Definition of Feral Cat

Feral cat Jaffa Tel Aviv Israel
Feral cat Jaffa Tel Aviv Israel
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats
I thought I would dedicate a page to a discussion on the definition of the phrase “feral cat”. A wide variety of phrases and words are used to describe feral cats. Examples are: free-roaming cats, barn cats, stray cats etc. Scientific studies on feral cats have to contend with this variety of definitions. There is a difference between them. There would seen to be a spectrum of type of feral cat in terms of degree of wildness. Some of them are borderline domestic. Because there is no absolute definition of “feral cat”, different scientists may have used different interpretations which makes it difficult to compare their studies. It can also complicate trapping and euthanising operations.

In one study, stray cats were defined as cats that were taken from dumps and residential or industrial areas, while feral cats were defined as cats that were remote from these locations. I would have thought that this was an inaccurate way of going about things.

Other scientists have defined feral cats with reference to their non-reliance on humans for food and shelter. Well, feral cats certainly are often not completely independent of humans and neither are they dependent. If a feral cat is highly dependent upon regular feeding from a certain source and the cat is relatively friendly it could be argued that the cat is no longer feral.

Sometimes feral cats can be defined as domestic cats that have gone wild or a cat that reproduces in the wild. One scientist, M.R.Slater defined “feral cat” in what he calls a pragmatic way “based on the status of an individual cat had a particular point in time”.

A feral cat is one that cannot be handled and is not suitable for placement in a typical pet home, that is, the cat that is un-socialised.

“Socialisation” has been defined as the process by which an animal develops social behaviour that is appropriate towards other cats and animals in the human household together with people. This is because the word “socialise” refers not only to whether a cat develops appropriate social behaviour towards animals of the same species but animals that he or she lives with of different species.

What is the difference between being domesticated, being tame for being socialised? “Tame” in the context of a cat means that the cat is not frightened of people nor dangerous to people. Such a cat is also domesticated. A domesticated cat feels comfortable at home. I have already defined the word socialisation. There is clearly a very large overlap between these three terms.

In the context of discussing cats, people often use the word “tame” to refer to a wild cat that has been tamed but is not domesticated. In other words the wild cat is safe and relaxed around people but not suited to living in the home.

Source: Myself and The Welfare of Cats ISBN 978-1-4020-6143-1

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46 thoughts on “Definition of Feral Cat”

  1. Even ferals can become beautiful house cats. My friend rang me one day and said guess what I have here? she said listen…I could hear little baby mews… she had found a tiny Black kitten outside her back door where she worked after she heard his cries, it was a cold rainy day. The kitten was about 5 weeks old, tiny. She said he spat at her when she opened the door 🙂 he must have strayed from a feral colony and where she worked in the inner city there were probably plenty of those.

    I took him to the vets and had him treated for cat flu but even so he had plenty of cattitude! We named him Charlie Bacon and he was a funny little man used to drape himself around the back of my husbands neck.

    My friend bought her little cousin round to see him as she had just lost her budgie, precious. We thought she might take him but she was a little scared of his feral streak also she was only 8 and still upset about losing precious.

    A few days later I got a phone call…. ‘do you still have Charlie Bacon?’ ‘yes he’s here’

    He went to live with her and he’s now about 6 and a beautiful silky much loved Black cat. He is now a ‘Thomas’. He is loved so much by his young mum, she even declared recently that she wasn’t going on holiday unless she could find a suitable cattery for Thomas. I’ll see if I have a photo 🙂

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  2. Thanks, Valerie.

    But, that gorgeous Yellow was Dw’s love although I feel that she was my love too.
    We learn to know each others’ cats and love them as if they were with us.

    Those semi-ferals…
    They love the nighttime.
    Do they allow closeness?
    You’re a good mom if they sleep in your bed during the day.

    What are their names?

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    • It took a long time for Rula to be close but he makes no sound at all. I think they were badly treated and Lulu was thrown out of her home mid December and they told me to take her nasty people down the road. She was so tiny weighing 2.9 kg’s then after feeding her up she went to 3.5.also Rula was 4.3 and went up to 5kg’s. I really think he is a Siberian but no way of knowing the people have gone now so they are just my babies and I can’t find out any more so that’s life!!

