How do you humanely get rid of a stray cat?

Humane Ways To Deal With A Stray Cat ... Not All Are Feral cats:

• Ok, here is my method. I have dealt with ferrel and stray cats lurking in my backyard. The number one thing, is to make sure there is no food or something that attracts a cat to stay in that particular area. Also, if you make a loud noise while the cat is there, for ex: banging pots or something, the cat will usually get frightened. If you continue doing this, chances are the cat will eventually get the message and sense it is not wanted here. Cats are very intune with other cats and even people's emotions. Good luck!
• There are many humane ways to keep cats out of an area. One is a "yard gard" or similar electronic device, which emits a high-pitched sound inaudible to humans, but extremely annoying to cats. It will protect a radius of, say, 200 square feet. For a bigger area, you would use 2 or more. Since cats develop a "path" they use regularly, they will soon learn to avoid the area.
• There are also motion-activated water sprinklers that will keep cats out of an area. For either the electronic devices or water sprinklers, simply Internet-search "yard gard," "electronic (or sonic) repellents," or "motion-activated water sprinkler," and you will find a variety of options.
• There are also natural outdoor repellents that can be applied to a garden or a porch area. Orange-scented sprays may help on porch areas, since cats typically do not like the smell of orange. For gardens, natural fertilizers like dried blood (sounds ghastly, I know) work well. They may have a strong smell at first, so be prepared. But I've seen cats encounter the scent and exit quickly. It has to be re-applied after a rain, but once cats learn to avoid the area, you may not have to re-apply as often.
• Another good web site for information is www.cat-repellent.info.
• Do make use of animal control services in your area if you can. They will come up with the most humane solution bearing in minds the needs of the cat and the needs of the community. Cats by nature are nocturnal and as some of the other posters put it so well, it's the owners of the cat that have to be found and dealt with.
• Many people think cats are independent ferral cats, but that's not true. Many owners assume (uneducated) that their cat can go outside all day instead of training them to be an indoor cat. It is true even though there is a "no kill" ruling with the ASPCA or SPCA that cats that can't be adopted out are put down. They have no other alternative, so don't let the "no kill" fool you! The people at the shelters do care and it breaks their heart, but what I do is make our voices heard and fight for the rights of the animals and that better rulings are made to make the owners of cats and dogs more responsible. In British Columbia there is a huge fine (sometimes jail time) for pet owners who allow their cats or dogs to run loose and bother neighbours.
• Call Animal Control or your local animal shelter. These people care about stray animals and will do their best for them. More than the people who don't look after their pets!
• Or do what we did and cave in. We have a small feral colony in our neighborhood and about four houses feed them. We put out fresh food and water each morning and built a feral shelter for them. www.alleycatallies.org has lots of information for you in this situation.
• "We put out fresh food and water each morning and built a feral shelter for them. " That seems humane, but only partly so and only if someone is treating them for disease, spaying or neutering them. If you do not alter the cat (ensure they cannot impregnate or become impregnated), you are ensuring that future generations of cats will fill the area, more will die of disease (unless vaccinated), freeze to death, be run over by cars, eaten by hawks (whatever environment it is in rural or city) injured in territory disputes (either location) and die of infected wounds (blood poisoning, deep ulcers) or even pass disease on to home pets in the area. The smartest thing to do is call the no kill shelter or even the SPCA- for a small fee they will loan out a safe humane trap to bring the cats in- when the cage is returned they give the original deposit back (there is no hidden charge for the traps though sometimes there is a waiting list). Never enclose an animal someplace without access to food or water. Hesitate to start a feral cat population in your area!! At least the kittens can be socialized and found safe homes, please do something now before you cause more of a problem. The cat the other person is trying to 'get rid of' may be from your feral population. They may return for food but they spread out around an area. Think about it.
