Terminology

Adoption

Feral kittens up to eight to ten weeks of age can usually be socialized and adopted into homes. Caretakers of feral cat colonies that find a litter of kittens are urged to trap these kittens after they have been weaned and work with them to socialize them so they can be taken off the street and adopted into good homes. (Read the flyer, " The Kramer Method for Socializing Kittens Over Three Weeks of Age" for tips on this process.)

Adult feral cats, on the other hand, are often much more wild and generally unsuited to sharing a home with humans. There are tens of millions of feral cats in the U.S., and although individual adult feral cats can sometimes be tamed after sterilization, our efforts need to be put into spaying and neutering as many feral and stray cats as possible in order to control the population humanely. However, if an adult can that has gone through our TNR program becomes tame after sterilization, we definitely urge all caretakers to put the effort into getting these animals off the streets and into good homes.

Advocacy

"The act of pleading or arguing in favor of some thing, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support" (American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition). Feral cat caretakers, both individuals and groups, are advocating for non-lethal feral cat reduction in communities throughout the nation.

Drop Trap

A droptrap is a lightweight frame covered with netting - made to catch feral cats. It is propped up on one side with a stick, and food is placed in the back. The trapper stands at a distance, holding a string attached to the stick. When the cats are eating, the trapper pulls the string, allowing the trap to drop, capturing the cats inside. The trapper then covers the drop trap with a blanket to calm the cat(s). Thanks to Laura Burns of Boston for this description of the drop trap. You can email Laura at HubCatsBoston@aol.com for more drop trap tips and techniques. Also, here is a LINK to a blogspot about drop traps, which includes instructions on how to build the trap and a video demonstration on its use.

Eartipping

A technique of removing a small portion off the top of a feral cat's left ear. The procedure is performed while the cat is under anesthesia so there is no pain. The eartip is the universal symbol that a cat is from a managed feral cat colony and has been evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized. Eartipping ensures that a sterile cat will not undergo unnecessary repeat trapping and surgery.

Establishing Colonies

This refers to the myth that feral cat caretakers establish new cat colonies, often by rescuing cats scheduled to be killed in shelters and putting them outside. The truth is that feral cat colonies already exist in abundance in the U.S. (See Feral Cat Colony). Feral cat advocates and caretakers who practice TNR humanely trap, sterilize, and vaccinate stray and feral cats already living in colonies, educate caretakers about finding homes for the kittens and friendly strays, and return healthy adult feral cats to their outdoor homes. thereby reducing the population both immediately and in the long term (See Trap-Neuter-Return). Feral cat caretakers do not establish new colonies.

Euthanasia

"The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment" (American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition). The term "euthanasia" does not apply to killing healthy companion animals and/or feral cats because there are too many of them.

Feral Cat

A domestic cat that has become antisocial (afraid of humans to a greater or lesser degree) after being lost or abandoned, or is a cat that has been born outside to stray or abandoned cats. A feral cat can also be the offspring of other feral cats that have lived in a more "wild" state for some generations. Feral cats live in family groups called colonies and can be found anywhere there is food. Feral cats can survive almost anywhere and are found all over the world.

FeLV, Feline Leukemia Virus

A retrovirus specific to cats, FeLV causes an immune system breakdown, making the cat susceptible to diseases it might otherwise be able to fight off. FeLV cannot be transmitted to humans nor can it be transmitted to other species. FeLV positive cats may remain asymptomatic (although contagious, they are shedding the virus primarily in saliva) for many years. With supportive care and symptomatic treatments, many FeLV positive cats live a high-quality life for months to years, while others may succumb quickly. FeLV is spread primarily from mother to kitten.

Feral Cat Caretaker

A compassionate community volunteer who feeds feral cats, performs Trap-Neuter-Return, and provides long-term care and monitoring for adult feral cats that are returned to their original colony. Caretakers are men and women of all ages from all walks of life. Most of the leading feral cat organizations were founded by caretakers whose committment to feral cats grew to encompass entire communities.

Feral Cat Colony

A group of free-roaming cats living in a specific geographic area. Prior to implementing TNR in an area, a feral cat colony consists of both stray and feral cats of all ages, including kittens. After TNR is completed, a feral cat colony consists of only adult feral cats.

Feral Kitten

Any kitten born outside to a stray or feral mother. Most feral kittens can be socialized if the process is begun when they are only a few weeks old. Socialization requires that the kittens be confined for a short period of time during which they are talked to and gently held and petted for increasing periods until they come to form a human-animal bond. Usually, the younger the kitten, the easier socialization will be. (See "The Kramer Method for Socializing Kittens Over Three Weeks of Age" for tips on this process.)

