Thank you for joining us for another post in our Community Cat Awareness series. Today is National Feral Cat Day and we're joining Alley Cat Allies in advocating for the lives of cats.
Some people believe you have to be an "expert" in rescue to intervene in the lives of feral cats, but that's not true. Read on for five ways you can help feral cats.
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Five Ways You Can Help Feral Cats
Don’t Contribute to Cat Overpopulation
If you are a cat parent, make sure your cat is spayed or neutered. As we discussed in our Top 5 Things Responsible Cat Parents Do, “spaying and neutering your cat also helps manage cat overpopulation and the number of unwanted cats that end up in shelters.” If your cat is not spayed or neutered, consider keeping them indoors so they do not breed.Help an Organization
Organizations can make a huge impact on the lives of community cats. An organization can be a large shelter, a private nonprofit, a municipal agency, or a small volunteer run rescue. No matter the size of the organization, help is always appreciated or needed because taking care of community cats is a never-ending job. Ways you can help are:- Transport cats to and from spay/neuter appointments.
- Get trained in Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) and help out with TNR projects.
- Donate money so the organization can continue with their efforts.
- Support the organization by purchasing items off of their wish list. The less money they have to spend on day-to-day supplies the more they have to spend on community cat programs. You can find an organization near you that has a wish list at Chewy’s Wish List Program.
Photo: Humanesociety.org
Foster Kittens Born to Community Cats
Kittens rescued off the streets at a young enough age can be socialized and adopted. Fostering a litter of kittens for a shelter or rescue will be a huge help and very appreciated. It can be very fun, too! If you’re interested in fostering opportunities contact your local animal rescue organizations and animal care and control agency.Become a Colony Caretaker or Help With an Existing Colony
Community cats rely on their caretakers for regular feedings, medical care as needed, and oversight to ensure their safety. Even if you don’t have time to be a caretaker on a regular basis you can still help. Some organizations are desperate for assistance maintaining shelters and doing general cleanups and would appreciate any time you could give them.Provide Shelters and Feeding Stations
If you live in a house with a backyard, you can set up shelters and feeding stations for the community cats in your neighborhood. We have information on building shelters here, and you can read tips on maintaining feeding stations here. |
| Photo: Animal Rescue League of Iowa |
If you've been wanting to help feral cats but didn't know how we hope this post gave you a few ideas.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this series for ideas on how to build your own feeding station. If you've missed any of our Community Cat Awareness posts, you can catch up on them here.
Are you a feral cat advocate? Tell us what you do to help them; we'd love to read about it in the comments.
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Dawn
Additional Posts in This Series:
About the Author:
Dawn White is an award-winning writer/blogger and the author of Lola: Diary of a Rescued Cat. Dawn has been writing in the pet industry for over seven years and has been a contributing writer for the Jackson Galaxy Project’s Cat Pawsitive Pro Program, BlogPaws, and Chewy.com.
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TNR is not that hard, you just need lots of patience, and be willing to wait for the kitties to trust. My human learned that with the cats that live in our backyard. Our neighbor mostly takes care of them, but my human took care of the TNR because she knew rescue groups.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent article on ferals. I have saved it in the event I can use it maybe for myself- but for anyone or group formed that can use the information. Thank you Dawn.
ReplyDeleteFeral or community cats MATTER!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Dawn! We are so grateful for our friends who care for our community cats!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. We can all do a part to help. I have my 3 that I am hoping to tame. Lucy and Ethel are slowly adjusting, but Bridget wants nothing to do with us. XO
ReplyDeleteGood tips! Momma has seen a few cats out around here at night (not sure if they're ferals, abandoned kitties, or just "outside" roaming cats).
ReplyDeleteThese are all great ways the average person can help the outside cats. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTaking care of our feral family is really most rewarding!
ReplyDeleteThey depend on us! Imzadi
ReplyDeleteI wish every cat had a good home..if not, then we need to reach out and help those who live in communities!
ReplyDeleteGreat article and well done to all those who help ferals!
ReplyDeleteL & L; a grate post two day N eye am hopin all me feral palz iz livin a grate life rite now....they mite knot bee inn side like me, but eye still hope they iz all happee N healthee N well cared for ♥♥♥
ReplyDeletemackerull boomer junior butter feeld
We love the ferals around here and put yummy kibble food out for them with some safe places for them to hide in on our patio.
ReplyDeleteWonderful ideas to help feral cats. I wish people wouldn't see them as nuisances and weren't hellbent on exterminating them.
ReplyDeleteThese are all great ways to help!
ReplyDeleteWe used to care for Squatty the Stray but he passed away several years ago. We have to go the donation route - if we attracted cats to our yard with food and shelter, Tilly would be a nervous wreck.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! Caretakers of our feral friends are such heroes.
ReplyDelete