It was in the beautiful Kruger National Park in South Africa, near the Skukuza campsite, that I first saw an African Wildcat, Felis libyca. At the time, I thought that a ranger’s tame tabby had strayed too far from camp (since the domestic cat derived from libyca, it can be difficult to tell them apart; a team of Scottish zoologists, using skull morphology, had difficulty identifying the domestic cat from the wildcat). Later, when reading a book on Kruger, I realized the cat I had spotted was a wildcat. I can still see the stocky, pale-gray striped tabby with a wild look on her face, taking a quick glance at us, then scurrying into the dense African bush.

As one of the most adaptable mammals on earth, the domestic cat can become feral fairly easily. In the United States, surveys show that approximately 30 to 60% of unneutered lost or abandoned cats will eventually live in a feral colony. Many unspayed/unneutered (referred to as “intact”) animals become lost while searching for mates, wandering too far from home. They will often join (to form) a feral colony. Initially, when tame household cats are abandoned by inhumane people, they can suffer greatly. It may take a while for feral instincts to initiate a survival response in the cat. Many will never make it, but others survive quite well – which is the cause of the current overpopulation of feral cats.

Current U.S. Policies High death rates or low birth rates are two methods that can be used to control an overpopulation crisis. The U.S. currently chooses the former. Millions of unwanted animals are destroyed each year. As resources dwindle, less is spent on education and few low-cost sterilization programs are offered. The public often does not realize the extent of the crisis. Many shelters do not reveal that relinquished animals will probably be killed for fear these animals will be abandoned. Killing these animals is not a pleasant subject for the general public so it is hidden.

The British were the first to accept humane management of feral colonies. A committee of scientists and humane educators established a policy more than two decades ago. The RSPCA then accepted alternatives to lethal control, and in 1977, Cat Action Trust formed, a group with 24 chapters that neuters cats in the U.K.

AnnaBell Washburn, founder of Pet Adoption and Welfare Services of Martha’s Vineyard, was one of the first to introduce non-lethal control methods to the U.S. After hearing U.K. animal behaviorist and feral cat expert Peter Neville speak at a conference in Boston, she started a sterilization program on Martha’s Vineyard and spoke at conferences in the northeast. However there have always been individuals in this country who have realized independently that they need to trap and sterilize ferals to stop the breeding. One 82-year-old retired university professor from New Jersey called to tell me she had been doing this for fifteen years and thought she had invented the method!

What do you do when you find a feral cat or a colony? When I speak at conferences about managing feral colonies, many people relate their individual experiences with ferals. I often hear statements such as, “Please don’t think that an older feral cannot be tamed. My Jack was a wild three-year-old, and today he sleeps on my bed.” Many want to scoop up all ferals and place them in homes, but we must understand that this is impossible. The U.S. currently has a population of about 60 million ferals and we are killing approximately 6 million domestic cats each year. There are simply not enough homes. As well, most adult ferals would be very unhappy in our homes. Many are too wild to tame. Finally, while there is still an overpopulation of stray cats, others will quickly fill the niches left by the removal of whole colonies and begin the breeding cycle all over again.

The guidelines for managing a colony are very strict: (a) The cats must be in a safe place; (b) caretakers must commit to long-term care, providing food, water and shelter and (c) the cats should be trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, and identified by “ear- tipping” the left ear (removing the top quarter-inch). New cats entering the area should be assessed, trapped and sterilized (this program is only for feral cats, those wild cats who have adapted to a feral existence and live in supportive colonies; abandoned or lost domestic cats should be re-homed).

Placing an older feral in a home can be traumatic for both cat and caretaker. The cat may hide in terror, and trying to catch her for trips to the veterinarian can become a nightmare. The best time to tame ferals is before they are three months old. Some ferals caught at four months old can remain fairly wild. But, as with the cat named Jack, there are always surprises in store for those of us who rescue ferals. I trapped a two-year-old feral male, Magic, who had been shot with a BB gun and needed surgery. I kept him indoors to recover, and he surprised me by responding well to human attention. Magic still lives in my home. He has few “human” social graces, and is still inherently wild, but nevertheless he is happy to be with me.

Controlling Colonies When I started on my first feral colony in Washington D.C. in 1990, I immediately observed that the cats were well fed and in good condition. This meant that the cats had a reliable caretaker feeding them regularly. The only problem was the kittens this colony was producing. It was 9 p.m.on a hot and humid summer evening. Dusk had just fallen. As we walked into the alley, over a dozen tiny shadowy kittens came running toward us looking for food. It was quite a sight! We removed 32 kittens from this one alley during the next few months.

Nancy, the caretaker of this colony, had been feeding them for the past few years. There had always been high mortality among the kittens and she had exhausted her resources for placing the healthy ones. Nancy had called the local shelters for help, but they told her to trap the cats for euthanasia. She refused to do this, but did not know how to stop the breeding. We promised to help her and, within a year, had neutered all the cats. Since 1991, no new kittens have been born in this alley, despite the fact that it’s in a densely populated area where resources are plentiful due to a large number of nearby restaurants. This large colony, in existence for more than a dozen years before our involvement, has now stabilized and been reduced.

