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Should You Feed Stray Cats?
The answer, of course, is yes, you should feed strays. Since cats became domesticated they are no longer wild animals that can fend for themselves outside. They don't survive very well outdoors on their own without human intervention.
The best that stray cats can usually do is to eat from garbage cans. Every now and then they may find a mouse to eat, but in general most stray cats are starving.
A lot of people are reluctant to feed strays for several different reasons. One of these is the idea that strays will breed out of control if you feed them. The truth is that strays can breed out of control whether or not they are fed. Not feeding stray cats will NOT reduce the stray population. Even very hungry cats can still breed and then they will produce starving and unhappy little kittens.
Also, remember that it isn't the cat's fault that he or she is a stray. Often strays are cats that have been abandoned by their owners for some reason. Other times, the strays are born outdoors to other stray cats. In any case, it isn't the cat's fault that they have no home. Also, cats are intelligent animals with feelings and individual personalities and it is cruel to let them go hungry.
A lot of people don't want to feed strays because they worry that if they feed a stray cat then it will hang around looking for more food.
So what! Cat food is fairly inexpensive and it cost very little to feed a cat, however, it will make a huge difference in the life of the cat you are feeding.
Putting out dry food is best, otherwise you may get all of the neighborhood cats looking for a handout - owned or not. If you put out only dry food you will usually only get really hungry cats. However, if you put out dry cat food you will often attract the other local wildlife, such as possums and skunks, which you don't want.
To prevent this you can put out dry food during the day and pick it up at night, however, shy or feral cats will usually only come to eat at night. Canned cat food doesn't typically draw other wildlife like the dry food does and so unless you have a lot of your neighbors' cats that are coming to eat at your house then you should probably put out a few plates or bowls (depending on how many cats you are feeding) of canned food at night. You should also provide a bowl of fresh water every day and each evening.
The biggest drawback to feeding strays is that your neighbors often won't like it. I've fed strays for years and I have often not been too popular among my neighbors for it. I don't really know why they care. The cats don't do anything destructive. In fact, in a few places in the United States, there have even been city ordinances passed to make it a crime to feed strays. This is definitely not right. I often wonder what sort of uncaring people would pass and support these laws and how they'd like it if they were out of the street with no food or shelter.
If you start feeding strays you will find that you will become attached to the cats you feed. If there are a lot of them, of course you can't take them all in, but you may be able to take one or two in as pets.
Some of the cats you feed may be feral. Feral cats are cats that have not been properly socialized toward humans or they are cats that were once pets, but have been outside on their own for so long that they no longer trust humans. If this is the case you can often enlist the help of a local animal shelter in trapping and spaying or neutering the cats. Some animal shelters participate in a program called trap - neuter - return, in which the cats will be caught in a humane trap, and then the shelter will spay or neuter the animal, give them their vaccinations, and then return them to the location where they were originally found. If you don't want to, or can't pay for the spay or neuter of the animals you are feeding then you should check with your local animal shelter to see if they participate in this program.
If you are able to get the outdoor strays neutered or spayed you will help to reduce the stray cat population.
If you capture feral cats don't take them to an animal shelter before checking to find out the shelter's policy on feral cats. Some animal shelters will destroy these cats since they aren't adoptable, while other shelters participate in trap - neuter - return.
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