Feral Cats

Prior to homing my two younger kittens, I had the tough choice of homing a semi feral cat from a friend who had been looking after it for several years and wondered given my circumstances whether I would be interested in giving the cat a permanent home.

I had seen this cat in some of her pictures before and thought it was a beautiful albeit very wild looking cat. It wasn't until she approached me and asked me for help that I found out the cat was not actually hers, and that it was a community feral cat.

Some countries are particularly fond of cats and will look after feral cats like pets. I think it's a very noble deed to help look after "wild" animals, but it's important to know why it is these feral cat's are feral in the first place, and, what consequences they might have on other wild life.

For a start, feral cat's are not quite the same as "wild" cats. Feral cat's are usually house cat's which have not been domesticated because they've not been brought up in a home by humans. This means that they are not comfortable being around humans, and rely more on their survival instincts to survive. Sure enough, they generally have a shorter life span and tend to be smaller in stature.

Unfortunately, responsible rearing of children is not something cat's consider when mating and they will continue to multiply regardless of the supply (or lack) of food. A single pregnant cat can be responsible for tens of cat's within 18 months. Especially given that their gestation period is so low. The result of having so many feral cat's can be very problematic, for a start, it makes domesticated house cat's who do have a home less safe, after-all, non neutered cats are very territorial, but it also puts pressure on local bio-diversity. Cat's who do not have a good supply of food from their owners will hunt for their food and bring local populations of other small mammals into danger.

Despite all this, the best we can do is try to get them neutered, and give them a reasonable life to live even if it's not in our homes. In some ways, the cultures embracing cat's have understood this well, allowing cat's to become one of the populace of their cities.

It's difficult fending for yourself when generations and generations of your genes have been selectively bread to be house cats so I do my part in offering shelters food and a little bit of my volunteer time.