BBC Online Video ~ Cat Crazed

The next time you have 45 minutes available that you can watch an online documentary, I strongly encourage you to watch "Cat Crazed". It is a 45 minute documentary about the cat overpopulation problem, how certain organizations are going about resolving it, how certain individuals are going about making the problem worse and how there might actually be a solution out there! A Canadian-made solution.



Check it out. I'm not going to tell you how it ends! I had to watch all 45 minutes of it to learn what the resolution for the overpopulation problem is ... I'm not going to spoil it for you.

National Feral Cat Day

Happy National Feral Cat Day!




October 16 is National Feral Cat Day. Take a few minutes today to help spread the word about Feral cats! Tell someone about what they are, why they are feral, what a colony is, about the pros and cons of having a colony nearby, and about population management! If you spread the word to one person today, that is one more person than yesterday who knew about Feral Cats.
 
 
 
Here is what Alley Cat Allies has to say about National Feral Cat Day:
 
 
October 16 - Ten Year Anniversary







National Feral Cat Day (NFCD) is your opportunity to help protect and improve the lives of cats around the county!






In 1990, most Americans didn’t know the best way to care for stray and feral cats. Thanks to Alley Cat Allies, today, improving their lives through Trap-Neuter-Return programs is widespread—and the movement continues to build. Hundreds of local groups work on behalf of stray and feral cats, while millions of Americans have reached into their hearts and their wallets to care for and feed them.

There is still work to be done. National Feral Cat Day—October 16th—is a perfect opportunity to tell others about our feral feline friends and truly make a difference in cats’ lives.

Winter Shelters for Feral Cats

Sometimes to make a difference, all it takes is a rubbermaid container and a bit of straw.

Feral cats are everywhere. This is simply a fact of life and will be for years to come. What many people don't realize is that feral cats control other factors to our life that we don't always think about (like the pest population). They often benefit our lives without us even realizing it so why don't we offer a little support and help to them?

The PACT Humane Society has posted some great ideas for feral cat winter shelter ideas. How neat are they?

Alley Cat Allies also have a few different ideas listed for building shelters for ferals and strays. Check out their page here to see some ideas and building instructions.

I went and checked these ideas out and they look to be some great ways to help stray and feral cats in the area. These ideas are low cost with great returns. Go take a peek!

What is it? Stray or Feral?

I don't know how many times I've heard about a "Feral" cat that needs to be trapped only to get there and find out that it is simply another stray. So, I thought I'd post a little entry about this.

Is the cat Stray or Feral?

A "Stray cat" generally means one that doesn't live in someone's home. It lives on the streets, fends for itself, often finding someone who will feed it or other food source and so returns to that person/source regularly.

Wikipedia defines a "Stray cat" as the following:
A stray cat (or alley cat), though unowned, still exhibits temperament similar to that of a pet

A "Feral cat" is defined as one that is not friendly to people and is "wild". Wikipedia defines it as the following:

A feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. Feral cats are born in the wild and may take a long time to socialize or may be abandoned or lost pets that have become wild.

Examples:

If you walk into an area where you know there are cats and you are able to walk up to one of those cats without it running away, it is a Stray.

If you set a live animal trap and catch a cat who tries to bolt away from you so quickly that the entire trap moves, it is probably Feral.

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Stray cats can be Feral, but that doesn't mean that all Stray cats are.

Feral cats are mostly Strays but most Strays are not Feral.