Instructions
Prepare to Become a Feral Cat Caretaker
Make a commitment to the feral cats. Deciding to care for a feral cat colony requires dedication. Once you begin care, you must keep providing it or find someone to replace you. Be sure you want to make this commitment.
Find out the local ordinances regarding feral cats. If they do not allow citizens to care for feral cats, start a letter-writing and education campaign to change the law. Contact an organization dedicated to helping feral cats, such as Alley Cat Allies.
Explain your plan so you can gather support. You will need overall community support as well as other individuals willing to be caretakers of the feral cats. It's too much work to do alone.
Get humane cat traps. You may be able to borrow them from a local animal shelter or a clinic that specializes in feral cats. You can also buy traps at many hardware stores. If you are handy, build your own using the silent wood trap instructions in the library at PetRescue.Com.
Locate low cost spay/neuter programs, or vets that specialize in feral cats. Local animal organizations and shelters often maintain lists of these programs, so start your search with them. Discuss scheduling with the vet that you choose.
Update your tetanus shot and get a pre-exposure rabies vaccination to be safe. Encourage all people who will be interacting with the feral cats to do the same.
Trap, Sterilize, Vaccinate, Return
Establish a regular, once-a-day feeding time so the feral cats have a schedule, and remove the dishes at the end of feeding. Bring the traps with to feedings so the cats get used to seeing them. Only after the cats firmly stick to the schedule should you decide to trap them. By this time, they will be dependant on you for food.
Notify the vet that you are about to trap the cats, and confirm an appointment time. Skip feeding the day before you hope to trap them so they will be hungry.
Set the traps and cover the trap floor with newspaper. You can also cover the body of the trap with newspaper or cloth. Place enticing food at the back of the trap, such as canned tuna or other human-grade foods.
Stay with the traps. If you cannot stay, don't leave them for more than 2 hours. A feral cat will panic when trapped and could hurt herself if not supervised. If you have no success, try again the next day.
Cover the trap with a towel, and transport the cat to the vet. If you can't take the cat to the vet right away, keep him in a garage, basement or other protected area.
Have the vet spay or neuter the cat and provide any vaccinations she feels are necessary. Ask about what kind of recovery time the cat will need before you can release him back into the colony.
Ask the vet to use ear tipping, or cutting off the tip of the left ear, to identify the cats as neutered feral cats. Feral cat organizations are campaigning to get universal recognition of ear tipping so fixed feral cats are returned to their caretakers and colonies instead of being euthanized.
Maintain the Colony
Provide vet care. Continue trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating and releasing until all cats in the colony have been treated, including any new cats that join. If you notice an ill or injured cat, get her to the vet as quickly as possible.
Feed the cats daily at a specified time and make sure they always have water. Provide the food and water in a protected area, and remove all plates after feeding so you don't attract other animals.
Give the cats shelter, such as a small dog house, in an inconspicuous place. Use straw as bedding to help cats stay warm and dry, and change the straw on a regular basis. Indy Feral sells shelters made specifically for cats.
Keep records of the feral cats. Photograph the cats in the colony and keep track of vaccinations and other medical procedures.
Adopt out any tame cats. A cat that is socialized should be removed from the colony and placed with a loving family. Contact a local cat rescue group for help in placement if you do not know of any potential adopters.
Find a replacement if you can no longer serve as the primary caretaker. The cats depend on you.
How to Care for a Feral Cat Colony
For decades, the feral cat problem was tackled by simply trapping and euthanizing feral cats. With over 60 million feral cats currently living in the United States, this approach clearly isn't working. A more humane approach is to provide care for these cats, altering them so they can no longer add to the overpopulation problem.