MetroCat Feral Cat FAQs

The MetroCat Street Team is one of our community initiatives providing vital services to Denver area community cats in high impact areas. We get a lot of questions about the cats we serve, understanding their behavior, and what exactly TNR programs do. Here, we go through our top 5 frequently asked questions about the MetroCat program, feral cat behavior, and how we care for community cats.

What is a feral cat?

We classify feral cats in three categories: feral, semi-feral, and social.

Feral cats are born outside and never socialized to people. Whereas, semi-feral and social cats may live indoors, but were never fully socialized to people and may have people preferences.

Unlike stray cats, feral cats are “wild” cats, meaning they don’t want to be inside a home and don’t often seek human affection. Feral cats are territorial, they are only close with other cats in their colony.

Stray cats, on the other hand, are socialized to humans and can outside for a number of reasons. Strays may be abandoned animals, but oftentimes can also be owned, outdoor cats.

Can feral kittens be socialized?

This depends on the kitten. On average, kittens two months and older cannot be socialized. Kittens under 8 weeks are still developing and more apt to be socialized to humans. If you’ve found a kitten, or kittens, it’s important to ask yourself these questions:

• Are the kittens with mom?
• Did the mom-cat come back for the kittens a few hours later?

If you answered “no” to both of these questions, take the kittens to your nearest animal shelter as soon as possible.

If you’ve seen mom, do not separate them from her, especially if they appear under 8 weeks old. Need help aging a kitten? Click here

Once the kittens are walking on their own, and if you are comfortable doing so, trap the kittens and mom. Take the kittens to your local animal shelter, then take mom to get spayed. You can also call us for assistance if you are within the MetroCat service area.

Why Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?

Trap-Neuter-Return is the best thing to do to help feral cats and cat overpopulation, preventing new kittens every year while reducing the spread of disease and territory marking behaviors. TNR programs like ours also help reduce animal control costs for taxpayers.

In addition, TNR programs reduce the strain on shelter resources, especially on socialization, enrichment, and behavior programs as well as capacity.

Lastly, as a community, animal welfare organizations and animal control have tried different methods for community cat management including, catch-and-kill, trap-neuter-adopt, and relocation.

Return vs. Release: The importance of returning a feral cat to its colony.

We emphasize return over release because T-N-Return takes a feral cat’s territorial nature into account by returning them to their colonies after the cat is spayed or neutered. This increases safety for the cat, reducing undue stress and the chances of cat fights over new territory.

Relocating a cat is not only dangerous for the animal, it’s also ineffective. Community cats will try to find their way back to their colony.

Why Can’t Your Find Homes for Feral Cats?

Trap-Neuter-Adopt programs have a very low success rate. It is rare to build trust and socialize an adult feral cat.

While some feral cats adapt and befriend people, for most, the transition to living inside is stress-inducing for the cat and costly for an organization, increasing the cat’s time spent in shelter to assist in socialization efforts.

We assess each cat for adoptability, but oftentimes, find it difficult to determine if the cat is stressed from being in a new environment, or if the cat is truly unsocialized. A stressed can may exhibit some of the same behaviors as a feral cat.

Do feral cats make good working or barn cats?

Often when people try to relocate a feral cat into a barn home, the cat attempts to return to their colony. We only recommend barn home placement, working cat programs, or relocation if it is the last and only good option for the cat.

There are three reasons to relocate a feral cat

1. The caregiver is no longer able to care for the colony and there is no one else willing to take over colony care.
2. The colony area is being demolished.
3. The cat’s safety and health are a concern due to other circumstances.

How to help community cats in your area

Interested in caring for a feral cat colony in your area? Here’s out get started guide.

Have a cat yowling in your backyard all night long? She is likely in heat! Learn how to use a cat trap.

Found a cat you don’t recognize in your neighborhood? Here’s what to do next!

Want to support the MetroCat Street Team’s work? Donate Today!
Select the MetroCat Street Team under Designation and your donation will go directly towards our impactful TNR work, supporting low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination services for colony caregivers, and providing educational resources to our community.

What to know – adopting an under-socialized cat

If you adopted a cat and you believe they are semi-feral or under-socialized, we are here to help with insights into behaviors and what not to do to peacefully coexist with your new pet. Visit our adopting an under-socialized cat guide.