A proposed cat strategy would help deal with the country's stray and feral cat problem.

Curfews could be placed on cats, at least in more ecologically sensitive areas, under proposals drawn up in a combined approach to cat control by a range of interest groups.

Feral cats would be controlled by the "most humane effective methods", while "non-lethal solutions" would be the first option for stray cats.

Those involved in the strategy include vets, the SPCA and the Morgan Foundation, which has campaigned to convince people not to own cats because of the risk cats pose to wildlife.

GEORGIA WEAVER/FAIRFAX NZ Feral and stray cats can pose a serious danger to native NZ wildlife.

In Wellington on Wednesday they launched their draft National Cat Management Strategy, which they hope will become the basis of Government policy for controlling cats.

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The strategy pushes for mandatory microchipping of cats and mandatory desexing when ownership is transferred.

GRANT MATTHEW Some parts of the country have taken to using things such as cat traps to deal with feral felines.

"In sensitive wildlife areas communities should have further options for managing domestic cats including limits on numbers, education of owners and encouraging the containment of owned cats," the group said.

New Zealanders own around 1.134 million cats, while the stray cat population is estimated at 196,000 and estimates for feral cats range up to a whopping 14 million.

The Companion Animal Council, one of the groups involved in the strategy, put the proportion of microchipped owned cats at 31 per cent and the desexing rate at 93 per cent.

The group said it recognised significant benefits to cat ownership but also concerns regarding the impact of cats, particularly on native wildlife.

"Overall we do have to have a different psyche about the ownership of cats," New Zealand Veterinary Association head of veterinary services Dr Callum Irvine said.

Under the strategy, stray cats should only be euthanised if other options had been exhausted. For feral cats it was vital "only the most humane effective methods of cat control are employed".

Irvine didn't have a figure for how much of the country might be considered to be near sensitive wildlife areas but said his understanding was that those areas were already well identified.

The groups behind the strategy had started working together in November 2014 after a "somewhat divisive" public debate.

The strategy was not a Government initiative, although the Ministry for Primary Industries was an observer and the Department of Conservation was a technical advisory member.

"How the Government's going to receive it we're not really sure yet but hopefully enthusiastically," Irvine said. "It's an enormous piece of work that's been done for them."

If the Government was genuine about achieving its predator free policy - aimed at rats, stoats and possums - by the target of 2050, then the cat strategy was "absolutely a part of that".

The cost of implementing the proposed strategy was not known.

The group said some areas may want to desex their stray cat populations and manage them in colonies, provided best practice management was used.

Social stray cats could be rehomed, while options for non-social stray cats could include farm placements.

Dealing with stray cats was going to be a long game, Irvine said. "Ideally we'd live in a world where there are no stray cats that aren't being cared for in an appropriate way. Really every cat should be owned and loved."