Feral Colonies

Voice For The Animals maintains several feral colonies around Los Angeles

What is a feral cat? A feral cat is the 'wild' offspring of domesticated cats that were either abandoned by their owners or strayed into wild areas away from their home. When these cats mate, their offspring are never handled by or associated with humans, making them feral. Adult feral cats that have never made contact with humans, can rarely be socialized. They are considered unadoptable and when trapped and brought to shelters, they are euthanized.

What is a feral colony? A feral cat colony is a population of feral cats, primarily when feral cats live together in a specific location and utilize a common food source. Usually this food source is scavenged from trash and dumpsters, or from human feeding. Feral cats that are not sterilized will breed, thus forming feral colonies. Forming colonies increase a feral cats chance of survival when there are multiple hunters and cats to look after kittens.

What is Trap-Neuter-Release? Trap neuter release is a humane alternative to euthanasia for managing feral cat populations. TNR begins with the trapping of a feral cat. The cat is then brought to a veterinarian, spayed or neutered and then vaccinated against common diseases such as rabies, herpes and calicvirus. Finally, the cats are marked so that they are easily identified. They are then returned to their habitat, under the care of volunteers. Any kittens or tame adults are adopted into good homes.

Returning the feral cats to their habitat is an excellent way to reduce the feral cat population without euthanasia. If you remove a feral cat colony from its habitat, other fertile cats from the surrounding areas will move into the location and begin breeding. When the sterilized feral cats return to their location, they keep fertile outsiders away. And by marking each cat, any newcomers that join the colony are easily idetified and sterilized before they breed.