Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T04:57:03.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regulation of Free-Roaming Cat (Felis Silvestris Catus) Populations: A Survey of the Literature and Its Application to Israel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

I Gunther  and
J Terkel
I Gunther
Affiliation:
‘Animals and Society Project’, Zoology Department, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel
J Terkel*
Affiliation:
‘Animals and Society Project’, Zoology Department, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel
*
Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Following domestication of the cat about 5000 years ago, it followed man into many areas of the world. The vast resources available in urban environments have led to increasing numbers of free-roaming cats on the streets. The high population density of these cats and, in many cases, the lack of suitable nourishment and veterinary care, is conducive to their poor condition of health. They are frequently perceived as a nuisance to human society. This article surveys the different methods of management of free-roaming cat populations, focusing on the urban environment, and discusses the animal welfare implications and the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Keywords

animal welfaredomestic cateradicationpopulation controlsterilisation
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , May 2002 , pp. 171 - 188
Copyright
© 2002 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Ablett, P 1981 Public reaction to control. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 60–62. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Bloomberg, M S 1996 Surgical neutering and nonsurgical alternatives. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 208: 517–519Google ScholarPubMed
Bloomer, J P and Bester, M N 1992 Control of feral cats on sub-Antarctic Marion Island, Indian Ocean. Biological Conservation 60: 211–219CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradshaw, J W S 1992 The cat: domestication and biology. In: Bradshaw, J W S (ed) The Behaviour of the Domestic Cat pp 1–15. CAB International: Wallingford, Oxon, UKGoogle Scholar
Bradshaw, J W S, Goodwin, D, Legrand-Defretin, V and Nott, H M R 1996 Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 114A (3): 205–209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradshaw, J W S, Horsfield, G F, Allen, J A and Robinson, I H 1999 Feral cats: their role in the population dynamics of Felis catus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65: 273–283CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronson, R T 1981 Age at death of necropsied intact and neutered cats. American Journal of Veterinary Research 42: 1606–1608Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, S L and Bradshaw, J W S 1996 Social behaviour in a small colony of neutered feral cats. Journal of the Feline Advisory Bureau (March issue): 35–37Google Scholar
Childs, J E and Ross, L 1986 Urban cats: characteristics and estimation of mortality due to motor vehicles. American Journal of Veterinary Research 47(7): 1643–1648Google ScholarPubMed
Churcher, P B and Lawton, J H 1987 Predation by domestic cats in an English village. Journal of Zoology (London) 212: 439–455CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courchamp, F and Sugihara, G 1999 Modeling the biological control of an alien predator to protect island species from extinction. Ecological Applications 9: 112–123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuffe, D J C, Eachus, J E, Jackson, O F, Neville, P F and Remfry, J 1983 Ear-tipping for identification of neutered feral cats. The Veterinary Record 112: 129CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eason, C T and Frampton, CM 1991 Acute toxicity of sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) baits to feral cats. Wildlife Research 18: 445–450CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fettman, M J, Stanton, C A, Banks, L L, Hamar, D W, Johnson, D E, Hegstad, R L and Johnson, S 1997 Effects of neutering on bodyweight metabolic rate and glucose tolerance of domestic cats. Research in Veterinary Science 62: 131–136CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flynn, M F, Hardie, E M and Armstrong, P J 1996 Effect of ovariohysterectomy on maintenance energy requirement in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 209: 1572–1581Google ScholarPubMed
Foster, D 1995 Alphachloralose. In Practice 17: 381CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fromont, E, Courchamp, F, Artois, M and Pontier, D 1997 Infection strategies of retroviruses and social grouping of domestic cats. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75: 1994–2002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
George, W G 1974 Domestic cats as predators and factors in winter shortages of raptor prey. The Wilson Bulletin 86: 384–396Google Scholar
Haspel, C and Calhoon, R E 1990 The interdependence of humans and free-ranging cats in Brooklyn, New York. Anthrozoos 3: 155–161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howell, P G 1984 An evaluation of the biological control of the feral cat Felis catus (Linnaeus, 1758). Acta Zoologica Fennica 172: 111–113Google Scholar
Izawa, M 1983 Daily activities of the feral cat Felis catus Linn. The Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan 9: 219–228Google Scholar
Izawa, M 1984 Ecology and social systems of the feral cats (Felis catus L). PhD thesis, Department of Biology, Kyushu University, Japan.Google Scholar
