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| | | Managing A Feral Cat Colony You have decided to act for feral cats; now what do you do? Have a plan before you begin! There are resources available that reference years of successful experience. The VHF can be contacted at the address and web site above. Our site has information on successful projects in Vermont. Alley Cat Allies is another great resource. Little Cheetah Cat Rescue has many links, resources and articles relating to feral cat programs. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs are the best long term approach to reducing feral cat populations. Humanely trapping, neutering, and returning feral cats to the location from which they were trapped allows an already existing population of feral cats to be managed safely, monitored for sickness, and also gives us the ability to ensure that the cats have appropriate food, water, and shelter. In addition, it ensures a good quality of life for the existing cats, the ability to vaccinate them for rabies, and finally, the elimination of the colony over time through attrition. Some of the cats and/or kittens may be able to be adopted to families. A truly successful TNR program includes monitoring the feral cat colony over time to identify when new animals arrive to ensure all of the colony is neutered, healthy, and safe. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) offers excellent resources for helping feral cats at this link: Resources for Helping Feral Cats First: Locate a veterinarian(s) that will perform the surgeries. Your own vet may be willing so this is a good place to start. Some veterinarians are reluctant to handle feral cats. There are resources from Alley Cat Allies designed for veterinarians to help them understand dealing with these special animals. Second: Get access to humane traps. (Box-type traps) They must be designed to live-trap cats safely. Sources may include rental companies, friends, neighbors, or you may join with other potential feral colony caretakers to purchase your own. The number of traps needed is determined by the number of cats in a colony. Once the trapping begins they will get wary and avoid the traps, so setting as many traps as you can the first time is important. Also the number of surgeries the vet(s) is willing to do will determine how many you can trap at a time. You may well have to hold two or more trapping sessions before you catch them all. Trap and handle as many as you can the first time. Leave them alone for a few days before trying again in hopes they will settle down and enter the traps. If you do not catch all of the colony members you will not be successful. How will you know if you have trapped the same cats? Easy! When the neuter surgery is done the vet will ear tip each cat for easy identification. Ear tipping is a small snip in the cat's ear, performed under anesthesia during the neuter surgery, that is a universally distinguishing mark that identifies that the cat has already been neutered and vaccinated. If trapped again let them go! Third: Shelter may need to be provided depending on where they seek cover now. If it seems inadequate you can provide it easily by utilizing the doghouse model. Size will depend on the number of cats. Be sure it is large enough to accommodate everyone and have perches inside so they can find their own space if necessary. A removable top will aid in keeping it cleaned periodically, especially the bedding. Or ìkitty condosî are easy to build. Fourth: Keeping food clean, dry and away from predators will be an issue. Otherwise you will attract skunks, raccoons, dogs, rats and many other animals. How you handle this will depend on the circumstances of your colonyís location. You can buy the food or see if stores or feed dealers will donate broken bags of cat food. The number of feeding stations will also be determined by the number cats. Sharing is not a priority so be sure there is enough food put out in locations sufficient so all can have access. An on demand feeder that holds several pounds of dry food will help as they can eat when they wish and everyone can have a turn. Fifth: Manage your colony daily! This assures that quick attention can be made to issues like enough food and water; new arrivals; illness or injury that needs attention, predators, vandals and so on. Sixth: Enjoy what you are doing! Watch the cats from a distance, but close enough so that you can see the feeding stations and get to know when the cats come to feed. It may take time as they are smart and wary and may know you are nearby. Keep trying, as it is fun to watch and get to know individuals by actions and personality. Your rewards will be many as you see your colony thrive and not reproduce. Seventh: Please let us know about your colony so we may track the success of Feral Cat Colony Management. This will encourage others to join in and soon there will be no more feral cats left without humane help. |