As I have mentioned before, I am not a cat person. I don’t have anything against them; I am just more of a dog person. I did let the Humane Society put a couple cats in my barn a few years back. The fire department was burning a house down where these two were staying. They were trapped, neutered and released into the barn. Because they had not had any human contact they were not adoptable. I fed them on top of the tack room, to help avoid any contact with the dogs. There were no rats or mice in the barn during their lifetime. This is the only dealings I have had with feral cats.
Recently, I have been working with my wife Bobbie and Jennifer Evans on the Henry County Animal Initiative. They are working with Animal Control, Rescue Groups, and many volunteers to identify areas in Henry County where stray dogs and cats have become a problem. They are teaching the local residents the importance of neutering their pets, locating funds to make the process affordable and providing assistance with Trap Neuter and Return programs (TNR) for feral cats. These unadoptable cats that currently occupy our parks, grocery stores, banks, and restaurants must have their population explosion stopped. The more we work the more we find.
Feral cats live in colonies. There is nearly always a caretaker (someone who puts out food). The caretaker usually knows how many cats are in the colony. Many times there are multiple caretakers who share the task of providing food.
According to articles I have read from Smithsonian, Illinois Natural History Survey, The Wildlife Society and many more: feral cats differ from domesticated cats in several ways. Feral cats do not accept human contact and are usually not adoptable. They roam over areas as large as 300 to 1,000 acres, while the domestic cat has an area of under 10 acres. Feral cats are nocturnal and hunt at night, while domestics are more active in the morning and evening. Ferals may spend 8 to 12 % of their time active and hunting while domestics spend less than 3 %. Life expectancy for ferals is shorter and the main causes of death are disease and being killed by other cats.
The problem of cat overpopulation is not the cats fault. It is perpetuated by certain individuals that suffer from intellectual poverty. Best I can tell the scenario goes something like this: A female cat comes up to the home of Somebody. Somebody does not want a cat, but his wife starts feeding it. Pretty soon there is a litter of kittens under the house. Somebody will tell you that the cat is not his; therefore the kittens are not his responsibility. So he gets a box, puts the kittens in it and drops them off in the park, on a dirt road, or by most any dumpster. Kittens don’t usually venture far from where they are dumped and will starve to death if someone doesn’t intervene.
Cats can have up to three litters per year and a low estimate would be 4 per litter. While cats can live long lives, for the sake of discussion let’s use 5 years. This means that Somebody will dump 60 kittens over the five year period. These kittens will then start producing in less than one year. There are charts that you can look up that will show the astronomical number of unwanted kittens that are being produced. Without becoming statisticians, let’s just say that the numbers are too large and unacceptable.
So while volunteers work to Trap Neuter and Return, Somebodies are working to introduce more unneutered cats into the colonies. This explains why all the cat rescues are overloaded and euthanizing, which should be the last resort, is quickly becoming the only option. So I blame Somebodies for propagating this problem. If we can get Somebodies out of the equation it will go a long way toward bringing the cat overpopulation under control.
So, if a cat shows up at your house:
- 1. See if it belongs to someone in the neighborhood, if it does tell them that if it is going to roam it must be neutered.
- 2. If no one claims it, make arrangements to get it trapped and neutered.
- 3. Now that it is neutered, you can start feeding it.
- 4. Don’t waste any time getting 1-3 done.
Those who care for colonies without actively getting them neutered are truly, loving them to death.
If you know any Somebodies, have them give me a call so I can tell them about the benefits of neutering their pets.
Please read the actual research.
Longcore, Rich, and Sullivan, 2008 – Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap–Neuter–Return
http://www.urbanwildlands.org/Resources/2009LongcoreetalConBio.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2dkTHWVlasvWpsCRTx_KsFY69P9mUT652vwd1Tm-juKo-jLSoXOEXctiQ
Please read the actual research.
Foley, Foley, Levy, Paik 2005 – Analysis of the impact of trap-neuter-return programs on populations of feral cats
“In both counties, results of analyses did not indicate a consistent reduction in per capita growth, the population multiplier, or the proportion of female cats that were pregnant.”
