(PIKES PEAK REGION) — The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) has potentially prevented around half a million cats from being added to the feral population in the region, according to HSPPR. While that estimation sounds like an extreme exaggeration, the hypothetical total is based on real numbers.
HSPPR’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program is important because life as a feral cat isn’t safe or easy, as there isn’t always enough food, shelter, or care, and illness and injury are common. But many cats aren’t accustomed to living indoors and thrive better in outdoor colonies, so a good way to prevent overpopulation is to catch and neuter them and then return them to their colonies.
According to HSPPR, in one year, a single unspayed feral female cat can have 3 litters, about 12 kittens. If half of those are females, then in the second year, there would be a potential of 72 new cats, in the third year, 432, and in year four, 2,592. That means by the fifth year, there is the potential for there to be as many as 15,552 cats…