TNR for our feral neighborhood cats
I’ve been struggling with writing this blog post about trapping, neutering and returning our feral neighborhood cats for a while now. It is a subject that resonates with a lot of opinions, feelings and frequently ends in arguments and a lot of resentment. And I certainly don’t want to open up my blog to people leaving all kinds of mean spirited comments about this subject. But it has consumed a big part of my thoughts and life lately and I wanted to get it off my chest.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram then you might have already seen that I’m trapping, neutering, and releasing cats from our neighborhood. I just don’t want more kittens to care for (click HERE and HERE if you missed my bottle-feeding gig last spring). We’ve had several litters in our neighborhood last spring and summer that my neighbor/friend and I ended up with. It stresses me out more than I can explain having to care for them and finding them a rescue group or home. Giving my bottle babies away was the absolute hardest thing ever. I’m glad I kept one of them though and can you believe that it’s Willy’s first birthday this week.
Happy Birthday, Willy! We love you!
{See the easy DIY plate I made for him and Maya by clicking HERE}
So this is why I will talk about…
Why I trap, neuter and return
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Our neighborhood is nestled by a river and in-between a farm and a pallet company. It’s been an area where lots of awful humans have abandoned their unneutered cats which resulted in the numbers of cats multiplying and the feral cat population growing. What is considered a feral cat? A feral cat is any cat who isn’t socialized because of being born outside and never being handled by a human being and who cannot be placed into a home.
Over the years I have helped several cats that had clearly been abandoned pets and ended up on my doorstep. These pets need to be taken in and helped since they have no way of fending for themselves. (If you are new to my blog then you can read more about my heated cat shelter HERE and taking in our beloved Monkey HERE)
But the feral (wild) cats are an entirely different story since they can’t be adopted and integrated into a family and home. If they end up in a shelter they will meet the fate of euthanasia.
Feral Neighborhood Cats
Today I want to talk about those cats that have been born as an outdoor cat. Who aren’t friendly towards humans, who are scared and who simply can’t be kept as a pet anymore. To me they have a right to live as well but I don’t want them to breed and increase in numbers which are the main reason why I decided to trap, neuter and return them.
Those wild cats have a perfect area to roam between the river, pallet company, and farm where we live. I love that they keep the river rat population at a low. Believe me, I’ve seen those rats around our grill years ago and when my Monkey cat brought me one as a gift I realized those cats really can be a very good thing. Those big rats are not what I want around my house. And yes I actually do think that the rats are cute too and deserve to have a life but that’s an entirely different story to get into. They do provide a health hazard though and I don’t want them where my kids play.
Anyways, some people in my neighborhood don’t agree with any of this and simply hate cats. No argument can make them show compassion. Everything that happens in their yards is the cat’s faults. It certainly couldn’t be the fox, raccoon, skunk, opossum, moles, voles or even rats. It’s always the cat’s fault. And I live in a neighborhood where we are lucky if people even mow their grass. It’s certainly not a neighborhood with beautiful groomed landscaping to destroy but don’t get me started on that.
I’ve heard comments from neighbors like “…it (meaning the cat population) is not fair to the rest of us who are not cat people….”, “they need to go”, ” …you say the cats didn’t have a choice where they were abandoned. Well, we didn’t ask to be overrun by them either. You want them safe, you take care of them…” and it goes on and on.
Well if you’d only try to solve issues that you created yourself then nothing would ever get resolved. It’s pretty much the dumbest, most selfish comment I have heard so far. But yet people make comments like that about homeless humans too and we shouldn’t have that approach to that sad issue either since we didn’t individually create it.
And on top of it, I wouldn’t call our neighborhood overrun by cats. These cats don’t like to be around humans and are scared of us which means they certainly don’t hang around our homes when we humans are around.
Why not to trap and relocate or even kill feral cats
We have humanely trapped and neutered three dominant big male cats so far amongst the other cats (see below photos). These big males are the ones comparable to lions who rule the area. They are regulating the area and keep other cats from moving into their territory besides the females and lower-ranked males that are here already. A neutered colony of feral cats will keep more un-neutered cats from moving into your area.
