There are 60–100 million stray and feral cats in the United States. The general understanding among many experts is that the homeless cat population is growing and currently sits at around 60–100 million cats. Other estimates are more conservative at 30–80 million.

Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.4 million are cats. Each year, approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized (1.4 million cats). Approximately 2.7 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.3 million cats).

In the U.S., 20 percent of cats and dogs are homeless; there are 5.9 million dogs living in the streets, 2.3 million dogs in shelters, 35 million cats living on the street, and 2.1 million cats in shelters.

However, recent population estimates of stray animals indicate a sharp rise in the number of cats, far exceeding the number of dogs. This is because certain stringent measures were taken to control the stray dog population while no such measures have been taken for cats.