Richmond Animal Protection Society - How you can help stray or feral cats

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How you can help stray or feral cats

Many tame cats become homeless each year, both accidentally and intentionally. Sadly, cats are often treated as disposable objects by people who don't love them. When these people move or take on new roommates, they drop off their cats at city pounds, drive them to rural areas and dump them (they mistakenly assume that farmers will want them), or simply abandon the poor animals by leaving them outside of their former residence. We have encountered situations where cats and kittens were abandoned inside of locked residences, without food or water.

Some people dump cats that they took on as kittens, because the cats developed aggressive or unfriendly personalities. This may have resulted from a neurological disorder or because the people mistreated the kitten or "played" with it roughly.

It is a myth that cats are independent beings who can take care of themselves. An abandoned house cat cannot easily forage for food. Many of them are unsuccessful hunters and will quickly become malnourished and slowly starve to death.

How to help a stray cat

A cat that is dirty, matted or thin, appears sick or injured, is pregnant or has kittens out of doors is probably a stray and needs your help. You should provide food and water and take her to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

If the cat seems healthy and has no collar and tag, you can create a collar from a loop of elastic and attach a friendly note asking the owner to call. Check the right ear for a tattoo (a series of letters and numbers). Any vet can help you trace the tattoo to help find the cat's owner.

A vet can check for a tattoo or identifying microchip, and will be able to tell you the sex of the cat and its approximate age. If the cat is male, the vet will determine if it has been neutered. S/he may be able to tell you if a female is spayed or is pregnant, and if there are any apparent health problems.

Look for the owner by placing an ad in your local newspaper (found ads are often free of charge). Make up flyers to give to letter and newspaper carriers and neighbourhood children. Put up posters at local veterinary offices, as well as SPCA (ASPCA) and city shelters. You should also check lost ads in the newspaper and call any that might be for the cat you've found.

If you can't find the owner and are unable to keep the cat yourself, try to find a new home for it. Shelters can't find homes for all of the cats they take in. Strays are a community problem, so enlist the help of your neighbours, if necessary, to raise the funds to spay or neuter the cat and to take care of any health problems it may have. You can then advertise the cat in the newspaper and ask for a donation which you can use to defray veterinary expenses or donate to a local animal rescue group. It isn't wise to offer pets for free, as you may attract people who are unable or unwilling to carry the lifetime costs of proper care for the animal.

When interviewing prospective adopters, look for someone who wants an inside companion who will be a loved member of the family. During the conversation, ask about previous cat ownership and avoid people whose previous cats were lost through negligence or were given away. Try to get a sense of whether or not they are likely to make a long-term commitment to the cat, and to provide a lifetime of good food and veterinary care.

If the stray cat is unapproachable after a few days of feeding, it is probably feral (wild) and will have to be trapped in order for you to attend to its veterinary needs. Call local veterinarians and pet supply stores for a referral to a feral cat rescue group in your area, or contact Alley Cat Allies for help in the United States and Canada. Organizations like Richmond Animal Protection will be able to provide you with advice on trapping and caring for the feral cat, and may be able to provide a trap on loan. If you capture and take the cat to a municipal animal control shelter, it will be killed. Richmond Animal Protection Society advocates the humane "trap, neuter and return" method of reducing the feral cat population by releasing animals back to where you find them and providing ongoing care.

For detailed information on the care of feral cats, please click on our links. Users in the Greater Vancouver area will be interested in knowing that in the past several years, the SPCA has received no reports of rabies in cats.

Keep your cat indoors

Preventing or solving scratching problems

Watch for signs of illness

Spay and Neuter

Ask a cat

How you can help a stray or feral cat

Finding your lost cat