Some people (especially in our neighborhood) support the procedure of trapping and relocating or an even worse scenario of killing the feral cats. Should now someone decide that this is a better way and remove these dominant males from our neighborhood, that would mean that the area/habitat opens up again for more un-neutered cats to move in again and the entire cycle of reproducing, overpopulating and having to neuter would start all over again.
This is a scientifically proven phenomenon called the “vacuum effect” and doesn’t just apply to cats but to a large amount of other wild animals. You can read more about it in length HERE.
It’s an argument that should even make sense to people who aren’t a fan of cats.
Let’s face it we live in a rural area here and there will be animals, if you can’t live in harmony with the wildlife then maybe you should have moved into a condo or gated community.
{UPDATE: I found out that there are some neighbors that have been trapping the cats too and taking it upon themselves to dump them in the woods in the mountains. People are just so incredibly self-centered Compassion towards living creatures really is a hard thing to find. I know they most likely wouldn’t do this with stray dogs but what justifies in their mind that cats aren’t deserving of compassion?
Their narrow mindedness might fool them into thinking that they aren’t actually hurting the cats but this is a slow death sentence to those cats.
It upsets me deeply and I guess I have to wait and see how the vacuum effect continues!}
Here are the mentioned photos:
I think this could be Willy’s dad. He was estimated to be around 2.5 years old Below you can see him recovering from anesthesia after being neutered, vaccinated and ear clipped.
This big black kitty below was estimated to be around 5 years old and he could even be Willy’s dad or grandpa because there sure are similarities with both of those big males.
Below is another big male we caught. He really injured his nose trying to get out of the trap. A whole bunch of the cats and kittens we’ve seen in the neighborhood look like him.
This little young girl who looks like her daddy above keeps coming into our trap repeatedly. It makes me sad and of course so hard to catch any of the other ones who need to be neutered because she keeps taking the spot in the trap. She must be so desperate for food.
And here is another one of her look-alike sisters.
TNR pros
- Did you know that an average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and 2-3 litters per year. During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420 000 kittens in just 7 years. Those numbers alone should make sense to support TNR.
- Trapping, neutering and releasing lessens the amount of kittens and cats flowing into local shelters every year which is so important. Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized which is about 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats (source: ASPCA statistics). Those are huge depressing numbers and anything that can be done to reduce those numbers for both cats and dogs should be done. It makes me so so sad! It’s devastating to wrap your head around a number like 1.5 million. Lowering the reproduction numbers of both cats and dogs are certainly a way to help prevent such a high number.
- TNR means that the amount of feral cats living in your area will get smaller and smaller as time goes on
How to trap, neuter and release/return
I want to also address what has worked for us when we trap our neighborhood cats. I have very mixed feelings about putting this information out there because I don’t want any mean spirited humans (especially in our neighborhood) to take advantage of using helpful information about how to trap these poor cats and us it to do them harm.
If you have a situation like ours then you should research about any TNR organizations or groups in your area. We happen to have No Nonsense Neutering who’s mission it is to neuter as many animals as possible at low cost. The county we live in committed to paying half the cost of every feral cat that is neutered which means I have had to pay $15 per feral cat that I brought in to get vaccinated and neutered
I’m responsible for trapping the cat, driving it to the clinic, picking it up and keeping it until release time. Females need to be kept for 48 hours and males for 24 hours. It is not easy for me to release the females who just had a painful surgery. Especially since I know what it feels like!
I keep the cats in their newspaper lined trap in my bathtub because when they have to relieve themselves it can later be cleaned with bleach and washed down the drain. I know that a lot of people keep them covered in their garage or back patio. I just couldn’t stomach that during the harsh winter days.
Our helpful Trapping, Neutering and Returning tips:
- You can either rent or buy a trap. I use this one HERE.
- You have to start feeding the cats so they know the food source.
- Use the area where you feed the cats to place your trap. It has to be a safe, hidden spot like under a bush or under furniture on a covered porch.
