Tactful T-N-R - Feral Cats
Feral cat
Feral cats, cat that are wild, are everywhere and may look like any other cat. There are an estimated tens of millions of feral cats in America alone. They live fairly normal lives in the outside world. Most feral cats are part of a colony, a group of feral cats that live together and form close bonds with one another. They live their lives out hunting, sleeping, mating, and playing together with other members of their colony. One thing they don't do is let humans get too close to them. They have fairly good lives as long as food is always available and they don't contract a dangerous sickness. They can live happy, full lives.
Methods for Dealing with Colonies
Feral cat colony in Georgia
Sometimes, however, people may become annoyed with these feral cats and they may try to do something to reduce their population. Some people will lure the cat into his home and then try to keep him as a pet. Some people will send them to an animal shelter. Some people may even try to kill the entire colony. But the last group of people may be knowledgeable on what to do, and they will try T-N-R on the whole colony.
Trap-Neuter/Spay- Return or T-N-R is a humane way of lessening the population of feral cats while still allowing them to happily live in their colonies. The other methods mentioned are either cruel or just don't work.
People who try to keep a feral pet as a cat will have a big problem on their hands. The cat would probably be an absolute terror with trying to adjust to all the stressful circumstances. It would take a very long time to become the kind of normal pet people think of. These people will have and extremely stressed, unhappy, and perhaps even aggressive cat to work with.
People who send the cats to a shelter , unless it is a no-kill shelter, are inevitably sending the cats to certain death. By this time, the cat will probably be very upset and maybe even aggressive because of the stressful situation. The shelter will probably label the cat as un-adoptable and the cat will be euthanized. Seven out of every ten cats in shelters are euthanized, even if they are perfectly healthy and adoptable. Most shelters do this because they don't have enough space for more cats or they can't afford to feed another cat.
Finally, the people who try to completely wipe out the colony by killing them is first of all cruel. And second, it may not even work. If they miss just a couple cats, these cats can mate and the colony can start up all over again.
Trap-Neuter/Spay- Return or T-N-R is a humane way of lessening the population of feral cats while still allowing them to happily live in their colonies. The other methods mentioned are either cruel or just don't work.
People who try to keep a feral pet as a cat will have a big problem on their hands. The cat would probably be an absolute terror with trying to adjust to all the stressful circumstances. It would take a very long time to become the kind of normal pet people think of. These people will have and extremely stressed, unhappy, and perhaps even aggressive cat to work with.
People who send the cats to a shelter , unless it is a no-kill shelter, are inevitably sending the cats to certain death. By this time, the cat will probably be very upset and maybe even aggressive because of the stressful situation. The shelter will probably label the cat as un-adoptable and the cat will be euthanized. Seven out of every ten cats in shelters are euthanized, even if they are perfectly healthy and adoptable. Most shelters do this because they don't have enough space for more cats or they can't afford to feed another cat.
Finally, the people who try to completely wipe out the colony by killing them is first of all cruel. And second, it may not even work. If they miss just a couple cats, these cats can mate and the colony can start up all over again.
How T-N-R Helps
Spayed or neutered feral cat
T-N-R is a system of trapping feral cats, neutering or spaying them and perhaps giving them rabies shots along with other preventative vaccines, and returning them to their colony. First, humane traps are set out near the colony with food inside to lure them in. Once a feral cat is trapped, it is taken to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered. It may also be given vaccinations. Just before it leaves, its left ear is clipped a quarter of an inch (look closely at the picture to the left) to be distinguished from other cats that have not yet been trapped. Then it is returned to its colony. This is repeated until all the cats are spayed and neutered so that the colony can still live peacefully, but won't have any more kittens. Sometimes people will then take the task of feeding the colony every day to make food more readily available.
This is the most humane, effective system of dealing with feral cats. The other methods clearly do not work, and this is obviously the best solution for feral cats everywhere. For more information about feral cats and T-N-R visit alleycat.org or trapneuterreturn.com.
This is the most humane, effective system of dealing with feral cats. The other methods clearly do not work, and this is obviously the best solution for feral cats everywhere. For more information about feral cats and T-N-R visit alleycat.org or trapneuterreturn.com.
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