News
Feral (Wild) Cat Discussion
Posted on Feb 19th, 2010
WILD CAT PROBLEM—a couple of neighbors have mentioned having problems with wild or feral domestic Cats at Sunset Point....this is not an issue of lost or abandoned cats. Feral cats are the offspring of lost or abandoned pet cats or other feral cats that have not been spayed or neutered. Stray cats are accustomed to contact with people and are tame. Feral cats are not accustomed to contact with people and are typically too fearful and wild to be handled. Where as stray cats may be reunited with their families or adopted into new homes, feral cats do not easily adapt or may never adapt to living as pets in close contact with people. Females can reproduce two to three times a year, and their kittens, if they survive, will become feral. Cats can become pregnant as early as 5 months of age, and the number of cats rapidly increases.
A colony of unneutered/unspayed feral cats can produce a number of problems, including:
• A growing population of cats
• Frequent and loud noise from fighting and mating behavior
• Strong foul odors from unneutered male cats spraying to mark their
• Territory issues between cats (fighting)
• Flea infestations
• Possible Rabies danger
• Visible suffering from dying kittens and injured adults
• A constant rate of nuisance complaints about feral cats.
If you should find a stray cat frequenting your property, we would suggest several options. If the cat is tame, you could take steps to find the cat's owner or if unsuccessful in finding the owner, perhaps you could attempt to find a new home for the cat.
If the cat is feral, unapproachable and wary after several days of feeding, we would suggest you stop feeding the animal and call the York County Animal Shelter and Control office at 628-3190. They will set live traps to remove the animal before it turns into a neighborhood problem. They can also be called if you do not want to deal with a lost or stray cat.