Cat-management systems work well
WITH regard to the letter, "Suggestions for strays unrealistic" (Streats, Oct 27), by Mr Chew Loon Meng, I wish to say that a cat-management system in which cats are sterilised is a realistic way of controlling their population in a neighbourhood.
Recently, the Cat Welfare Society carried out a survey of 83 volunteer caregivers who manage homeless cats at more than 298 HDB blocks.
In the places where a cat-management system is in place, 72 per cent saw the cat population stabilise or even decrease. In the remaining areas, the increase in the number of cats was mainly due to cats and kittens being abandoned by irresponsible pet owners.
Contrary to what Mr Chew believes, sterilised female cats are even more defensive of their territory than unsterilised females.
An unsterilised female, when in heat, will welcome any male into its territory because of its need to mate. However, once they are sterilised and no longer have the urge to mate, they will defend their territory against all cats and not just other females.
Cats are territorial by instinct, and will guard their territory regardless of whether there is an abundance of food or not. It has also been noted that male cats are less attracted to areas with sterilised female cats.
In his book, Catwatching, noted animal behaviourist Desmond Morris stated: "The fact that they (the cats) had been fed already and were not particularly hungry made no difference to the number of prey they killed each day, because the urge to hunt is independent of the urge to eat. Cats hunt for the sake of hunting."
In making this statement, he was referring to the finding that farm cats that were fed by the farmers caught more rats and other rodent pests around the farm than farm cats that were not fed. This is because cats that were not fed had to travel great distances to find their food, whereas, cats that are fed by the farmer tend to stay around the farm and give free range to their hunting instincts, targeting the rats.
The lesson to be learnt here is that, if we want to be free of pests, we ought to keep cats in our neighbourhood and feed them well so that they'll stay around.
Volunteer caregivers have an edge over others when it comes to catching cats as they feed the cats daily, gaining their trust.
Often, the cats are so friendly with their caregivers that volunteers are able to grab them by the scruff and load them into carriers to take to the vet for sterilisation.
When strangers try to catch them, they flee.
There are many responsible caregivers who do a great job of managing our homeless cats.
Before the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) cancelled the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme last year, there were 500 such volunteers registered with the scheme.
All these caregivers had to feed the cats in a clean manner and ensure that 90 per cent of the population were sterilised. They were checked on by the AVA and were de-registered if their work was not up to par.
Unfortunately, when the scheme was terminated and sterilised cats killed, some of them lost the heart to continue their thankless work.
A tipped left ear is an internationally recognised sign that a cat has been sterilised. This is to prevent caregivers from taking a cat to be sterilised twice. The vet will tip the cat's ear during the sterilisation operation, while the cat is under anaesthetic.
No caregiver would tip the cat's ear on his/her own as it would be tantamount to abusing the cat and it would resist.
To "adopt one and take it home" may not be "the right thing", as HDB does not allow cats in flats. Keeping one in an HDB flat could get the owner fined and evicted.
This is a shame, as 84 per cent of residents live in HDB flats, and there are 876,000 HDB dwelling units and only 80,000 cats on the streets.
- Christina Eng, vice-president, Cat Welfare Society