A feral cat is an outdoor domestic cat who has either never had any physical contact with humans, or human contact has so diminished over time that she is no longer accustomed to it. Feral cats, except for kittens under 12 weeks old, are not likely to ever become a friendly, socialized cat or enjoy living indoors. All feral cats descend from lost and abandoned pet cats who were not spayed or neutered.

A stray cat is a cat who lived indoors and was socialized to people at some point in her life, but has since lost her home, or been abandoned, and no longer has regular human contact.

Anyone who notices a stray cat that is friendly is asked to humanely trap the cat and take it to a veterinarian, Toronto Animal Services or the Toronto Humane Society to be scanned for a microchip, which can identify its owner. There is no charge for this service. If you need to hold the cat overnight, bring them into a small room or bathroom where they can be kept secure and away from other pets.

A community cat may be a feral, stray, lost, or abandoned cats. The term “community cats” helps recognize that there are many ways you may come to have free-roaming, unowned cats in your community. Referring to them all as feral, fails to acknowledge the role humans play in the abandonment of most cats and make it sound like these cats are more akin to wildlife, when they are not. All feral, stray, lost and abandoned cats are still domestic cats.

For the safety and well-being of both cats and wildlife, we recommend all owned (pet) cats be kept indoors exclusive and only allowed outside while supervised on a leash and harness, in a place away from dogs or in a Catio (cat patio) for safe outdoor enrichment.

Outdoor free-roaming cats pose a threat to wildlife, especially birds, due to their natural hunting instinct. They are also at risk of being killed by vehicles, humans, exposed to disease through fighting, accidental and intentional poisioning, and predators like coyotes.

Free-roaming is also generally how most female unspayed cats become pregnant. With shelters and rescue already overcrowded with unwanted kittens and cats, we discourage all intentional breeding of owned cats.

Kittens and friendly community cats rescued from the street are available for adoption through Annex Cat Rescue, Ontario SPCA, Toronto Animal Services, Toronto Cat Rescue, and Toronto Humane Society.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the method we use to humanely control the population of community cats (stray, unowned, feral, and abandoned cats). Cats are humanely trapped, spayed and neutered by a veterinarian, vaccinated, microchipped, eartipped, and then returned back to their colonies once recovered. By sterilizing community cats, TNR prevents them from reproducing, leading to a gradual decline in the population over time, with no new kittens born. This leads to improved quality of life for the cats, less disease and reduced nuisance behaviours like fighting.

There are estimated to be tens of thousands of unowned cats surviving on their own in Toronto without a human caring for them any longer. It is difficult to put an exact number to it.
Since our programs inception, we have spayed and neutered more than 22,000 cats.

We offer a Trap-Neuter-Return course for anyone who wishes to learn how to help cats in their neighbourhood.

Completing the course qualifies you for FREE TNR spay-neuter and vaccination services for community cats, donated food, trap loans, and use of the Recovery Centre. Large food donations are offered periodically through Toronto Street Cats to database-registered colony caretakers. All great reasons to take the course!

FREE spay-neuter, vaccination, ear-tipping and microchipping services for unowned feral cats is offered by:

• Toronto Animal Services

• Toronto Humane Society

• Toronto Street Cats

Low-cost spay-neuter for community cats is available through Ontatio SPCA locations.

The Toronto Animal Services SNYP Mobile Clinic provides spay-neuter services for cat and dog owners in low-income households, who may not be able to afford traditional veterinarians. Residents who provide proof of household income below $50,000 will qualify for subsidized or waived fees.

If you are helping a colony but do not have a space to hold the cats pre- and post- spay-neuter surgery, the Recovery Centre is your answer. It is located in Scarborough and provides temporary recovery space and care for cats in the TNR program. It is available to all certificate holders. Visit: feralcatrecoverycentre.com

Straw filled shelters are built and sold by the OSPCA and Toronto Street Cats. These shelters can be placed inconspicuously in your neighbourhood to provide cats with a warm and dry space during inclement weather and winter temperatures.

Never use blankets or newspaper inside a winter shelter because they are absorbent and once wet, they will freeze.

These organizations have dedicated themselves to helping feral cats and the diverse group of people who care for them. More information about the Toronto Feral Cat Coalition can be found at torontoferalcatcoalition.ca

We support Trap - Neuter - Return as the best way to effectively and humanely manage the population of feral cats in our communities.

Animal Alliance of Canada (AAC)
animalalliance.ca

Annex Cat Rescue (ACR)
annexcatrescue.ca

Community Cats Toronto (CCT) - this is us! communitycats.ca

Ontario SPCA (OSPCA)
ontariospca.ca

Toronto Animal Services (TAS)
toronto.ca/community-people/animals-pets

Toronto Cat Rescue (TCR)
torontocatrescue.ca

Toronto Humane Society (THS)
torontohumanesociety.com

Toronto Street Cats (TSC)
torontostreetcats.com

Is the cat in your backyard missing a bit of its upper left ear? An eartip is a universal sign that the cat has been sterilized, vaccinated, microchipped and is likely part of a managed colony.

We use a database called Catstats to track the success of the TNR program and connect caretakers with TNR course certificate holders. This database is not available to the public but we can use the data to identify if a stray cat might be part of a registered colony. With caretaker permission, we can match new volunteers looking to support existing colonies.