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| − | {{redirect5|Stray cat|the band|Stray Cats}}
| + | The Ocicat is a very cool cat in Purr Pals! :-) |
| − | [[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''<p>Most feral kittens have little chance of surviving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia[http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_flea_anemia.html][http://www.vetmedpub.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=306529]. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
| + | Did you know that the ocicat is related to the Lepards and Clowded Lepard? |
| − | '''Feral cats''' are the descendents of domesticated cats, which were abandoned by their owners or who strayed into wild areas from their homes. When the domesticated cats mated, their offspring were never handled by or associated with humans, thus making their kittens feral.
| + | These cats are irriesitsible to have their so cute! ( so are the others cats and dogs!) |
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| − | Adult feral cats, that were never socialized with humans, can rarely be socialized. Feral kittens can sometimes be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are six weeks old, and four to five weeks is preferable.
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| − | Feral cats may live alone but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as being less than two years<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.crittercontrol.com/?doc=resources_af_cats |title=CritterControl - Cat animal facts |accessdate= 2007-04-11}}</ref>, while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years. <!--12-14 in UK 16+ in USA but stats are incomplete --> However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.
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| − | [[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for cats. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, dry [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable, and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. The domestic cat requires a diet of 90% protein, so many feral cats lack adequate nutrition{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of [[predator]]s such as [[dog]]s and [[coyote]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.
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| − | ==Handling Feral Cats==
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| − | For whatever reason, you suddenly find yourself with this wild, spitting, hissing feral. She is trapped in a cage, or a trap, or a box. Both of you are looking at each other from very different eyes. You are looking at her thinking warm, fuzzy thoughts about lap naps, purring kitties, rubbing a soft tummy and having a companion and she is looking at you with so much distrust in her eyes. Her thoughts are on dark corners, field mice, robbing garbage cans for food and she is wondering what in the world she did to deserve this sudden confinement?
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| − | So what do you do now? First of all, you need to set up her room. Find her a spot in your home where she can stay safe. A quiet, dark, room away from any resident pets or small children. You want to be sure she has other spots in this room to go where she can feel safe a closet, some where if she feels threatened she can flee to. And she will consider you a threat. After all, she has lived her entire life on her skills of survival. She has sadly learned that those human feet coming towards her, though on rare occasions might bring her food; they also have brought her pain or trauma.
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| − | One of her most effective tools is how cleverly she can hide. You will come to be surprised in the days ahead at how small this kitty can make herself and where she can hide from you in a room you swore you sealed up completely. So you can provide her with alternate places, a big cardboard box flipped over with holes cut in the sides big enough for her to pass through. You weight down the top of the box so she can’t move it. You give her a nice big litter box and mix just a little bit of potting soil in with regular cat litter. Don’t use regular garden soil, or you may have a bug infestation. And don’t use clumping litter, not just yet. Use regular clay litter. Give her a big pan of water, and if you find in the days ahead she is not drinking, then go out and get a big clear bowl, get some pebbles from your garden or some aquarium rocks and wash them off really well. Place them in the bottom of the bowl fill it up with water, and give her something she can identify with to get water out of. Give her a bowl for wet food and one for dry.
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| − | Instead of using your regular lights in the room, use instead night-lites. If those are not available cut down the wattage of the bulbs normally used in the room. Bring in a CD player and put on a classical piece really low on endless play Fetch up some old rags, or a blanket, something soft that as soon as she figures out the hard ground isn’t that comfortable she will seek out and use.
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| − | Now step back and survey the room. The first thing she is going to do when you let her out is run. So check shelves and counters if there are any and make sure she has a clear landing pad should she decide to go ballistic and run amok. If you want to give her air and open a window, you can go to any hardware store and buy a piece of decorative trellis and cut it down to fit the screen opening. Through the slits in this decorative piece the air will come through, but she will be unable to escape if she decides to press against the window and push the screen out. You can also used chicken wire, but the trellis looks better. Make sure the room is completely sealed. Understand that this cat might be scratching and clawing to get out, so if you have a route of escape, make sure that it is sealed up well. <ref>"Handling Feral Cats"http://cat.ae18.com/handling-feral-cats.htm</ref>.
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| − | ==Major Places with Feral Cats==
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| − | {{Expand-section|date=January 2007}}
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| − | ===United States of America===
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| − | [[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens must be socialized with humans in order to be adoptable, and it is best to remove them from their mother before 6 weeks of age in order to do so. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and inoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]
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| − | In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. That is one of the major justifications for the keeping of [[Farm Cat|farm cats]]. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at 100 million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the [[gray fox]] (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), [[fisher (animal)|fisher]] or pekan (''Martes pennanti''), [[coyote]] (''Canis latrans''), and [[bobcat]] (''Lynx rufus'') is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
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| − | Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt {{Fact|date=February 2007}} advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.
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| − | [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as provide [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s notch the tip off one [[ear]] during spay/neuter surgery to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before six weeks of age.
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| − | [[Image:Feral_cat.jpg|thumb|150px|Feral cat with clipped ear to signify spay/neuter trap and release.]]
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| − | [[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.[http://www.nationalferalcatday.org/]
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| − | ===Australia===
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| − | It has been suggested that feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]], or even prior to that; arriving from present-day [[Indonesia]] with [[Macassan contact with Australia|Macassan]] fisherman and [[trepang]]ers who frequented Australia's shores. However historical records do not suggest this, instead dating the arrival of feral cats at around 1824. <ref name="Abbot"> Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract] </ref> Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] to control mice, rabbits and rats. Cats had colonised their present range in Australia by 1890. Evidence for early predation by cats having caused major and widespread declines in native fauna is circumstantial and anecdotal and its credibility and significance is debated (Abbot 2002, Dickman 1996).
