What To Do With Feral Cats?

Mostly in large population areas, feral (wild) cats can create a nuisance not to mention that the cats themselves are subject to inbreeding, over breeding, disease and early death. Las Vegas is especially plagued with feral cats because of the transient nature of some of our population and because of our warmer winters. In most cases if you try to just eliminate a cat population by destroying the present cats eventually more will come as long as there is some food source whether it be garbage cans or someone feeding outside. The best and most humane way to deal with a population of feral cats is to trap, spay or neuter, vaccinate and release back. Then they should be fed and watered on a regular basis and monitored. Trapping can be relatively easy with the right equipment. Humane traps can sometimes be rented or borrowed from animal societies. The traps are a metal grid cage with a trap door at one end and normally another door at the other end in which you can insert a plate of food. We typically cover the top of the cage with a towel or sheet (this will do wonders to quiet a scared wild cat once it is trapped). The best time to trap is at night, which is when most feral cats come out to search for food. If you are feeding a feral cat population, it is best to withhold the food for a day or two before you begin trapping so that the cats are good and hungry.

Before you begin trapping you should check with the veterinarians in your area to make sure that they would be willing to neuter feral cats. Keep in mind that only dissolvable stitches can be used since it will be impractical to bring a wild cat back in to have his stitches removed. If you are trapping at night, just leave the cat in the trap over night in a secure and protected area (the cat shouldn't have any food or water before surgery anyway). The veterinarian can anesthetize the cat in the trap, remove him from the trap for surgery and replace him in the trap for the necessary recovery period. You should wait until the cat is fully awake before you release him back to his area so that there is less danger of him injuring himself. The traps are designed so that you can give the cat food and water while he is recovering. If you can afford additional services (shop for price if you need to) vaccinations are good, especially rabies in certain areas and a leukemia test.

The first time you trap in an area is always the easiest. Then there always seems to be one or two holdouts that just refuse to go into a trap. But be patient and persevere. Once a colony is spayed and neutered, the number of cats in that area should remain pretty constant. The cats themselves will be more content to stay in that area and of course there will be less cat fights. To take on a project of this nature will require both time and money but keep in mind that you are providing a great service to both the human and cat populations. Unfortunately there will be some of the humans who will not understand what you are doing even after you explain it to them but please don't let them discourage you. It is a good thing that you are doing! If you need information or encouragement just drop us e-mail.