FIV, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Also a retrovirus specific to cats, FIV is transmitted from cat to cat primarily by deep bite wounds in fighting cats, especially roaming males. Intimate contact through grooming, sharing food, etc., does not spread the virus. FIV-positive cats often live long, symptom-free lives.

Goal

Responsible feral cat advocates and practitioners of TNR share one goal with wildlife and environmental groups, animal control agencies, and public health officials: to reduce the number of feral cats in the environment in the long term. We strive to demonstrate to these groups that TNR coupled with other non-lethal practices is showing results and should become the standard method of feral cat control everywhere.

Groups that advocate adoption for feral cats are ignoring the documented wild nature of true feral cats and their fate when adoption proves impossible—death in a shelter or animal control facility.

Humane Box Trap

A metal wire box rigged so that when an animal steps into it, the door closes, preventing the animal from leaving. These traps do not cause the animal any pain and are the only type of trap to be used for Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).

Managed Feral Cat Colony

A group of feral cats living together and having strong blood ties in which all cats have been sterilized and vaccinated and are provided daily food and shelter by a volunteer caretaker. The caretaker regularly monitors cats and captures any who need veterinary care, in addition to trapping any newcomers to be sterilized and vaccinated. A properly managed colony is a healthy, stable colony in which no kittens are born.

No-Kill

A belief that healthy animals should not be killed simply because there are too many of them. No-Kill advocates that animals sick or injured beyond treatment should be euthanized (see Euthanasia), but that healthy or treatable animals should be given the opportunity and resources to live.

Predation

"The capturing of prey as a means of maintaining life" (American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition). The question of what, if any, role feral cats play in the decline of wildlife is controversial. Some environmental and wildlife groups maintain that cats, both feral and owned, are decimating wildlife and that all cats must be removed from the outdoors. This position is flawed on two counts.

First, by far the primary issue in wildlife decline is ongoing habitat destruction, disruption, and fragmentation caused by development and other activities associated with human population growth. The major reputable studies on avian and wildlife population declines all point to habitat loss, drought, and pesticides produced by human activities that must be curtailed or corrected if wildlife is to prosper once again.

Second, removing cats from the outdoors sounds like a simple, straight forward operation, except that, as a nation, we have been trapping and removing (killing) feral cats for decades with no effect whatsoever on reducing their numbers (see Trap-and-Remove). Communities that practice this outdated approach have as many or more feral cats as ever.

The critical point about predation is that, no matter what role cats may play in any predatory situation, the solution is to have fewer feral cats in the environment (see Goal). Trap-and-remove schemes have failed for decades to achieve this goal. TNR, on the other hand, has been succeeding since it began in the United States over a decade ago (see Trap-Neuter-Return). The answer to predation concerns is for feral cat advocates and environmental and wildlife groups to endorse TNR as the standard method of feral cat control everywhere and continue to reduce feral cat numbers.

Rabies

A virus that affects the central nervous system of mammals, causing first encephalopathy and ultimately death. In the United States, rabies is overwhelmingly a disease of wildlife; the vector species are raccoons, bats, skunks, and foxes. Cats routinely account for about 3 percent of rabies cases and are not a primary vector. Pre-exposure rabies vaccine is available for both animals and humans. Treatment for humans exposed to rabies is completely effective if it is administered before the onset of symptoms. After symptoms occur, there is no cure. While rabies is a lethal disease to be treated with utmost caution, rabies control is a major public health victory in the U.S. Human deaths from rabies average 2 to 3 per year. In at least 13 years, none of those rabies cases were acquired from cats.

Without an active Trap-Neuter-Return program, feral and stray cats would have no access to the rabies vaccination. All cats that go through Spay and Stay's TNR program receive a rabies vaccination.

Relocation

In almost all cases, feral cats are better off being returned to their established outside homes after sterilization, to be watched over by caretakers. Cats bond with their territories and with other cats in their colony. Relocation is difficult, time-consuming, and often costly, and comes with no guarantee that the cats will stay in their new location. Alley Cat Allies (the the national nonprofit clearinghouse for information on feral and stray cats) strongly recommends that all measures be taken to correct problems connected with keeping cats in their territories. If, however, compelling difficulties force the relocation of a feral cat colony, read Alley Cat Allies' guidelines on this process so you have the greatest chance of relocation success.

