All About Cat Care

Are There Benefits To Rescuing Feral Cats From The Streets ?

January 31st, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Many people don’t understand why others dedicate their spare time to helping take stray cats off the streets and care for them.They think it is a thankless task, not worth all the trouble and headaches. Kinder and better for everybody to put the troublesome animals to “sleep”

Are they right ?

Here are some responses to some of the main objections to rescuing strays you will hear.

1.You may be told that feral cats are extremely noisy and will do nothing but fight each other.
The truth is that cats who fight a lot are that way simply because they have not been neutered. When females are not pregnant, they are in heat virtually nonstop. Males on the other hand, are constantly seeking a mate. These two combinations will undoubtedly cause a lot of friction and fighting. However, once a feral cat has been taken in and neutered, this fighting stops.

2.Objectors will explain to you that feral cats are known for having too many kittens and these kittens will end up dying and/or living on the streets. This comment does make sense but the fact of the matter is that strays that are taken in will be neutered immediately, therefore not adding to the wild population anymore.

3. You might also be told that feral cats cause many traffic accidents because they are roaming the streets and drivers try to avoid hitting them. Neutering solves many problems, as you can tell by number one and number two above, and it is the same in this case as well. Once a cat is neutered, it no longer has the desire to roam the streets looking for a companion. This obviously helps reduce the possibility of feral cats causing traffic accidents.

4. Another fear that some people have about those of us that take in feral cats is their claim that the cats are carriers of many diseases which is the result of living on the streets. This may be a very good point, but on the other hand this is also a very valid reason for helping these cats to be taken into a place where they can be tested and given medicines andpreventive measures against any diseases they may have. In a quality feral rescuers home or organization, these cats will be vaccinated for the possibility of rabies and will also be tested for other diseases that may be transmitted from cat to cat or cat to person.

What are your views ? Please feel free to add comments about your experiences.