Outdoor Cat Terms and Definitions
If you’re new to cat rescue or advocacy, you might see many terms thrown around that you don’t understand! What is TNR, and how can you tell the difference between a stray and a feral cat?
Stray cats are cats without owners, while feral cats are strays that aren’t human-friendly. TNR, or trap, neuter, return, is used to control the population growth of cat colonies (groups of cats who share territory). Cat colonies benefit from having a caretaker to feed them and bring them to the veterinarian when needed.
In this article, we’ll talk more about these outdoor cat terms and definitions, what they mean, and how you can help stray cats in your area.
What is a stray cat?
A stray cat is a homeless outdoor cat with no owner. Stray cats may be feral or tame, depending on their upbringing and history.
For instance, housecats are often dumped in rural areas. These cats have lived with humans their entire lives and are likely tame. They enjoy human contact and are used to living in a home.
These cats are contenders for adoption. Often, they’re brought indoors by someone who’s fallen in love. (Ever heard the phrase, “we don’t choose cats, they choose us”?)
Tame strays can also be fostered until a suitable home is found.
Feral strays, on the other hand, aren’t used to living with humans and aren’t friendly.
What is a feral cat?
Feral cats avoid and fear humans. They grew up with minimal human contact and might even show fear or aggression when handled.
It’s important to note that feral cats aren’t wild. All cats are domesticated animals and depend on humans to survive.
This is why feral cats live just 2-5 years on average, compared to an indoor-only cat at 13-17 years (source). Many indoor cats these days are even living well into their twenties!
Cats are also invasive species, not naturally occurring. They can decimate local ecosystems (source), and it’s our collective responsibility to control their population.
Cat litter, on average, consists of 3-5 kittens. Female cats can have up to three litters per year. That can add up to over 100 kittens in her lifetime!
The most humane way to manage this is TNR, or trap, neuter, return. Check out our other resources on Feral Cat Facts here.
Stray cats vs feral cats
All feral cats are stray cats—but not all strays are feral.
As we discussed above, a feral cat is not human-friendly. They can sometimes be worked with to overcome their fear of humans and live successfully indoors. However, this takes a lot of effort.
Stray cats are simply cats without owners. They may be feral or tame.
Can feral cats be adopted?
You may wonder, why not just tame feral cats and adopt them out instead? Unfortunately, it’s not so easy.
The realistic answer is that there are simply too many cats in need of saving. Removing cats from the streets is a long process in overcrowded areas, and taming ferals takes up much more time and energy from the wonderful people doing this work.
Sometimes the choice is, do we save and adopt out several litters of kittens or take the same amount of time to rehabilitate one feral cat?
That one life is worthwhile—but you have to think of all the stress that a cat will go through in a human home and how many others will be born while cat rescuers focus on that work!
Some people are passionate about taking in feral cats, and it’s not a bad thing at all. Just resource-intensive.
Lastly, we’ll note that feral cats brought to shelters are euthanized as they’re considered unadoptable. This is why it’s better to leave them on the streets if you cannot take them in yourself. Here are some tips about caring for an outdoor cat.
What are Community Cats?
Community cats are stray cats. There is no difference! Like strays, community cats can be tame or feral.
What is a cat colony?
A cat colony is a group of cats that live together. They can consist of feral and tame cats. Often, they’re a group of related female cats and their kittens.
Colonies share resources such as space and food. They’re cooperative, and female cats might even nurse another’s babies!
What is a colony caretaker?
Some colonies receive help from a human who cares for them. This person is known as a colony caretaker. They usually live nearby and provide food and medical care to the colony.
If you’re interested in being a caretaker for your local cats, we highly recommend it! It can lengthen their lifespan considerably and keep the cats healthier and happier overall.
For those short on funds, try reaching out to your local rescue and TNR groups. They may be able to help with expenses like veterinary care.
Low-cost programs also exist for neutering and spaying cats. They often charge even lower for stray cats and will ear-tip them.
What are domestic cats?
Domestic cats are the species of cat domesticated by humans thousands of years ago. Some people falsely believe that a “domestic cat” refers to a housecat—but this isn’t true.
Strays and pets are both domestic cats. Non-domestic cats are wild cats, such as tigers, lions, or bobcats.
What is a cat foster?
Earlier, we mentioned that tame strays can be fostered until a “forever home” is found. But you may be wondering, what is a cat foster?
If you’re familiar with human foster homes, it’s the same concept. A volunteer brings the cat into their home until a more permanent solution is found.
This helps keep cats out of shelter environments, whether to prevent overcrowding or because the cat isn’t suitable to live in a shelter. For instance, maybe they’re incredibly shy and need help coming out of their shell before adoption.
Or, they may have a medical issue requiring more hands-on care than shelter workers can provide.
Kittens without mothers are often fostered as well because animal shelters rarely have the resources to care for them around the clock.
What is TNR or Trap, Neuter, Return?
TNR stands for trap, neuter, return. Live traps are used to catch the cat. Then, they’re brought to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered and ear-tipped. Ear tipping involves taking a small portion of the ear so that other people know the cat isn’t intact.
This prevents cats from being taken in for surgery by multiple unknowing community members!
After the cat has time to recover, they’re released back into their territory outdoors.
How does TNR control cat populations?
Many organizations and individuals use TNR cats to control the stray population in the area. This works in a few ways:
- It’s more humane than killing feral cats.
- It prevents other cats from moving into the neighborhood, which typically happens when a territory is left vacant.
- It takes less time and resources than taming and rehoming each feral cat—and is often less stressful on the cats themselves.
When you remove a colony from a neighborhood, another colony often moves in, and the whole process starts anew.
TNR is effective because it allows the current feral colony to live out their lives and keeps other cats from encroaching on the area. It also gives ferals what is typically their best shot at a happy and healthy life.
