They need us to recognise them as the vulnerable creatures they are, and as pets that have never had the opportunity to be tamed as such. They also need all the help we can give them, especially with the following three things:

A safe place to live

If you could allow feral cats in your neighbourhood to use that shed at the bottom of your garden, or whatever place they have chosen, that would be wonderful. You would be relieving them of one of their most constant worries.

Try and make sure, though, that your dogs don't disturb them, and that they in turn don't worry your pet cats too much. The best way of doing this is to feed the ferals away from the house, so that they aren't tempted to come and eat your pets' food.

A god among creatures
- yet also a stray like me. (Tony Ross)

Food

A regular, dependable source of food and clean water makes a huge difference to the existence of feral cats. It is preferable, however, to supply only about 70% of their intake to ensure that they don't become entirely dependent on you. You might have to move, or you might even have to stop feeding them for some reason. If this happens, try to taper the supply off gradually over a period of several weeks.

Sterilisation

A single fertile female cat can produce about 16 kittens per year. If half of these kittens are female, they and their descendants can, within only a few years, multiply to a staggering population of thousands of stray animals. Sterilisation is enormously important. Not only does it help keep feral cat numbers under control, it also makes a very big difference to their lives.

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For the females, it means that they needn't share their limited food and energy resources with litter upon litter of offspring. And for the males it means fewer fights and a much smaller chance of contracting feline Aids.

We advise organisations that have cat colonies on their premises to sterilise as many of them as possible, so as to stabilise their numbers. It is not advisable to remove any of the cats. Feral cats should rather be wisely maintained, because they keep the rodent population under control, and they keep cats not belonging to the colony out.

As mentioned under "Food" above, we also advise that feral colonies be fed regulary in order to provide at least a percentage - ideally 70% - of their nutritional needs. This ensures that they are healthy enough to keep rodents and strange cats at bay.

If you live in the Tshwane area, and you would be willing to help sterilise the feral cats in your area or at your place of work, you can rent a special trap from the Glen Animal Clinic. It costs R60 per trap (paid once only). One of the participating veterinarians would then sterilise the cat at a drastically reduced cost. If you can't trap a cat yourself, however, you could contact Anneke (see Contact) for advice, or you could call Pieter Joubert, who is contracted to the SPCA, who will undertake to do it for you.

And if you don't live in the Tshwane area, try contacting your local Animal Anti-Cruelty League, SPCA or other humane society. Note that feral cats that have been sterilised should remain at the vet's until the following day, when the effects of the anaesthetic will have worn off completely. They can then be returned to their territory.

All too often, feral kittens lose their mother and need human intervention if they are to survive. If you should come across such a litter, and you would like to foster the kittens yourself, you could obtain advice from CatPals's kitten coordinator Anneke Brits (click on "contact").

If you would rather hand "your" litter over to someone else, Anneke will try and help you place them. And if you don't live in the Tshwane area, you could contact your local humane society.

Minnaloushe creeps
through the grass
Alone, important and wise
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes
(William Butler Yeats)

Ah cats.
Tame or wild - and often they shrug off either label
- how wonderful that we share one world.

Written and compiled by Anneke Brits, CatPals, Pretoria, South Africa. With special thanks to Caron van Schalkwyk, Marian Nel, Yvonne Kemp and Dr Pieter Bosch for their contributions and/or advice.

Additional source consulted:
Hodgkins, E. Caring for your kitten: a guide to preventive health care. Topeka, Kans: Hill's Pet Nutrition.