Dr. Jeanette O’Quin, DVM, Clinical Assistant Professor

Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. O’Quin was a guest speaker in November, 2019 at the invitation of the Animal Protection Network.  This abridged version of her talk is from her public presentation delivered in Columbus, OH. 

“How to Prevent Unwanted Litters and Improve Our Co-Existence

with Community Cats, Making Their Lives – and Our Lives – Better” 

If numbers are to be relied upon, cats are the most popular of indigenous pets with estimates of upwards of 80+ million in the U.S. In point of fact, our country leads all others in the world with respect to density of cats as measured by cats to people.

To appreciate what is encompassed in a population measurement of this animal called a cat, we can identify five categories: owned, stray, feral (humans avoided), free-roaming and community cats, the latter living outdoors year around. Actually 30% of all cats live outdoors, according to published research. Their struggle to survive brings them into constant proximity to people – and inevitable conflict given their natural, if sometimes off-putting, behaviors such as spraying and predation.

Her research has involved studying them for over two decades. She dispels a myth that communities seem to have about population control vis-a-vis these colonies. It is that removal/eradication of community cats, where they are deemed a public nuisance, through relocation or euthanasia has been demonstrated to be largely ineffectual as a long-term solution. Because of the “vacuum effect,” removing cats from an area where food has been provided or can be obtained (e.g., where rodents are plentiful) merely stimulates an influx of outside cats that migrate to a more advantageous environment. Resultingly, the “new” population of community cats may actually increase over time to exceed the prior. Certainly, given the drastic and inhumane nature of this approach, the demonstrated failure of its outcome argues that elimination be soundly rejected.

So, how to approach the management of neighborhood community cats to ensure the greatest opportunity for health, safety and low population numbers? The answer is multi-faceted and not simple, especially given the need to be observant of local ordinances governing community cats.

Some communities ban feeding, ban any efforts to support or nurture, and some would want to ban their existence all together. None of these are realistic, as many people are animal lovers, are compassionate to the cats’ desire to survive, and believe that peaceful co-existence of cats with humans

is possible. Collectively, all of these reasons for ignoring or subverting legal prohibitions conspire to create a clandestine support system for community cats. Reality must be acknowledged and therefore solutions developed to “deal with it.”

What solutions? Here are her recommendations:

1. Leave community cats in the vicinity where they are unless they are not thriving;

2. Practice Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR) to control populations;

3. Manage any unintended food source/s, making the feeding area undesirable;

4. Not leaving food out overnight, as this invites wildlife;

5. Institute “intentional feeding” by providing food only once or twice a day; and

6. Locate feeding sites away from the house to keep unwanted behavior at a distance.

In its simplest summary: Feed & Fix.

Our neighborhoods and communities, she is convinced, can achieve peaceful co-existence with community cats. Most important is #2 above – the implementation on an ongoing basis of TNVR – coupled with #1. Long term, this dual approach is our best option for effective population control. Colonies where TNVR has been adopted have been seen to gradually diminish to more manageable numbers, improving not only volumes but also the health and safety of the cats. The Million Cat Challenge, a collective effort of rescue shelters begun in 2014 to reduce cat deaths from overcrowded rescue situations, has succeeded in large part by advocating for adoption of this two-tier approach. 

It is our hope that our neighborhoods and communities develop realistic programs to manage their community cats that are based on these suggestions. Research has validated its effectiveness. We need to generate widespread discussion of this issue both within our community and with community leaders to help develop the necessary support systems at the, government and grass roots levels that will guarantee success in managing our community cat colonies.