National Feral Cat Day
October 16th is National Feral Cat Day! This day was set aside in 2001 to make the public aware of feral cat colonies living in their neighborhoods. Chances are, you’ve seen a feral cat in your day-to-day travels, whether it is around your home, where you shop or at your place of employment. These cat colonies survive on their own with little or no help from the public. Some colonies have an unofficial 'caretaker' that provides food and water on a regular basis. These caretakers will often trap the cats to have them spayed or neutered so the feral colony doesn’t continue to grow.
What can you do to help support feral cats? First and foremost, please spay and neuter your own cats. If you decide to care for a feral cat, or the whole colony, please check with local agencies about a spay/neuter program specifically for feral cats. They may have cages to borrow to help trap them for a visit to a Veterinarian in Gainesville or Newberry, Florida like Newberry Animal Holistic & Wellness Center. Alachua County is home to a fantastic program called Operation Catnip that spays/neuters feral cats to help reduce this population. Each cat is vaccinated (and their ear is cropped) so they can be identified as sterilized. For more information on Operation Catnip, please visit OCGainesville.org, or call us for more information about this and other rescue and non-profit organizations that really love animals!