= Stray cat
A <stray cat> is a domestic <cat> living without an identified owner, often near people and with some dependence on human resources. The expression describes circumstances, rather than a separate <species>. In SPCA New Zealand's explicitly stated classification, <stray cats> may be socialized or unsocialized, whereas <feral cats> maintain themselves independently of people. A lost companion <cat> and an unowned <cat> regularly fed by a neighborhood can therefore both be strays, despite quite different histories.<Know the difference: companion, stray and feral cats by SPCA New Zealand>[Stray cats and Feral cats sections: ownership, socialization and dependence]{ref}
Consider an unowned <cat> that eats food put out daily but avoids being approached. Food dependence and response to people are two separate observations; avoidance alone does not demonstrate an independent <feral cat> population. Nor does seeing a <cat> outdoors establish that it has no owner.
For ecological measurement, investigators can record ownership status, use radio <telemetry> to estimate a <home range>, and measure activity with collar sensors. A 2011 Illinois study compared these measurements in owned and unowned free-roaming <cats>. Its unowned category is useful operationally, but is not a substitute for every definition of <stray cat> or <feral cat>.<Home Range, Habitat Use, and Activity Patterns of Free-Roaming Domestic Cats by Jeff A. Horn and others>[Abstract: ownership groups, telemetry, home ranges and activity measurements]{ref}
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