• "Get rid" of a stray cat? How about "deal with" a stray cat, "help" a stray cat, "return a stray cat to it's owner," etc. Not to pick on the person asking the question. This is a common way to phrase the question and says a lot about how we view "stray cats." It doesn't occur to a lot of us that this is a scared, lost, hungry, possibly dumped animal. We only think "Oh, heck, now I have to deal with this!" And in some areas, where residents have no shelters whatsoever, it can be a huge problem. People who don't particular like cats, but nonetheless don't want them to suffer, either, can find themselves in a tough situation if there are no local services that help. Option One: The cat could be a lost pet. Put up simple flyer's and speak with neighbors. Be sure to ask neighbors if they would be interested in adopting the cat, or fostering it a short while, while you go door to door. Maybe you can solve your problem this way, even if you don't find the owner. Also list the animal as "found" with all area animal agencies. You may find the owner has already reported it as "lost" and is only a phone call away. Option Two: Check with animal control authorities. Do they shelter stray cats? Will they pick up stray cats? Do you agree with what they may have to do with the stray cat if they don't find the owner and cannot adopt it? (Some will euthanize the cat; some will find it a barn home; different people might object to either solution, depending on their beliefs. Option Three: Get it off the street yourself. Make a quick free website on yahoo, angelfire, etc. with a photo of the cat and it's story. Put an ad in the paper directing readers to the site. Include your email on the website. Attempt to find the cat a home where it will receive veterinary care. Note: If the cat is unsterilized you need to get it off the streets as soon as possible or you will shortly be dealing with several stray cats and not just one! Feral cats (wild): You can sterilize it and keep it as an outdoor pet, find it a barn home (but research this carefully; you can't just dump the cat on some willing farmer. Capture it in a cage trap and take it to a shelter (check with the shelter first on their policies), or, arrange it's euthanasia via your veterinarian. However, realize that if you euthanize someone's owned/lost animal you can be sued and even Feral animals can be owned. Ferals that have received veterinary care (and there have owners or caretakers) usually have an ear tip or ear notch indicating this. Please take the welfare of the cat into consideration, not just the nuisance having to deal with the problems they cause. It's too bad our society has taught us that stray cats are something we must 'get rid of' rather than 'deal with.'
• I am a cat lover and own one, but I am also tortured by a colony of about 15 feral cats in our neighborhood. The males have marked our back door so often that the door is rusted and smells terribly no matter what I do to clean it. Now that all of the snow is melting, the urine smell is almost intolerable around my gardens. We have a toddler and it scares me to think of the disease these cats are leaving in my gardens and on my deck every time they defecate or urinate around our house. Nothing has worked so far, sprays, citrus peels, spraying them with a hose...it is a losing battle. I know who started this colony, and she has three kittens in her barn currently, she is an irresponsible pet owner and the township has no control over it. We don't even have an "animal control" officer, and the one person I found to remove the males wants per animal and it's a small fortune with how many are running around here.
• I understand how a stray cat may be a "scared, lost, hungry, possibly dumped animal", but in my particular situation at work, many of us can hardly feel sorry for these cats. There are three, really fat cats who have been loitering the premises like thugs. With the weather here being as cold as it has been, these cats wait for you to park your car, then when they see you enter the building, they sneakily climb on top of the warm hood of your car and rest. Once in awhile I see some people go out of their way to encourage these cats to stay by feeding them daily with cans of cat food. They have also left bowls and even an enclosed cage for them to go inside during bad weather. They are living the life! These cats are far better off than homeless humans! The ASPCA come here but they gave up after several attempts claiming that they either can't find them or they couldn't catch them. So they gave up and stopped returning! I admit that I'm not very fond of cats because of my severe allergies, but I am a pet owner as well. I would really appreciate if anyone can post a good solution to this problem that hasn't been already stated.
• Sad to say, maintaining a feral cat community causes more harm than good. A cat's instinct is to hunt, even when well fed. Feral cats are an invasive non-native species and are responsible for the deaths of native species. They kill thousands of birds, bats and other species vital to a healthy environment. It's nice to have the poor souls "fixed" so that countless other cats won't be born into hardship, but these cats are still hunters even if you're feeding them. All you are doing is making sure that the non-native hunter lives (and kills) longer.
