Feral Cats (1 Viewer)

[Doug B]

Cats are pretty bad-###.  If I were a coyote, I'd stick to rabbits and squirrel.  A goose would tempt me too.

A goose would kill a coyote. 

Geese, especially those big Canadian geese, are mean AF. I've never seen them go up against a coyote or a crazed pit bull or something ... but I've seen those geese run off Labs and collies and similar-sized mutts.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Geese, especially those big Canadian geese, are mean AF. I've never seen them go up against a coyote or a crazed pit bull or something ... but I've seen those geese run off Labs and collies and similar-sized mutts.

They ain't that tough.

 

[parasaurolophus]

They ain't that tough.

Thats like a bad movie swordfight. 

 

[BoltNlava]

Whatever you do do not do it alone. Feral cats can tear your leg, arm, or face up and cause major damage. Never approach without training. EVER. They will remind you what wild looks like and change your outlook on life in about 45 seconds. I have seen it. Please be cautious. No joke. They have everything they've encountered on their claws and will willingly introduce you to them. They have nothing to lose. You do. Call a pro.  

 

[Beef Ravioli]

Whatever you do do not do it alone. Feral cats can tear your leg, arm, or face up and cause major damage. Never approach without training. EVER. They will remind you what wild looks like and change your outlook on life in about 45 seconds. I have seen it. Please be cautious. No joke. They have everything they've encountered on their claws and will willingly introduce you to them. They have nothing to lose. You do. Call a pro.  

This reminded me of these classics:

https://youtu.be/jIoOJKLHeY0

https://youtu.be/o-oVhu2fu20

 

[BoltNlava]

This reminded me of these classics:

https://youtu.be/jIoOJKLHeY0

https://youtu.be/o-oVhu2fu20

Yep but I have actually been there. It's kinda like what you'd see in a video..but it is fast, violent and forever. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

When running through my nearby neighborhoods, I often think about the balance of nature and how the coyotes and hawks are helping curb the squirrel, chipmunk and rabbit populations.  I don't see many cats but when I do, I think they are pets.

Cats also have a history of curbing rodent problems.  Farms and horse stables love cats.  

 

[ILUVBEER99]

Aren't feral cats considered pests?  They aren't warm and cuddly pets.  They kill tons of birds and create lots of problems.

I know around here a lot of people shoot them.  

The place you bring them for $25 a pop just ends up euthenizing them.  Same result. 

 

[dickey moe]

Destroy. All of them.

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

Aren't feral cats considered pests?  They aren't warm and cuddly pets.  They kill tons of birds and create lots of problems.

counterpoint: birds are ###holes.

 

[Wingnut]

counterpoint: birds are ###holes.

Yep, they're pretty much just jerks with beaks.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Four more today.

https://twitter.com/Football_Guys/status/1215005455421976584?s=20

Thanks again, especially @simeyfor all the help!

 

[urbanhack]

You can hire me, the Cat Whisperer.  

 

[Otis]

Pit bulls are free and will basically kill anything within sight. 

 

[Mister CIA]

Do you live outside of philadelphia?

Nope..Michigan

I've got news.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Rabies. Just be aware that feral cats have a high incidence of rabies. I work for a health department and we have had to assist in testing a few communities of ferals over the years. It is nothing to screw with.

While feral cats can harbor rabies, other wild animals  are a far more common sources of the disease. Moreover, cats are rarely aggressive. Unless you’re trapping them, it isn’t a problem.

From 1960 to 2018, a total of 125 human rabies cases were reported in the United States, with roughly a quarter resulting from dog bites during international travel. Of the infections acquired in the United States, 70% were attributed to bats.

 

[pollardsvision]

Last Christmas I had to shoot a racoon that wandered up to my front steps, so I know its around the area. I really dont need my dogs getting bit by one of these cats.

I was going to ask if you lived the sort of neighborhood where you could get away with shooting them, but I guess so.

Given that your town actively doesn't want to help, I really only see 3 options.

You do the trap/neuter game if you've got the time and money, find somebody else to do the trap/neuter game, or pretend they are raccoons on your front steps. 

