Farm cat

[7][8] Archeological evidence suggests that the earliest domestication of cats occurred about 7500 BC and was motivated by the human need to safeguard grain stores from rodents.

Some are feral with minimal human contact and no veterinary care, deriving sustenance solely from their role in lowering the mouse and rat populations.

Others are kept as part-time pets, living both indoors and out, roaming freely, yet allowed inside to be fed supplemental cat food on a regular basis and given routine veterinary care.

Others live outdoors or in outbuildings full-time in semi-feral conditions, but are still tamed to be friendly toward humans and may be given basic veterinary care.

In some cases, feral animals are trapped, spayed or neutered, then re-released to keep their territory claimed and to prevent new, fertile strays from taking up residence.

If given supplemental food or where rodents are plentiful, losses from predation or disease may be made up by new stray animals moving into the territory.

More often, especially when supplemental food is provided, overpopulation is common, and losses then occur primarily due to disease or accidents, with predation playing a minor role—all insufficient to make a substantial dent in the population.