 45-minute window that works for you and can stay consistent.
- Set out the food and water and leave so the feral cats feel free to explore without human contact.
- Come back 45 minutes later and take the food and water back inside.
- If all the food is gone in 15 minutes, consider putting out a little more next time.
The ASPCA has a strong ethical argument for feeding and monitoring feral “community cat” colonies:
“If a community cat survives kittenhood, his average lifespan is less than two years if living on his own. If a cat is lucky enough to be in a colony that has a caretaker, he may reach 10 years. Community cats who live in a managed colony—a colony with a dedicated caretaker who provides spay/neuter services, regular feedings and proper shelter—can live a quite content life.”
Should You Let Feral Cats Live in Your Garden, Garage, Shed, Barn, or Porch?
Many managed colony cats and barn cats live long, happy lives as long as they have shelter, food, access to medical care and regular contact with humans, even if it’s largely at a distance. If you plan on letting feral cats live on your property, my strong advice is to contact a TNR program so the cats are spayed or neutered and vaccinated. This ensures that one or two cats won’t turn into hundreds.
Volunteers with Project Bay Cat in San Francisco have found that regular socialization with humans via feeding stations can turn a feral cat into more of a stray cat. Once these cats are socialized, often over years, they can be adopted.
Since 2004, their successful TNR program, along with careful monitoring of the colony, has reduced the population by 53%. The socialization brought to the cats through the feeding stations has brought many of the former strays and feral cats back into the fold, making them prime candidates for adoption. To date, they’ve placed more than 90 cats into “forever” homes.
Should You Try to Catch Feral Kittens and Find Them Homes?
One of the best resources I’ve found about socializing and taming feral kittens comes from Feral Cat Focus of WNY. It follows the same thorough and exacting schedule that I learned from my feral cat expert friend Aimee Bowe while taming Bootsie and Roscoe. Their step-by-step program will help you avoid common mistakes so your feral kittens will be truly socialized and successfully adopted.
While an adult feral cat may never be truly domesticated, kittens have often spent only a month or two without human contact and can be successfully incorporated into life as a pet, but they need to be trained and tamed before they can be successfully adopted.
If you have noticed community cats in your neighborhood and want to help, Alley Cat Allies has this comprehensive guide to feral cats with step-by-step program with pictures detailing how to successfully trap and socialize feral kittens.
Kittens are weaned from their mother at about eight weeks old. It’s best to wait until the kittens are at least five to six weeks old before separating them from their mother. Alley Cat Allies and the ASPCA strongly recommend trying to capture the mother, as well, so she can be spayed before returning her to the wild without her kittens.
Feral Cat Focus stresses that socializing and taming feral kittens takes time and commitment.
Feral kittens by age
- Neonatal: If the kittens are neonatal, they will require round-the-clock bottle feeding.
- Younger than eight weeks: Kittens under eight weeks old can usually be socialized fairly easily if you follow the right steps.
- Older than eight weeks: Kittens older than eight weeks will take more time and patience.
- Four months or older: Once a female kitten is four months old, it can get pregnant, so catching them before then is a good idea so they can be spayed and spared a lifetime of pregnancy.
Whether adopting out the kittens or returning the kittens to the wild (or your barn), they should be spayed or neutered and vaccinated. According to the ASPCA, early spay or neuter can take place as early as six to eight weeks, while standard spay or neuter takes place at five to six months. Spaying, in particular, is an intense surgery for a kitten, so consult with a vet to make a plan that works for the cat’s health and development.
Can Feral Cats Make Your House Cats Sick?
PETA stresses the importance of deworming and vaccinating feral cats before bringing them into contact with your other pets, whether as adopted kittens or as feral “barn cats” living on your property.
Any unvaccinated cat runs the risk of getting worms and parasites or contracting a disease, such as feline leukemia, feline autoimmune virus, ringworm, tapeworm, or rabies.
If you have an indoor/outdoor pet cat, the best protection against disease from feral, stray, or unvaccinated neighborhood cats is to follow best practices. Spay or neuter your cat and keep their vaccinations up to date. If you would like to improve the health for the feral cat population in your area as a way to increase herd immunity for all cats in your area, work with a TNR program that includes vaccination as part of the process.
Many pet owners champion keeping your pet cat indoors or in a well-fenced yard or “catio.” PAWS strongly recommends keeping your cat indoors. What will they miss? “Getting hit by a car, feline leukemia, attacks by dogs, poisoned food, pesticides, cat fights, fleas, ticks, worms, abscesses, getting lost, getting stolen, steel-jaw traps, human cruelty, gunshot wounds, puncture wounds, wild animal attacks, (and) cold, rainy weather,” PAWS says.
If you have been in contact with feral or stray cats, follow simple hygiene. Johns Hopkins Medicine says that thoroughly washing your hands best after coming into contact with a feral cat, but if you have been scratched or bitten, wash the wound with soap and water, apply pressure, and contact your doctor to talk through the incident and determine whether you might need antibiotics.
Success Stories
There are thousands of success stories when it comes to helping feral cat communities, trapping and taming feral kittens, and adopting socialized feral kittens. BestFriends.org has an incredible compilation of case studies highlighting the benefits of TNR programs.
My own hometown of Bellingham, Washington has seen a vast improvement of the lives of our Fairhaven neighborhood’s feral cats after Whatcom Education, Spay & Neuter Impact Services (WeSNiP) launched a TNR program in 2008. Their network of volunteers has spayed and neutered more than 17,000 cats and dogs and our local shelters have reported a significant drop in cats and dogs euthanized due to lack of space.
My own success story with Bootsie and Roscoe goes far beyond the successful taming of the two feral kittens that arrived at my door, terrified and wild-eyed in 2008. Now named Noël and Gertie, they have brought great joy to their adoptive parents, have a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline, and spend their summers on a screened porch in Pennsylvania where they can watch the birds.
They eat delicious, healthy food, have excellent medical care, and receive endless cuddles. The unexpected side effect is that I also gained two close friends. We are bound by our love for these two cats and they know they can always count on me to kitty-sit.
It’s been a joy to watch these kittens grow up and to remain a part of their lives.
Community Resources for Feral, Stray, and Community Cats
- Alley Cat Allies: A comprehensive source for helping stray, feral, and community cats
- ASPCA: A Closer Look at Community Cats
- The Humane Society: How to Help Community Cats
- NeighborhoodCats.org: Comprehensive source for helping feral cats, including lots of videos
- Project Bay Cat: A managed feral cat colony that socializes the cats so successfully, many are adopted
- CatSupport.net: Setting Up a Feral Cat Feeding Station
- Feral Cat Focus: Safely and Humanely Capturing Feral Kittens and Socializing Them for Successful Adoption
- BestFriends.org: TNR Success Stories and Case Studies and Community Cat Tools
- PetMD: Feral Cats in Winter