Feline Overpopulation and the Solution Many of us have encountered stray cats slinking though our backyards, roaming parking lots, hanging out near dumpsters.  Some of us have found our garages or bushes being used as nurseries by mother cats and their new kittens.   Unwanted cat litters create the feral colonies of cats.  There is no such thing as a stray cat; any more than there are native ferals.  Feral cats are simply unwanted, abandoned, domesticated house cats once owned by human beings.  Some people assume if they move off their pets will survive.  This is not true; many die ugly deaths from starvation, disease and abuse.  Other people just don’t get around to spaying/neutering their pets and allow them to roam outside, no doubt breeding.   Feral cat colonies grow very rapidly.  Kittens start breeding at four months of age and have 2-3 litters per year.  If for some reason the female does not conceive during a heat cycle she will stay in heat until she conceives.  Two breeding cats over a seven year period can be responsible for 420,000 cats.   Shelters spend $50 million dollars (mostly your tax dollars) each year to euthanize 15 million dogs and cats.  All because people don’t spay and neuter their pets.  SNAP 713-863-0010 assists with the costs of spaying/neutering, as well as other vets and organizations.  Every single spay/neuter helps stamp out this problem. It is your responsibility to have your pets spayed/neutered.  Besides helping the overpopulation problem it also makes your pets healthier.  If you are feeding an “outside cat” then it is your responsibility to get it spayed/neutered.   There are several feral colonies in and around Garden Oaks.  A potential problem exists anywhere there is a non-altered cat.  Cat Catchers is a Garden Oaks group comprised of volunteers and operating on donations. They want to educate the neighborhood on the feline overpopulation problem and assist folks in getting their “outside” cats spayed/neutered.  If you are feeding outside cats that are not spayed/neutered or you know of someone who is please contact one of the members of Cat Catchers (see yellow flyer).  Cat Catchers will assist in getting cats spayed/neutered and released back to their territory.   Please donate to Cat Catchers; they are making Garden Oaks a better place to live – one cat at a time! Stop the neglect and abuse – please spay/neuter