Feral Cat Tips and Resources
When you find a kitten or group of kittens, first evaluate how wild and how young. If they are young, under 6 weeks, the chances of taming them are very encouraging. Place the kitten in a small area like a carrier or bathroom and regulate the food and temperature and visits to them to be very consistent.
The goal is to gain their trust. This typically takes 3-4 days. You may have
to start with gloves and simply feed them at first. Then, work up to taking
off the gloves to give them the warmth of your contact. They will hiss and
act scary with claws and teeth barred, but when you pick them up and hold
them snuggly, they relax and you'll see progress each day. You will be able
to take them to a shelter at this point for adoption.
When you find a stray cat individually or in a feral colony, the goal is to
halt its ability to reproduce. Borrow or buy a "live
trap" and set a goal of
trapping it and fixing it and returning it to the location you found it.
This is a positive alternative to the cat being taken to animal services and
euthanized. Feed the cat in the same location for 3-7 days and then set the
trap. You can take the cat to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay's low cost
spay and neuter clinic where it is the most affordable to have it fixed.
Then, return it to the colony and you will have just disabled the reproduction of thousands of new cats.
Humane Society of Tampa Bay
3607 Armenia Ave. N.
Tampa, FL
813-876-7138
If the feral cat can be tamed, then there are great chances for it's
adoption. I've had recent experience taming small feral kittens over 3 days
from being hissy to holdable and thus, adoptable at this center. They also
have a low cost spay and neuter clinic here.
Humane Society of Tampa Bay Feral Saturday Program:
3607 Armenia Ave. N.
Tampa, FL
Pam Backer
813-876-7310
She administers a program where if you commit to caring for a colony of
feral cats and register with the shelter and abide by their parameters, you
may spay or neuter those feral cats for free in the first Sat of the month
program.
Fix & Feed Feline Feral
They Care for a several cat colonies
Billie Dickover
813-264-7571
This is a non profit (501 c3) feral care colony that you can call for assistance
and possibly place a cat with them. They are in severe need of donations.
Need a reason to
spay or neuter a cat?
2 uncontrolled breeding cats
(based on 2 litters per year with 2.8 kittens surviving per litter)
Year #1 12
Year #2 66
Year #3 382
Year #4 2,201
Year #5 12,680
Year #6 73,041
Year #7 420,715
Year #8 2,423,316
Year #9 13,968,290
Year #10 80,399,780
Tips by Volunteer, Christy Anderson