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| − | Feral cats in Australia [[prey]] on a variety of wildlife. In arid and semi-arid environments [[introduced species|introduced]] [[European Rabbit]]s and [[House Mouse|House Mice]] are the dominant part of the diet; in forests and urbanised areas native [[marsupial]] prey forms the larger part of the diet (based on 22 studies summarised in Dickman 1996). In arid environments where rabbits do not occur native rodents are taken. Birds form a smaller part of the diet, mostly in forests and urbanised areas, reptiles also form just a small part of the diet.
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| − | Numerous Australian environmentalists and conservationists claim that the feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Scientific evidence has been hard to come by to support this view and some researchers disagree with it (Abbot 2002). Sound evidence that feral cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking (Dickman 1996; Jones 1989; Wilson et al. 1992). Difficulties in separating the effects of cats from that of [[fox]]es (also introduced) and environmental effects have hindered research into this. Cats have co-existed with all mammal species in Tasmania for nearly 200 years. Tasmania is fox free.<ref name="Abbot" /> The Western Shield program in Western Australia, involving broad-scale poisoning of foxes, has resulted in rapid recoveries of many species of native mammals in spite of the presence of feral cats throughout the baited area.<ref name="Abbot" /> However in 2005 a study was published which for the first time found proof of feral cats causing declines in native mammals (Risbey ''et al'' 2005); an [[experiment]] conducted in [[Heirisson Prong]] compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found that mammal populations were lower in areas cleared of foxes only and in the control plots.
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| − | Cats may also play a further role in Australia's human altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced [[rabbit]]s, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.
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| − | Australian Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as [[Puma]] etc. This folklore is however being shown to be more fact then fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous Feline in the [[Gippsland]] area of [[Victoria_(Australia)]], subsequent DNA test showed the Feline to be [[Felus Catus]]<ref>"Feral Mega Cats" http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php#more</ref>. Subsequent news stories of large Feral Cats being sighted is almost monthly in Australia and the evidence is very good to suggest a breading population of these enormous Felines in the south-eastern states of [[Victoria(Australia)]] and [[New South Wales]]<ref>"The Big Cat Files"http://www.strangenation.com.au/Articles/paulclacher.htm</ref>.
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| − | Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|killed]]. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".
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| − | ===Rome===
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| − | [[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].[http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php] Some historians believe, Romans' affection for cats dates from the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt, where royalty kept cats. Others believe that Rome was spared from devastating outbreaks of the bubonic plague by the city's feral cat population, which kept Rome's rat population low thus reducing key plague carrying vector. Whatever the case, Rome's affection for stray felines remains strong.
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| − | ==Feral cats and island restoration==
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| − | Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with [[island tameness|ecologically naive]] fauna, that is species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats (Moors & Atkinson 1984), have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in 1984, "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they cause, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]), and Australia's [[Macquarie Island]]. Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, introduced in the 19th century, caused a collapse in populations of nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years have returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html]. In other instances the removal of cats has had unintended concequences, such as on [[Macquarie Island]] where the removal of cats caused an explosion in the number of rabbits and rats which have also harmed native seabirds (the removal of rats and rabbits is scheduled for 2007).
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| − | Feral cats, along with rabbits, some sea birds and sheep, form the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].
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| − | ==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
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| − | {{main|Canadian Parliamentary Cats}}
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| − | [[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|150px|Rene Chartrand runs a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
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| − | For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
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| − | The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.
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| − | ==Activism==
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| − | [[Feral cat colony|Feral cat colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unsterilized cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters, although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age.
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| − | The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some live short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms, and while their lives are not luxurious, some live over 10 years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.
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| − | A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. <!--HSUS has changed its policy from trap-kill -->
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| − | Unfortunately, recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-release programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans.
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| − | ==In Popular Culture==
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| − | Feral cats are the main characters of the book series Warriors, ([[Warriors (book series)]])which is a very good reference to how they live, including the challenges they face. The colonies are called Clans, which do have a very organized hierarchy. It also says how feral cats catch prey, and what they catch.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | <references />
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| − | * Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0-09-931210-7
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| − | * Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). "Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.". In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
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| − | * Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). "A review of feral cat eradication on islands". ''Conservation Biology''. '''18'''(2): 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
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| − | * Risbey, Danielle A. ; Calver, Michael C. ; Short, Jeff ; Bradley J. Stuart and Ian W. Wright (2005) The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. II. A field experiment " ''Wildlife Research'' '''27'''(3): 223-235 [http://publish.csiro.au/nid/144/paper/WR98092.htm abstract]
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| − | * Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). "Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia". Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
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| − | * Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract]
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| − | * Dickman, C. (1996) "Overview of the Impact of Feral Cats on Australian Fauna" Australian Nature Conservation Agency ISBN 0-642-21379-8 [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf whole text]
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | * [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
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| − | * [http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ Birds and cats: the ''Cats Indoors!'' program] (information from the American Bird Conservancy)
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| − | * [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
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| − | * [http://www.felineresistance.com/ The Feline Resistance]
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| − | * [http://www.indyferal.org/ IndyFeral.org]
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| − | * [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
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| − | * [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
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| − | * Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
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| − | * [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
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| − | * lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
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| − | * [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
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| − | * [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
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| − | *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
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| − | *[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
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| − | *[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
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| − | * [http://www.happytails.org happy tails]
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| − | * [http://cat.ae18.com/handling-feral-cats.htm Handling Feral Cats]
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | *[[Warriors (book series)]]
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| − | [[Category:Cat types]]
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| − | [[Category:invasive species]]
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| − | [[fr:Chat haret]]
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| − | [[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
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| − | [[ja:野良猫]]
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