There are billions of feral cats worldwide because of human
negligence. Feral is the cat that nobody wanted. These cats were abandoned by
their owners and left to survive on their own.
Some cats survived in areas close to a food source others perished.
These cats are living a life much like the wild cats of Africa. They are
competing for food water and shelter and just want to carve out space for
themselves so they can live a peaceful life with humans.
I have been a colony caregiver since 1999 and in that time I
have trapped, sterilized, and given the feral cats their vaccines, tape wormer, and
treatment for fleas, ticks, and ear mites.
All of the feral and stray cats that I have trapped were either
socialized for adoption or released to a controlled colony where they are safe from
human traffic.
My husband and I care for feral and stray cats. At the present date, we have 10 cats in our
colony. The colony where the cats reside
is on a side of a mountain ridge that is located in a forest of 25 acres. The
cats live in limestone cracks and crevices as well as large thicket dens or
hollow trees.
All cats are fed twice a
day and get fresh water at the feeding station.
In the winter the cats are welcome to sleep and get warm in my old shed. It is a drafty shed, however, it is dry and it does provide the cats with a good wind block and straw-filled beds.
Some feral cats will go where they go when the weather turns extremely cold or hot and these cats do suffer. They are too wild to realize that the shed has heat and an air conditioner.
The feral cats are terrified of the noise that the heater or the air conditioner so these cats will burrow into the leaves or the brush in the forest. For these wild feral cats, we will hike out to them to provide them with food and water. And when the snow is too deep we will make a path to them. (see the path my husband created for us to get to the cats or for the cats to come to us.)
It is not easy to be a feral cat, most humans fear them and believe they are vicious and diseased. Many humans think the best interest of the feral cat is to trap them and euthanize them, and this action is humane.
I have trapped and taken the feral cats in for sterilization, tested for feline aids or leukemia, and out of the 298 cats there was 1 sick cat and that cat was a neighborhood stray cat, very people friendly.
Feral cats did not ask for this life, they really had no choice as their human abandoned them long ago. They are feral because of human neglect, a human error that can only be fixed by the caregivers that dedicate their service to trap, spay or neuter and then care for the cats in colonies.
Feral cats deserve a better life, where they can co-exist with humans without being feared as dangerous animals, with no purpose on earth.
