There are a lot of cats outside in Wyomissing and West Reading. However, they’re not all there for the same reasons. Some of the cats are feral, some of them are lost or abandoned strays, and some of them are indoor/outdoor pet cats.

This post is an explainer about:

• the reasons behind each of these different types of free-ranging outdoor cats,

• how free-ranging outdoor cats, of any disposition, impact our neighborhoods, and

• why various approaches are necessary to manage these outdoor cats.

Cat on a leash or in an enclosure? That’s a very different thing. This post is specifically about cats that are unmonitored and uncontrolled by people while they’re outside.

• Feral Cats: Wild Animals

• Stray Cats: Lost or Abandoned

• Indoor/Outdoor Pet Cats

• Cat Reproduction: Exponential

• Environmental Impacts of Outdoor Cats

• Being an Outdoor Cat is Dangerous

• Managing Outdoor Cats

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Feral Cats

What is a feral cat?

When you hear “feral cat,” think “wild animal.”

Feral cats are wild animals, because they aren’t socialized to people, just like wild foxes, deer, coyotes, etc.

Cats are feral for one of two reasons.

1. Cats become feral if they are born outside, grow up outside, and are never socialized to people.

2. Pet cats can become feral if they were lost or abandoned so long ago that they have lost their socialization to people.

Do feral cats have owners?

No, feral cats do not have owners. Feral cats are wild animals without owners, just like any other wild animal.

Some people feed or provide care for feral cats, but the cats are still wild animals. Caring for a feral cat doesn’t make a person the cat’s owner.

How to identify a feral cat

• Feral cats are generally active at night.

• Feral cats avoid people.

• Neutered or spayed feral cats may have the tip of one ear cut off to indicate that they have been fixed.

• Feral cats display hostile body language towards people, including:

  • crouching and wrapping their tail around themselves for protection

  • avoiding eye contact with people

  • avoiding people and houses

  • threatening violence towards people: ears back, dilating eyes, arching back, swiping

• Nursing cats with litters of kittens outside are almost always feral.

  • Kittens can be socialized in fosters or shelters to become pet cats.

Stray Cats: Lost or Abandoned

What is a stray cat?

Stray cats are former or current pet cats, who are socialized to people.

Stray cats are outside for one of two reasons.

1. Stray cats may be lost from their homes and owners.

2. Stray cats may have been abandoned by their owners.

Do stray cats have owners?

Lost stray cats have owners who are looking for them.

Strays that have been abandoned don’t have owners.

How to identify a stray cat

• Stray cats are most commonly active during the day or early evening.

• Stray cats will display friendliness towards people, including:

  • holding their tails up in the air

  • making eye contact with people

  • approaching unfamiliar people

  • trying to enter houses

• Stray cats may have collars, though generally they won’t.

• Stressed stray cats may hiss or growl, but may not threaten violence against people.

• When captured, stray cats may:

  • relax over time

  • allow themselves to be pet

  • rub against the cage

  • investigate food and toys

Indoor/Outdoor Pet Cats

What is an indoor/outdoor pet cat?

Indoor/outdoor pet cats are allowed to roam outdoors by their owners.

Do indoor/outdoor pet cats have owners?

Yes, indoor/outdoor pet cats live inside a home with their owners, who also let them roam outside.

How to identify an indoor/outdoor pet cat

• Indoor/outdoor pet cats should have collars, though many don’t.

• Indoor/outdoor pet cats may:

  • approach unfamiliar people confidently

  • allow themselves to be pet by unfamiliar people

  • beg for food

  • try to go into people’s houses

Exponential Cat Reproduction

Cats are capable of reproducing by the time they are 4-5 months old.

One pair of cats who have not been spayed/neutered can produce 12 cats in the first year. 

In 8 years, that pair of cats can have resulted in over 2 million additional cats.

Not all of these cats will survive, but the number of additional cats is still gargantuan.

Environmental Impacts of Free-ranging Outdoor Cats

Predation of Birds

Free ranging cats are the top human-caused threat to birds in the United States.

Extinction of 63 Species

Free ranging cats have been linked to the extinction of 63 species of mammals, birds, and reptiles across the world. 

Many more species are at risk of extinction due to predation by cats.

Dangers to Free-Ranging Outdoor Cats

Shortened Lifespan

Indoor cats live 10-20 years or longer.

Indoor/outdoor cats and feral cats only live 2-5 years on average.

Risks to Free-Ranging Outdoor Cats

Risks to free-ranging outdoor cats include:

• getting hit by cars and other accidents

• parasites

• predation by other animals, including dogs, hawks, coyotes, foxes

• injury in cat fights and subsequent infection

• communicable illnesses, including rabies

• poisoning by pest control and yard chemicals

• getting trapped in an unknown location

• frostbite

Managing Free-Ranging Outdoor Cats

Getting Rid of Cats Creates a Vacuum that Draws More Cats

When feral cats are in a community, removing all those cats will just create a vacuum that draws more cats.

There are already feral cats in Wyomissing and West Reading. If we were to remove them, more would arrive and reproduce exponentially, etc.

Therefore, free-ranging outdoor cats should be cooperatively and specifically managed, rather than removed.

Neuter/Spay & Vaccinate

All free-ranging outdoor cats - feral, stray, and indoor/outdoor pets - should be neutered or spayed, and vaccinated.

Vaccinations prevent the spread of rabies and other illnesses.

Spaying and neutering prevents the exponential reproduction of the cats.

Indoor/Outdoor Pet Cats

Owners of indoor/outdoor pet cats should make sure their cats are:

• spayed/neutered by the age of 4 months

• vaccinated

• wearing a collar with identification

• microchipped

  • the Animal Rescue League’s Mobile Microchip Clinic is $25 a pet

If your cat is missing, or if you find a friendly cat outside that you’re concerned about, some community resources to check and post on include:

• Berks County Cat Search

• Berks County Lost & Found & Adoptable Cats

• Lost & Found Dogs & Pets of Reading, PA

Stray Cats

Stray cats may be friendly to people to varying degrees. 

Stray cats should be:

• trapped or caught

• scanned for a microchip by a vet or animal rescue

• posted on lost pet websites

  • Berks County Cat Search

  • Berks County Lost & Found & Adoptable Cats

  • Lost & Found Dogs & Pets of Reading, PA

• if no owner surfaces and the cat has no microchip, get in contact with an animal shelter or rescue

• if you plan to keep the stray, make sure the cat is vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and microchipped

Feral Cats

Feral cats are unfriendly towards and afraid of people.

Wyomissing is working on passing a borough policy regulating feral cat caregivers. This policy would require feral cat caregivers to register with the borough and follow certain guidelines when feeding and caring for feral cats.

In general, feral cat colonies are managed by TNVR:

• trapping

• neutering/spaying & eartipping

• vaccinating

• releasing

You should be able to identify a neutered/spayed and vaccinated feral cat by the eartip, a widely accepted practice of removing the tip of one of the ears of a feral cat (see image above).