What’s a feral cat? Is it an outdoor cat? What does feral mean? What exactly IS a feral cat? Let’s get basic with feral cat facts and misconceptions.
PS: If you don’t want to read the whole article and just want quick answers, skip to the bottom of the page for a quick summary list and FAQ section!
Feral is a term that means “existing in a wild state.” This term is used with domestic animals that are now wild animals. Simple right? Feral cats are wild cats existing in nature. They rely on human settlements for food and shelter, but they are still wild animals.
Feral animals are usually the offspring of tame domesticated animals that have never been socialized to humans. Not all outdoor cats are feral. Not all scared cats are feral. Some might be considered semi-feral.
There are more feral animals than most people realize in the wild. The list includes:
Feral pigeons were the ones that really surprised me. I hadn’t realized that pigeons in cities are a mix of wild and feral domestic pigeons. Domestic pigeons are more varied in color and often have a mixture of other colors. Like cats! Wild pigeons are a uniform grey color with a black band around the neck. If a pigeon is any other color or combination of colors, it is a feral domestic pigeon.
Sheep are rarely seen in a feral state as they are severely vulnerable to predation and injury. Except for one particular breed, the Soay sheep.
The word feral does not refer to escaped zoo animals like lions or tigers, as they are not domesticated nor do they come from domestic bloodlines.
Yes, plants can be feral too!
There is some debate on whether cats are truly domesticated or not. As they have only been living with humans a relatively short period of time compared to dogs and cattle. And they don’t display a lot of the signs of domestication that other species do. Things like floppy ears and coat variations and blunter teeth, etc. are only present in domestic animals and is known as domestication syndrome.
These domestic traits were first thought to have been specifically bred by humans, but after an experiment with foxes bred for temperament only, not appearance, scientists believe that it is a side effect of domestication, not a purposeful one. Wild foxes were selectively bred for temperament (i.e. the less aggressive foxes were bred with less aggressive foxes) which ended up producing foxes with different coat patterns and other characteristics. They call it domestication syndrome in plants, too. If you’re interested in the science and evolution of domestication, you can read that here.
The first actual sign of domestication syndrome in cats was the blotched tabby. The first actual intentional breeding by humans was less than a 1,000 years ago. Cats have lived among us for thousands of years and they did so on their own, catching mice and rats that human settlements attracted. Humans welcomed them. But their domestication is a relatively new development.
For this reason, it’s relatively easy for cats to revert back to the ‘wild’. They are not much different from the wild cats they descended from. So without human contact and socialization, they revert back to the state that cats have lived in for thousands of years even while living alongside humans.
Cats are believed to have domesticated themselves around 9,200 thousand years ago. No one knows for sure exactly. Dogs are believed to be domesticated 15,000 to 40,000 years ago. Humans have also been selectively breeding dogs for nearly as long, which is why you see such a wide variety of dog breeds.
So are cats really domesticated? Who knows! But for the sake of argument, let’s say cats are domesticated because they’ve been selectively bred the past thousand years and are starting to show traits of domestication. Thus when they go back to the ‘wild’ they are considered feral.
Keep in mind, however, that they are the exact same cat as your pet cat and their offspring can be easily tamed if socialized at a young age. It gets harder the older they are. (There is a window of opportunity to socialize kittens. That window – and thus success rate – starts closing after 12 weeks old.) But there is no difference between an unsocialized cat and your pet, Fluffy, except lack of human contact.
It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between truly feral cats with no human socialization and a very scared stray (or friendly outdoor) cat without prolonged contact. So how can you tell the difference? The following behaviors should help!
(Not all cats are exactly alike, so keep in mind this is a guideline not a concrete set of rules.)
Feral cats:
Stray cats:
Keep in mind that scared cats may act feral at first but actually settle down once they start to feel safe. It IS possible for a pet cat to revert to a feral state when lost or abandoned, living wild. For the sake of unowned cats, feral usually means unsocialized and not used to human contact.
If you end up taming an adult cat, it likely wasn’t completely feral in the first place. I’ve done it, but after months and months, she still jumps and turns around to find out what my hand is doing when I pet her. She likely was only semi-feral though, socialized to be around her caretaker, but not handled much.
Not all outdoor cats are feral. Some are semi-feral, some are strays (lost or abandoned pets), some are community cats socialized well but have always been outdoors, and then there are the ferals. The ferals are the ones you won’t see very often.
