[CAT] "This is what happens to stray cats in Toronto"

[rfmcdonald]

blogTO's Chris Bateman describes what Toronto does for stray cats. ("Stray", it should be noted, is distinct from "feral.")

Every year Toronto Animal Services takes in about 4,000 sick or injured stray cats. The unfortunate homeless felines, some of which may have been living on the streets for years, are given a new lease on life by city veterinarians so that they might live to prowl another day.

Unfortunately for a lost moggy, getting rescued has consequences. "We can do whatever we need to do to the cat to get it ready for adoption," says Mary Lou Leiher from Toronto Animal Services. "That might include spaying and neutering, if it isn't already done. It also includes microchipping, vaccinating, all those things that somebody needs when they first get a cat to get them off on the right foot."

Cats that are born in the wild present a different problem. Once collected by the city, feral cats are spayed and neutered like their domesticated cousins, but most are released close to where they were found, provided they're not sick or starving. Vets take the tip of one of the cat's ears so it doesn't receive surgery twice.

So how do you tell the difference between a stray and a feral cat anyway? It's not easy, Leiher says, but the answer often comes when the animals are presented with a box.

"The biggest clue is that [feral cats] want to hide all the time. When we have a feral cat in the shelter we give it a special type of box that it can hide in," she says. Domesticated pets tend to come out after a few hours while feral cats will try and stay hidden, acting aggressively or defensively when approached.