“Our analysis indicated that any population-level effects were minimal, with Rm (the multiplier) ranging from 1.5 to 4, which indicated ongoing population growth (similar to values in previous studies), and critical needed values of neutered cats (ie, the proportion of all cats that needed to be neutered to reduce Rm to < 1.0) of 71% to 94%, which was far greater than what was actually achieved."
"Implementation of the stage-structured model suggested that no plausible combinations of life history variables would likely allow for TNR to succeed in reducing population size, although neutering approximately 75% of the cats could achieve control (which is unrealistic), a value quite similar to results in the present study."
Free-roaming cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds annually in the U.S. Trap-neuter-return programs do not work to reduce feral cat populations. The simple fact is that TNR has not reduced the feral cat population in any of the hundreds of municipalities in which it is being used. Not one. If you wish to dispute this fact, then name the municipality along with its feral cat population when it started TNR and its feral cat population today.
TNR actually makes the feral cat problem worse due to the feeding that always accompanies it. Cat colony caretakers rarely get all the cats neutered. There are almost always skittish cats at the perimeter that don’t get neutered but continue to eat the generously dumped cat food provided. These cats continue to breed and do so even more prolifically due to the food provided. They frequently have at least one litter before finally being trapped, and it is not uncommon for them to have 2 or even 3 litters. Their kittens are often not found or trapped until they are too old to be easily socialized, so these cats end up staying in and adding to the colony. Even when the kittens are caught and socialized in time, they sometimes end up dumped back into the colony because the glut of cats makes finding indoor homes difficult. The cats and cat food provided attract cats from neighboring areas. When food is plentiful cats don’t need to defend a territory, so new cats, especially intact cats that are far more aggressive than neutered cats, enter with ease. These cats also often have a litter or 2 before being trapped, with the same results for their kittens. And then this group of cats becomes a popular dumping grounds for people who want to get rid of their own cats. They see these cats being fed and think that would be a good place to dump theirs. These cats also frequently have a litter or 2 before being trapped, again with the same results for their kittens. Colonies frequently decrease a little initially when kittens are first removed, but then start to grow again. And even when a colony here or there does decrease, it is meaningless to the overall population because a few blocks away the number of cats continues to grow. TNR is nothing more than a euthanasia avoidance scheme.
TNR is NOT the solution. TNR does not work to reduce feral cat populations. Because of the feeding involved and because there are always at least a few un-neutered cats that also partake of the food, TNR simply perpetuates cats in the environment.
Please stop encouraging people to do TNR. TNR is the last thing a county extension agent should be promoting. It is extremely damaging to native wildlife. It is highly detrimental to public health. The risk of toxoplasmosis alone is reason enough to keep cats off of farms that produce food for human consumption. The National Pork Board recommends removal of cats for just this reason.
Feral and free-roaming cats should not be fed or TNR’d. They should be removed. Find indoor homes for those which are suitable for adoption. Feral cat hobbyists can build enclosures on their own property to house some if they want to save them. But any that cannot be placed in one of these situations should be euthanized. It is sad and it is unfortunate, but it is necessary.
JJ McKibbin…you have said it well and accurately. No need for me to reiterate your comments. As a person who has watched the cat depredation problem for many decades, I have compiled a notebook two inches thick on the cat problem. Back in the thirties the California state wildlife officials documented the intenstine contents of feral cats and found the parts of numerous species of birds. This ongoing destruction of native wildlife needs to stop! Feral cats should never be returned to any outdoor area. IF the cat lovers are serious and responsible, then they need to collect those cats and put them into facilities…where the cats cannot leave and harm wildlife. There is no honest reason to have cats, an invasive species, continuing to destroy native wildlfe. Just NONE. When states are actively going after OTHER invasive species and ignoring cats, you have to know it is because of the emotional whining of the misinformed feral cat feeders. They need to be held responsible for those cats. Otherwise, they are responsible for the destruction and eventual extinction of native wildlife. That is complicity with evil. Let the feral cat feeders, the TNR advocates, put their money where their mouth is…and take actual serous responsibility for cats.