• The people that start feral cat colonies and feed stray cats have their hearts in the right place, unfortunately, they are not thinking with their logical minds, they are thinking with their hearts only. It's a common thing, and it's hard to explain to these people why they really need to stop. It feels humane to feed the stray cats because you feel like you are helping them. It feels humane to not euthanize these feral cats that have no hope of domestication because no one wants to be responsible for ending a life, even a cat's...but it only feels that way because when you do those things, you aren't really witnessing the cats ultimate demise. They are going to die because of their environment; it's just a matter of when and how. Whether it be under a dumpster in the cold, or in a garage, slowly dying from an infected bite wound for weeks on end, with fevers, vomiting, shakes and the slowest, most painful death for any animal to endure. I have had several stray cats digging in my potted plants and taunting my cats by sitting under the windows and howling. They have even climbed onto the screen in order to fight my cats through the screen. I have found the fur of these stray cats in my cat?s claws?so I know they are making contact through the screen. Very easy way to give my cats a disease. I fear my cat might knock out the window screen during one of these fights and there goes my cat. This is just one more reason to not allow a cat outdoors, even if they do come home every night they can still harm and disrupt another cat's life. Cats that live outside in a rural setting may be less in danger, just because there is more natural environment for them to dwell. In a city there is no safe place for a cat outside. I want these cats gone and there seems to be no solution. It's hard to come to grips with the brutal fact that the humane thing to do with these Feral, scarred, sick and diseased cats is to put them out of their misery in a painless way, rather than allowing them to die alone, slowly and without help. Because ultimately, that is what happens to them and the people who are feeding them with the best of intentions.
• The tenant before me left four cats behind for the next owner to look after. One just had a litter and two others are pregnant. We can't afford to feed ourselves. They're filthy and no matter how much they eat they kill birds & squirrels and scatter blood/feathers everywhere. The SPCA's won't take them. They say they're full of cats. We're on our third ad in the paper. We don't want to have to kill them and if we don't we may be thrown on the street by the landlord. The neighbors are sick of them. Is there a solution out there?
• I have three cats of my own, ut we have a stray, or possibly 'outdoor' cat that might be owned by a neighbor. I have tried catching the cat without success. He jumps at my cats when they sit by the glass patio door. That drives them crazy, and by the time I get there, the stray runs off. I don't care if he returns to his owner, gets picked up by animal control, whatever you want to call it, I want to get rid of this stray cat!
• I've read this discussion and wish I knew the answer. There is a stray cat that wanders our apartment complex, left behind by tenants who have moved out. He goes from door to door, looking for attention and/or food, and has been around here for at least a couple of years. He's been socialized and is quite loving and sweet. Our weather is very cold, I'm afraid he is going to get frost bite this winter. The managers here built a "cat shelter" for him and some other cats, but this little guy wants to come indoors and be with people. I have let him in a couple of times because I've felt sorry for him, but he gets into mischief if I don't constantly watch him. I don't have any cat toys or climbing towers, so he jumps on my kitchen counter and has to know what's in every nook and cranny. He waits until I go out to pick up my mail, the newspaper, whatever, and then tries to get into my apartment. Tonight, I had to block his way at the door because I had to fix dinner and knew he'd be trying to "help" me. I've spoken to our managers expressing my concern, wondering if someone who really wants him could give him a permanent home, but they assure me he will be okay outdoors. Hopefully, I'm not his only friend and other tenants are taking him in as well. I have thought about calling the Humane Society for advice, but I don't want to get the managers in trouble and I definitely don't want to see him euthanized. What are your thoughts? Should I see if they can temporarily shelter him until the cold weather passes? He seems to manage quite well outdoors otherwise, this is the first time he's ever come meowing around my door. I want to resolve this situation.
• In answer to the above poster it's a myth that the winter months don't bother cats whether they are tame or Feral. Go knocking door to door and see if someone won't take this poor cat in. It's obvious it's not a Feral cat. Cats are curious and interested in what people are doing and they also give love to their owners. It's people that cause the problem with unwanted cats that produce Feral cats. The best thing to do and what the environmentalists and governments do is to get rid of the non native species (ie. kill the cats!) A win win situation! No more unwanted cats. And the local birds are safe.
• Non cat lover: Call animal control if you have that many strays on your property. I finally had to find another home for the homeless cat who befriended me, I just couldn't keep him. I had a litter box for him, but being raised outdoors, he preferred to go outside, digging in my neighbors gardens. He's also a hunter, and I'm a bird lover. Some of my neighbors had been leaving food outdoors for the cats, and now we have a fierce stray cat population getting into fights and howling. Animal control is coming out to place some traps to try and catch them, we also have raccoons who come and eat at night. I think the only proper way to have a cat would be to keep it indoors all the time, but that causes problems too.
