Saving Feral Cats, Part 1
By Louise Holton, Animals Voice Magazine
Last year, a dramatic headline in an Italian newspaper that an AIDS-like virus was spreading throughout the stray cat population caused an immediate panic among cat lovers. Thousands of feline companions were literally dumped out of households into the streets of Rome. Monica Cirinna, the director of Italy’s Office of Animal Rights, finally appeared on national television to assure the nation that the disease, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), was only a distant genetic relation of HIV and could not be transmitted to humans.
It is easy to be panicked by rumors and sensational newspaper headlines. In the U.S., similarly horrifying stories written about rabies have induced fear into people and caused thousands of healthy animals to be killed. There is a way to deal with these subjects and take reasonable precautions without creating pandemonium. When I discovered a rabid raccoon on my front porch (he was eventually trapped and euthanized by animal control). I was very impressed by the sensible attitude of our local health department. They interviewed those who had come into contact with the raccoon, established that no one had been bitten or had touched the animal, and dealt with the situation in a calm and professional fashion.
Humane officers often deal with appalling cases of cruelty to companion animals, animals tortured and dumped out like garbage, many struggling to survive on the streets with no survival skills. Lack of care, food and shelter lowers cats’ resistance to infections and many become sick. Some shelter workers have made statements that all cats who live outdoors carry disease and are health hazards to humans – a claim that can be very detrimental to cats in general, make people afraid of stray or feral cats and may prevent them from helping a cat in need. It can indeed support the ridiculous statement quoted in 1949 that cats are “disease carriers.”
What about alley cats? After years of working with and observing feral cat colonies, it has become obvious to me that when alley cats are sterilized and are cared for with food, water and shelter, they live good, healthy lives. This doesn't’t mean they’ll never get sick or die; after all, such is the nature of life for all animals, human and otherwise. Many caretakers report colony members who live to ten years old and older.
For humane officers and health officials to make vague general statements that alley cats are “health hazards” is very detrimental, can cause people to panic, and may result in mass eradication of colonies. Myths are spread through ignorance and fear.
Infectious Diseases:
Most people acquire infectious diseases from other people. Humans can also acquire deadly infections from contaminated food, especially meat products. Salmonellosis is a bacterial disease that can contaminate food like eggs, mayonnaise and, of course, dead animals used for food – such as chickens. More than five million people in the U.S. get sick from consuming contaminated meat products, causing more than 9,000 human deaths annually.
E.coli is a deadly bacteria that contaminates meat products and water. There are 20,000 reported cases of this mostly food-borne illness each year. In 1993, hamburgers contaminated with E.coli hospitalized 144 people in the Pacific Northwest, killing three children and one adult. There are more than 200 diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, although only a few can be transmitted from companion animals. These diseases are called zoonotic diseases. They can be categorized into parasites, viruses, fungal and bacterial diseases.
Parasites:
The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is probably a zoonotic disease people are most familiar with because if pregnant women become infected, there can be severe damage to their fetuses. The oocyts of this parasite can be shed in cat feces. However, if a woman leaves the litter box chores to others during her pregnancy, or uses gloves when changing litter, the chances of her acquiring this disease are minimal. Some doctors are responsible for encouraging people to abandon their cats when a woman becomes pregnant.
These same doctors would do a far greater service if they advised their pregnant patients to give up cooking and eating meat – toxoplasmosis is usually found in raw and undercooked meat.
According to the Cornell Feline Health Center: “Research has put the hazard of cats as an immediate source of Toxoplasma infection for man in a much less alarming perspective. In controlling transmission to man, the first concern should be the most probable source of the infection, which is ingestion of incompletely cooked meat. The second concern would be hand-washing after handling raw meat.” This certainly sheds a more reasonable light on this disease and could save many cats’ lives, as so many felines are euthanized when caretakers become pregnant. Fleas, ticks and ear mites can be common in colonies of feral cats, which can be treated when a cat is anesthetized for sterilization. Flea powder or sprays should also be used around the sleeping quarters of alley cats. Once a colony has stabilized and nutritious food is supplied, overall health improves and parasitic infection lessens.
Roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and coccidiosis are also common in feral colonies and should be treated on the first visit to the clinic. After that, caretakers can add crushed worm medication in canned food from time to time. Outdoor cats often eat grass to eliminate parasites from their systems. One can also add wheat or oat bran to canned food as roughage to help carry worms out of the system.
Follow Guidelines and Use Common Sense
While we should not treat any of the health problems or zoonotic diseases that occur lightly, we need to get a proper perspective on what constitutes real health hazards or risks. The fact is that many thousands of caretakers have safely been caring for sterilized and unsterilized colonies in many countries for centuries. More than 60 million domestic cats are companion animals in homes in the U.S., with approximately 30% coming into homes as strays off the streets.
Taking simple precautions and following prescribed guidelines when dealing with stray or feral cats greatly lessens any risk to humans. These precautions include getting rabies shots for both feral colonies and caretakers, keeping feeding stations and litters areas clean and tidy, providing nutritious food, water and shelter. The sterilization of feral cats cuts down on many health and “nuisance” problems, such as cater-wauling, roaming, and fighting
Conclusion:
Sterilized feral cats in managed and monitored colonies are usually very healthy. If ferals survive kittenhood, they often become immune to local viruses and can be very robust and healthy animals, provided they are sterilized. The Egyptians befriended the African wild cat, Felis Iybica, the ancestor of the domestic cat, more than 3,500 years ago, with little risk to their lives. They found the feline to be a captivating creature. Felis catus has occupied a special place in the lives of many people over thousands of years. Cats give companionship and love and enrich our lives. Colony caretakers are just as devoted to “their” wild cats as they are to the cats who share their homes.
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