The management of this colony proves that the trap- neuter-and-release program does work to control populations. Cats in such colonies can have a good life, provided caretakers supply them with food, shelter and veterinary care when needed. This requires a long-term commitment from people and such dedicated caretakers should be not be forced to euthanize the animals or be penalized for feeding stray and feral cats.

Dr. Andrew Rowan of Tufts University Veterinary Medical School, has observed that this resource of people willing to step forward to care for colonies is quite remarkable and should be helped. Tufts has had innovative programs for feral cats for many years. Teams of students have been sent annually to the Virgin Gorda Island - under the auspices of AnnaBell Washburn, a pioneer in the movement for the humane control of feral cats – to care for ferals.

Taming Kittens Do not be fooled by cute little feral kittens! When you first bring them into your home, treat them with caution. They can inflict painful bites. Place them in a covered, warm carrier with food, ater and litter. Move quietly and talk softly when you enter the room. Leave a radio playing soft music so they get used to human sounds. Usually, you can cover them with a towel and hold them firmly on your lap within twenty hours. Scruff them gently but firmly at the neck (this will not hurt them, but immobilizes them and allows you to work with them without injury to them or yourself!). Use interactive cat toys. They love playing with “Cat Dancers.” If handled carefully, feral kittens can become tame within a short period, though, the older they are, the longer it will take.

Tamed kittens should be checked by a veterinarian and treated for parasites and fleas. Roundworms and coccidia are two problems most kittens seem to be infected with and they need to be treated immediately to prevent any major health problems. Ferals often bond with the first caretaker who helps them, and some find it difficult if not impossible to bond with another human. If you are taming them for adoption, let them become exposed to many different people, and place feral kittens in new homes as soon as possible. They eventually make very lovable companions.

Other Useful Tips:
1. If necessary, do some fundraising to help pay the bills. Initially, controlling colonies can be expensive. Ask your vet to consider a cost break, as you are helping to fix a neglected social problem.

2. Get others involved. You will need help and support with feeding, trapping and placing kittens. Ask your local companion animal store to assist with adoption days and donations of at food.

3. Be careful not to take in too many cats. You may end up with a houseful of unplaceable animals. Be prepared when you adopt out ferals that some will be returned to you, as many people cannot cope with cats who are the least bit “unfriendly” or timid.

4. Tell people the cats they are adopting are feral. It is better for them to know what they are in for and that it may take weeks or months before they may finally have a lap cat, or that perhaps the feral may never be a lap cat.

5. Make sure the cats you place are all neutered before placing, or that the new caretaker will neuter them. Have them all vet-checked and treat any health problems before placing. Have new caretakers sign an adoption agreement, and do house checks.

6. Consider your local print and broadcast media for TV and newspaper coverage. The media is usually sympathetic to “Good Samaritans.”

U.S. Groups Helping Ferals Groups have formed all across the country to provide veterinary care and assistance for ferals. From Miami Beach to San Jose, Las Vegas to Boston, people all over are trying to stop the population explosion of feral cats using trap-neuter-and-release methods. University campuses are often a source of ferals, as many students keep unneutered cats and then abandon them when the semester is over. In California Stanford Cat Network formed in 1989 after the University planned to exterminate the 500 feral cats on campus. Today the numbers are down to 300 and, in 1994, only four kittens were born. The San Francisco SPCA, one of the first humane societies in the U.S. to accept trap-neuter-and-release as a viable and humane alternative, has provided free surgeries for thousands of feral cats.

The Feral Cat Coalition of Portland was formed by veterinarians who have taken the lead in helping their city’s feral cats. The group holds monthly one-day spay/neuter clinics for ferals and the vets run the program without compensation. Many institutions, such as hospitals and nursing homes, have colonies of feral cats. A hospital in , Louisiana, had been trying for years to eradicate its large colony. Finally, some very obvious conclusions were reached: (a) the presence of the cats indicated that an ecological niche existed for approximately that number of cats; (b) removal created a vacuum that was being constantly filled through migration from outside; and (c) trap and kill schemes had alleviated the problem temporarily but had not been a permanent solution.

The veterinarians from the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, who initiated a non- lethal control scheme, concluded that the new cats entering the colony were introducing new diseases and exacerbating the very behavioral problems that were causing the “nuisance” in the first place, such as caterwauling females and spraying tom cats.

At the Hospital regulations by the authorities to stop feeding of cats were consistently ignored. Feeding feral cats in institutions can have long-term positive benefits on patients. This has been proven many times in English studies. The Carville Hospital study was conducted in a scientific manner and is well- documented. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

As we have seen, the U.S. currently has millions of compassionate people willing to feed and take care of alley cats, but a national community effort is needed to solve the current crisis of feline overpopulation. Humane solutions cannot be initiated on a large scale without the cooperation of humane societies, shelters, and the veterinary community, and the support of the public. We may not be able to sterilize every feral cat in the U.S., but we can stabilize large colonies and stop their growth through sterilization, aggressive educational programs in neighborhoods where unaltered cats are allowed to roam, and low-cost spay/neuter programs.

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