The tell-tale signal of a free-roaming cat that is fixed is that the tip of the left ear is missing. An ear-tipped cat is a community cat. It is a fixed, unowned cat who may be living in a colony managed by a caretaker.
A cat with an ear tip is not always feral. Do not confuse an ear tip with feral. Feral is behavior. Ear tip simply means an unowned community cat. An ear-tipped cat can be feral, but they can also be friendly.
Feral cats are not dangerous to humans unless cornered. True feral cats will actively avoid humans to the point of being nearly invisible, except for perhaps their caretaker. Feral cats will not let you approach them. They will run from you immediately.
You’re not likely to get attacked by a raccoon when you take out the trash, right? Feral cats are similar in size and are in no way about to attack a human being so much bigger than they are. Cats are both predator and prey, so have evolved both predator and prey behavior in the wild.
Attacking a human being is akin to a Chihuahua attacking a bear. They aren’t going to attack humans.
The only time a feral cat could become a danger to you is if you corner or trap one, and then decide to stick your hand in there. It’ll be purely defensive, but they’re going to be scared and acting aggressively in an effort to make you, the predator, back off.
Feral cats are more likely to be in contact with animals carrying rabies such as raccoons, bats, skunks, foxes, and coyotes in the United States than dogs, but are less likely to interact with people. The US has a lower rate of ownerless free-roaming unvaccinated dogs which is one reason why human rabies is actually rare here. Only 23 cases of human rabies were reported in the last decade according to the CDC and 8 of those cases were because of infection out of the country.
The most common cause of human rabies in the US is bats. The most common cause of rabies in dogs and livestock is raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Cows are more likely to get rabies than other livestock.
In developing countries where rabies is still prevalent, free-roaming dogs are the most serious threat to people. Cats often contract rabies from dogs in these countries, but according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 99% of human cases come from dogs.
Almost all mammals can be infected with rabies. When working with feral cats, it is better to avoid being bitten in the first place, as the virus is transmitted via saliva. If you do get bitten, seek immediate medical attention. If not given a rabies vaccination soon after being infected, rabies is always fatal.
But the risk of rabies from feral cats is very, very small. You’re more likely to be infected by a bat or by traveling abroad than by taking care of ferals. But the risk is still there, so avoid getting bitten by taking precautions.
There are two ways to determine if an animal has transmitted rabies to a victim. Euthanizing the animal and performing a necropsy (autopsy in animals) is one way. Quarantine for 10 days is the other option available when the animal is a domestic pet, like a dog or cat.
If you do get bitten, seek medical treatment immediately. Your doctor can help determine if you need rabies vaccinations immediately or not.
This is another reason why Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is useful in stopping the spread of rabies as all community cats trapped are given rabies vaccinations. If the cat who bit you has already been TNR’d, it is unlikely you’ve been exposed to rabies. Animals that have been vaccinated at some point in their lives very, very rarely contract the virus. Vaccines can fail though, so still, be vigilant!
I’ve never been bitten, even handling traps. Get your entire colony vaccinated for rabies, it’s important. Be sure to get your pets vaccinated too!
Not any more often than wildlife does, honestly. Your pet is more likely to give you something. Unless you’re planning on playing in feral cat poo, you’re probably fine. Feral cats are more likely to have parasites than indoor-only cats that are taken to a vet regularly but not much more likely. A lot of people’s pets come down with the usual parasites: roundworm and hookworm and heartworm and coccidia and giardia, too. Especially in shelters, rescues, and foster situations where multiple cats might interact.
Owning ANY animal comes with a small risk of zoonotic disease. I find it asinine that people use this argument to propose destroying feral cats. Raccoons are a very common source of rabies. They aren’t being eradicated. Dogs are the most common cause of human rabies in the world. We aren’t proposing destroying millions of dogs, right?
Use common sense. Wash your hands after handling cats, after cleaning litter boxes, and after gardening. That said, according to a study by the American Veterinary Medical Association, owned cats are the cause of most fecal matter in gardens, not feral cats.
Plus, as I said, feral cats avoid humans. They aren’t likely to let you touch them. This is why your pet cat or dog is more likely to give you something.
Yes!! Feral cats have the same instances of disease that pet cats do, according to a study by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Another study concluded that feral cats and pet cats have the same level of health in regard to some parasites, while feral cats have a higher risk for other parasites.
