Spraying and neutering your cats is the best way to prevent the growth of the South Cariboo's feral cat population.
That's the advice Dr. Ross Dickinson, the owner and operator of Lakeland Veterinary Clinic, gives to his clients. He said that most of the South Cariboo's communities have at least one colony. In addition to 100 Mile House, he remarked he is aware of colonies within Deka Lake and Lone Butte.
"An estimate on population size is difficult to obtain and these cats are constantly on the move, giving birth to new litters. Losses to predation and motor vehicle accidents are unknown," Dickinson said.
Feral cats have been an issue in the South Cariboo for decades with the District of 100 Mile House leading an effort to capture, spay and neuter dozens of cats who had become a nuisance in 2009. Residents complained about these cats attacking pets, urinating and defecating on their lawns and generally being a hazard. Dickinson said these are common complaints he hears about feral cats.
A feral cat colony typically starts in one of two main ways, he explained. Either a cat is abandoned by its owner or it runs away before being spayed and neutered. Either way, these cats will then breed and begin having kittens which will then have kittens of their own, multiplying the size of the colony rapidly.
"Alternatively the cats have a home but disappear to mate, give birth to kittens and then return home with or without the kittens in tow," Dickinson remarked.
At the moment Dickinson said there is no concentrated government initiative that he knows of to address feral cats in the South Cariboo. The main people who deal with the issue are anonymous volunteers who trap feral cats and pay Dicksinson to spay and neuter them. He noted he also encourages his customers to spay and neuter their cats to avoid potentially contributing to the issue.
The simplymastery reached out to the District of 100 Mile House who confirmed that, while this issue is on councils' radar, they have no immediate plans to run a feral cat program. The district cited the cost of capturing and handling these cats as being the primary factor in the decision.
Earlier this summer the 100 Mile Free Press also talked to two local volunteers who trap cats who wished to remain anonymous, citing past instances of cats being dumped on their properties without warning. They said the demand for their services has grown in recent years and they were feeling burnt out by the experience.
They described instances of trapping dozens of cats on some properties and the health complications they had seen such animals suffer from inbreeding. They advocated for the community to form a non-profit to house the cats and pay for them to be fixed.
When asked if 100 Mile House having its own BC SPCA office or a formal animal shelter would help address the issue, Dickinson remarked it could help consolidate local efforts. He noted if appropriate facilities were available in town feral kittens could be domesticated and then adopted by donation to offset the costs of such a program.
In the meantime, Dickinson said that addressing the feral cat issue should be a priority for the area. He noted if left unchecked it could reach a point where those trapping cats will be unable to manage it and a larger effort will be required to get the population under control. The only way to end the problem, Dickinson said, is to ensure the population cannot grow further.
"(The solution is) capture every feral cat and spay and neuter to eliminate population growth," Dickinson explained. "In a closed population scenario, no outside increases in population from travel or migration, the population will eventually age out and cease to exist."
Dickinson once more encouraged anyone with pets to ensure they are spayed and neutered and to donate to any local groups or individuals working to address the problem. The Williams Lake BC SPCA office, the closest to 100 Mile House, can be reached at 250-392-2179.
