COMMUNITY CATS are free roaming, outdoor cats with no verifiable signs of ownership.  Community cats can be friendly, feral, kittens, adults, healthy, or sick. The terms “feral” and “stray” are often used when talking about community cats, but while they are the same species, it is important to understand their differences. 

A FERAL CAT is one that has had little or no contact with people and survives on its own outdoors. It is unsocialized, afraid of people, and cannot be handled.   
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A STRAY CAT is one that was once a pet but has been lost or abandoned and no longer has regular human contact. It may be socialized enough to allow people to touch it.