Feral cats, also known as community cats, are cats who are not owned and are not sufficiently socialized to humans to be candidates for adoption. Feral cats are the end result of owned pets who were not spayed or neutered, and then escaped, were allowed to roam or were abandoned. Feral cats can cause neighbourhood problems as they forage for food, and when they display noisy mating behaviour. Residents are also disturbed by the number of ferals that sometimes congregate together in family or social groups known as colonies.

The growth in the number and size of these colonies is due to unrestrained reproduction, which produces litters of kittens for whom homes cannot be found, and who can’t be accommodated in already overcrowded animal shelters.

Stray cats are cats who were previously owned, and who have sufficient potential for re-socialization, making them suitable candidates for adoption. They are pets who got lost or were abandoned by their owners. While feral cats must be taken in as young kittens if they are to be socialized and adopted, it is often possible to re-socialize mature stray cats, permitting them to live with humans again.

Feral cats often live together in social and family groups called “colonies”. Colonies can be as small as 2-10 cats on residential properties, or as large as 50-100 cats in urban industrial and public areas.

The cats form close bonds with each other and will often defend the colony’s territory from other cats who might seek to access their food and shelter. “Managed” colonies are those that benefit from the attention of caring humans or “caretakers”. Caretakers feed the cats and provide shelter and veterinary care, including spay/neuter surgery, which reduces or eliminates nuisance mating behaviour and prevents more unwanted kittens from being born.

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is a humane and effective approach to managing and reducing the population of feral cats. It involves humanely trapping feral cats, bringing them to a shelter operated clinic or private veterinarian clinic to be spayed or neutered, and then returning them to their original location after a recovery period. This process stops the constant cycle of reproduction, which can lead to overpopulation and the suffering of individual cats. TNR also helps to improve the overall health of the feral cat population, as spayed or neutered and vaccinated cats are less likely to contract certain diseases and parasites. In addition, TNR can help to reduce the number of cats entering shelters and reduce the risks of cat-human conflicts.

In general, it is recommended to spay feral cats when they are young, as this can help to prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the overall population of feral cats.

Most TNR programs will spay or neuter feral cats as soon as they are caught, as long as they are in good health and meet the necessary criteria for surgery. This typically means that cats should be at least 2 pounds in weight and at least 8 weeks of age.

It is also important to consider the local climate when planning a TNR project. In some areas, it may be more practical to spay or neuter feral cats during warmer seasons, such as in the spring and fall, when the weather is more mild. This can help to reduce the risks associated with trapping and transporting cats in extreme temperatures.

Overall, the best time to spay a feral cat will depend on the specific circumstances and goals of the TNR program, and it is important to work with experienced professionals to determine the most appropriate timing.

An eartip is a small section of the tip of a cat's ear that is surgically removed during the spaying or neutering process as part of a trap-neuter-return (TNR) program. The eartip is typically removed from the left ear, and the procedure is performed while the cat is under anesthesia, so they do not feel any pain.

The eartip is used as a visible identifier to indicate that a feral cat has already been spayed or neutered as part of a TNR program. This helps to prevent the cat from being trapped and undergoing unnecessary surgery in the future, as well as helping caretakers and other individuals in the community to know that the cat has received proper medical care. Eartipping is a safe and humane way to identify community cats that have been part of a TNR program and helps to ensure that they are not re-trapped and sent for surgery a secondary time.