What is a Feral Cat?
Managing Feral Cats in our Community
Resources for Feral Cat Management in Hillsborough County
What is a Feral Cat?
A feral cat is either a cat who has lived his whole life with little or no human contact and is not socialized, or a stray cat who was lost or abandoned and has lived away from human contact long enough to become wild. Feral cats avoid human contact and cannot be touched by strangers. For more information about feral cats, visit Alley Cat Allies, national feral cat experts.
Frequently Asked Questions about Stray and Feral cats
Managing Feral Cats in our Community
Feral cats live in groups called colonies and live near food sources. These colonies can be managed through a nonlethal method called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), in which cats are humanely (and painlessly) trapped, spayed or neutered, and returned to their colony site where volunteer caretakers provide them with food, water and shelter for the duration of their lives. TNR is the only method that have been proven to be effective in managing colonies of feral cats and reducing their population.
TNR is the only chance feral cats have of living safe, healthy lives without reproducing. But, TNR is a hands-on project requiring commitment from one or more volunteer caretakers.
Resources for Feral Cat Management in Hillsborough County
Project SpayDay is a donation-based monthly clinic that rotates to various veterinary offices throughout the county. Cats are sterilized, vaccinated and discharged to the caretaker the same day. The clinics are run entirely by a team of volunteer veterinarians, veterinary technicians and lay persons. Traps are rented prior to SpayDay at various trap depots. For more information, or to make a reservation for an upcoming SpayDay, please visit www.spayday.com, or call: 813-818-9381.
The Humane Society of Tampa Bay has a feral cat sterilization program. Caretakers can you can borrow traps and bring ferals in for surgery on designated days. For more information, call the HSTB's spay/neuter clinic: 813-870-3304.
Other Feral Sites:
Cat Rescue Connection
This site is for rescuers and rescue organizations. Every cat on this site has been rescued - from the street, a parking lot or industrial site, or from a high-kill shelter. Check this out. You can have your cat/kitten posted on site.
Feral
and Stray Cats Yahoo! Group
Yahoo! Group for people who are involved in helping feral and stray cats, or maybe have taken one or more in as a pet. This will include, but is not limited to, experiences with feral cats as pets, care of feral cat colonies, and ways of controlling and helping feral cats.
Orphan Kittens Yahoo! Group
Yahoo! Group on Orphan Kittens. This is an effort to bring together those who rescue kittens to share information and experiences. This is not a forum for selling or placing kittens.
SPAYDAY.com
The Monthly Fix for Stray Cats of Hillsborogh Co. A Donations-Based Sterilization Project of Animal Coalition of Tampa
TNR Works Yahoo! Group
Yahoo! Group For Florida feral-cat groups only: a forum to promote humane treatment of feral cats and the reduction of feral-cat populations through trap-neuter-return programs and adoption.