A Letter About Feral Cats by a Reader

From Diana March 17, 2006

I live on a horse farm, and have a domestic cat who is out all

Arendal sitting in the bushes.

day to hunt and play, and comes home at night. Foxes have been known to kill and eat cats in this area.

We have an older black, male feral cat. He has one weepy eye, a ragged coat and is afraid of people. No one has ever been able to touch him. He's been here at least 10 years.

He got into the habit of coming in my cat's cat door and eating his food. I had to stop this, so I began feeding the feral cat out on the front porch (opposite the cat door). I feed him twice a day now. He has come to expect this and sits on the porch, waiting. When I crack the door and put his feed in his dish, he will come quite close, even once sniffing my hand... but if I move, he is off and away.

There used to be several other feral cats in the area... I'm not sure if they will return in the summer or if something has happened to them.

In my opinion, feral cats should be trapped not once, but every year. The first time they can be neutered, given a 3 year rabies shot, and other innoculations as needed. Then each year those innoculations can be repeated, and the cats can be tested for serious and contageous disease, in which case they should be put down.

My cat has some sort of skin problem that looks suspciously like what the feral cat has. Since they were both coming in the same door, I can only surmise that he did indeed catch this from the feral cat. This is why I think feral cats should be caught yearly and checked for disease. Just as other "wild" animals, the fox, raccoons and others, they will go through a cycle of mange (or the cat versions of skin problems), rabies and other diseases. The population of feral cats should be watched over and those suffering from conditions we cannot treat them for (because it is very difficult to tame a feral cat that has been feral for 10 years) put down. They will only transfer the disease to domestic cats that are allowed outside, which in the countryside, most are.

I would think that a feral cat under one year old or so could be tamed, and the whole problem solved. My cat was captured at 2 months, or rather he sought shelter at that age, and was easily tamed. But for these older cats, it's a different story.

Luckily, we have a local vet clinic that specializes in feral cats, this being a rural area.

Thanks for listening,

Diana

Thanks Diana, for your comments.

Having a vet nearby who understands the Feral Cat situation is always a plus. I still hope that city vets will learn and make it possible and affordable for big hearted cat lovers to take care of the colonies better.

I agree that the cats should be trapped and cared for annually. And yes, feral cats can transmit serious diseases to domesticated cats, so I guess you are probably right about putting them down, although it breaks my heart to say so. In this case, a dermatitis that can be treated with supplements, I would hope that those supplements are given instead of having the cat euthanized. For a feral cat that tests positive for FeLV, the outcome is more grim.

As for taming feral cats, if one tries and has the facilities for it, I think that any cat can be tamed. It may take longer for an older cat because you are overcoming a lot of negative experiences the cat may have had with unsupportive people. However; with patience and love, I believe it can be done. At least to the point of having a friendly, outdoor cat.

Keep up the good work! I'm so proud of you!

Morgen

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