TNR Basic Training

"There's some feral cat's in my neighborhood, and they're just multiplying! They get into the garbage, I'm scared my dog's going to get one, they keep fighting, my son's allergic and the lady next door feeds them so they're always around my house. I just can't have it."

Raise your hand if you've ever heard that. Now, raise your hand if you heard of the awful way they planned on getting rid of those feral cats.

We have a solution: Trap, Neuter, Release.

Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) is a humane way to get a handle on the community of cats in your neighborhood. TNR is exactly what it sounds like, trap the cat, fix the cat, release the cat. By using live traps and some canned food, you can catch the cat humanly and safely. They're feral, so throw a sheet or a blanket over the cage when you go and get it and take them to your vet. Vets are trained on how to deal with feral animals and  will put the cat under while still in the live trap. Once the cat is sleeping, they'll take them out, fix them (using dissolvable stitches so you don't have to take them back to have the stitches taken out) and clip the very end of their ear. A few days in recovery in your garage, and you can open the cage and let the cat back out to their colony. 

Most of the time, the two issues with feral cats are over-population and cat fights. Cat fights happen usually between males fighting over "territory" or mates. If males are fixed, they don't have a need to fight over mates because they no longer have mates. Females fight because they are protecting their young. If they are fixed, they will no longer have kittens. This not only stops the fighting but also stops the population of the cats. 

The clipping of the ear is important as well, saving the cat stress and saves you a lot of time. If you catch a cat and the tip of their ear has been removed, you know they have already been trapped and fixed and don't have to go through all the steps just to find out it was already done. 

Fixing a cat also improves their health. When a cat is fixed, it lessens the chance of them getting infections from wounds from fights, because they no longer fight. Illnesses of the reproductive systems, like cancer, also no longer become a worry for the animal's health.

TNR also helps control the population of cat's in rescues and shelters that are already full of cats. To help with this, many shelters and rescues offer programs to get TNR animal's fixed at low cost or for free and have traps available to rent or loan out. If you are interested in using TNR for your neighborhood, contact the rescues and shelters in your area for assistance. This was just the very basics of TNR, to learn more information you can go to Alley Cat Allies or Neighborhood Cats  Both of these websites are extremely helpful in learning everything there is to know about TNR!