Street cats: who they are, and how to help them

Three kinds of cats outside

• The house cat who goes out: they have a home, and come back to eat and sleep. Often clean, calm, sometimes with a collar.
• The community cat: they live mostly outside, the neighbours know them, several people feed them, and they're sometimes neutered and marked on the ear. That's the SPA de l'Estrie's definition.
• The stray or feral cat: they have no owner and wouldn't adapt to a home. Trap and neuter programs are meant for them.

So a cat outside isn't necessarily lost. To know what to do with a cat who seems lost, read I found a cat.

The cut ear

A cat whose left ear tip is notched was trapped, neutered and released by a program. It's the mark used by Proanima, the SPCA de l'Outaouais, the SPA de Lévis and Laval's pilot project. Some programs add a small green tattoo on the belly. This cat lives outside: they're not a lost cat.

Can you feed a street cat?

It depends on the city. In Laval and Quebec City, the bylaw forbids feeding a stray animal outside an authorised program, and in Laval, a person who feeds a stray cat becomes responsible for them. Check with your city before you start.

Trap, neuter and return programs

The principle is the same everywhere: the cat is caught with a loaned trap, neutered, marked on the ear, then released where they live, and a colony caretaker looks after them. What the cities and shelters say:

• Montreal: the City's TNR program (CSRM), a free one-year permit from your borough's Bureau Accès Montréal, then registration with Proanima. Since January 1, 2026, the Montreal SPCA no longer offers it in the boroughs.
• Laval: a pilot project with the SPCA Lanaudière Basses-Laurentides, in two areas only, with colony caretakers authorised by the City.
• Quebec City: the SPA de Québec's program, after declaring the colony to your city; traps are rented from April 1 to November 1.
• Lévis: the SPA de Lévis's program, for residents who become colony caretakers.
• Gatineau: the SPCA de l'Outaouais's program, free for residents (the City pays the rest), on your own property, with a waiting list of several months.
• Trois-Rivières: the SPA Mauricie's trap, neuter and release program.
• Saguenay: the SPCA Saguenay's program currently covers the municipalities of the Fjord-du-Saguenay RCM, not the city itself.
• Sherbrooke: no such program found; the SPA de l'Estrie offers a low-cost spay and neuter clinic for cats who have a caretaker.

Street cats and Minou

Minou was born from street cats. You photograph them when you meet them, they go into your Dex, and the neighbourhood can suggest nicknames. If neighbours know a cat has a home, two votes are enough for their card to show it. And the day one of them is missing, their photos tell who saw them, and when.

Locations are rounded to about a hundred metres and published 45 minutes later: outside an alert, Minou never publishes the exact spot where a colony eats.

Frequently asked questions