Outdoor cats are sometimes owned cats whose owner lets them out. However, many outdoor cats are community cats (feral or stray cats).

TNR improves the lives of Community cats, addresses community concerns, reduces complaints about cats, and stops the breeding cycle. TNR improves the co-existence between outdoor cats and humans in our shared environment.

Stray:

  • A stray cat is a cat who has been socialized to people at some point in their life, but has left or lost their domestic home, as well as most human contact and dependence.
  • Over time, a stray cat can become feral as they have contact with humans dwindles.
  • Under the right circumstances, however, a stray cat can also become a pet cat once again. Stray cats that are re-introduced to a home after living outdoors may require a period of time to re-acclimate; they may be frightened and wary after spending time outside away from people. ·
  • Another definition that may help:
    – “A stray cat is a domestic cat that has been abandoned or has ‘strayed’ from home and become lost. Stray [cats] were once pets and they can usually be successfully rescued and placed in homes.”

Feral:

  • A feral cat is a cat who has either never had any contact with humans or contact with humans has diminished over time. They are fearful of people and survives on their own outdoors. A feral cat is not likely to ever become a lap cat or enjoy living indoors.
  • Kittens born to feral cats can be socialized at an early age and adopted into homes.

Free-roaming owned:

  • A pet cat that are free to come and go as they please or are allowed outdoors for only parts of the day unattended.
  • Like dogs and small children, cats that are let outdoors without supervision are vulnerable to the dangers of cars, other animals, cruel people, and diseases. (In addition to a dramatically lowered life expectancy, there is an increased risk of disease simply because they don’t receive vaccinations.) Feline leukemia, feline AIDS (FIV), feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), toxoplasmosis, distemper, heartworm, and rabies can be difficult to detect and, in the case of FIP and distemper, impossible to test for. These diseases are also highly contagious and can easily be passed on to other companion animals.
  • Many people consider free-roaming cats to be pests. They do not want cats to urinate, defecate, dig, eat plants, or kill birds on their property. Across the country, free-roaming cats are shot, poisoned, and stolen by angry neighbors. They are also mutilated, drowned, beaten, set on fire, used in ritual sacrifice, stolen by “bunchers” for experiments, or used by dogfighters as “bait.”
WHAT IS A TNR PROGRAM?
trap-neuter-return is a program in which outdoor (feral) cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to the location where they were found. Colony caretakers provide food, water and shelter as necessary.

Benefits of TNR Program:
* Stabilizes feral cat colonies
* TNR improves the lives of cats, addresses community concerns, reduces complaints about cats, and stops the breeding cycle.
* Eliminates or minimizes nuisance behaviors such as roaming, spraying/marking by males, fighting and noisy mating encounters.
* Improves the co-existence between outdoor cats, domesticated pets and humans in our shared environment.