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      • Oh, Valerie.

        I can’t hate those sort of people enough who just toss cats aside like rubbish.

        So, the black/white (name?) that was your granddaughter’s is 9 y/o.
        How old are Rula and Lulu now?

        I’m sorry to be such a stickler for detail.
        It has nothing to do with you or any regulars here.
        I’m just used to asking for names and approximate ages because it gives me a good idea about how the caretakers may feel about their cat(s). Someone with a “no name” cat really bothers me.

        Do you have photos? Or, are you like me – camera illiterate?

        I, now, have a camera as of Monday, but the gifters had to rush out before they could show me how to use it. I’ll try to figure it out when I get the chance. Otherwise, I’m sure they’ll be back soon.

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  3. Lovely cat Dee my 2 young ones will always be semi-feral they still go out hunting at night and often bring mice in. Can’t lock them in or he scratches the carpet near the back door but it is quite safe for them here no main roads and they know their way around.they like to sleep on my bed all day though lol and do show me affection!!

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      • Yes I’m talking about Rula my big fluffy orange and the little tortie , called Lulu she is a really good hunter lol !!

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        • I have 1 other who was my granddaughter’s who moved into a flat no pets.had her from about 1 year old and she is now 9 and very fit but defo domesticated no hunting for her she only goes in the back garden when its warm. she’s a little black and white and she gave Rula a hard time at first but they do get used to each other!!

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  4. Dee — Since you kindly asked, I dashed off an e-mail a few days ago explaining what was wrong, but the thing got wafted off into the swirling mists –whatever.

    In nutshell, when you try to open the Yahoo e-mail screen, two messages pop up: ‘Cannot Find Server,’ and ‘Cannot Display This Page.’ While the technician who’s come out here three times in a row, now, has become a tad waspish around the edges, somehow or other he gets into the e-mail after rapping away for a few minutes and opening a dozen binomial screens – none of which keystrokes I have the force of intellect to duplicate. As for driving up to the library every few days to retrieve my stuff, it doesn’t matter all that much in the Grand Scheme. But thanks anyhow – you’re a dear!
    ______________________________________________________________
    DW: Yes — moving is far worse on a cat than on a human because they don’t understand what’s going on. McWee was horrified by the 110-mile commute and by this strange house, and our equally strange third-of-an-acre with its nocturnal aromas of deer, cougars, opossums, a mink and who knows what else traipsing around out there (he wanted to get outside all the same, though I had to keep him on a leash). Moving is no fun under the best of circumstances, but moving with your fur-kids is a foretaste of hell.

    Your feral was gorgeous, as was your photo of her. And yes – you’re probably right. Cats have a memory, and someone, in a cat’s distant past, may have done something that scarred them for life. Though Weeza didn’t want any contact, she knew she was Momma’s girl, and loved to lie on her pillow, near my feet, next to the woodstove on wintery nights. But she too had been spayed long ago by someone or other, who let her run loose afterwards or abandoned her, because she never trusted people after that incident. Come to think, she might have been a TNR!? Whatever her history, she was a wildling to the end. Apparently, your golden girl was the same. But how lucky she was to have found you.
    _______________________________________________________
    Howdy Ruth!

    Still laugh at your e-mails.

    Am sitting here waiting for the rain to return in a couple of hours so I can get out and transplant the acorn squash and a bag of potatoes. Dasn’t venture out in the yard while it’s still sunny, as the Steaming Zipper is lurking on the other side of the fence – pseudo-coughing, hacking, and engaging in other what he considers ever-so-subtle modes of meta-communication. Cannot believe he and I are the only two spooks in this wilderness, much less my good fortune in the arrangement. Have been blessed from birth…

    Sidney Vicious sits on the porch twice a day now, looking for victuals. Can’t keep up with much more of this, Ruthie. I’d take him to a no-kill shelter if I could be DEAD CERTAIN he’d get a half-decent home. But how to do this when there’s no way of knowing whom he’d end up with?
    xx

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  5. Aaagh! That’s ‘pix of him and her,’ right? Then again, my boy & girl weren’t objects of a transitive verb. Need to dig out the grammar book, but haven’t the strength at 1:00 a.m.

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