A feral cat is a cat that has become 'wild'. Usually feral cats originate as offspring of domestic cats that have been abandoned and left to breed. Feral cats do not trust humans and usually do not allow humans to touch or handle them. Because of their elusive nature, feral cats do not function well when removed from their natural outdoor environment and they are rarely able to domesticate. Feral cats often live in colonies and defend their territories together.

Many methods of managing feral cat colonies exist including (1) doing nothing and letting starvation, disease, and fighting control the population; (2) trapping and euthanizing (killing) cat colonies, and (3) trapping, sterilizing, and returning feral cats to their environment (called trap-neuter-return, or TNR). None of these programs provide answers to the real problem, which is overpopulation of cats and a lack of homes for them. They are ways that we try to deal with a problem that is not of the cats' making, but rather is a result of humans. These programs and their respective efficacies are debated in the public, the media, and veterinary journals the world over. In the following section we discuss one of these methods, but it is important that as you read this (and other information on feral cats) and form your own opinions and help in any way you can. These cats are in need of our aid and understanding.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a universally recognized, humane method of controlling the growth of feral cat colonies. TNR entails the trapping of feral cats, spaying and neutering the cats to prevent population growth, and then returning the cats to their territory, enabling the cats to live out their lives in an environment that suits them best.

Sterilizing feral cats provides several benefits. First, it reduces the number of feral cats that are born. A pair of breeding cats can produce two or more litters per year, which can ultimately result in the birth of 400,000 cats over a seven-year period! Unfortunately, no environment can sustain that many cats and generally half of all kittens born in feral colonies die from either starvation, disease, or fighting within their first year. Second, sterilized cats no longer search for mates, which means that neutered male cats won't spray foul smelling urine and spayed female cats won't howl from going into 'heat'.

Despite the fact that feral colonies are a problem created by humans, there is not an established policy on the management of feral cats in our jurisdiction. Many grassroots organizations implement TNR with their sole support coming from individual colony caretakers.