The Peru Gazette

By Don McBrayer

Feral Cats, and how to handle them, has been an ongoing topic at Town Board meetings for a number of years. The Town Board is aware of the recent increase in the number of stray and feral cats, but find it difficult to offer solutions that are effective without being cruel to the cats or a burden on the taxpayer.

My thinking is that the first step to resolving a problem is by understanding the problem. If we understand what feral cats are, how the live, what the risk to humans and pets are, and how to control their numbers we can begin to take steps to get feral cats under control.

What is a feral cat? A feral cat is a cat that does not socialize with humans. They are usually 2nd or 3rd generation cats that have never been pets or lived in a home. They are clean, robust animals that can fend for themselves and are acclimated to living outdoors. They live an average of 2 years (though some studies show they can live as long as 10 years or more with proper food and shelter). They are capable of breeding every few months. Like many animals in the wild, they produce a lot of offspring to offset the fact that 75% of their young do not survive past six months. They very rarely carry disease, and are no more a threat to humans or other pets than domesticated cats. Think of them like we do pigeons or squirrels; living near humans, depending on us to some degree, but not tame. It is very difficult to make a feral cat a pet. Learn more at: www.alleycat.org/FeralCat

www.forgottencats.org/feralcat.php

www.aspca.org/adopt/feral-cats-faq