Relocating and Abandoning Cats

Relocating cats

Relocating cats is very difficult to do successfully. Unless cats are significantly threatened, they are better off staying in their territory:

Why are cats better off staying in their original territory?
He or she has some sort of resource available to him or her otherwise they wouldn’t be there.   They are territorial and will keep other cats away.  If spayed/neutered, they will keep other unspayed/unneutered cats from coming into the area and increasing the population.

What happens when a cat is relocated or abandoned?
He or she will be frightened and run off in a panic looking for his “home.”   He will use considerable energy searching for his original home and have no known food source or shelter.  Many of these cats starve or die from exposure within weeks or a few short months.

Is there a way that a cat can be successfully relocated?
If a cat is being threatened by abuse for example, it is sometimes helpful to find a situation like a barn home where their chances of survival are greater.   However, it is CRUTIAL that the cat be confined to a large cage (with litter box, food, water) or a very secure shed or other such arrangement for AT LEAST 2-3 WEEKS.    During this time the cat, of course, will be fed, watered, and cleaned every day and he/she will come to know that there is a food source here and, after a time, will stay there.   

Abandoned domesticated cats

Many people believe that a domesticated cat can be dropped off in a populated area, a field or a barn and survive.   This is very rarely the case even in the unlikely event the cat finds a kindly caretaker.   

Cats left behind when their owner moves are terrified and do not have the instincts necessary to hunt for food and fend for itself.   They cry out day and night and frantically search for their owner or try to get back into the building from which they were abandoned.   The vast majority of these cats slowly die.    If they are unspayed, they often get pregnant and have kittens which further reduce their physical strength.    Unneutered males and subject to getting into fights with other cats and becoming injured.    All domesticated cats run the risk of starvation, exposure to the elements or becoming prey to dogs or wild animals.  These cats are often doomed to die within a few weeks or months at best.  

Domesticated Cats that are dumped in the woods or at farms will run in a panic to try to find their home.   They have no food source and are incapable of hunting to survive.   They have no shelter and are exposed to the elements.    If a female is unspayed she will become pregnant if she lives that long.   Male cats are subject to fighting with other male cats and suffer additionally from infected wounds.   These cats are generally doomed to die within a few weeks or months at best.   

See our section on Helping Stray Cats which gives some re-homing suggestions.