Feral Cats Solutions Guide

Understanding our feline friends: feral, street/stray and domesticated cats.

  1. Domesticated cats
  2. Street Cats
  3. feral cats

Lives with people

Domesticated CatA pet cat adapted to life in a domestic home. 

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  • Domestic cats, also called pet cats or house cats, live closely with humans and are typically raised in homes.
  • They are the type of cats that most people are familiar with and have been human companions for thousands of years.

About Trap - Neuter - Vaccinate - Return (TNVR)

The Problem
It is estimated that tens of millions of feral and stray cats freely roam the streets of the United States and breed rapidly! Doing nothing and using ineffective approaches are what have resulted in the current overpopulation problem. Trying to rescue all the feral cats and finding them homes is impossible given their number and their limited socialization. Removing or relocating all the feral cats invites new unneutered cats to move in and the cycle of reproduction starts again.

The Solution
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNVR) is the only method proven to be humane and effective in controlling free-roaming cat population growth. 

Benefits

  • Population control and permanently reducing the number of cats in an area. 
  • Lowering cat intake into shelters, thereby lowering shelter euthanasia rates. 
  • Reducing the spread of disease.
  • The returned spayed/neutered colony guards its territory, discouraging unneutered cats from moving in and beginning the cycle of overpopulation anew.

Steps

  1. trap
  2. neuter
  3. vaccinate
  4. return

After adequate preparations, including educating the community about the TNR process, colony cats are trapped using humane traps.