City's cat population tough to pin down

Welcome to Purrfect Sense -- the Independent Record's new column for people who care about cats.

You see cats everywhere in our area. They sun themselves in windows, hunt through the tall grass, and dart across busy roads. Many are beloved pets, many are not. Some lead lives of pampered luxury and some are wild and despised as pests. Every week there are some listed in this newspaper looking for good homes and more are always awaiting families at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.

Who are these felines that populate our area? How many are there? The truth is no one really knows. The best we can do is to extrapolate from national statistics and even these national statistics are best guesses. Unlike their cousin the dog, we don't license cats, so most of what we know comes from surveys done by pet product manufacturers.

One remarkable thing we have learned is that the cat has become the United States' number one pet. More cats are making their homes with families in the United States than dogs, birds, fish and all those other scaly and furry creatures.

Canine conspiracy theorists may blame it on mass feline hypnosis, but people who study this sort of thing say the ascendancy of the cat has come about due to two things: first was the invention of cat litter in 1947; second was the changing lifestyle of the American family. Busier lives, two-income households and a desire for more flexibility meant that Fido's needs were harder to meet. Cats' self-contained toilet needs and somewhat less dependent nature have made it the pet of choice for a growing number of people. Because the cat is relatively small and quiet, it's also easier to have more than one in limited space.

So how many cats do we host in our hometown? About 34 percent of American homes have at least one cat. Since Helena and the surrounding areas have about 23,000 households we begin with about 7,500 cats. Those same statistics tell us that half of the homes that have cats have more than one -- 2.4 to be exact. I'm typical since I have three. So add another 4,000 cats. In total, we can reasonably assume this area is home to approximately 12,000 pet cats.

Counting the cats that aren't really "pets" is more difficult. I'm involved with the Helena Area Friends of Pets -- the group that puts on the spay/neuter events in Helena. We classify cats that don't fit into the pet category two different ways.

First are working cats. These are the barn cats and those that make their living in warehouses and other businesses. Some may have names and people who provide food and water, but they aren't house cats. They work for a living, controlling mice and other vermin and are kept around as long as they do it.

The others are the stray and feral cats -- these are on the bottom rung of the cat world. These poor, wild creatures live on the outskirts of society. They and their many offspring, are usually terrified of people. They live short, desperate lives subsisting on birds, rodents and even trash. Although they have benefited mankind for centuries by keeping rodent populations in check, they are considered disease-ridden pests by many.

Experts say that for every "pet" cat there is at least one "un-owned" cat. So, bottom line, in the Helena area we probably have about 24,000 cats living with and among us. That's a lot of whiskers!

Cat Note -- Gardeners, it's not too late to plant some catnip! Be sure to get seeds or plants of catnip, not catmint. Catmint is a lovely plant that attracts bees and butterflies, but won't make your tabby even a little happy. Look for Nepeta Cataria -- the real stuff. Plant more than one plant or put some wire protection around your young plant or over-anxious cats will kill it. But be sure to watch as it grows; it loves Montana's climate and can take over a garden.

Do have you have comments or a cat-related topic you would like me to write about? Just send me an email at lisa.lisapeterson

@gmail.com.

Lisa Peterson is on the Board of the Helena Area Friends of Pets and spent years volunteering at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society. When not caring for her own four cats or fostering kittens, she studies feline behavior and health issues.