Related: Worms and Cats: Types, Symptoms, & Treatments
Do cats do better with access to veterinary care? Of course. But feral cats aren’t any sicker than pet cats are. The problems arise when kittens are born in the wild as the majority of kittens will die from parasites and predation, sadly. According to one study, 75% of feral kittens reach six months old.
If anyone observes a managed colony of unowned, free-roaming cats outdoors, they are very happy. Especially if they’ve been fixed and no longer concerned with mating and fighting for mates. The cats that are miserable, dirty, and sickly are usually lost or abandoned pets.
It’s not re-abandoning them by returning feral cats to their outdoor home as most cats outside have never HAD a home. They grew up out there and forcing that cat into a strange indoor environment is stressful and cruel. It does not usually lead to a happy cat.
You are forcing a wild animal into confinement with a large predator (YOU) when you take feral cats inside. It’s traumatic. You wouldn’t do this to a raccoon or a coyote right? Even if they would be safer? Only friendly cats that want to become house cats should be brought inside as pets.
Cats only became indoor pets because of the invention of cat litter in 1947! Cats have been indoor-only for less than 100 years! Is it any wonder there are so many cats still outside? This is also why people are still letting their cats out. It is also why proper stimulation is a must-have for any indoor-only cat. Cats have yet to fully acclimate to indoor-only life.
Are raccoons unhappy outside? Are the mice in your shed unhappy?
Yes, they would be safer inside, away from any possibility of danger, but so would your kids. You still have to put your offspring on the bus. If people lived in bubbles, they wouldn’t be catching the flu or AIDS or getting malaria or dying in a plane accident. We don’t live in bubbles, though, and outdoor cats don’t either. Indoor cats do live in isolation, which does equate less exposure to unhealthy microbes and fewer accidents and injuries. But indoor cats need mental stimulation to be happy.
They’re happy outside. They are at more risk of accidents or other causes of death, but they’re happy and healthy. Their lifespan is slightly reduced because of the high kitten mortality rate in feral cats and the higher accident and predation, but it is not rare at all to have colony cats passing away at 15 or 17.
Feral animals are simply wild versions of domesticated animals and they live like wild animals. We release rehabilitated wildlife back to nature all the time. There are risks that they could be eaten the next day, right? It’s nature.
It’s not a happy conclusion, but it’s a natural one. It hurts us caretakers each time one of our cats goes missing or passes, even if that cat was feral.
If a feral kitten can be socialized and homed inside, absolutely get them inside and pampered as pets. Older, friendly strays? They’re usually MISERABLE when lost without a family. Get them homes. Friendly community cats that want to be indoors? Find them a home. But feral cats and friendly independent community cats? They can be brought inside, but they aren’t going to tame easily, if at all, and they aren’t going to be happy with it.
This is a different debate, however. Happy vs. Healthy. I’ll go over that one in a later post.
If you want to help feral cats, visit my Save a Cat post for quick tips on what to do to help your neighborhood feline and his friends!
Tips on Helping Reduce the Feral Cat Problem:
This last option is one that is growing in popularity around the United States: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). This is a program in which feral cats are trapped, neutered and vaccinated, and then returned to their outdoor homes to live out the rest of their lives, usually under a dedicated colony caretaker.
There are people who oppose Trap Neuter Return (TNR) policies and suggest feral cats should be rounded up and taken to shelters. Which is basically saying they should be killed. Before the implementation of TNR in various communities, the feral cats brought into shelters had a euthanasia rate of 100%. Feral cats brought into local shelters also increased the total number of cats euthanized to over 95% in some areas. Coming into a shelter was a death sentence for any cat, stray or feral.
Proponents even propose ideas of cat sanctuaries, as if that were a viable alternative. There are 70 million (or more) feral cats in the United States by some estimates. The current shelters in the US don’t have space for the pet cats people abandon. Where do they propose the funding for feral sanctuaries come from? There would need to be a cat sanctuary in every community across the entire country and each sanctuary would need to be home to thousands of cats.
Anyone who understands cats will understand this is not going to be a great alternative. The stress alone would cause health problems. Overcrowding will cause diseases and upper respiratory infections. The cost alone would enormous. TNR isn’t a free-roaming cat movement where caretakers WANT cats outside. TNR is a movement against cat deaths. If we could safely and effectively create millions of cat sanctuaries, this would already be done.
Why are they against TNR? Because of studies that blame cats for declining bird and animal species. I’ve read the studies and I find it interesting that they are so flawed and yet quoted all the time. Cats are opportunistic eaters and will hunt or scavenge for meat, definitely. They are obligate carnivores which means they absolutely must eat meat. Most of their prey, IF they hunt, are rodents, however. Birds are rarer, but it happens.
