High powered silenced pellet rifles work well.
.22 or .25 cal is very good with air powered rifles. .30, .357, .45 and .50 calibre are generally way too much power.
One of mine I take coyotes with is nice and quiet. The sound of the pellet hitting is louder than the shot. Accuracy is the hallmark of good quality pellet rifles. Am regularly taking blackbirds off power lines and tree branches at 75 yards. Head shots on swimming muskrats at that range are normal.
Pellets don't ricochet like regular bullets or even 22 rimfires do. Much safer for the shooter than using BB's - which are steel and bounce back if they hit something hard, like the wood in a knothole.
Adjustable power with some is great. Pigeons in the barn without the pellet going through them and making a hole in the roof is nice. So is taking pigeons from the grain elevators at 20 to 100 yards and even more.
Feral cats are no match for these air rifles.