Sanctuaries

Proposals to confine feral cats in sanctuaries are not plausible. Establishing an animal sanctuary requires land; building(s); hiring and training staff and/or recruiting, training, and maintaining volunteers; ongoing food and veterinary care; insurance; licensing; and ongoing funding. Few cat sanctuaries can house even 100 cats, due to the cost of the elements listed above. The most conservative estimate of feral cat numbers in the United States is 20 million. It would require some 200,000 sanctuaries to house them.

Stray Cat

A domestic cat that strayed from home and became lost or was abandoned. Because a stray cat was once a companion animal, he or she may be able to be resocialized and placed in an adoptive home.

Trap-and-Remove

The traditional approach to reducing feral cat numbers, trap-and-remove schemes may achieve a temporary lowering of feral cat numbers, but survivors of the campaign breed prolifically and outside cats can move in to take advantage of the now available sources of food and shelter and form a new colony (see Vacuum Effect). "Trap-and-remove" is usually a euphemism for killing feral cats.

Trap-Neuter-Return

A non-lethal sterilization method to reduce the number of feral cats in the environment both immediately and for the long term. A comprehensive, ongoing program in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, then evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians. Efforts are made to get kittens and tame (stray) cats adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats too wild (feral) to be adopted are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of volunteers. Cats that are ill or injured beyond recovery are not returned to the environment.

TNR was brought to the United States from Europe and the United Kingdom in the late 80's. The practice of TNR grew rapidly in the 90's when Alley Cat Allies began providing information and assistance to people caring for feral cats who recognized that their numbers must be controlled and reduced through sterilization. In communities where TNR is widely embraced, feral cat numbers have dropped.

TNR programs operate largely or entirely through the dedicated efforts of committed volunteers. TNR works because it breaks the cycle of reproduction. In general, the cost of sterilization and returning a feral cat is less than half the cost of trapping, holding, killing, and disposing of a feral cat. TNR protects public health and advances the goal of reducing the numbers of feral cats in the environment. The public supports humane, non-lethal TNR as the long-term solution to feral cat overpopulation.

Vacuum Effect

Feral cats establish territories based on availability of food sources and shelter. When the cats are removed from this environment, more cats quickly move in to take advantage of those resources. These new un-sterilized cats will breed to the capacity of the site. The vacuum effect has been documented around the world.

Zoonotic Diseases

Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Rabies is the most well known of the zoonotic disease (see Rabies), although there are numerous others, many not involving cats. Opponents of TNR sometimes cite zoonotic diseases as threats to public health and reasons to eliminate feral cat colonies, but it has been demonstrated that feral cats are rarely the primary or even a significant source of disease, that the diseases connected with cats are extremely rare, and that feral cats enjoy the same level of health as owned cats in the U.S., especially when they belong to a sterilized managed colony.

Three Options for Feral Cat Control

The only options available to communities dealing with feral cats are:

Eradication - Attempt to remove all feral cats from the environment by trapping and removing feral cats so thoroughly that none are left behind, because any cats surviving this effort will breed prolifically. Eradication has been attempted throughout the United States for many decades. The result? Communities that deal with feral cats by trapping and removing them (either killing or relocating) have now as many, if not more, feral cats than ever because full scale trap-and-remove schemes require a much larger allocation of resources (both funds and staff) on an ongoing basis than communities can afford to dedicate to them. Also, public resistance to the killing of healthy animals is growing ever stronger. Without community support, a thorough trap-and-kill campaign cannot be executed.

But even if a jurisdiction could dedicate the substantial budget funds and staff hours to successfully trap and remove all feral cats in a territory, the vacuum effect would ensure that the campaign must continue indefinitely (see Vacuum Effect).

Do Nothing - Although doing nothing is obviously not the answer, it is often the only answer available to communities that do not have TNR programs in place or the resources and/or public mandate for eradication. From a public health standpoint, doing nothing is the least responsible stance. Feral cat populations grow unchecked. Sexually intact, unvaccinated, and un-cared for feral cats scavenge sustenance while reproducing prolifically. Common sense dictates that whatever the actual level of risk is, a vaccinated, sterilized, fed, and monitored feral cat will always present less threat to another animal or to a human than an unvaccinated cat roaming for mates and scavenging food.

TNR - Implement Trap-Neuter-Return programs (see Trap-Neuter-Return).

Return to top

Thanks to Alley Cat Allies for letting us duplicate their Terminology List here.