Published on: July 12, 2023

A feral cat with a notched ear, showing that it has been neutered. Photo by Belinda Messenger-Sikes, UC IPM.
Many of us at UC IPM are cat lovers and owners. Cats are popular household pets that bring joy and companionship to many families. Feral cats, on the other hand, can cause problems in our communities and around our homes and gardens.
Feral cats are unsocialized, unowned cats that live outdoors. The problems they can cause are well documented. Feral cats are not treated by owners or veterinarians so they can carry contagious diseases like flea-borne typhus and rabies, and parasites like hookworm and fleas which can affect pets, humans, and other animals. Cats are also well-known hunters of songbirds and can significantly impact wildlife populations. While feral cats hunt, they do not completely control populations of house mice...
Public Value:
UCANR: Promoting healthy people and communities
Tags: feral cats (1), IPM (120), management (67), Pest Notes (118), pests (73), public health (15), UC IPM (373), urban (33), vertebrate (8)
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