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

While feral cats can harbor rabies, other wild animals  are a far more common sources of the disease. Moreover, cats are rarely aggressive. Unless you’re trapping them, it isn’t a problem.

There are a few reasons why the infection statistics look that way. In the United States we have multiple agencies that are actively monitoring or working to prevent the spread of rabies. This would include the capture, care, and sometimes euthanasia of unowned cats and dogs. Some foreign countries this is not the case.

In the case of bats, many incidents of rabies are attributed to bats when there is an unknown source. Bats have very small teeth and their bite, especially if you are asleep at the time, can often go undetected. Some bat related bites are pure guess work. Dogs and cats have much higher incidents of rabies than bats in most 3rd world countries because there is not the incentive to vaccinate a pet, more animals are feral(unowned) to to lack of controls, and the vaccine can be expensive in terms of total cost of living.

You are safer in the US handling a stray domesticated animal, but the risk, especially for children is not worth it. Please, under all circumstances avoid contact with wild animals, and avoid contact with strays. Allow the agencies tasked with handling strays to handle the strays.

An animal can have a viral load large enough that it colonizes the salivary gland (and this can pass the disease through a bite) days before actual symptoms begin to be expressed. Even when symptoms express they do not always make the animal appear aggressive and can merely make the animal lethargic or seem otherwise ill. 

Again, don’t take the risk. I have received the post exposure shots due to exposure at work, and while they are no longer done directly into the abdomen, they are still painfully and VERY expensive. 

 

[Terminalxylem]

There are a few reasons why the infection statistics look that way. In the United States we have multiple agencies that are actively monitoring or working to prevent the spread of rabies. This would include the capture, care, and sometimes euthanasia of unowned cats and dogs. Some foreign countries this is not the case.

In the case of bats, many incidents of rabies are attributed to bats when there is an unknown source. Bats have very small teeth and their bite, especially if you are asleep at the time, can often go undetected. Some bat related bites are pure guess work. Dogs and cats have much higher incidents of rabies than bats in most 3rd world countries because there is not the incentive to vaccinate a pet, more animals are feral(unowned) to to lack of controls, and the vaccine can be expensive in terms of total cost of living.

You are safer in the US handling a stray domesticated animal, but the risk, especially for children is not worth it. Please, under all circumstances avoid contact with wild animals, and avoid contact with strays. Allow the agencies tasked with handling strays to handle the strays.

An animal can have a viral load large enough that it colonizes the salivary gland (and this can pass the disease through a bite) days before actual symptoms begin to be expressed. Even when symptoms express they do not always make the animal appear aggressive and can merely make the animal lethargic or seem otherwise ill. 

Again, don’t take the risk. I have received the post exposure shots due to exposure at work, and while they are no longer done directly into the abdomen, they are still painfully and VERY expensive. 

Agree it’s a bad idea to handle wild animals - any wild animal. But in this country, cats aren’t a major risk.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

Agree it’s a bad idea to handle wild animals - any wild animal. But in this country, cats aren’t a major risk.

Major? No, but they are a risk. The last year I was on the front lines working actively in a rabies program we had 19 cats test positive. That was a 5 year high due to two large colonies having members test positive. Most years we averaged 5-6 cats test positive. This was in one county in Virginia. If you are on the east coast, I can say that it is an issue worth paying attention to and feral cats are not worth the risk.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Major? No, but they are a risk. The last year I was on the front lines working actively in a rabies program we had 19 cats test positive. That was a 5 year high due to two large colonies having members test positive. Most years we averaged 5-6 cats test positive. This was in one county in Virginia. If you are on the east coast, I can say that it is an issue worth paying attention to and feral cats are not worth the risk.

That sounds like a lot, but there haven't been any cases of feline contracted human rabies in this country for 4+ decades. Granted, a part of that is effective post-exposure prophylaxis, for which no one would volunteer. But many are given prophylaxis purely because the animal can't be caught for testing, erring on the side of caution as rabies is almost universally fatal.

My initial response was predicated on your posting feral cats have a "high incidence" of rabies. That simply isn't true, and overstating the risk may add fuel to the fire of a-holes looking for a reason to kill off strays.

