When I was a young woman many years ago, one Mother’s Day I was feeling particularly lonely. My mother had died a few years before. I was staring out the patio window of my first-floor apartment at the beauty of nature when suddenly a thin, disheveled cat appeared on my balcony. She stared at me as if I could do no wrong. I stared at her. The very next day, I went out and bought her food.
I enjoyed seeing the cat each night eating and then lying on a chair on my balcony. I never really acknowledged that I had adopted “Scraggly,” my name for her.
One day I mentioned to my neighbor that the cat was beginning to fill out and looked much better. My neighbor laughed. The cat was pregnant, she said, but I didn’t need to worry. The cat was still so emaciated that at most she would have only one kitten. My neighbor told me to put out a box and then wait.
Soon five kittens were born–four females and one male. A short time later, Scraggly took a kitten in her mouth and knocked on my window. I let them in. In the end, I wound up keeping two kittens and the mother. I found homes for the others.
A New World
I had entered the world of people involved with outdoor cats. Sometime later, I found myself working with neighbors to help a feral cat and a few strays that had wandered into the area. I learned that the difference between a stray cat and a feral one is simply that a stray cat is comfortable with people, most likely owned at some time, while a feral cat shies away from us.
If a feral cat is brought into a shelter, there is a 99 percent chance of it being killed. Even no-kill shelters are very reluctant to accept feral cats.
The Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program is effective for this reason. In 2001, Alley Cat Allies launched National Feral Cat Day to raise awareness about outdoor cats, to help organize the compassionate people who care for the cats, and to promote TNR. It is celebrated every Oct. 16.
A Symbiotic Relationship
According to Alley Cat Allies, cats began their unique relationship with humans 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, the geographic region encompassing modern-day parts of West Asia where some of the earliest developments in human civilization occurred. Around this time, human settlements started to grow crops such as wheat and barley, and with that innovation also came the necessity to store unused grain.
Not surprisingly, the grain storage bins attracted a large number of rodents, which cats found easy prey. The cats and humans recognized a mutually beneficial relationship.
Cats remained outdoors until several important 20th century inventions—such as refrigeration (for pet food), kitty litter, and the mastery of spaying and neutering—allowed them to better live indoors.
However, cats’ basic behaviors and needs didn’t change; the feral cat population was not created by humans. Many cats simply still live outdoors and should not be considered lost or neglected pets. Instead, these cats have a place in the natural landscape.
The Trap-Neuter-Return Program
