Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cats

6 important things you should know about feral cats

Paige Cerulli
By

If you have cats living around your home, you might be wondering if they’re stray or feral cats. You might even be uncertain of the difference. Feral cats are often misunderstood, but they’re fascinating animals who have found ways to survive in the wild. October 16th is National Feral Cat Day, and it’s also the perfect time to brush up on your knowledge about these cats. Whether you have feral cats living near you or you find all cats fascinating, these six facts can help you better understand how these cats live. And if you think the cats you’re seeing need some help, you’ll also learn how you can best help them — and what you shouldn’t do.

What is a feral cat?

Feral cats are cats who were born wild. Stray cats, in comparison, were usually once someone’s pet.

Recommended Videos

Because feral cats are wild, they are afraid of people. You usually can’t pick them up and hold them, and in most cases, you can’t even get close to a feral cat. With time, you might be able to win over a feral cat’s trust if you take care of it for months, but the cat will probably trust only you and remain afraid of other humans.

Related
Tiger cat sitting in a yard
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A notched ear means a feral cat is spayed or neutered

You might notice that a feral cat has a small notch or slice out of one ear. Called an ear tip, this is a marker that indicates the cat was trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and then released again. This practice helps cut down on feral cat overpopulation, but it gives these cats — who wouldn’t be happy living indoors — a chance to go on living their lives.

Feral cats live in colonies

Feral cats live together in groups, called colonies. The cats in these colonies are related to each other, and they’ll usually take up residence in a certain shelter, like a shed. All the cats in the colony stick to the same territory when seeking out food, making themselves a sort of home within an area, and they all stick together.

Feral cats can cause problems for homeowners

If feral cats move into a space near your home, you might start to experience some problems. Males can fight, the cats could transmit diseases to your cats, flea infestations are common, and toms, or male cats, who spray can create strong smells around your home. It can also be upsetting to see cats who are thin, sick, or suffering.

Two feral cats sitting outdoors by a wall
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Some people care for feral cat colonies

Some people choose to care for the cat colonies who have moved into their property. Feeding the cats can help keep them at a healthy weight, especially during winters when food is hard to find. If you have a feral cat colony, then working closely with your local Trap-Neuter-Return program can help control the population and keep the cats healthier.

Feral cats aren’t suitable to be adopted

If you have a feral cat colony, trapping the cats and taking them to your local animal shelter isn’t the answer. Feral cats are afraid of humans, and adult cats may have spent years in the wild. In some cases, with intense socialization, young feral kittens can learn to trust humans and can be adopted. For feral cats, going to an animal shelter is traumatizing, and many of these cats are euthanized.

Stray cats, on the other hand, were once domesticated and can often be socialized and live comfortably with humans again. Stray cats are often candidates for adoption through animal shelters. Feral cats aren’t. Keep in mind that they’re wild animals.

That’s why it’s so important to understand how feral cats live and why they don’t trust humans. Trap-Neuter-Return programs can help control feral cat populations, keeping cat colonies healthier through vaccines and population management. Feral cats don’t live an ideal life, but people who care for the colonies can help make the cats’ lives easier. Spaying and neutering cats — both feral and domestic — can further reduce the number of feral cats born each year. If you need help with feral cats, call your animal control officer or a local shelter for information on feral cat programs available in your location.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Paige Cerulli
Paige Cerulli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Paige's work has appeared in American Veterinarian, Business Insider, Healthline, and more. When she's not writing, Paige…
Your cat trilling is actually a good thing – here’s why
This cat behavior explained
Alert cat looking into the camera with wide eyes

When you share your life with cats, you'll hear them make all sorts of different noises. Meowing, purring, and even hissing or growling are all sounds that your cat uses to communicate. But there's another noise that your cat may use and reserve for special occasions and special people. Have you heard your cat trilling? And have you wondered just what this distinct sound means?

The trill is a less common vocalization, but if your cat trills at you, you're a lucky person. Why do cats trill? This is how to recognize cat trilling — and why it's such a good sign.

Read more
What you need to know about crating a cat at night
Tips to make introducing your cat to a crate easier for you both
Kitten in a crate

In most cases, your cat probably roams around the house at night. They might visit you in bed, hunt for any bugs that have gotten into your home, or try to start a game of tag with your dog or other cat. But sometimes it's necessary to restrict your cat's movement.
Crating a cat at night can help with injury recovery, can aid in litter box training, and might even be necessary to help keep your cat safe. If you're considering crating your cat, you'll need to be prepared with the right type of crate and introduce it carefully to help your cat learn to accept it. Crating a cat isn't always easy, but these tips can better your chances of success.

Reasons for crating a cat
There are a number of situations where it can be helpful to crate your cat. Some are temporary, while others may be long-term solutions, such as when your cat disrupts your sleep.

Read more
This video of a confused kitty discovering a cat water fountain is adorable
Your feline might actually prefer a cat water fountain if you can teach her how to use it
A tiny gray kitten drinks from a ceramic plate

Humans see water fountains just about every day, but that doesn't mean our pets understand them. In the wild, most animals probably drink running water but are unlikely to approach a waterfall for their liquid needs (and let's not forget, many of our pets' undomesticated counterparts get most of their hydration needs from food). But what happens when a kitten does discover a cat water fountain and wants to take a sip? This baby cat shows us in a video entitled "She can play for a day."

It opens with a tiny gray kitten putting her little paws up to an equally tiny water fountain. She spends some seconds examining it before diving in to attempt a drink only to be surprised by the splashiness. So kitten takes a different approach: standing up on the edges of the fountain to get at the water from the top. Kitty gets in a few licks until her paw winds up in the water — needless to say, the little fuzzball does not like that. The video ends with the gray cat shaking off her now slightly damp paws and giving up (we suspect she has a real water dish somewhere else).

Read more