- See if you can find out about other neighbors feeding the cats so you can trap at their feeding spot as well
- Line the trap with newspaper and cover the trap with a tarp or in a covered spot with a blanket
- Use the trap as a feeding station with the trap door permanently propped open with a stick or tied open. The trigger should not be set to get the cats used to the trap and area.
- Only set the trap when you have a neutering appointment.
- Canned tuna in water has worked the best for us which I place at the end of the trap.
- Check your trap frequently when you have it set and make sure that you keep a trapped cat covered with a blanket or sheet since it keeps the cat calm. They tend to go crazy when they are not covered.
- Transport the cat in the trap to the vet or neutering place. Trying to move them to a pet carrier can cause you harm and also give the cat a chance to escape again.
- Make sure the cat in your trap doesn’t already have a clipped ear which indicates that it has been trapped and neutered already.
- You should also check with your neighbors who have cats as pets that they either keep their pets inside during trapping times or add a collar so the pets can be identified
When dealing with an issue like feral cats, I always end up being completely floored by how nasty and uncompassionate a large amount of humans are. People simply don’t care and aren’t willing to do anything besides complain or in the worst case harm other living beings.
But I am also surprised to find a small amount of people who go above and beyond to reach out and help and I’m incredibly thankful for them and the friendships I have made that way.
You might also want to check out my cat enclosure which is the way I let my cats go outside. I’ll never let my cats roam the neighborhood due to what happened to our one cat. It’s just too dangerous. A cat enclosure is a great option to let your cats go outside:
Click HERE to see
This one HERE that another blogger built who was inspired by mine.
Or this one HERE:
Tschüß
My sister had this same situation. Thank you for caring about the feral cats.
Hope your sister was able to find a solution for the situation too Deb
I really hope that you don’t get any mean comments for the great job you’re doing, Julia. You spend time and money to safe a lot of cats and that is just wonderful. It’s awful that so many people in your neighborhood don’t like cats. This must be pretty frustrating for you. The number of cats and dogs that get euthanized each year makes me very sad. Thank you very much for doing what you do!!!
Thank you Julia. I couldn’t do any of it without my neighbor and friend. It’s so much easier to do it with someone and not be completely alone.
i second julia! i got no sleep so she said it better than i can right now. 😉
LOL
Totally agree with your approach. We are accidental rescuers with 7 cats and 4 dogs. My husband’s work location before he retired was on a dark road which was popular for dumping. We have bottle fed 3 of our babies and everyone gets along most of the times. We have 3 liter boxes that are cleaned every day. The dogs don’t bother the cats when going outside from the garage in the mornings. I never wanted pets because of the clean up but look at us now. People need to be responsible pet owners but on the other hand should have access to reasonably cost services to do that. I support several rescue groups because of the work they do. There is always options than just abandoning animals. I support you for going the extra mile.
Thanks so much Trish and thank you for rescuing. Good luck with all your furry babies
We trapped and neutered a neighbors male cat that liked coming into our backyard. . We knew the neighbors weren’t going to spay him.. The final straw was when we found him inside our house and he sprayed the half bath toilet. They moved the next month, so we never knew what happened to “Mister”.
I really can’t stand when people don’t neuter their pets.
I’m glad you stepped up to the plate.
Thank you for loving these beautiful cats, Julia!
Thanks Lisa
Great job! Keep fighting the good fight!
Thanks, we will
I think it’s a great thing that you are doing. I’ve been doing the same thing in our neighborhood for the last 2 years and the situation has improved tremendously. At first my neighbors were upset that I was releasing them back into our neighborhood but they now see that it has become a much more manageable situation and some of them are even helping out with feeding them now.
Oh that is really encouraging. Maybe my neighbors can see that it is a good thing too as time goes on.
I commend you for your generous actions towards these cats. How is it you only pay 15$ per cat. I pay $350.00
per cat to have it spayed or neutered. Lucky you. I would gladly have them operated if I were to pay only $15.00.
Hi Suki, I don’t take my pets to get neutered there. I take them to our regular vet and it costs about what you pay there. I want mine to have the bloodwork and monitoring that a regular vet does and which they don’t do at the neutering organization. They skip a lot of steps which makes it so much cheaper. If a cat should have underlying health issues it could die unfortunately. And thankfully our borough steps in for half of it too.
