Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Feral Cats &
TNR in New York City
The topics listed below encompass all aspects of managing
a feral cat colony and implementing TNR. While aimed specifically at caretakers
working in New York City, much of the information will apply anywhere
there are feral cats and people who want to help them.
Cats living on the street fall into two main categories:
Feral cats have been
living with little human contact for some time, or were born outdoors,
and have reverted to a wild state. Ferals originate from domestic
cats who have been lost or abandoned and have learned to survive
on the street, adapting to urban areas as well as rural, congregating
and "colonizing" in alleys, parking lots, construction
sites, warehouses, factories, uninhabited buildings, backyards,
or barns. In most cases, feral cats are not completely wild because
they still depend upon people for food, whether the source is a
caretaker who comes by once a day, a dumpster outside a restaurant,
garbage cans, or the like. Feral cats have learned to become wary
of people and are often seen only after dark or around dawn. Most
true ferals — certainly adults — are extremely difficult
to rehabilitate and are unlikely to ever behave like "house
cats."
Typically, the longer a cat lives outdoors, the
more feral she becomes. By breeding with other stray or feral cats,
she produces kittens who quickly learn feral traits. Cats can reproduce
as young as five months and with a two-month gestation period, a
colony expands rapidly. The most humane and effective solution for
these cats is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), as most street cats are
feral, not stray.
Stray cats have been
recently lost or abandoned. A stray cat, having had contact in the
past with people, may meow at you, rub against your leg, and allow
a bit of petting, while a feral cat will not. Usually strays can
be successfully adopted back into a home, but even a stray cat is
likely to need some degree of socialization. It is worth noting
that feral cats, especially those who are neutered and have a caretaker,
often look quite robust and healthy, while strays, not used to the
street, may look more scraggly.
2)
What is Trap-Neuter-Return
(TNR)?
TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return. TNR, supported
by leading national animal welfare organizations, is the most humane
and effective method of controlling the free-roaming cat overpopulation
crisis facing virtually every city, town, and rural community in
the country.
TNR involves trapping all or most of the cats in
a colony, having them neutered, vaccinated for rabies, left eartipped,
and then returned to their territory, where they are monitored by
their caretaker and provided with food and shelter. Whenever possible,
young kittens and any friendly cats are removed for vetting and
socialization, and placed for adoption.
TNR immediately stabilizes the size of the colony
if at least 70 percent of the fertile adults are neutered. Neutering
closer to 100 percent will result in a gradual decline of the population
over time. In addition, the nuisance behavior often associated with
feral cats is dramatically reduced. This includes the yowling and
noise that comes with fighting and mating activity and the odor
of unneutered males' spraying to mark their territory. The cats
tend to roam less and so become less of a visible presence, yet
continue to provide natural rodent control, a valuable benefit in
urban areas. Because there are hundreds of thousands of free-roaming
cats, and because the vast majority cannot be homed, TNR is the
best solution.
3)
I started feeding a
few cats and now there are many! I don't mind feeding them, but
what can I do to stop them from reproducing?
I took the TNR Caretaker
Training Workshop — now what do I do?
Read the materials you were given at the
class — it's all there! The TNR Handbook contains a wealth
of information and the Local Resources guide lists necessary contact
info. For the purposes of getting your cats fixed, these are the
steps: Get your cats on a regular feeding schedule, count the cats,
find a holding space and transportation, make a spay/neuter appointment,
reserve the traps, and contact TNRCoach@NYCFeralCat.org
if you need a TNR coach or have questions.
5)
I've had the cats in
my colony neutered, but some neighbors are still complaining. Are
there any remedies for this?
Yes. You are the cats' ambassador, and from time
to time you may need to advocate for them if problems arise. Please
read these articles for helpful products and ideas:
All reputable shelters are full of friendly, beautiful
cats waiting for homes, and there are not enough homes for them
because there are too many of them! If you find a shelter that will
accept a feral cat, his chances of being adopted are virtually nil;
he will either live out his life miserably in a cage, or be euthanized.
Once you join the growing network of feral cat caretakers
you may be able to find some support from those in your neighborhood.
After you register your colony in the New
York City Feral Cat Database (this information is kept strictly
confidential) you will be eligible for our free food giveaways.
7)
One of the cats is pregnant
— very pregnant. Should I let her have the kittens
or spay and abort?
A cat's gestation period is approximately 63 days.
