Ghougasian, a petite woman with earrings and a black coat flecked with cat hair, seems right at home. A helicopter thrums overhead and a construction hammer plinks in the distance. Ghougasian reaches into a shopping bag, pulls out a can of Friskies and plops it onto paper plates. Before she even opens the door, seven cats - black, black and white, gray - surround her. She hops back into the car, drives three blocks, then slides into a parking space next to an iron fence. “Hey, sweeties - I want you to run that way.” “I spend all my money and time relocating cats,” she says. Laurice Ghougasian pulls up the trapdoors on two cages, and the animals meow loudly, leap outside, and race in the opposite direction of the food Ghougasian has put down left for them. It’s around about 8:30 on a chilly January morning. Neutering prevents population numbers from growing, and keeps the spread of disease to a minimum by reducing fighting and mating behaviours.THE AGING JEEP pulls into an alley of rowhouses near Gonzaga College High School that is littered with dirt-streaked plastic water bottles, abandoned yogurt containers and used condoms. The cats are also given a health check, and are tested for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV). Our Animal Welfare Officers run a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program in London, with the purpose of helping maintain healthy and managed feral cat numbers through population control and health monitoring.įeral cats are humanely caught on location, brought back to Mayhew to be neutered the same day wherever possible, and then returned to their territory the next day to keep stress levels to an absolute minimum. Without population control, the feral cat population will keep growing at alarming rates. Unneutered females are able to reproduce from as early as four months old, and can have multiple litters per year. However, if the colony is controlled (neutered), healthy and stable, it will deter other feral cats from moving in and will also keep vermin levels down. Most of these colonies originate from stray cats that have not been neutered. They will, however, remain fearful of humans, keep their distance and remain untamed. Some colonies can become ‘semi-feral’ if someone is putting out food, and the cats will sometimes become accustomed to the presence of the feeder. If a cat is feral, the most compassionate option is to keep it feral – trying to tame a feral and bring it indoors will only cause undue stress and harm to the cat’s health and mental well-being.įeral cats often live in colonies, within close proximity to food sources and shelter. They can never be tame, and will suffer a great deal if forced to live inside. A feral cat will not allow itself to be touched or handled by a person. A stray or abandoned cat will often not shy away from people, whereas a feral cat is fearful of people and so tends to keep a distance. It’s their behaviour that tends to be the give-away. Whilst the term ‘feral cat’ brings to mind images of hissing, spitting, wild looking cats, they are very indistinguishable from domestic cats. They often live difficult lives, dodging humans, scavenging for food and water, catching infections and facing multiple pregnancy cycles. Feral cats are not stray cats, which were raised as pets but have since been lost or abandoned. They have never learnt positive associations with people and so will avoid contact as much as possible. Feral cats are offspring of feral, stray or abandoned domestic cats that have missed out on these early positive experiences with people.

Stray cats