Feral cat colony

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A Feral cat colony is a population (or "clowder") of feral domestic cats (not to be confused with wild cats). Members of a feral cat colony can include cats that have strayed after living with human caretakers as well as their offspring, which have had little human contact or none at all. Established feral colonies are located worldwide.

The term is used primarily when a noticeable population of feral cats live together in a specific location and utilize a common food source — such as food scavenged from refuse bins, dumpsters or supplementary feeding by humans — and reach a population density which might be regarded to be undesirable. However, some who work with feral cats will refer to a smaller population of cats (even as few as a single cat) as a colony if the cat(s) are regularly present at a specific location, especially if they receive care by a human. The term is not typically applied to solitary cats passing through an area.

Feral colonies occur when unsterilised domesticated cats become, intentionally or otherwise, disconnected from their responsible or irresponsible human owners and managed domestic environment. They quickly have to learn to fend for themselves and form the breeding communities subject to this article. Feral cat colonies typically arise when changes in human activity create an opportunity for existing baseline feral cat populations to form a locally concentrated group. For example, the opening of a new restaurant can allow for easily gained food via unprotected garbage cans. The greater the food source, the larger a feral colony will become. Feral cat population expansion can be quite rapid.

The multiple, managed, feral colonies at the Colosseum in Rome exceed 250,000 ferals, and has achieved considerable notoriety. [1]

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Nuisance complaints

When a feral colony grows to a large size, those living or working nearby might consider the presence of a locally concentrated cat population to be a nuisance. Complaints made include:

Those who consider these cat colonies to be a nuisance traditionally have attempted to eliminate them by requesting that municipal or private pest control services trap the cats and remove them (typically to be euthanised). However, if the factors that allowed the colony population to grow in the first place are not addressed as well, a new clowder can form in the same location when cats that escaped trapping (those moving in from surrounding areas) continue to breed.

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Managed colonies

More recently, a number of animal welfare organizations have begun to employ the "Trap-Neuter-Return" (TNR) method to deal with the issue of feral clowders, sometimes with the support of local municipalities. This approach includes sterilization of the cats to prevent breeding, removal (and euthanasia of sick or injured cats), vaccination, marking, and return of healthy cats to the site, and rescue of kittens and other tame cats to adoptive homes. Groups promoting this approach believe that it addresses many of the concerns of those who might otherwise consider the colony a nuisance, and provides a palatable alternative for cat lovers who might otherwise take no action to prevent the population from growing.

A colony in which the TNR method is being used to sterilize the cats and that is under the regular care and observation of a caretaker should be referred to as being managed. (See Pantheon above)

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Breeds arising from the gene pools of feral clowders

Two breeds of cat have been developed recently from feral cat populations. The Egyptian Mau was developed from an Egyptian feral clowder in the 1950s. The American Keuda is still being developed from barn clowders in the US Southwest, and has been since the 1980s.

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External links

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