Usually you cannot tell a cat is pregnant until after the first
month. The problem with deciding if a cat is too close to giving
birth to safely abort is that it is very hard to tell. Here is an
example: A colony caretaker trapped three pregnant cats —
all looked equally "very pregnant." The woman was adamantly
against aborting cats so close to term. She pledged to take all
three cats in, set up each one in a cage to give birth, care for
them for 6–8 weeks until the kittens were weaned, find homes
for all the kittens, and then spay and release the moms. And she
did, but this is what happened: One cat gave birth two days after
trapping; she was, indeed, very close to term. The second cat gave
birth 10 days later, and the third two weeks later. And she had
14 kittens to find homes for — no easy task!
The veterinarians at the Humane
Society of New York and on the ASPCA
Mobile Clinic are very skilled and experienced. While there
is some degree of increased risk to late-term cats, the majority
are successfully aborted/spayed with no ill-effects. In the end,
it is a personal decision, but make it an informed one: shelters
are flooded with unwanted kittens — do you want to add to
that tragedy? Even if you are able to take the cat in and find homes
for the kittens, it means that homes are taken away from other kittens,
already born. If you cannot take the cat in and she gives birth
outside, it is harder to capture the kittens, so you may be adding
to the size of your colony, with more mouths to feed, and more cats
to trap for spay/neuter. However, if you do want to keep the cat
through birth (taking the kittens away at about six weeks), here
is how we recommend you set up the cage:
There is a litter of
young kittens in my yard. Can they be rescued?
Kittens should be trapped or captured by the age
of eight weeks. Very soon after that the job of socializing them
becomes much more difficult. The ideal age to rescue kittens is
five to seven weeks because at that age the kittens are weaned (can
eat on their own). Comprehensive instructions for caring for kittens:
The ASPCA's public intake day is Tuesday. Please
call the ASPCA at (212) 876-7700 x4162 for details.
Other companion animal adoption organizations may
also be able to help you. For a complete list of New York City animal
shelters and rescue groups, please visit the Mayor's Alliance for
NYC's Animals web site at www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org.
If you can foster the kittens, you can also try
to adopt them out on your own. Always ask potential adopters to
fill out an Adoption
Agreement and ask for a donation fee of at least $75 per cat
or kitten; giving cats or kittens away for free is strongly discouraged
because it can imply they have no value.
9)
I suspect cruelty to
a group of cats living down the block. What can I do?
The ASPCA has a Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) division.
Call them at (212) 867-7700 x4450. Give as much information as possible.
If you can, take photos of the abuse.
I've taken the TNR
Caretaker Training Workshop, but I only have a few feral cats. Instead
of using the ASPCA Mobile Van or the Humane Society of New York,
I'd like to bring them to a private vet. Who do you recommend?
With the MAMA
Coupon from Muffin's Pet Connection and the Mayor's Alliance
for NYC's Animals, your ferals will be spayed/neutered for $48 (males),
$53 (females). In addition to the surgery, they will receive a rabies
vaccination and an eartip. No other services are provided, unless
by pre-arrangement with the vet, and at additional cost. Bring the
cats in traps, one cat per trap, each covered with a sheet.
View
the list of vets (at least one in each borough) who accept the
MAMA Coupon, or call (718) 238-2246.
If you use vets who are not on this list, make sure
they have experience working with ferals and know how to eartip.
Download
the ASPCA vet protocol. You should also bring these instruction
sheets to make sure the vet performs the eartipping properly.
I'll be trapping for
the first time and need some help. Can I get a "TNR Coach"?
If you've completed the TNR Caretaker Training Workshop,
you are eligible for hands-on trapping assistance. You will be asked
to sign an Agreement regarding
your responsibilities and the limitations of the assistance. For
more information, please e-mail TNRCoach@NYCFeralCat.org.
12)
What are the risks
of doing TNR during the winter?
Female cats have a patch of fur on their bellies
shaved for spay surgery, and this fur doesn't completely grow back
for 6–8 weeks.
To make sure the cats are warm, it's advisable to
put out winter shelters if you TNR during the cold months. Shelters
are available from several sources. More information on building
and purchasing shelters:
If you are able to provide winter shelters and
can feed the cats regularly, you should go ahead with your TNR project.
In the winter, it is also advisable to add a pinch of powdered Vitamin
C to the cats' canned food; this will boost their immune systems.
More information and nutrition tips:
There are two important advantages to doing
TNR during the winter months: 1) You will trap fewer pregnant and
lactating cats, and 2) You will find fewer kittens to rescue. If
you are still hesitant to do TNR in the winter, keep in mind that
the breeding season often begins in February, with the kittens born
in April when they are more likely to survive. Spaying and neutering
the cats before breeding season spares you and the cats additional
stress.
