What Are Community Cats?

All communities have community cats—they live wherever people live.

"Community cat" is an umbrella term that refers to any outdoor, unowned, free-roaming cat.

Community cats belong to the communities in which they live.

Community cat problems are created when people neglect to spay or neuter their cats, allow their cats to freely roam outdoors, or leave their pet cats behind when they move. Although it is unlawful to abandon pets, it is a difficult crime to prosecute.

Community cats are the same species as pet cats (Felis silvestris catus). The difference is that many community cats are feral, or not socialized to people, and therefore are not adoptable as pets.

Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) programs ensure that cats who find themselves trying to survive outdoors will be neutered, vaccinated, and cared for by volunteer caregivers.

For more information, visit our FAQs page.

Feline Reproduction Facts

Cats are a very successful species, in part due to their efficient and prolific reproduction cycle.

Female cats are “seasonally polyestrous,” which means they have multiple heat cycles during the breeding season.
As the amount of daylight begins to increase after the winter solstice on Dec. 21st, the reproductive cycle of intact females kicks into gear, and most will go into heat by late January.
A female cat will keep coming back into heat every 1 to 2 weeks until she gets pregnant or the amount of daylight declines in October.
The feline gestation period is about 63 days, so the first kittens of the season start arriving in late March.
Most female cats will have a heat cycle within 6 to 8 weeks after giving birth. Depending on the normal cycle of the individual cat, it’s possible for her to have a heat cycle and get pregnant as few as 48 hours after giving birth!

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