In island ecosystems, I will agree that feral cats are decimating the small mammals and ground-dwelling birds as is suggested in New Zealand and other islands. But in other areas, like the US? I call BS. So does Alley Cat Allies and Stray Pet Advocacy and their view of the Cat Predation Studies.
Anti-TNR people just don’t want to admit they’re calling for the deaths of millions of animals that America thinks of as pets. Sanctuaries won’t work. But if it could work, cat lovers would be all for it ages ago.
Feral cats are simply a scapegoat, at this point. No one can do anything directly about the destruction of the birds’ habitat by humans. They can’t reduce pollution that kills birds. They can’t ban skyscrapers and high-rise buildings that kill birds.
Those people who are against TNR don’t actually understand it. They think we want to ‘abandon’ them outside, as they call it. Feral cats are wild animals and the kindest solution is to bring them back to their outdoor homes. We socialize and adopt kittens out (already fixed, of course), so that is fewer cats in the colony.
We find homes for friendly strays and community cats, which is also fewer cats in the colony. We monitor our colonies for new arrivals. WE even fix people’s PET cats and advocate for spay and neuter so we can stop the cause of feral cats. We try to reduce their reproduction so that feral cats will no longer be born. TNR’s goal is to be rid of feral cats, too. Just not by killing them.
The only cats returned to their outdoor homes are those that cannot be adopted. We’re trying to save cats’ lives, not promote an outdoor cat movement. We keep our OWN pets indoors (unless you’re like me and adopted a barn cat or two, instead). For feral cats, being returned outside gives them a chance to live happy, healthy lives however long it will be. Going to a shelter is a death sentence.
Also consider that killing feral cats has been the norm for decades, if not centuries, and this has not helped the problem at all. It’s time for something new.
National Geographic has a nice article that is plenty of unbiased that presents both sides to the equation. Decide for yourself.
You can help socialize feral kittens for adoption into homes if you like playing with kittens. At 5 or 6 weeks old, they can be tamed overnight.
I tamed one in seconds before, simply because the little girl was separated from mama and her litter in the middle of a bad thunderstorm. She hissed at me just the day before. So tiny. So cute. But scared and alone. When I leaned my fingers towards her, she sniffed them. When I pet her cheek and she realized I wasn’t going to hurt her, she bonded, BOOM. Seconds. She followed me out into the rain, crying. Let me pick her up. Didn’t hiss or bite.
She was 4 or 5 weeks and was completely feral before that. No socialization other than living near humans. If they’re young, it’s easy. It took me months with kittens that were around 5 months old, and they still weren’t great with other people. They’re nearly 10 months now, I would guess? Maybe almost a year, and one is not scared of any humans anymore, but he’s not what you’d call friendly to anyone but me.
The older the unsocialized kitten, the harder it is, but it can be done. They deserve to be pampered pets if possible. If not and they’re miserable inside and don’t want to live with humans? Return them to their home after neutering and vaccinations. It’s the kindest thing to do.
In case you didn’t read this whole article:
A feral cat is a wild animal that is a descendant of domestic cats and has little to no human socialization. Feral cats are genetically identical to your pet cats and their kittens can be easily tamed and socialized to humans.
No. Feral cats will avoid humans, not attack them. A feral cat will avoid or run from humans 100% of the time. They are only dangerous if you corner one who has no way to escape, exactly as any other wild animal would. Escaping from humans is their goal, not confrontation.
Unfortunately, yes. The domestic feline is an invasive species in most areas as they didn’t originally come from many of the areas they now inhabit. Because they have been our outdoor companions for thousands of years and only recently became pets and even more recently became indoor pets, there are millions of outdoor and feral cats living among us around the world. They have traveled the globe with humans on ships in historical times.
According to some studies by the American Veterinary Medical Association, feral cats show the same baseline of health that owned cats do. They are as healthy as any other cat.
Technically speaking, yes. Feral kittens are easily tamed and able to be adopted out of rescues and shelters. Between 6 and 12 weeks is the best time to socialize hissy kittens. After that, it becomes more difficult.
If a cat is truly feral, with little to no socialization to humans, it can be done, but it might take years. Even then, they aren’t going to be the same loving companion you see awaiting adoption at your local shelter. They may only trust their caretaker or rescuer. Their lives were shaped by growing up ‘wild’. They may never enjoy being touched by strangers or even you.
