North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[JoanRRosenberg@aol.com]

Excuse me, but animals are not disposable like paper plates.  Every animal must be neutered and have its shots and be dewormed before you bring it home.  A true feral is not tamable.  A domestic cat that likes people which may have been abandoned will be very happy to have a home.  And a well fed cat hunts much beter than an underfed one.  It must have shelter and clean water (not frozen) at all times.  If you let the animal live outside (as opposed to an indoor/outdoor pet) and you have raccoons in your area, you have the prospect of the cat running into a raccoon at night.  The raccoon might have cat for dinner or the cat might catch racoon distemper, for which there is no vaccination.  

If you really want to have a cat colony, look up the TNR trap neuter release programs on the web, and check out the designs for housing and maintenance needs.