What are Feral Cats and Why Should I Care?

Feral cats are cats that are born and have no human contact. This occurs when feral cats reproduce and when domestic cats have a litter of kittens that have little or no human contact. These cats live in rural, suburban and urban areas and live “off the land,” eating food placed outdoors, killing birds and rodents, etc.

Feral cats often fight with domestic cats and will occasionally even attempt to breed a spayed domestic cat. Many feral cats carry diseases including the FIV (Feline Aids) and FeLV (Feline leukemia) viruses . These and other diseases can be transmitted by a feral cat during a fight or breeding attempt. These diseases can lie dormant in your pet for months or even years until something triggers them. Unfortunately, neither disease has a cure. Pet owners are faced with the heartache of euthanizing a beloved animal.

Feral cat populations are increasing nationally. Often people trap these cats when they become a nuisance and take them to be euthanized. A better solution may be a trap and release program. Feral cats are trapped, neutered or spayed, vaccinated and released back into the wild. These cats can no longer reproduce and this reduces fighting. A stable colony is formed which provides a territorial barrier between un-neutered feral cats and your cats. The main controversy with the trap and release program is quite controversial as feral cats is the  decimation of songbird populations. This occurs at a high rate in the prairie states where songbirds often nest on the ground.

Here at Quail Pointe Veterinary Hospital we offer several solutions.

• First and foremost, please spay or  neuter your cat so they do not reproduce.

• We offer low cost spay and neuter programs for feral cats. If you find or trap a feral cat, please bring it in. We will test the cat for leukemia (FeLV) and aids (FIV). If they test positive, they are euthanized. If negative, we follow the national standard which is to clip the cat’s left ear as a symbol of a neutered and tested feral cat.This program is for feral cats only.
  

Please contact us for more information about this and other programs available through the hospital.

**Please note that the Davis County Animal Control does not have a feral cat policy at this time.