Sam Hill has identified a growing problem with feral cats in the area and has decided to do something about it.

“It seems to be in my neighborhood, and it seems to be in Kane County,” Hill said.

The longtime Geneva resident also is a 1st Ward alderman, but insists whatever action he is taking is not being done in conjunction with the city.

“This is not going to be a city project,” Hill said.

He began noticing the problem a couple of months ago when he saw something surprising while looking out his kitchen window. Several kittens, one by one, emerged from the base of his neighbor’s chimney.

Before that, Hill recalled a neighbor complaining about stray cats urinating near the foundation of her home with the odor seeping into the basement and eventually becoming unbearable for her children.

Hill began researching the issue and learned that cats can reproduce every 60 days.

“With that kind of a population explosion, it’s a real threat to birds,” Hill said.

He discovered groups of people, some of whom have formed nonprofit organizations, who volunteer their time to trap the cats, take them to clinics or veterinarians to be spayed or neutered and then return to them to the area where they were found.

“My job, right now, is trying to coordinate (the volunteers) and get some direction,” Hill said.

Two women have caught and transported about 700 cats between them in one year.

“They do this on their own nickel,” Hill said. “They’re so passionate. It’s amazing.”

One such organization is Adopt a River Cat. Batavia resident Cathy Cavins is one of the founding members of the 12-year-old group.

Cavins is a full-time attorney, but volunteers part time in the trap-neuter-return program.

“It’s the most humane (way) to treat these animals,” Cavins said.

The cats survive by hunting baby rabbits, chipmunks and rodents or congregate near garbage dumps to scavenge for food in their territory if they are feral. Some abandoned or once domesticated cats survive by people feeding them. Cavins said after being neutered, the cats are returned to the area where they have learned to survive. After surgery, the cats’ ears are tagged for identification.

Removing or euthanizing the cats actually will give the colony space to grow, according to the Adopt a River Cat Web site.

Feral cats are wild and not suitable as house cats, according to vets at the Anderson Animal Clinic in South Elgin. Cavins said there are thousands of feral and stray cats in Kane County and one problem is people leaving their pets behind when they move.

“Not all of these cats are completely feral,” Cavins said.

A free or low-cost spay and neuter clinic is not available in the Tri-Cities, so volunteers drive the cats to locations in Chicago or the Anderson Animal Shelter Clinic, which does the surgery for $60 to $80 per cat. Representatives of the National Animal Welfare Society in Mokena also work in the Kane County area two to three times a month.

But Cavins is hoping for a more permanent local solution.

“I would love to see a low-cost or free clinic in the area,” Cavins said.

That is something Jan Sprite would like to see, as well. The St. Charles woman has worked mostly independently for the past two years in the trap-neuter-return program. Last year, she worked on about 200 cats. This year, she is up to about 430.

“I’m pretty much sleep-deprived and chronically tired,” Sprite said. “I do this because it needs to be done.”

She transports the cats to larger clinics in Chicago because she believes they are the closest organizations that truly understand the problem and are able to offer very low-cost service.

In her work, she has noticed people leave behind cats after a home foreclosure. These cats can multiply 10-fold in less than a year if not spayed or neutered.

“There’s not as much loyalty with cats as with dogs,” Sprite said.

Want to help?
For information on how to get involved, visit www.adoptarivercat.org or www.fixinferalfelines.org.