Identifying A Feral Cat Versus A Stray Cat An outside pet cat can sometimes be confused for a stray. Some pet cats live outside and don’t feel restricted by things like fences or property lines. Be careful when identifying outdoor cats, however. Hopefully, that owner provides for all the cat’s basic needs including food, water, shelter, and socialization. Pet CatĪ pet cat is a cat that has a designated owner. The phrase is used as an umbrella to cover all unowned cats that live outside in a particular community. The term “community cat” is often used by animal advocates to refer to both strays and feral cats. The best-case scenario would be for a lost stray cat to be reunited with its original family. Unlike a feral cat, a stray has the potential to be adopted and become someone’s pet. Some strays are still shy, however, and prefer to stay hidden. But before that happens, strays are usually friendly toward humans and might approach strangers looking for food or attention. The more time a stray spends outside without human contact, the more likely they are to gradually become feral. Stray cats were pets at one point in their lives and were either abandoned by their families or lost. Unlike feral cats, strays have some kind of history with humans. Strays also live outside, but the main difference from feral cats is their level of socialization. Sometimes they rely on kind humans to leave them food, but many colonies are capable of working together to take care of themselves.Īlso Read: 15 Facts You Should Know About Feral Cats What Is a Stray Cat They often live in communities with several other feral cats. These are the cats that either hiss when a human gets too close or, more often, run away. Ferals are not socialized to people and act more like wild animals than domesticated pets. What Is a Feral CatĪ feral cat is a cat that lives 100% outside (except if they’ve found an abandoned building with easy access) and has no owner. Living condition relates to whether the cat lives inside or outside, and socialization is all about how comfortable the cat is with humans. Feral Cat vs Stray Cat & The Other Kinds of Catsīefore you work on identification, it’s important to understand the different terms used to describe the different kinds of cats based on their living conditions and socialization history. Identifying a feral versus a stray, however, isn’t always easy. If you want to advocate for the cats in your area, the first step is knowing the difference. There are distinct differences that separate these two kinds of community cats. The tabby you see in the grocery store parking lot might be feral, but it might also be a stray.įeral and stray are not the same, even though the words are often used interchangeably. The feral cat population is increasing exponentially, but they’re not the only cats living outside and surviving on their own. Most of these unsocialized felines live in urban colonies, but they’re also common in suburban and rural neighborhoods. While elusive and hard to count, there are at least 32 million feral cats living in the United States.
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