Thank you for loving cats & helping in your community. I love your blog & I’m glad I found it! I can’t wait to make a catio like yours for my two cats this summer.
Oh thank you and I want to see photos of your catio when it is done.
Thank you for taking care of these fur babies. I help a friend that feeds feral cats and I’m trying to talk her into trap, fix and release! She now has 3 more baby kittens.
I hope you can talk her into it. They shouldn’t multiply and then there are more and more to take care of.
Thank you so much for what you are doing for the kitties. It is heartbreaking work you do. Keep fighting for them and God bless you for it.
Thank you Donna
You are doing amazing work! I trapped and neutered 4 males last year, while trying to trap a female calico I had heard in heat a few weeks earlier. She was so sneaky and I never caught her. I haven’t seen her since but often wonder what came of her. My family is avid animal lovers, so we do what we can to help other animals in the best way we can. (BTW – I’ve never seen those 4 males since their “snip-snip”. I must have really pissed them off.)
Oh I hope nothing bad happened to the males and females. Thanks for neutering
You are to be commended for what you are doing to help these cats.
I have paid for a dog and 2 cats to be neutered that were dropped out near my
house by someone just wanting to get rid of them. We kept one cat and found a
home for one cat and a dog. Maybe others who read your blog will get involved in
this good cause.
Poor babies. That’s great that you took them in! I hope so too that others will think it is worth doing this
Oh, I love this so much! You are doing a good thing, and I hope your heartless neighbors change their minds soon. It’s amazing and sad how mean people can be toward innocent animals.
In my neighborhood we have an armadillo problem and many of my neighbors trap and then shoot them, which I find just disgusting! Animal Control will pick them up and relocate them, but my neighbors enjoy the “sport” of killing them. Yuck.
Please continue your good work! There are lots of us out here who support and applaud it!
I never knew armadillos can cause a problem and I think it’s awful too that people think it’s fun to hurt them. Killing should never be fun. That is so sad.
Great job. A humane way to help with the problem.
I know opinions are divided but I think so too.
I have been a random reader of yours for quite some time now and don’t think I have commented ever before… but I wanted to reach out here and say thank you for everything you’re doing and I can imagine how much hard work it is. People can indeed be callous and it is a light in a dark place that you do what you do day in and out against the grain to take care of the local creatures. I am really impressed by you as a human being; have been from this post and other ones you’ve made. You seem like a really wonderful person. For that I thank you <3
Thank you so so much Amelia. I always love comments and even more from someone who has never commented before. It reassures me that people are still here and listening and I’m not just talking to myself.
I don’t feel wonderful at all because this stuff can weigh you down and it gets depressing.
So thank you so so much again.
Julia, thanks for doing this in your neighborhood. I know it’s a controversial issue, but where I live in Florida, rescue agencies won’t take feral cats. We had a neighbor who worked for a shelter and she trapped, neutered and released the female and male cats who were responsible for three litters in a very short time. All the neighbors were thankful that she did.
So much suffering could be avoided if everyone would help with the neutering.
This is a wonderful thing you are doing, Julia! I live in Quakertown and use NNN, as well! We just got a new neighborhood cat who is next on my list. The first year we moved in we found kittens (I also kept one!) and that got me started. I couldn’t imagine finding kittens like that every year… plus, I would always want to keep one 🙂 No kittens in 3 years since I started TNR! I am so glad to see other “regular” people stepping up to solve a problem in their community. You have inspired me to blog about this when I catch the next cat.
Oh hey! You live in Quakertown? That’s so close to me. I used to take my one cat to the cardiologist at the Quakertown animal hospital and the latest doctor visits have been with my daughter to Woodlands Healing.
With my kittens I let other people pick and I kept the one that was left with no home. I couldn’t have picked between them. I really wanted to keep them all.
You should totally blog about the cats.
