Why is it important to spay/neuter my personal cat(s)?
What is a feral cat?
Is there a difference between a stray cat and a feral cat?
What is trap-neuter-return (TNR)?
What is a feral caretaker?
What is relocation and why doesn't it work?
How do I get assistance for spay/neuter of feral cats?
How do I get assistance for spay/neuter of my personally owned cat(s)?
How do I make a donation to assist Cat Haven in rebuilding it's feral fund?
Why is it important to spay/neuter my cats(s)?
In every community, in every state, there are homeless animals. In the U.S. as a whole, there are an estimated 6-8 million homeless animals entering animal shelters every year. About half of these animals are adopted, and tragically, the other half are euthanized. These are healthy, sweet pets who would have made great companions.
Without intervention, a pair of breeding cats can exponentially produce 420,000 offspring over a seven year period. Already, U.S. animal shelters are forced to kill an estimated 15 million homeless cats and dogs annually. The alternative to humane euthanasia for almost every stray is a violent end or slow, painful death. Many "throwaways" die mercilessly outdoors from starvation, disease, abuse or as food for a predator.
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What is a feral cat?
A cat born and raised in the wild, or who has been abandoned or lost and reverted to wild ways in order to survive, is considered a free roaming or feral cat. While some feral cats tolerate a bit of human contact, most are too fearful and wild to be handled. Ferals often live in groups, called colonies, and take refuge wherever they can find food-rodents and other small animals and garbage. They will also try to seek out abandoned buildings, deserted cars, even dig holes in the ground to keep warm in winter months and cool during the summer heat.
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Is there a difference between a stray cat and a feral cat?
Yes. A feral cat is primarily wild-raised or has adapted to feral life, while we define a stray cat as someone's pet who has become lost or has been abandoned. Stray cats are usually tame and comfortable around people. They will frequently rub against legs and exhibit behaviors such as purring and meowing. In contrast, feral cats are notably quiet and keep their distance. Stray cats will also often try to make a home near humans-in car garages, front porches or backyards. Most are completely reliant on humans as a food source and are not yet able to cope with life on the streets.
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What Is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
TNR is the method of humanely trapping feral cats, having them spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies and then returning them to their colony to live out their lives. TNR also involves a colony caretaker who provides food, adequate shelter and monitors the cats' health. TNR has been shown to be the least costly as well as the most efficient and humane way of stabilizing feral cat populations.
Through TNR, feral cats can live out their lives without adding to the homeless cat population. "It is very important to have all feral cats spayed/neutered, because it is the only 100-percent effective way to prevent unwanted kittens," says Aimee Hartmann, Director of the ASPCA Mobile Clinic. "Feral cats are prolific reproducers." Furthermore, by stabilizing the population, cats will naturally have more space, shelter and food, and fewer risks of disease. After being spayed or neutered, cats living in colonies tend to gain weight and live healthier lives. Spayed cats are less likely to develop breast cancer and will not be at risk for ovarian or uterine cancer, while neutered males will not get testicular cancer. By neutering male cats, you also reduce the risk of injury and infection, since intact males have a natural instinct to fight with other cats. Spaying also means female cats do not go into heat and therefore they attract less tom cats to the area and reduce fighting. If cats are sterilized and live in a colony that has a caretaker, their life span may reach more than ten years.
TNR helps the community by stabilizing the population of the feral colony and, over time, reducing it. At the same time, nuisance behaviors such as spraying, loud noise and fighting are largely eliminated and no more kittens are born. Yet, the benefit of natural rodent control is continued. Jesse Oldham, ASPCA's Senior Administrative Director for Community Outreach and the founder of Slope Street Cats, an organization dedicated to feral cat welfare, notes, "TNR also helps the community's animal welfare resources by reducing the number of kittens that would end up in their shelters-TNR creates more space for the cats and kittens who come to them from other avenues."
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What is a feral caretaker?
A colony caretaker is an individual (or group of individuals) who manages one or more feral colonies in a community. They keep an eye on the cats, providing food, water, shelter, spaying/neutering and emergency medical care.