13)
Why is eartipping
important?
Eartipping indentifies a cat as having been spayed
or neutered and vaccinated as part of a TNR program. Eartipping
(1/4" removed from the tip of the left ear in a straight cut)
is done at the time of the surgery, while the cat is anesthetized.
Although we do advocate mass-trapping (trapping all the cats in
your colony at once), not everyone can do this, and not everyone
who tries gets every cat on the first effort. In many colonies there
are cats who look so similar, without an eartip it would be impossible
to tell which cats are fixed and which ones still need to be fixed.
Eartipping prevents an already spayed or neutered cat the stress
of unnecessary re-trapping and more importantly, an unnecessary
surgical procedure.
If an eartipped cat arrives at Animal Care and Control
(AC&C), the cat will be held, and Neighborhood Cats will be
alerted. Via its e-mail list, Neighborhood Cats will try to reunite
the cat with his or her caretaker. Feral cats who are not eartipped
and end up at AC&C are euthanized within a few days. Therefore,
eartipping can literally save lives.
I've asked everyone
I know and still can't find a holding space. Can you help?
Remember that a holding space does not have to be
a large space, but it does have to be warm (65–70°F).
The traps are 3 feet long, by about 1 foot wide and high. You can
place them right next to each other, on a table (ideally) or on
the floor. Most people can hold two cats in their bathroom, and
if necessary, two traps can be stacked on top of each other in a
bathtub with a plastic sheet in-between.
A common complaint is reluctance to hold cats in
one's apartment because of other pets, usually cats. If your cats
are vaccinated, there is very little risk to bringing ferals into
you apartment, as long as you use common sense and a few precautions.
Don't let a little inconvenience (holding time is 1–3 days
before surgery and 2–3 days after) deter you from neutering
these cats. Please e-mail TNRCoach@NYCFeralCat.org
for more advice or to discuss using a "hold-for-hire"
space. Another option for those who have completed the TNR
Caretaker Training Workshop is to reach out to the NYCFeralCats
Yahoo Groups e-mail discussion group.
15)
Are feral cats likely
to have FIV or FeLV?
FIV (Feline AIDS) and FeLV (Feline Leukemia) are
not common; in fact the incidence of positive cats living outdoors
is only very slightly higher than that of indoor cats. There is
a lot of misunderstanding about these two diseases. Please see this
article for clear, well-researched information:
I would like to have
a trap or two of my own and want to buy the right kind. Where can
I get them?
You must buy a trap with a removable rear door, and
to complete your "trapping kit" you should buy a set of
two Tru-Catch dividers or isolators. Here is a good resource for
trapping equipment:
Is this really all
I can do for the feral cats? Aren't they better off indoors in "real"
homes?
If you spay and neuter the cats you are feeding and
continue to provide them with food on a regular basis, shelter against
the elements, and a watchful eye to spot illness or injury (or new
cats), you are already doing a great deal! You've stopped
the reproductive cycle, made every spayed/neutered cat healthier,
and removed a lot of the stress of outdoor life, simply by having
spayed and neutered them! TNRing a colony of cats yields a tremendous
benefit to both the cats and the community. If you'd like to volunteer
to help others, please contact TNRCoach@NYCFeralCat.org.
If you want to do more, educate people you meet
about responsible pet ownership, especially the importance of spay/neuter.
Refer them to resources for behavioral help if their cat has a problem,
such as not using the litter box. Ask your vet to post TNR info
in his or her office. Slope
Street Cats is a Brooklyn-based, all-volunteer TNR group with
a strong community outreach/education advocacy program. They will
be glad to help you with materials and advice.
While feral cats are not really "wildlife,"
because of their very shy nature they are not, for the most part,
adoptable. Even if you wanted to take in the four or five cats in
your backyard, doing so would only solve the feral cat problem for
those particular cats. And remember, once neutered, provided with
food and shelter, many feral cats would not want to come indoors!
And most people are more than happy with a couple of cats (like
two!) and they want friendly, interactive cats; most ferals are
not so inclined and it could take years (if ever) before they will
behave anything like a "pet" cat. Thinking globally (and
feral cats are a global problem), adoption is not the answer. Download
the NYC Feral Cat
Initiative brochure and help spread the word about TNR.
Until we dispel some of the myths about spay/neuter
and people realize that there are free and low-cost spay/neuter
resources available, that advice
and solutions for behavioral problems are available, and most
importantly, that animals are not disposable just because "you
can always get a new one," cats will continue to be dumped,
and feral colonies are the result.