• Here is a solution that works great! After reading all the responses to this question, I have noticed that mostly they are suggestions on "how to get rid of strays" but not "how help and keep strays". I agree some of it was informative, but not helpful enough. The solution is safe. simple, humane, cheap, and it works!!! Go to your grocery store and purchase some red peppers (NOT BELL PEPPERS)the HOT red peppers. Take them home and boil them to get as much of the oil from the peppers as you can. When done, put in a squirt bottle and spray in desired areas. I sprayed it around the perimeter of my house, and around my outside furniture and garden where they were marking their territory. When the cat walks onto whatever has been sprayed with the oils from the hot peppers will be on their paws, and we all know that cats clean and groom themselves quite often. When they do this they get a taste of the peppers. It only takes only a couple times after that when they start to associate the area with the taste and before you know it not only will you "get rid of them" but you will "prevent them from coming back". Think before hand where you are going to spray, as there may be other animals such as your house pets that need to be taken into consideration. I hope this works for you as it sure did for me. I just wish I thought about this sooner! This does not harm the animals and just leaves a bad taste in their mouths. This will not hurt your garden, outdoor plants, or furniture (keep in mind only to spray oils on ground, around furniture and not on furniture itself).
• Stray cats are cats without care. They need to be trapped and taken to a shelter. They are often fed by people that mean well who think they are a help. Little do they know when you feed a cat it does not hunt. The food then goes on to attract other pest like rats, skunks, raccoons thus, giving more exposure to disease. These people who feed them need to research facts on feeding stray to Feral cats.
• By getting rid of humanely, I am guessing that you mean getting a stray away from your residence. Look in the phone book to find a 'no kill' shelter. Here it is called 'Paws'. They rely on contributions to take care of the overwhelming number of strays, or lost beloved family pets. You are not required at all to make a contribution if you bring them a cat though it is appreciated. They are glad to save the life of any cat. If they are filled to capacity they may have other suggestions for you. Know that doing nothing may leave the cat at risk for disease, injured in territory disputes, freezing to death, plus getting hit by cars or used as target practice or, not to mention the least of worries to you, leaving urine and feces around your property along with potential litters of new generations of cats. Look in the newspaper to see if anyone has reported a cat of that description missing and if so put out food for it and call the owners right away. Does it have a collar? Some people let their cats roam freely outdoors; in my opinion this is nuts but not all pet owners are educated about the dangers or think the liklihood is low of something bad happening...as a last resort call the SPCA who will either come out or make recomendations to you about what to do. Often the no kill shelters and the ASPCA have safe no kill 'traps', a box that encloses the cat with food and water in it, but does not harm the cat. This will allow you to carry the box to a safe place like one of the shelters where they will be treated, looked after or adopted (though the SPCA puts them to sleep as a last resort especially if they are full of incurable or too expensive to treat medical conditions. Simply not feeding them will certainly make them go away, but also makes it someone elses problem and is not very humane to the cat.
• The misunderstanding of those who work with Feral cat colonies is particularly unhelpful. Those people do not feed feral cats because they are uneducated. They do it because they're aware of the natural life cycle of cat colonies. They know that the best way to handle the issue is to fix all the animals, to cut down the kitten population, and cut down on aggression.
• Even if you kill all the cats in a colony, that doesn't solve your problem because another colony will come in to take over. Cats have very, very widespread territories and no area remains a vacuum for very long. The only long term solution is for people to keep domesticated cats indoors and fixed, and to stop dumping animals or believing old wives tales, like "when you get pregnant, you have to give your cat away," or "it's healthier if my cat has just one litter of kittens first, before I fix her". To solve an immediate issue with a cat or a group of cats. In the short term, you need to figure out whether this animal is adoptable. It's important to remember that there is a huge difference between stray cats and feral cats.
• Feral cats are afraid of humans, are rarely seen, and cannot be adopted or tamed; the exception are very young kittens. They are not like the standard 'barn cat.' Stray cats are usually formerly owned cats who can be retamed to live indoors again. These are the ones that should be handled by local organizations, after carefully checking the organization's history and track record, and adopted.
• Handling FERAL Cats - if they're adult ferals, then contact your local feral cat agency, such as Alley Cat Allies in the US. They can give you a humane trap, then have the animals fixed and returned. They will usually find an agency that can handle the feeding and responsibility of your local colony, and can also give you brochures with ideas about how to get them out of your gardens and other areas. What animals lovers with a heart don't understand is that male cats who are still "intact" are more territorial, more likely to get into fights, spray to mark their territory, and run across the road to defend their turf. All of that ceases when a cat is fixed. The more feral cats you can fix, the fewer litters that will ensue. Eventually, as colonies die out, another colony of strays and ferals moves in, because cats are territorial. Long term, the only solution is to mandate all cats be fixed, and indoor pets. In the short term, numbers can be kept down by fixing the animals and stopping their exponential breeding. It's a numbers game. So even if you don't like cats, it's in your neighborhood's best interest to get a local feral group to help deal with the colony, and get them fixed.
