Austin Feral Cats is

on vacation

until June 1st.

We'll be back after that to answer your questions.

Thank you.

Feral cats are domestic cats that have become unaccustomed to human contact. They live in groups (or colonies) almost anywhere—behind restaurants and shopping malls, under houses, in alleys, beneath piles of brush—maybe even in your own neighborhood. Most have never experienced positive human interactions. These animals live on the fringes of human society anywhere there is food and shelter.

If Travis County has 330,000 cats, then almost half of them—that's at least 135,000—are unowned, unculturated, breeding, free-roaming cats who avoid people, and scrounge for food and a place to sleep.

They're reproducing rapidly! Just two reproducing feral cats can become 12,000 in just five years, and the Austin-area animal control facilities kill an average of more than one animal each hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week. While sterilization rates of owned animals have increased (as guardians sterilize their own pets), feral populations grow by leaps and bounds. To achieve the city and county's no-kill goals, we need to address the feral problem as a community.

Volunteers like you are already trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating, and returning feral cats to managed feral colonies. There, a caretaker feeds and monitors the cats, intervening when a problem occurs. Feral cats in managed colonies live a safer, healthier life as fighting, disease, and overbreeding decline.

Even as these cats' individual lives improve, the feral population atrophies. Songbirds are safer, neighbors are happier, and the cats are healthier. Best of all, the mindless killing of unwanted animals diminishes.

Visit the other pages of this site to learn more, or see our Frequently-Asked Questions.