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More Feral Cat Information:

How to Trap A Feral Cat

Feral vs Stray: Feral cats are not socialized to people or to living indoors. They range from cats who have never had human contact to semi-feral cats who were once pets but have been on their own for so long that they revert to a wild state. Feral cats will not allow you to handle them and need to be trapped in order to bring them to a veterinary facility. A stray cat will allow handling and should have the opportunity to be claimed by an owner or adopted into a home.

There are several feral cats at my home, school, or office. What can I do? Feral cats live outdoors in groups known as colonies. These colonies can survive on their own but their lives can be improved immensely by a regular "caregiver." Caregivers accept responsibility for caring for the colony - not just leaving out food, but ensuring every colony member is sterilized, vaccinated and monitoring the colony for newcomers, injuries and illness. As a caretaker, you can notify the neighbors of the benefits of a managed colony and that you are taking the responsibility for the care of these cats. 

Feeding feral cats - isn't that the wrong thing to do?  Just leaving food out can cause more harm than good. The cats should be fed during the day to deter wildlife and the feeding area should be kept clean and away from people. Don't feed them if you are not interested in feeding them for life. If a once reliable food source is taken away, it can be very harmful. Being unsocialized does not necessarily mean they know how to hunt for food.

Can't we just trap and remove all the cats?  Simply removing the cats opens up an ecological void which more cats (usually unsterilized) will eventually fill. So what can you do?