• Handling Stray Cats -- First, make sure it's not a lost pet. An agency can help you check for microchips and other signs it was once owned. If an animal "waltzes in" and is not hand-shy, then it's more likely they were formerly owned. This is good - they have a great shot at getting adopted again.
  
  If they are stray, friendly, and you like animals, you should consider finding a safe room in your house where the animal can be resocialized, and later adopted to a new home. Perhaps one of your friends or coworkers could also handle this, or you can ask a local no-kill agency if they have "foster" homes. Most of these no-kill agencies handle pets by finding foster homes to take in the animals, and periodically put them up for adoption at local PetSmarts, shelters, or animal events. They can also refer you to a vet who may give you a low-cost spay or neuter, or even volunteer their services.
• Handling YOUR OWN Cats- Spay and neuter them, and keep them indoors!
  Believe it or not, the stray cat and Feral problem used to be much, much worse than it is today. Years ago cats were not spayed or neutered or kept them indoors, which caused much bigger numbers of stray and feral colonies. I do appreciate why people have indoor/outdoor cats and their logic; the unfortunate thing is that between traffic, the occasional pet abuser, coyotes and raccoons it's really safer for a cat to be indoors only. The only way to end this needless killing of pets, and the nuisance of Feral cats, is to encourage any pet owner you know to get their animals fixed, keep them indoors, and not to adopt an animal unless they intend on taking care of it permanently. Cats and dogs are not toys to be thrown away when you tire of them. The worst problem is with young people and families who get a pet, then dump it when they move, because of ignorant beliefs about pregnancy and pets, because they're college students returning home for the summer, or because they think their landlord is anti-pet. Bottom line, don't adopt an animal unless you can stick with it. As far as the comments of people with a heart being ignorant, uneducated is not necessary. It's humans that imbalance our world and not the animals! Many of the comments posted under this subject are by people who have no formal or informal education working with animals, and are clearly not veterinarians.
• I would encourage readers to keep reading online and checking with a variety of reputable books (check your library), veterinarians, animal charities and other people who actually know what they're talking about.
• Be very wary of taking advice about dealing with stray cats from someone who hates animals and is ignorant of even basic facts. (Such as that fed cats don't hunt. Any layman pet owner knows that even though a pet cat is fed well their instinct is to hunt and will sometimes bring their kills to their human owners as "offerings". Indoor cats need toys in order to cope with their need to pounce and hunt.)
• The difference between cats that are house pets and Feral cats: A cat that is a house pet and allowed to go outside will hunt even though well fed whether it is day or night. Most owners will allow their cat out during daylight hours and be sure they are in by night as cats by nature are nocturnal. Generally these cats will stay on their own territory, but will defend their territory against any strange cat entering onto their territory and the fight is on. Feral cats are cats that are neglected or abandoned by their owners and left to fend for themselves. When the females have kittens the cycle continues and the kittens are brought up wild. Feral cats can be dangerous and can be full of diseases such as rabies so one should never approach a Feral cat or try to handle them. Using a cage to try and trap them is a better alternative. The myth that the ASPCA (American) and SPCA (Canadian) that there is a 'no kill' policy is not true. Feral cats are generally put down. Feral cats are difficult to handle unless they are kittens that can be adopted out and are brought up with love and care. Adult Feral cats have no hope of surviving if captured and sent to the ASPCA/SPCA. One must realize that it is humans that cause the problem and not the cats in question. Man people don't understand cats and don't take the time to research what cats are all about. Cats are intelligent, they are hunters, they are full of curiosity and can make fine pets. Cats can be trained! It is extremely frustrating for people with pet cats or even people that don't like cats to have to put up with the howling and destruction manner Feral cats can do. The best advice out of all the posters was the person who suggested the oil from hot peppers. It works, but it can be harmful to the Feral cat or even a tame cat as they can rub the red pepper oil into their eyes and get it into their mouths and it burns! Try biting into a pepper and then rubbing your own eyes and try getting the hot taste out of your mouth! There are many sprays you can get at pet stores or even your vet to deter Feral cats or any cats such as Tom cats when the mating seasons begin.

First answer by Jay. Last edit by MajesticLeeza. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 390 [recommend question]