Feral Cat Help & Info

What is a feral cat?

A feral cat is a cat who did not learn early on in life what it means to trust and to be loved by a human. Feral cats are afraid of humans and will run away from you if you get too close. They would be terrified if someone tried to bring them indoors to be a house cat. Although, sometimes a cat that at one point was a house cat, but for whatever reason have had to learn how to survive outside on their own, can become a feral or semi-feral cat. Sometimes a semi-feral cat can be taught to once again trust a human.

It costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2 billion each year to round up, house, kill, and dispose of homeless animals.

Difference between a stray & feral cat?

Stray cats are socialized to people and can be adopted into homes, but feral cats are not socialized to people and are happy living outdoors.

Stray cat:

Is a cat who has been socialized to people at some point in her life, but has left or lost her indoor home, as well as most human contact and dependence.
Can become feral as her contact with humans dwindles.
Can under the right circumstances become a pet cat once again. Stray cats that are re-introduced to a home after living outdoors may require a period of time to re-acclimate; they may be frightened and wary after spending time outside away from people.

Feral cat:

Is a cat who has either never had any contact with humans or her contact with humans has diminished over time. She is not socialized to people and survives on her own outdoors. Most feral cats are not likely to ever become lap cats or enjoy living indoors.
Can have kittens who can be socialized at an early age and adopted into homes.

Regardless of your position on feral & free-roaming street cats, the best way to deal with them is Trap-Neuter-Return.

A fertile cat can produce 3 litters in one year with an average of 4-6 kittens per litter.

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is the internationally accepted, effective and humane method of controlling feral and free-roaming cat populations. TNR has been practiced for decades in the U.S. and is successfully practiced in hundreds of communities and in every landscape and setting.

TNR is based on continued colony management and it is this responsible management that helps insure the success of TNR. Feral and free-roaming “community” cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, evaluated, and ear-tipped to identify them as spayed or neutered and vaccinated. Animals that are suffering and cannot be alleviated are humanely euthanized.

After recovery, the cats are returned to their home—their colony—outdoors. A feral colony caregiver provides food and shelter and monitors the colony for new arrivals. Caregivers monitor for sick cats they can vet and for newcomers that need to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated. Whenever possible, tame adults and kittens that can be socialized are removed from the colonies and evaluated for adoption.

Managing a Colony

If you have a feral colony (or just one feral cat) that are not spayed/neutered... consequently, they will continue to reproduce, thus driving up the population of homeless cats. Colonies whose populations spiral out of control are also likely to cause concern from neighbors... who may decide to contact animal control. If a feral cat is taken in by animal control, it is highly likely to be euthanized. It is best for everyone involved that the colony be stabilized as quickly as possible. There are many organizations that want to assist you. Below is a link to see helpful videos and tips to start managing your colony.

Benefits of TNR

A TNR program will stabilize feral/ free-roaming cat populations by ending reproduction. The population will eventually decline.
The nuisance behavior often associated with feral and free-roaming cats is dramatically reduced; including the yowling and fighting that come with mating activity and the odor of unneutered males spraying to mark their territory. Noise of cats fighting over mating rights is eradicated. Male urine spray smells are eliminated.
Calls to authorities about cats decrease significantly and community morale improves.
TNR improves cats’ lives. Cats live healthier, more peaceful lives after TNR .
TNR protects cats’ lives. Nearly 100% of feral cats entering shelters are killed because they cannot be adopted.
TNR stops wasteful spending. Catching and killing cats has been a futile effort used by animal control and shelters across the country for decades. Continuing an approach that is clearly not working is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Public health benefits of maintaining healthy, neutered, rabies-vaccinated feral cats in their environment through TNR far outweigh any possible public health threats.

Affordable feral spay/ neuter clinics

No More Chasin' Tails: non-profit low-cost spay and neuter clinic for dogs and cats. Their mission is to provide low cost spay/neuter services to the public; to help end homelessness and senseless euthanasia in our shelters. Click here for services and pricing. Call (757)255-8804 to schedule your appointment.

PETA: mobile clinics travel throughout the Hampton Roads, Virginia region daily. Please call 757-622-7382 and select option 3 or click here for more information or to request an appointment.

Norfolk SPCA: for feral cat spay/neuter, please contact their TNR Customer Service Line at 757-622-3319 ext. 310 or you can email [email protected].

Chesapeake Humane Society/ C.A.R.E Clinic: proudly operates a low-cost spay/neuter clinic to help reduce the overpopulation of animals. To schedule a surgical appointment for a spay or neuter procedure, please call 546-5355 or click here to submit a request for an appointment.

Fix'n to Save Spay & Neuter Clinic: The mission of the Fixin’ to Save Spay & Neuter Clinic is to provide high quality affordable spay and neuter surgeries, saving lives, one surgery at a time. Surgeries are performed by appointment only. Please contact 804-694-0349 or [email protected] to schedule an appointment.

The Cat Corner's "Petra's Wish Feral Cat Fund"

The Feral Cat Fund operates solely on donations from people who believe the life of a feral or stray cat is every bit as worth that of a pet cat – that they should not be “forgotten felines.”

The Cat Corner's "Petra's Wish Feral Cat Fund" is dedicated to the assistance of Feral Cats and offers colony assistance, information on low cost trap/spay-neuter/return (TNR) programs, and educational resources.

With the Petra's Wish Feral Cat Fund, we offer trap-neuter-return services free of charge to those who join us in our commitment to end feral and stray cat overpopulation.

After surgery, the feral cats recover indoors, then are released to their original sites to receive daily food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, should they need it later. Some who can’t be released to their original sites are carefully re-located to barn homes, but those are few and far between.

We thank you for stepping up to show that stray and feral cats are not throw-away lives!

Trap-Neuter-Return Assistance

TNR assistance or questions not covered on our website, please email our Feral Cat Team at:
[email protected] and we will be in touch with you.

Adopting a Barn Cat

If you are in the Southeast Virginia area and are interested in adopting a barn cat, please fill out our Barn Cat Adoption Application and we will be in touch with you.

Support our TNR Mission

Help support our TNR efforts by donating to help us continue to help educate and assist with TNR efforts. Go now to donate online to our Petra's Wish Feral Cat Fund.

Humane Trapping - Before You Trap

Familiarize yourself with the TNR process and plan your trapping day in advance. You will be successful if you follow the step-by-step instructions on our Humane Trapping Instructions page.

Buy Swag & Raise Funds

Sales from the Feral Cat Project shirts go towards our trap-neuter-return efforts! Go now to our Shop for a Cause - Online Swag Shop to purchase your swag and help raise not only funds but awareness!

Stray & Free-roaming Cats

Found a friendly cat? Before removing a cat from the area it was found, please visit our Found a Stray? page to get helpful info to learn how to better asses and handle the situation.