IMPORTANT
Nervous and feral cats may require capturing to be neutered or taken in to be re-homed by ANIMAL WELFARE using special traps
DO NOT try and capture nervous or feral cats yourself using either home-made devices or equipment purchased from the internet or elsewhere. A plan needs to be put in place first as to where any cats that are caught will be going and what will be happening with them.
It is especially important that female cats who are feeding unweaned kittens are not caught and separated from their kittens.
At CLAWS we have practical experience and we can put you in touch with ANIMAL WELFARE specialists working with feral cats – so please contact us to discuss first !
Feeding the cat
Please feed the cat(s) and watch and observe. If the cat is a lost pet who has become very frightened, they should increase in confidence again. if they receive food and kind attention
Follow the same steps as set out in the Friendly cats section to try to find the owner
Cats that remain nervous- feral cats
Cats that remain nervous: If there are several cats that appear to be living as a group, or particularly if there are adult cats with kittens, then it is likely that the cats are a family of feral cats.
Feral cats are cats that have been born outdoors to stray and abandoned pet cats. When cats miss out on early handling they grow nervous of direct contact with humans
Over time , with more contact, they will become more confident with people and kittens can be successfully tamed and domesticated.
Cats breed rapidly so the numbers of cats living in a feral colony can increase rapidly.
Feral cats require food, shelter, veterinary attention if unwell or injured and deserve to be treated kindly just like pet cats.
Tell Someone
It is very important to contact CLAWS or ANIMAL WELFARE or another rescue organization to obtain help with neutering the cats to prevent their numbers continuing to increase.
We will ask you to help by feeding the cats. This may be temporarily until we can take them in or to assist us by attracting the cats to a feeding point or a longer term feeding arrangement if the cats are to be neutered and returned to the original site if that is a safe spot for them
Neutering is important
Ear tipping: Cats that are neutered and returned by CLAWS are ‘ear tipped’ – this means that the very top of the left ear is cut flat. This means of identifying feral cats as neutered is used in other countries as well as Malta and enables you to see at a distance if the cat has been neutered.
If feral cats came via ANIMAL WELFARE and are neutered through CLAWS they will also have an ID Microchip . The ID will be registered with CLAWS, or the Feeder if they so wish.
Feral cats are a priority . Feral cats can suffer great hardship and suffering in their lives. Neutering and taking care of a feral cat colony greatly improves the quality of their lives as well as preventing the births of many more litters.
A healthy colony of neutered feral cats will act as a highly effective rodent patrol, whether in a rural or urban setting.
