National Feral Cat Day takes place on October 16. Its purpose is to educate people on the best ways to care for stray and feral cats. Alley Cat Allies founded this day ten years ago.
“Feral cats are domestic cats, but are not socialized to people and are therefore unadoptable,” said Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies. “If a feral cat is brought to a shelter they are almost always killed. This is why so many communities have adopted Trap-Neuter-Return programs as a way to care for and manage feral cats.” These programs guarantee that the cats no longer undergo the stresses associated with mating and pregnancy and the population stabilizes because there are no new kittens. On National Feral Cat Day, many vets open their clinics to stray cats for spaying and neutering.
Most feral cats cannot be tamed, but with hard work it is sometimes possible to accomplish this. For advice and tips, see Taming Feral Kittens/Cats.