ETA I think part of your perception is skewed by where you live - VA is one of the top four states for rabid kitties. But the incidence isn't particularly high in any state. From the most recent data on rabies surveillance:

During 2017, 52 jurisdictions reported 4,454 rabid animals to the CDC, representing a 9.3% decrease from the 4,910 rabid animals reported in 2016. Of the 4,454 cases of animal rabies, 4,055 (91.0%) involved wildlife species. Relative contributions by the major animal groups were as follows: 1,433 (32.2%) bats, 1,275 (28.6%) raccoons, 939 (21.1%) skunks, 314 (7.0%) foxes, 276 (6.2%) cats, 62 (1.4%) dogs, and 36 (0.8%) cattle. There was a 0.4% increase in the number of samples submitted for testing in 2017, compared with the number submitted in 2016. Two human rabies deaths were reported in 2017, compared with none in 2016.

There were 21,187 cats submitted for rabies testing in 2017, of which 276 (1.3%) were confirmed rabid.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

That sounds like a lot, but there haven't been any cases of feline contracted human rabies in this country for 4+ decades. Granted, a part of that is effective post-exposure prophylaxis, for which no one would volunteer. But many are given prophylaxis purely because the animal can't be caught for testing, erring on the side of caution as rabies is almost universally fatal.

My initial response was predicated on your posting feral cats have a "high incidence" of rabies. That simply isn't true, and overstating the risk may add fuel to the fire of a-holes looking for a reason to kill off strays.

ETA I think part of your perception is skewed by where you live - VA is one of the top four states for rabid kitties. But the incidence isn't particularly high in any state. From the most recent data on rabies surveillance:

The statistics do make it appear that only 1.3% have rabies. The problem with data like this is it doesn’t take into account that many of the cats tested are not strays. They are cats that became ill and died ,and out of caution a vet recommends that they be tested. Of the 1000s of cases that my office worked on, a very small percentage were actual feral cats. 

 

[Terminalxylem]

The statistics do make it appear that only 1.3% have rabies. The problem with data like this is it doesn’t take into account that many of the cats tested are not strays. They are cats that became ill and died ,and out of caution a vet recommends that they be tested. Of the 1000s of cases that my office worked on, a very small percentage were actual feral cats. 

Now I’m confused. Initially you said there was a high incidence of rabies in feral cats. I disagreed, and provided stats to support my assertion. Then you tell me hardly any feral cats are actually tested. Why do you think rabies is so prevalent then? Are you suggesting the numbers are diluted by testing so many domesticated cats?

In any event, I don’t think feline rabies is much of a problem in this country. While I agree people shouldn’t be catching ferals unless they know what they’re doing, I’d be far more concerned about the laundry list of other infections you might contract from a kitty bite or scratch.

 

[NotSmart]

There are a few reasons why the infection statistics look that way. In the United States we have multiple agencies that are actively monitoring or working to prevent the spread of rabies. This would include the capture, care, and sometimes euthanasia of unowned cats and dogs. Some foreign countries this is not the case.

In the case of bats, many incidents of rabies are attributed to bats when there is an unknown source. Bats have very small teeth and their bite, especially if you are asleep at the time, can often go undetected. Some bat related bites are pure guess work. Dogs and cats have much higher incidents of rabies than bats in most 3rd world countries because there is not the incentive to vaccinate a pet, more animals are feral(unowned) to to lack of controls, and the vaccine can be expensive in terms of total cost of living.

You are safer in the US handling a stray domesticated animal, but the risk, especially for children is not worth it. Please, under all circumstances avoid contact with wild animals, and avoid contact with strays. Allow the agencies tasked with handling strays to handle the strays.

An animal can have a viral load large enough that it colonizes the salivary gland (and this can pass the disease through a bite) days before actual symptoms begin to be expressed. Even when symptoms express they do not always make the animal appear aggressive and can merely make the animal lethargic or seem otherwise ill. 

Again, don’t take the risk. I have received the post exposure shots due to exposure at work, and while they are no longer done directly into the abdomen, they are still painfully and VERY expensive. 

Thanks, this was good info and advice.