Also known as Outdoor Cats, Alley Cats, Feral Cats, Street Cats, Barn Cats and Tom Cats. Community cats typically encompass any unowned or unclaimed outdoor cat. Many of these types of cats have been lost or abandoned and may receive food or care from one or more residents in a community. Feral (or wild) cats are cats who are too poorly socialized to be placed in a home as a typical domestic cat.
Ventura County Animal Services intakes thousands of cats each year, some of whom are feral and cannot be adopted to a family as a typical house cat. VCAS supports the management of community cat colonies through TNR (Trap Neuter Return). When feral cats enter our shelter system, they are scanned for a microchip to determine if they are owned or already part of an established feral cat colony. If they are part of an established colony, they are already spayed/neutered and vaccinated and can be returned to the area from which they were found if the area is safe to do so. If the area is not safe for them to return (such as near a busy road) the cat may be adopted out as a Working Whiskers cat (or “working cat”) where he/she will live out their days doing what these cats do – hunt and live outdoors.
Feral cats who are not yet part of an established colony will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and ear-tipped. Ear-tipping is the process whereby a tip of the cat’s right ear is surgically removed (while under anesthesia) so they can clearly be identified in the wild without needing to trap them.
To schedule a Spay/Neuter surgery for a feral cat with VCAS, please visit www.vcas.us/TNRsurgery and use our online scheduling system. If you’re having difficulty, please call us directly at (805) 388-4275.