Julia, I do the same thing in my neighborhood. There are so many irresponsible pet owners. Thank you for your compassion. I only wish there were more people like you. Sadly, there are lots of very mean people who mistreat animals and other people. Keep up the good work. You will be rewarded.
It’s such a stressful and upsetting subject and I’m so glad there are people like you who step up. Thank you!
Nothing but love from me. I work with a rescue and see the devastation that over breeding can do. How kind are you to use your own time and money to help the whole neighborhood? Wish the world had more “Julia’s”.
Thank you for doing what you do, and for the very complete and sensible explantation. I live in a big box in the sky and am very allergic to cats, so all this information is new to me. I hope your neighbors realize you are truly helping the situation.
Thanks Arli, it would really be nice if they’d realize that.
Bless you, for doing what you are doing. I have a neighbor behaves like some of yours. Unbelievable behavior. In the county where I live the cats who are TNR are protected by a law. I am so grateful to live in a community that respects and cares for abandoned cats and dogs.
Oh how wonderful is that, that they are protected by law. It’s strange how much my perception of some people who I have known for a while has changed completely because of this subject.
You and I have exchanged comments on Instagram so you know that I fully support your work and you should be applauded! Haters are going to hate but keep doing what you are doing. The statistics are staggering at the number of kittens that an come from just one set of cat parents. I work with dog rescue and we are their only voice. We are all that they have. I think you rock!
Yes Susan, we talked about Beth Stern 🙂 I love dogs just as much and it’s wonderful that you work in dog rescue. I’d love to have a dog too but cats are much easier for our busy lifestyle.
Thank you, Julia. You are a kind and compassionate person for helping these scared homeless cats. We live in the country and are always finding strays. Or should I say…the strays find us. I always tell my husband “We will find this cat a good home” And we always have. With us! Proud crazy cat girl to 7 cats!!
Oh that is so wonderful that you kept them.
I’m a proud crazy cat girl too 🙂
Julia you are so kind hearted and I’m glad there are people like you in this world. We don’t have an issue with feral cats where we live, but this is so interesting about neutering the dominant males to try to control the population, it all makes great sense and what a worthy way to spend your time and resources taking care of animals you care so much about, and helping your community in the meantime (even if not all your neighbors agree or are kind about it!) You are doing such a good thing!!!
Thanks Lisa! I’m hoping to neuter them all not just the dominant males, so there won’t be any chance for more kittens. It’s just so hard to catch them all.
Love this post! I wish more people would do this. Great share.
Thanks so much Jane!
This is a very informative post and as a cat lover, thank you for taking time from your own family and pets to do this for the kitties and your community. I was wondering about the clipped ear to signify a cat that has been through the TNR process. There is a kitty at my local Humane Society with a clipped ear I am interested in and I was thinking she probably went through TNR, but showed that she could be adopted. She’s a torti like the stray I rescued and loved for 12 years. I have a suspicion that this breed are highly people friendly, stray or not.
But I digress, I just wanted to write you a short note supporting you and recognizing your efforts! Keep up the good work!
Hi Shanda, my neighbor has a pet cat with a clipped ear too. It doesn’t mean that they are feral cats and unadoptable if their ears are clipped. Maybe someone dumped her and other people just caught her, neutered her through TNR and returned her again. That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid. If I ever come across a cat that is friendly, I will make sure to not release it again and find it a home instead. Good luck, I hope that you and the little torti are a match 🙂
I applaud your efforts! I have never understood how human beings can treat poor, defenseless animals so badly. Thank you for being such a great person
Thanks Grace, I don’t understand it either
when you do good, sometimes people will and can get mean. you are an angel for doing this. i know the cats are grateful.
Thank you!
Love that you’re doing this! And, yes, people can really be terrible sometimes 🙁
Thanks Gretchen. And I found out over the weekend that there are some awful neighbors that have been trapping the cats too and taking it upon themselves to dump them in the woods in the mountains. I really can say I hate people and how selfish they are just because they say they don’t like cats. They wouldn’t do this with stray dogs!
Their narrow mindedness might fool them into thinking that they aren’t actually hurting the cats but this is a slow death sentence to those cats.
I’m just so angry and upset about this.