Crazy Cat People or Geniuses?

First, what are feral cats? They simply are cats that were either lost or abandoned or the offspring of such.  They are the same species as your dearest Fluffy and are still considered domestic.  Feral cats are usually too wild to be adopted due to their lack of human interaction.

Whether you are a crazy cat lady by nature or the person calling animal control because the wild meow-meows are making sweet lovin' in your backyard... you should have equal interest in learning about the most effective method of controlling feral cat populations.

Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (fka TNVR) has proven to be the most successful community-based approach for reducing the overpopulation of cats on the street.  According to the Humane Society of the United States there are four main concerns that this crisis creates and which TNVR directly or indirectly addresses:

1. Public Health  By trapping and vaccinating the feral population, we limit the amount of spreadable diseases amongst their colonies, our pets and ourselves.
2. Impact on shelter resources  The more cats that are on the street, the more that are brought in to a shelter and the more resources consumed.  By sterilizing the population and reducing reproduction, additional space is freed for other cats and the less competition for them to be adopted.
3. Local wildlife populations  The spaying and neutering from TNVR in turn will reduce the feral cat communities reproduction rates which will in turn reduce the number of predators for local wildlife.  The general wildlife population can also benefit from the vaccination of the cats.
4. Animal Welfare   The sad reality is most feral cats don't survive past the age of two.  The quality of life for these felines can be very low, some only knowing a life of struggle and suffering.

Whether to quell the complaints of nuisance or to simply prevent further suffering for the animals, TNVR can be a solution for each.

If you wish to learn more, check out the video below produced by the Humane Society of the United States.  Experts discuss the effectiveness TNVR had on the small city of Newburyport, Massachusetts where the effort has reduced their waterfront-roaming-feline population from 300 to 6. Yes, you read that right, 6!!