Xeresa ferals get the care they deserve

FERAL cats in Xeresa are finally getting the care and protection they need thanks to an association of kitty- lovers working with and educating the council.

Gatitos ( kittens) formed after responding to Tomàs Ferrandis i Moscardó's complaints about how street cats were ' a problem' and ' annoying the neighbours' back in 2018, when the Compromís mayor raised hackles by trying to ban feeding the animals because ' otherwise, they would not catch mice and rats'.

The association explained to him that rat- catching was not about food, merely entertainment, and cats need a proper nutritious diet as they cannot survive on the vermin population alone.

Now, Sr Ferrandis has set up a refuge for the ferals at the entrance to the village, and in the last few weeks, he set aside a protected and enclosed feeding station.

Helped by Gatitos, Sr Ferrandis has carried out a census of the cat colonies, and more recently, has agreed to fund a trap- neuter- return ( TNR) programme.

This involves catching wild cats in automatically- closing cages, taking them to the vet to be sterilised and then, once the anaesthetic has worn off, releasing them back into their usual habitat.

If they are not sterilised, female cats can become pregnant from their first season at around six months old, when they are still kittens themselves, and with a gestation period of two months followed by four to six weeks of feeding – during which time she is not fertile – she can have up to four litters a year, with between three and six babies per birth.

And their quality of life, growing up on the street, is poor, meaning their life expectancy is very short.