Domesticated and deified by the Egyptians more than 5,000 years ago, the domestic cat, Felis catus, is an enigma in today’s society. It has recently usurped the dog as the most popular companion animal in the U.S. While the two are inseparable in our psyche — when we think pets, we automatically think dogs and cats or cats and dogs - many of our attitudes and actions toward them are totally different.

Most animal welfare organizations support licensing and leash laws for dogs. Very few communities require any type of licensing for cats. Most communities have leash laws and/or require that dogs be confined to the owner’s property or be on a leash. Cats have carte blanche in most neighborhoods.

Then there is the question of strays. Stray dogs are generally captured by animal control officers, held in a local shelter for a required period of time and if the animal is not claimed by its owner it may be put up for adoption, rescued by a private welfare group, or humanely euthanized. Putting healthy animals down is surely not the option of choice, but it has been the option of necessity.

Stray or feral cats tend to create colonies near human habitation where there is a regular food source. This source may be a local garbage dump, cans behind a restaurant or a picnic area where humans leave lots of scraps. These colonies can grow quite large if the food source is ample and steady.

Until recently, stray cats were approached in basically the same manner. However, there is a new and growing trend among individuals and some animal welfare organizations. Trap, neuter and release (TNR) is now in vogue.

TNR requires the active management of feral cat colonies by individuals. The cats are to be trapped, taken to a veterinarian to be spayed/neutered and examined and vaccinated, marked in a way so the cat wrangler can recognize them and then released back into the colony. The volunteer(s) also provides food and often shelter for the cats.

The theory is that these colonies are territorial and will not let immigrants into the colony. Altering all the cats in the colony insures no new kittens will be born. Over time, the colony will fade due to attrition and the stray cat problem will disappear through humane, non-lethal methods.

To caring individuals who hate to see healthy animals killed, this sounds like a wonderful solution to cat overpopulation. There are, however, some simple questions regarding biological and population- dynamics that haven’t been fully answered.

Wild animals are territorial for two basic reasons: sustenance and procreation. Where habitat provides enough food and cover, wildlife populations are denser. If these cat colonies are provided with shelter and an endless supply of food, and they are altered so there is no need for nursery space, what is the motive for territoriality?

In the argument against more traditional trapping and removing cats from colonies, some humane organizations have posited a theory they call the “vacuum effect.” The theory is that if you simply remove a cat from a colony, another intact (not spayed/neutered) animal will take its place.

For this to happen, that intact cat has to be out there. It joins the colony to fill the vacuum created by trapping but not returning the animal taken from the colony. That has some thread of logic to it. But what happens if the trapped cat is returned to the colony?

According to TNR advocates, there will be no vacuum effect and no new cat will join the colony. That still doesn’t address the fact that the intact cat that was ready to join the colony is still out there and still intact.

And there are still many intact feral cats out there. Even TNR advocates report that there are probably 60 million feral cats in the U.S.

The impact that these feral cats plus free roaming pet cats have on native wildlife is an issue that is hotly and, regrettably, often emotionally contested. Although thousands of studies and/or reports have been done that show the cat is an efficient predator, humane groups that advocate TNR summarily dismiss them as being biased, inaccurate and overstated. They offer a few studies that show different results, but the overwhelming scientific evidence points to free roaming cats as successful predators.

Even websites that support feral cats praise their hunting ability. This is excerpted from Amby’s Cat Site: “When I saw my first feral stalk and catch her prey, I was hooked, and spent a good deal of time studying this behavior ... I find it interesting to note that while a cat eats all of a mouse: fur, bones, and all, when eating a bird, they often leave what I describe as a ‘feather coat,’ or basically a shell of the outside skin and feathers ... now, on to the hunt!

“Dropping to ‘slow-mo’ we can really get an idea of just how efficient a killer she is! During the ‘pounce,’ she has already determined where the mouse will be, and is able to land on top or very close to it, and reaching down, bites the mouse at the top of the neck.”

Alley Cat Allies, an organization that supports TNR projects across the country, states in its literature that the impact free roaming cats have on bird populations is insignificant. But research findings they publish note that birds make up 20 percent of the diet of free-roaming cats. Twenty percent of the kill of upwards of 80 million (feral and free roaming pets) cats is a substantial number.

Cats are exotic predators. They have been in the states only a few hundred years. Not only do they feed on native species, they compete with native predators for the same food source.

To subsidize these predators, as is the case with managed colonies, increases the advantage they have over natural predators and maintains densities unheard of in natural predator-prey relationships. It is a totally unnatural situation.

TNR needs to be studied in controlled situations to determine its effectiveness. If it is found to be the solution its advocates believe, I am sure it would be embraced by biologists as well as animal advocates.
But to implement it nationwide simply because it alleviates some of the suffering (don’t forget that these animals are left out there to dodge cars, larger predators, diseases, etc.) of one particular species may solicit support and donations from “cat people,” but it is poor science.

(Don Hendershot can be reached at don@smokymountainnews.com)

 

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