By Justin Hughes
Record Staff Writer
Oct 13 2006

The problem of feral cats may be a daunting one, but the Comox Valley Cat Advocates Society is doing more than just scratching the surface.

The society will host events in Courtenay and Comox to mark Feral Cats Week, centred around annual Feral Cat Day on Monday.

A feral cat is defined as a cat born into the wild. They grow up in colonies, over 30 of which are known to exist within the Valley. Living in colonies, they grow and live without readily available food or medical attention.

“Life in a feral colony is horrible,” said Carole Shannon, spokesperson for the society. The society aims to deal with the growth of feral cat colonies in the Comox Valley by employing a two-tiered approach. First, they stabilize colonies by spaying and neutering cats as well as rescuing kittens for fostering and adoption.

Thus far, the society has completely spayed and neutered nine colonies.

Throughout this process, they maintain the quality of life within those colonies, feeding 80 to 100 cats a day and capturing unhealthy animals for treatment, until the population ages out.

This approach ensures that feral cats live more comfortably and over time humanely eliminates feral cat colonies, said Shannon.

The City of Richmond, said Shannon, has after several years of using the same technique, successfully eliminated its feral cat population.

The Cat Advocates Society has to date spayed and neutered over 200 adult or adolescent cats and fostered and adopted over 70 kittens.

It’s yet to encounter a cat that has needed to be put down, said Shannon.