Lovering holds a B. Cat Health. By Catherine Lovering. Contagious Conditions Stray cats can pick up many diseases from being outside, many of which can be transmitted to other pets in your household. Aggression With Other Pets Pets are like people; they don't always get along when forced to live together. House Destruction Stray cats aren't always litter-box trained; if they're in a new household, they may need coaxing before they use the facilities you provide.
The Great Escape A stray cat, particularly one not used to being indoors, will probably try to make an escape again. This method is opposed by proponents of traditional kill methods, because even well-fed altered cats continue to hunt birds and other small animals, some of which may be legally protected species.
Those opposed to TNR have suggested holding colony managers liable for loss of birds under federal and state conservation laws. Whether such legal action would be successful depends largely upon how cats are classified.
In both biological and legal terms, how we classify feral cats has far-reaching consequences. For example, the law treats "wild" animals very differently than it treats "domestic" animals, which still are classified separately from "companion" animals. Fitting a particular species into one category or another often proves to be arbitrary and based on tradition rather than sound science or law. Meanwhile, ecologists focus on the role of the species in its ecosystem, and whether the species has destructive tendencies damaging to species diversity.
Therefore, classification of feral cats is central to how we approach the problem of overpopulation. The law traditionally regards domestic cats as mere chattels of their owners, much like any personal property. At common law, a cat owner was liable for injuries caused by her cat only if she knew the cat to be abnormally dangerous. Some municipalities have specifically addressed this rule by passing ordinances making animal owners strictly liable for injuries caused by their pets.
However, most of these laws are specific to dogs. Absent such an ordinance, a cat owner is generally free from liability for her cat's actions. However, conservation laws often apply without regard to animal ownership issues. The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal for anyone to "take" an endangered species.
Cats — both domestic and wild felids e. According to the CDC, humans can become infected by consuming the undercooked meat of an infected animal or by the accidental ingestion of oocysts found in the environment e. However, infected cats typically shed these oocysts in their feces only once, for a one-week period [7].
Infection rates vary widely around the world [8]. Data from the large-scale National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reveal a significant decrease between and in the age-adjusted infection rate of toxoplasmosis among people 12—49 years of age born in the U.
Most people never exhibit symptoms; for those who do, illness is generally mild [10]. Gloves should be worn while gardening or otherwise in contact with soil or sand, and cat owners should change litter boxes daily, washing hands afterward [10].
These studies rarely stand up to careful scrutiny, however [14,15]. In fact, recently published studies have challenged the findings of earlier research. Trap-neuter-return TNR is a non-lethal technique for managing unowned, free-roaming cats. The cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered by a licensed veterinarian, ear-tipped the universal sign that they have been sterilized , and returned to where they were trapped.
Vaccination against rabies is common practice for TNR programs in the U. These programs are therefore often referred to as trap-neuter-vaccinate-return, or TNVR. Such programs protect public health by vaccinating a population of cats that is otherwise ignored. These cats also form a powerful barrier against disease transmission between wildlife and humans by eliminating an important transmission path i.
Global efforts to eliminate canine rabies have also made enormous strides in recent years, in large part due to the recognition that sterilization and vaccination campaigns are more likely to be successful than traditional culling for controlling the spread of rabies [18]. TNR can also reduce the threat of toxoplasmosis, most directly by reducing local populations of free-roaming cats.
Studies show that kittens and young cats are more likely than older cats to shed oocytes if exposed to T. The corollary — that older cats are less likely to shed oocysts — suggests that removal of older cats, especially those already sterilized and vaccinated, does relatively little to mitigate the threat of toxoplasmosis.
And finally, research has shown that cats living in close proximity to humans often take advantage of the various food sources provided rather than hunt [22,23], and that such cats are therefore much less likely to be exposed to the T.
A study of free-roaming cats in Rome, Italy, for example, found a significant decrease of T. Feeding free-roaming cats, a common practice in the U.
Like all misinformation in the public health domain, misinformation about the public health risks associated with free-roaming cats is likely to be counterproductive. Related resources. What to do with feral cats: Examining TNR for population management. Ma, X. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association , , — Sung, J.
Moran, G. Appropriateness of rabies postexposure prophylaxis treatment for animal exposures. Journal of the American Medical Association , , — Steele, M. Epidemiology of animal exposures presenting to emergency departments.
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