I don’t recommend you attempt to tame a feral adult cat unless you plan on adopting the cat yourself and are willing to take the time and effort to do so. You may also want to understand cat body language to prevent you from being scratched or bitten while doing this.
A feral cat is a cat born to another feral cat or a stray cat outdoors and never properly socialized to humans. A stray cat was once a pet, either lost or abandoned, so has had socialization. Most community cats fall somewhere in between the two extremes.
No. Adult cats don’t meow except with humans. As feral cats aren’t socialized to humans, they will not meow. Feral kittens will meow at their mother, but they stop once they become an adult. They will chirp, twitter, yowl, growl, and hiss. But no meows.
If a feral cat survives kittenhood, she may live 2-16 years in the wild. The low average lifespan of feral cats is likely because 75% of kittens born outdoors to ferals die. Feral cats living in a managed colony easily live 6-10 years on average and often longer. This is the same average lifespan of pet cats with outdoor access.
Technically, yes. If you don’t want a cat you can pet or hides behind the refrigerator.
Feral cats are wild animals that have not been socialized to humans. If you choose to release a feral cat you have trapped into your home, they will hide. If you have years and a lot of patience, you may get the cat to get used to your house and you. Will he climb into your lap for cuddles? Not so much. But you may get lucky and eventually tame them. But don’t count on it.
A stray or socialized community cat can become a beloved house cat and I encourage anyone to adopt them, though. They make the BEST pets.
Yes!! Feral and stray cats will gather together in colonies for food, shelter, and companionship. Part of that companionship is often sleeping together to stay warm in colder weather or simply because they want to!
To get a feral cat to trust you, you need two things: food and time. If you feed a feral cat, they will slowly over time start to trust you. They will come closer to you and may even eat in front of you, eventually. It may take months or years, but as long as you never make the feral cat feel threatened, you may be rewarded with a nose sniff. If a cat is actually feral and not just a scared stray, he may not ever allow touch.
Yes. It is their home. It is all they know. They feel safe in their home territories. They know all the best hiding spots, the best places to find food or catch a mouse, they know all the dangerous areas, and they have their fellow cats for companionship.
Feral cats, like our beloved house cats, are opportunistic feeders. For hunting, they prefer ground-dwelling rodents like mice and other types of prey like lizards and insects. But they will not turn their nose up at birds, either. They will eat already dead animals, they will eat garbage, and they will hunt. That is how they thrive so well. They also like easy meals so often search out humans who feed them, too.
A semi-feral cat is a cat that hasn’t been completely socialized to humans but has had SOME socialization. Either they were a pet when they were young or because they were born outside near humans that were kind and handled him. These cats don’t have quite the instinctive fear ferals have of humans, so they are more visible and possibly more vocal. You likely can’t handle or pet them much, though.
Yes! Even fully feral kittens can be socialized. Keep in mind feral cats are already domesticated, they just aren’t tamed or socialized. Kittens, being young, are easily tamed to become beloved house cats.
Feral cats look like pet cats because they’re both the same species. You can’t look at a cat and determine he or she is feral by appearance alone. Feral is a behavioral state, not appearance or species.
No. Feral cats have no socialization to humans and living inside with them is very traumatic.
If we’re talking about free-roaming and community cats that aren’t feral, then the answer changes to “some cats do want to be inside with humans.” Especially lost and abandoned pets. This depends on the cat.
Keep in mind, some community cats just want to be inside with their favorite people sometimes and allowed outside other times.
The simplest answer is food and time. Once the cat realizes you are feeding them nummy food regularly, you earn a bit of trust. Once time passes and you don’t hurt the cat, they will trust you more.
Other ways to help you gain a feral cat’s trust is to be sure to offer water, toys, catnip or silvervine, and staying near while the cat is around. The more exposure the cat has to a human, the more they will start to trust that human.
Yes! Stray cats are former pets that live outside. They are much easier to convince to live inside happily than cats that have never been indoors. Though some strays may prefer living outside, most are easily adapt to an indoor cat life.
They are born that way or have completely forgotten human contact, if they had any. Feral cats are cats that had NO human socialization. They may have had some contact with humans while very young and left to grow up wild, forgetting they had positive human interaction.
The more human socialization a cat has, the less feral they are. A pet cat can ACT feral, if abandoned, scared and traumatized by humans, but they are just scared, not feral.
