its kind of counter intuitive but feeding the poor buggers increases their suffering. cats have internal instinctual behaviors that control their breeding habits and also territorial behaviors that help with range and distribution that keep populations at pace with the food supply. so feeding them will increase the population in a given area beyond what is possible. also cats kill whether they are fed or not. they do this much the same as we play or exercise. i understand the good hearted inclination to feed a feral cat but it creates a situation where even the outlying territories where you dont feed become over grazed of wildlife and cause increases in cat diseases and starvation. not to mention the effect of migrating song birds who use the area as a rest stop en route north or south. they get hunted at unnaturally high frequency to the point of effecting populations elsewhere where their absence could have a profound effect on ecological balances effecting other predators. these other areas may have a predator who in a normal situation feed on these birds at a low enough frequency to survive but not to the point of dramatically decreasing the birds population. this could have ripple effects on insects that would other wise be checked by these birds feeding habits as well. in turn affecting pollination, tree health etc. an alternative would be to participate in the trap vascectomizing and spaying of feral cats then releasing. vasectomized rather than neutering keeps in place male territorial behaviors by leaving them with the hormonal instinct to mate and hold territory. unlike neutering which leaves them disinterested in this behavior. it keeps non breeding males in charge of population control without the ability to increase litters rates. lots of urban areas have programs to do this at low cost and sometimes even free.