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What is relocation and why doesn't it work?
Many communities have rounded up colonies of feral cats for either euthanasia or to relocate them to another area. This rarely works. Feral cats are very connected with their territory. They are familiar with the food sources, where to find shelter, resident wildlife, other cats in the area and potential threats to their safety-all things that help them survive. "Relocation of feral cat colonies is difficult to orchestrate and not 100-percent successful even if done correctly. It is also usually impossible to catch all of the cats, and it only takes one male and one female to begin reproducing the colony," Jesse Oldham states, ASPCA’s Senior Administrative Director for Community Outreach. "Even when rounding up is diligently performed and all ferals are removed, new cats will soon move in and set up camp."
Relocation is something to consider only if keeping the cats where they are becomes a threat to their lives and all other options have been explored and have failed. Moving cats to another area is a great risk to their safety unless they are being moved to a protected area and procedures laid out by groups such as
Alley Cat Allies are followed. "Relocation is an extremely difficult process. People should chose relocation only if the cats' territory is going to be demolished, there is no adjacent space to shift them to, and if the cats' lives would be at extreme risk to remain where they are," says Oldham.
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How do I get assistance for spay/neuter of feral cats?
Cat Haven has partnered with LSU Small Animal Clinic to provide a monthly LSU Spay Day. This program was designed to provide public assistance with feral spay/neuter. For more information about LSU Spay Day, contact our
spay/neuter representative.
Spay Baton Rouge is a local organization that provides spay/neuter assistance for low income pet owners in East Baton Rouge Parish. To learn more, visit their website at
www.spaybatonrouge.org.
CAAWS is a local animal rescue organization that has a TNR program for feral assistance. Please visit their spay/neuter page at
www.caaws.org/spay_neuter.htm or contact them at 225-752-5801.
Project Purr BR is a local feline rescue group that has recently created a feral assistance program. You can learn more by visiting their website at
www.projectpurrbr.org
PetAid is a local, non-profit organization that provides spay/neuter assistance to the residents of Livingston Parish. You can contact them at 225-664-6126.
Baton Rouge Spay/Neuter (BRSN) is a registered non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing low cost spay and neuter services for dogs and cats to the general public. The clinic is located at 7807 Greenwell Springs Road in Baton Rouge across from Greco's pet supply and in the same building as Associated Veterinary Services.
Please visit their website to learn more about their program and fees at
www.brsn.org.
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How do I get assistance for spay/neuter of my personally owned cat(s)?
Cat Haven offers spay/neuter help to the low-income families for their personally owned cat(s). Our program is called Fix-A-Feline. To qualify for this program, the cat(s) needing assistance must be your personally owned cat, not a stray or feral cat. For assistance with strays or ferals, please see the question above.
Click here to fill out our Fix-A-Feline Application.
Spay Baton Rouge is a local organization that provides spay/neuter assistance for low income pet owners in East Baton Rouge Parish. To learn more, visit their website at
www.spaybatonrouge.org.
CAAWS is a local animal rescue organization that offers low cost and free spay/neuters. Please visit their spay/neuter page at
www.caaws.org/spay_neuter.htm or contact them at 225-752-5801.
PetAid is a local, non-profit organization that provides spay/neuter assistance to the residents of Livingston Parish. You can contact them at 225-664-6126.
Baton Rouge Spay/Neuter (BRSN) is a registered non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing low cost spay and neuter services for dogs and cats to the general public. The clinic is located at 7807 Greenwell Springs Road in Baton Rouge across from Greco's pet supply and in the same building as Associated Veterinary Services.
Please visit their website to learn more about their program and fees at
www.brsn.org.
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How do I make a donation to assist Cat Haven with its Fix-A-Feline program?
Cat Haven needs your help to continue our Fix-A-Feline program, which benefits low-income families in the Baton Rouge area. If you would like to make a donation, please click the donation button below. Any help that you can provide is greatly appreciated!
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**Thank you to the ASPCA for the feral facts supplied above. To learn more about feral cats, visit their
Feral FAQs page.