This is almost the same thing. Feral cats, for example, are wild domestic cats. That’s a mouthful though. Feral means ‘existing in a wild state.’ It usually refers to a domestic species growing up ‘in the wild’ or living as a wild animal.
But it basically means they ACT wild, not that they are wild. But with regard to feral cats, it’s a pet cat that is not tamed.
But wildlife has an instinctive fear of humans, while feral animals don’t always have that same fear. Feral animals don’t always have great survival instincts either, like sheep.
Domestication changes animals. The longer they have been domesticated, the more they have changed. They become a new species. A species that lives only with humans. But if set free in the wild, their offspring are considered feral.
The average lifespan of a feral cat is only 2 years if not part of a managed cat colony. If a feral cat has a cat caretaker, their lifespan increases to that of indoor/outdoor cats.
Do you have a question about feral cats that I didn’t cover in this post? Please leave me a comment with your question and I’ll answer it as soon as possible!
Lovies!
This post was last modified on August 24, 2020 4:14 pm
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Thanks for the very informative and detailed post on what a feral cat is. I am in the UK. Is this information for the United States? I am referring to adopting a cat and the voluntary services you have mentioned. We love our cat and cannot understand how people mistreat these animals
Hi! Thanks for your comment!
There are services in the UK, though the ones I mentioned are in the US. The UK has a different view of pet cats than the US does, I've been told. I've been told it is very common to have indoor/outdoor cats as pets, able to come and go as they please and that lots of neighborhood cats are actually pets. Here in the US, while some people still do that, we're being conditioned to frown upon it and have pet cats as indoors only with access to the outdoors completely supervised.
While I've been told there are feral cats in the UK as well, I'd have to do some research to find specific groups by name. That said, there are animal welfare groups in the UK and I am sure they can point you in the direction of a feral cat rescue group too!
I'll have to consider doing a post on TNR in the UK, as I'm uncertain it has caught on there or not.
Thanks again for your comment!
Yes, we have a small group of cats like this that come around our house, we feed them but they don't eat on front of us. I guess they're helpless and I don't know how to help them. Most times I feel they must've been driven away by neighbours who see cats as evil but still they are beings too and so we feed them. I will put your tips of helping feral cats into implementation. Great post overall.
Thanks so much for feeding those cats! While feral cats can't be pet, they still deserve our love. And you're right, there are a lot of people who dislike cats around their homes and will chase them off or be mean to them. It's horrible.
Amazing, this is one of the most educating post I have seen all day. I know for sure my cat is domesticated because we have been together for over a year now and haven't shown a single trait of being feral. I now have the knowledge of if feral cats can be tamed, now my question is can a domestic cat become feral? If yes, what reasons can cause it?
Hi, Dane!
Thanks for your interesting question!
Usually, a feral cat is completely unsocialized and thus is a 'wild' cat. Like a raccoon, never held by humans. But they're still domesticated cats. They just aren't tamed. A mother can give birth to a litter four of kittens, and if only one is taken inside to be socialized with people, the other three kittens will be feral because they weren't socialized.
A tamed cat CAN turn feral if that cat had been abandoned young and being scared, alone and freaked out, reverted to a wild state where he trusts no one and definitely not people. He will hide, avoid humans because of fear and may not remember much about being tame when he was young.
Thanks again!
Wow! This was so incredibly thorough and in-depth and well-researched, and honestly exactly what I have been looking for. I stumbled into caring for what I believed, based on my amateur research, to be an initially "feral" cat colony, but I have wondered since the beginning of my journey with these cats about the distinctions between "feral", "semi-feral", "stray" and "community" cats. This post has given me so much to think about, and has provided a really helpful context in which to think about the true nature of the cats I care for, and has given me new ideas about how to talk about my cats moving forward. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this post, and for sharing your expertise. What a wonderful resource this is!
Hi, Adrienne!
Thanks so much for reading! It's awesome watching you on Instagram and I'm flattered you came by the site!
You are absolutely right that there are many levels of socialization with cats, from 'truly feral' to 'friendly'. Some are semi-feral and only tolerate one or two people who are usually caretakers but never allow much physical contact, and then there are those that will happily move right into your house and become a lap cat!
Personally, if they are super friendly and able to be adopted, that is what I do, is try to find them indoor and loving homes. If they are more resistant to being indoors and their socialization is lacking even after months, I leave them to be outdoors and cared for as best as I can.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Hopefully, it is of use to you!
Rochelle