Izawa, M and Doi, T 1993 Flexibility of the social system of the feral cat Felis catus. Physiology and Ecology Japan 29: 237–247Google Scholar
Izawa, M and Ono, Y 1986 Mother-offspring relationship in the feral cat population. The Journal of the Mammological Society of Japan 11: 27–34Google Scholar
Jochle, W and Jochle, M 1993 Reproduction in a feral cat population and its control with a prolactin inhibitor, cabergoline. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 47: 419–424 (Suppl)Google Scholar
Kendall, T R 1979 Cat population control: vasectomize dominant males. California Veterinarian (July issue): 9–12Google Scholar
Kerby, G and Macdonald, D W 1988 Cat society and the consequences of colony size. In: Turner, D C and Bateson, P (eds) The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour pp 67–82. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Kristensen, T 1981 Feral cat control in Denmark. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 68–72. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Langham, N P E 1990 The diet of feral cats (Felis catus L) on Hawke's Bay farmland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 17: 243–256CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leyhausen, P 1988 The tame and the wild — another Just-So-Story? In: Turner D C and Bateson P (eds) The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour pp 57–66. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Liberg, O and Sandell, M 1988 Spatial organisation and reproductive tactics in the domestic cat and other felids. In: Turner, D C and Bateson, P (eds) The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour pp 83–98. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Mahlow, J C and Slater, M R 1996 Current issues in the control of free-roaming and feral cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 209: 2016–2020Google Scholar
Mendelssohn, H 1992 The wild cat and his problems in Israel. Rashut Shmurot Hateva 42: 19–22Google Scholar
Miramovich, V 1991 Ecology and social behaviour of free-roaming urban cats (Felis catus). MSc thesis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (in Hebrew)Google Scholar
Miramovich, V 1995 Spatial organisation of urban feral cats (Felis catus) in Jerusalem. Wildlife Research 22: 299–310CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Natoli, E 1994 Urban feral cats (Felis catus L): perspectives for a demographic control respecting the psycho-biological welfare of the species. Annalidell Istituto Superiore Di Sanita (Roma) 30: 223–227Google ScholarPubMed
Natoli, E, Ferrari, M, Bolleti, E and Pontier, D 1999 Relationship between cat lovers and feral cats in Rome. Anthrozoos 12: 16–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neville, P F 1983 Humane control of an urban cat colony. International Pest Control (Sept/Oct issue): 144-145, 152Google Scholar
Neville, P F and Remfry, J 1984 Effect of neutering on two groups of feral cats. Veterinary Record 114: 447–450CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patronek, G J 1998 Free-roaming and feral cats — their impact on wildlife and human beings. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 212: 218–226Google ScholarPubMed
Patronek, G J and Rowan, A N 1995 Determining dog and cat numbers and population dynamics. Anthrozoos 8: 199–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, P 1981 The ecological distribution of feral cats and the effects of neutering a hospital colony. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 12–22. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Remfry, J 1978 Control of feral cats populations by long-term administration of megestrol acetate. The Veterinary Record 103: 403–404CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Remfry, J 1981 Strategies for control. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 73–80. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Risbey, D A, Calver, M and Short, J 1997 Control of feral cats for nature conservation. I. Field test of four baiting methods. Wildlife Research 24: 319–326CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, I 1992 Social behaviour of the cat. In: Thorne, C (ed) The Waltham Book of Dog and Cat Behaviour pp 79–96. Pergamon Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Serpell, J A 1988 The domestication and history of the cat. In: Turner D C and Bateson P (eds) The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour pp 151-158. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Short, J, Turner, B, Risbey, D A and Carnamath, R 1997 Control of feral cats for nature conservation. II. Population reduction by poisoning. Wildlife Research 24: 703–714CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southam, M N 1981 Health hazards in hospital areas. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 63–67. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Tabor, R 1981 General biology of feral cats. In: The Ecology and Control of Feral Cats pp 5–11. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UKGoogle Scholar
Xemar, V and Pontier, D 1998 Attempt to control free-roaming cats in an urban area. The 8th Conference of the Changing Role of Animals in Society, The International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organisations, 10-12 September, Prague, Czech Republic (Abstract)Google Scholar
Zaunbrecher, K I 1993 Neutering of feral cats as an alternative to eradication programs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 203: 449–452Google ScholarPubMed