Thanks to Ally Cat Allies for the following information. www.alleycat.org FERAL CAT -Literally "gone wild", a dom- estic cat that was lost or abandoned and has reverted to a wild state, or a cat that was born to a stray or feral mother and had little or no human contact. Adult feral cats can rarely be tamed without months or years of effort and are not suited to living indoors with people. They live out- side in family groups called colonies that form near a source of food and shelter. Feral cats can survive almost anywhere and are found worldwide. STRAY CAT -A domestic cat that strayed from home and became lost or was aban- doned. Because a stray cat was once a companion animal, he or she can usually be re-socialized and placed in an adop- tive home. TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN -A non-lethal sterilization method to reduce the num- bers of feral cats in the environment both immediately and for the long-term. A com- prehensive, ongoing program in which stray and feral cats already living out- doors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, then evaluated, some- times vaccinated, and then sterilized by veterinarians. Kittens and tame (stray) cats are adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats too wild (feral) to be adopted are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of caring humans. Cats that are ill or injured be- yond recovery are not returned to the environment. Why TNR, and not TNA? -Because cats in differing environments all look so sim- ilar, it is easy to imagine that a feral cat is, or wants to be, a creature much like the cat curled up on your sofa. In truth, feral cats are very different from the cats we easily share our homes with. Feral cats are closer to being wildlife than pets. With the exception of kittens, feral cats are just not good candidates for adop- tion. They may come to trust us in an outdoor setting, but they lose that trust when confined, and it may never be re- gained. Being forced into a house or other structure can be the most frighten- ing experience possible for a feral cat. He may appear to acclimate, or at least stop hissing and cringing for a time, but is never at ease and never stops looking for a way to escape.The stress of such confinement can harm the cat's physical and mental health. A feral cat's home is where he has spent his entire life. Feral cats form strong bonds with one another and with their home territory, bonds that define their daily existence. It may be difficult to accept that, despite the strong human- animal bond formed with these cats , their animal-animal bonds and animal -territory bonds are stronger and more relevant to their well-being. They may be warm indoors, but they are content outdoors. Another factor that inspires some people to want to tame the feral cats they care for is the misperception that all feral cats live short, miserable lives. The truth is that the well-being of feral cats is most compromised by behaviors associated with mating and giving birth to endless litters of kittens. Spaying and neutering significantly changes the picture. Male cats no longer fight and roam. Female cats no longer bear kittens. Feral cats in managed colonies can live 10 years and longer. A major and critically important compo- nent of TNR is socializing and adopting kittens and adult stray cats. When giv- en individual love and attention, feral kittens up to about 8 weeks of age can usually be fully socialized to become household cats. Neonatal kittens acci- dentally separated from their mothers or discovered in a location dangerous for newborns require bottle-feeding to survive. Adult strays- cats who for one reason for another lost their homes- can often be re-socialized and re-homed. Fostering kittens and strays is an inval- uable contribution to the process.

DI MEOW is available to assist islanders with feral cats in their neigh- bourhood. We have extensive experience with trapping, and ask that folks interested in supporting our program not try to trap a cat without our involvement. Timing is everything! We only trap the night before or morning of a scheduled clinic, and if a cat must be released from a trap because we are unable to deal with it at that time, it may be impossible to ever catch it again!

Cat trapping for extermination purposes is not an effective means of population reduction. In fact, it can be part of the problem, given that the vacuum created is not only quickly filled, it can inadvertantly con- tribute to a population increase.

Many SPCA's and Humane Societies around the world, once opposed to trap and release programs, now endorse them as not only the most humane means of population reduction, but the most effective overtime. (please see excerpts below)

Attempts to eradicate whole colonies of cats usually fail because the ecological vacuum created is soon filled by other strays. Unmanaged colonies are often regarded as a nuisance because of territorial be- havior such as spraying, fighting, and caterwauling during mating per- iods. Stabilizing the colony by neutering results in healthier animals and much of their undesirable behavior is eliminated.
Facts and Myths About Feral Cats and Wildlife Predation- www.feralcat.com/acafcmc.html