COLONY LIFE: Like their African ancestors, wild cats band together in colonies, caring for each other as extended family.

Surviving wild: A squirrel constructs a nest; a chipmunk digs a burrow. Felis catus, evolved in the arid West African heat, is ill-equipped for the cold, the wet, and the predators of the temperate zones. Our wild cats survive by seeking food and shelter near human habitations. Dumps are popular for the waste food, and the vermin that it attracts.

Slow death. A female cat starts bearing at 6 months, and has about 3 litters a year until she dies from the strains of bearing and raising 30 or more children. The Toms, driven by their hormones to dominate territory by prowling and fighting, don't fare much better. The "life" of an unneutered cat, on its own or in a colony overrun with kittens, is often a slow, early death due to malnutrition, feline diseases, injuries from fighting and other causes, and harsh weather.

Look carefully, they're there. There are wild cats in your community, be it New York City's back streets or New Canaan's backyards. Trust me, they're there. Unfortunately, some humans respond to "stray" cats by harassing, torturing, and poisoning. The survivors have learned to avoid humans, making them hard to spot.

Care giving humans: Part of the problem (and much of the solution) is the many humans who honor our ancient ties by providing food and shelter for the wild ones. This is often done discretely for fear of humans who might harm the cats or don't want the colony "in their backyard".

These food-giving humans are part of the problem unless steps are also taken to control the cats' breeding.

THE "NO-KILL" SHELTERS: In my town (Stamford, CT), tax-supported animal control stopped taking cats during the 1990's budget cuts. Volunteers quickly filled the gap. Many thought that the "no kill" volunteers were a step forward.

In addition to the rescued homeless cats and the captured ferals, the shelters house domestic cats put up for adoption because their humans can't or won't keep them any longer. Sadly, this includes the beloved companions of people going into nursing homes.

Today, my town's volunteer "no-kill" cat shelters are full; ditto the neighboring towns. Janine Paton, a founder of Stamford's all-volunteer Friend of Felines, described the heartache of the volunteers, as their shelters (usually volunteers' homes) fill with unadopted, and unadoptable, adult cats. She said that every night she finds her home answering machine crammed with pleas for help that have no answer.

There's no room in the inn, yet each day, more cats are born than there are homes or shelters. So, what happens? More cats are abandoned and more strays go unrescued. Some are not neutered, and the number of wild children continues to rise.

NEUTER YOUR CAT

While volunteers make untold sacrifices to help the non-domestic cats; other humans create the problem. Fact is that there would be no problem if every human would neuter (or spay - we'll use "neuter" for both sexes to save space) the cats that look to them for a home.

According to the USA Humane Society, 84% of our domestic cats are neutered. This sounds OK until you do the math on 16% of 77 million.

The result: not only are many of the lost and abandoned cats not neutered (hence the wild kittens); but the shelter population also includes domestic-born kittens. The cuddly kittens, where ever born, out-compete adult cats for the available homes.

"TRAP AND REMOVE": THE NOT-SOLUTION: Many towns have some form of "trap and remove". This means: catch "stray" cats when possible, and (1) adopt them out, (2) re-release them in another area, (3) warehouse them or (4) kill them. Despite the best of intentions, "Trap and remove" is dysfunctional as well as cruel.

"Trap and re-release" doesn't work for any wild animal and is prohibited by law in many states. All nonhuman animals have homes and lives, just like humans, and, just like humans, they are ill-equipped to survive outside their familiar surroundings.

"Trap and adopt" doesn't do much good either. Some feral kittens do get homes. Unfortunately, the supply of adult cats far exceeds the demand. Further, many adult ferals can't be socialized and aren't suited for a career as a house cat.

"Trap and warehouse" or "trap and kill" is what actually happens. The leftover cats are doomed to "life" in a shelter (no matter how heroic the caregivers, it's still cat-jail) or are killed, sometimes under less than ideal conditions.

"Trap and Remove" doesn't stop the cycle. "Trap and Remove" takes time, effort, and money, and, yes, a few cats get homes. However, the shelters fill; the volunteers burn-out; and millions of cats are slaughtered to no avail because the wild population continues to grow. It's like trying to get rid of your squirrels-- as long as the ecological niche is there, new individuals will populate it, and with cats, it's "breed, and breed, breed"...

FEEDING BANS: A NOT-SOLUTION: Most colonies look to humans for supplemental food; be it our trash or our volunteers. Some towns have thought "eliminate food; end problem". Whatever the effectiveness of feeding bans for pigeons, the bans are doomed to fail with cats. Too many humans recognize the kin-relationship, and go right on feeding, sometimes despite fines and threats of jail.

TRAP, NEUTER AND RETURN ("TNR"): What is proven to work is "trap, neuter, and return":

• trap the cats,
  
   
• neuter and vaccinate,
  
   
• "tip" the left ear (to show the cat's neutered status),
  
   
• return to the home colony (except adoptable kittens), and
  
   
• monitor the colony's new arrivals.

TNR takes time and money. Even low-cost neutering can run $30 to $100 per cat. Each trapped cat has to go to the vet's, and then be held, usually at a volunteer's, for 1 to 4 days post-op recovery before returning to the colony. Then the colony needs supplemental food and monitoring for unneutered strays. However, TNR is cheaper than "Trap and Kill" or "Trap and Warehouse".

TNR ends the relentless, heart-breaking cycle. Because TNR prevents the ecological niche from being re-filled by breeding cats, towns with full-scale TNR programs have reduced their wild cat populations to manageable levels. Shelters, "traditional" and "no-kill" alike, no longer suffer a no-win deluge, former pets in need are more likely to get homes, and the number of newly-abandoned domestic cats shrinks.

In addition, TNR colony cats live out successful lives not burdened by child-bearing and turf-fighting.

LEARN MORE: Talk to your town's volunteers. Also, there are many web sites under the phrase "feral cats."

HELP: Support TNR in your town. In my town, volunteers are doing some TNR but need help. Our volunteers need moral support, physical help, community education (hence, this article), and funding. Also, our local officials need to know that the cats matter to us tax-paying voters.