The mission of Forgotten Cats is to reduce the unwanted cat population without killing and to stop the suffering of the thousands of kittens born to abandoned, homeless cats.  The term “feral cat” is used to describe homeless cats living in groups, or colonies. Most of these colonies are the result of un-sterilized domestic cats abandoned by irresponsible owners. The offspring of these homeless domestic cats are considered feral because they live outside with minimal or no human contact. The sad fact is that most homeless kittens live desperate lives of loneliness, fear, and starvation until they eventually die. Those feral cats lucky enough to beat the survival odds are sometimes turned into animal control, only to be euthanized because of overcrowding. Others continue to live outdoors, caught between being domestic and wild.

As long as there is habitat and a food supply, these cats will be with us, living in colonies near restaurant dumpsters, around apartment complexes, and in urban and suburban neighborhoods.  Feral colonies provide the major service of rodent control, helping to reduce the spread of disease.  Unfortunately, abandoned domestic cats have few survival skills and are prone to hardships caused by uncontrolled reproduction, hunger, illness, predators, and man-made hazards like automobiles.  They often become targets for animal cruelty because they may still trust and approach humans. Unlike wildlife, the population of feral cats continually increases as irresponsible pet owners abandon more unsterilized domestic cats to start new colonies. Owners who allow their unsterilized pets to roam outside add to the feral population. 

A female cat can have 2-3 litters of kittens each year, with up to 6 kittens in each litter.  Those kittens reach reproductive age as early as 5 months.  An unspayed, abandoned female cat can turn into twenty or more cats within a year.  Stray cats and feral kittens are often rounded up by concerned people, but in peak kitten season (May to September), the private no-kill shelters are full.  Most are taken to SPCAs, which accepts all surrendered animals.

In 2005 alone, more than 6,000 cats and kittens (an average of 500 per month) were euthanized at Delaware shelters.  A cat entering a Delaware SPCA only has a 20% to 30% chance of making it out alive.  Most people don’t know that the majority of kittens brought into shelters were born to feral or stray mothers.  Those that are not quickly adopted will be euthanized to make room for the next batch coming in the door.  Rehoming organizations help save precious lives, but adoption alone cannot address the fundamental root of the problem.  Thousands of healthy cats will continue to be euthanized annually without a significant reduction in the breeding population, especially among cats living outdoors.  There will simply never be enough homes for them all.

The predicament of feral cats and can only be solved through sterilization (spay/neuter) procedures.  It is vital that all cat owners have their animals sterilized in order to cut the flow of stray cats into feral colonies.  Even if every owned cat in Delaware was sterilized, the population of feral cats would continue to self-perpetuate until existing feral population was sterilized.  Without intervention in the breeding population of feral cats, the cycle of birth, life and death continues.    

 

TNR: The Feral Solution
By Megan Lehman, Forgotten Cats, Inc.
Forgotten Cats, Inc. uses TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release)  because it is nationally recognized as the only non-lethal method for controlling the feral cat population.  More and more organizations and communities have adopted TNR after learning first-hand that trapping and killing feral cats does NOT reduce their numbers in the long term. Felines reproduce rapidly and fill the vacuum left behind when a colony is removed from its territory. 

During the TNR process, entire colonies are baited and trapped in humane traps, transported to our clinic, sedated, sterilized (spayed or neutered), vaccinated for rabies and distemper, treated for any wounds, and ear-tipped (snipping off the point of the left ear, for identification purposes).  We keep and care for the cats during a short recuperation, then return them to the original site where they were trapped and release them.

When a colony is trapped, approximately 10-20% of the cats turn out to be either tame stray cats that were lost or abandoned, or kittens young enough to be socialized to live with humans.  These cats are provided the same medical care as feral cats, but if they are identified as adoptable prior to surgery, they are not eartipped.  Adoptable cats are also tested for two diseases: feline leukemia and FIV.  They are taken into our foster care network for socialization and are eventually placed up for adoption through our adoption centers. 

Ideally and in most cases, the returned colony is cared for by a resident, business owner, or one of our volunteers who provides daily feeding and monitoring.  Many caretakers also provide insulated shelters for the winter. The colony no longer breeds and lives out their natural lives free of the burdens of reproduction and disease. 

Because cats living outside are territorial, returning the feral cats to their territory helps to stabilize the local population.  Any new cats that move in can be quickly identified by the caretaker (because their ears are not tipped) and targeted for TNR. 

For more information about the TNR method, visit www.alleycatallies.org.