Anyone who has visited a shopping centre, a hotel or the beachfront in Durban will have noticed them: stray cats slinking along the parking lot, running across the road, or nosing through a dustbin.
These are feral cats: animals that have been dumped or abandoned by their owners and who are now trying to survive on whatever food they can scrounge.
But feral cats, or strays, actually do us an enormous favour: they keep rats, mice, snakes and cockroaches away from our homes, factories and shopping centres. They only become a problem when they are not cared for or managed. Then they breed uncontrollably, producing dozens of kittens every year that face an uncertain future of possible abuse and neglect.
The Cats of Durban project is aimed at making people aware of the benefits of a managed feral cat population. If you have cats on your property, you can feel privileged. They are keeping your property vermin-free. However, if they are not sterilised or fed, they will very rapidly become a problem.
The trend worldwide is towards Trap, Neuter, Release. This means that feral cats are caught, spayed or neutered so that they can’t have kittens, and then put back. Cats are territorial, so they will prevent other cats from coming into their space. They are also extremely clean animals and very, very seldom carry any diseases. There are none, anyway, that can pose a threat to humans. It is really not advised to remove them (or even worse, kill them) as you are creating a vacuum that will attract other cats.
There are a number of happy and well-managed feral cat populations in Durban. Companies adopt them: firstly because it makes good sense to have a happy ‘workforce’ of pest-removers; and secondly because it shows that companies have a caring side. In some cases, a cat can become so tame that it can become the ‘office cat’: it lives in the office and greets customers, is spoiled and petted, and ends up becoming an attraction. Clients come back to visit the cats!
The Cats of Durban project salutes these caring companies, and gives them credit. A Cat-Friendly company can display a sticker which indicates that they are managing and caring for their cat populations. The Cats of Durban project has also set up a network of experts and volunteers to advise on feral cats, and to help out where-ever possible.
Our stray cats are a problem we created ourselves, through uncaring and ignorant people who do not sterilize their animals and then dump the kittens to fend for themselves. If we created the problem, then we need to deal with it. And Cats of Durban is helping to do just that.
For contact details, or more information, you can either phone Niki at 071 – 932-8925 or e-mail Cats of Durban at admin@catsofdurban.co.za
Misconceptions about Feral Cats
People have many misconceptions about feral/stray cats:
- They are not ‘wild animals’ that can fend for themselves. They are cats, or the offspring of cats, that have been dumped or abandoned by their owners. Without feeding, they will starve.
- Feral cats that are uncared for have short and miserable lives. As they are a creation of human neglect, the least we can do is attempt to care for them.
- A single female cat can be responsible for 100 kittens in her lifetime. She has four babies, they have four babies, and so it gets out of control. And this is not good for the mother cat, the kittens, nor the environment.
- Cats are clean animals. They will not leave droppings in an area unless they have no choice (for instance, if they live in a tarred precinct). People who look after ferals in industrial areas solve this problem by putting out sand trays.
- Cats are territorial. It has been shown that a managed colony (where the cats are trapped, neutered and return) prevent other cats from coming in to their space. A managed colony will also suppress breeding rates of surrounding cats.
- A business or organisation with a managed colony of feral cats will have no problems with rats, mice, snakes or cockroaches.
- Feral cats do not carry rabies, or indeed any other disease that can affect humans. Most ferals die from starvation, or from deaths caused by people (vehicles, dogs, and fishhooks left by careless fishermen are major culprits).
- Looking after cats has been proved to have major psychological and therapeutic benefits for people who are lonely or suffering from depression.
- There is an appreciable business benefit in keeping an office or shop cat – clients will often befriend the cat and it creates the impression of a caring company.
- Most importantly: many people adopt a stray cat out of loneliness or compassion. There are countless conversations with people who have grown to love their adopted cats, and in some cases the cats have, quite literally, been lifesavers. Cats of Durban is committed to helping people who have adopted these animals, as often helping the cat is also a way of helping people!
