Feral cats are the offspring of stray or abandoned household pets. Raised without human contact, they quickly revert to a wild nature and form colonies where food and shelter are available. They are not spayed or neutered, so they reproduce to the limits of their food supply.
Feral cats become a public nuisance, but you can help control their numbers with by participating in a Trap-Neuter-Return program. This is a humane alternative to euthanasia. The steps involved are to: gain the trust of a feral cat, catch it in a live trap, take it to a clinic to be spayed or neutered, monitor the cat in the trap for a day, then return the cat to its colony. If you would like to participate in a Trap-Neuter-Return program, please contact Petra Gearhart with the ASPCA at 625-0910 or cat.spay@hotmail.com.
Here is how 12 uncontrolled breeding cats will multiply, based on 2 litters per year with 2.8 surviving per litter. Data provided by the Human Society of Tampa Bay.
Year 1 - 12 cats
Year 2 - 66 cats
Year 3 - 382 cats
Year 4 - 2,201 cats
Year 5 - 12,680 cats
Year 6 - 73,041 cats
Year 7 - 420,715 cats
Year 8 - 2,423,316 cats
Year 9 - 13,968,290 cats
Year 10- 80,399,780 cats
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