About Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)

A feral cat, also known as a community cat, is a wild animal. Just like house rabbits and wild rabbits, feral cats may look like their domesticated relatives, but they have no interest in being inside and should be viewed as a wild animal.

Feral cats will keep a safe distance from humans, even if the human has been feeding them, and will not allow a human to touch them. Feral cats are rarely vocal in the wild, usually only calling out to their kittens, if they’re in danger, or if they need help.

If a cat is coming close to you, allowing you to pet it, and meows to you, it is more than likely a stray cat, a lost cat, or an indoor/outdoor cat.

Knowing the difference between a feral cat and a stray cat helps organizations like us use the correct protocols in helping the cat. Stray cats are captured, microchip scanned, and an owner is looked for. If no owner comes forward, a stray cat can be given his or her veterinary care and adopted to an indoor forever home. Feral cats are captured, given veterinary care, and then released back to their territory where they can continue being a wild animal.

TNR helps feral cat colonies by reducing the population, pinpointing where colonies are so we can better care for them, and decreasing diseases that feral cats can catch to protect the colonies. “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”.

With TNR, we humanely trap feral cats, scan them for microchips to be sure, then get their veterinary care done. This consists of a spay or neuter, rabies shot, FVRCP shot, and ear tip. If the feral cat is ill or injured, we hold on to them and continue veterinary care until they are completely healthy. Once they are healthy and their veterinary care is done, they are released back to the environment they came from.

If you see a cat with an ear tip like the one to the left, that means the cat has already had veterinary care and does not need handled again. Ear tips allow TNRers to know if the cat needs veterinary care, and if it has an ear tip, we release it immediately.

• Kittens born to feral cats can be rehabilitated into domestic cats as long as the rehabilitation process starts while they are young.
• Feral cats help keep the rodent population down.
• Feral cats that have been TNRed are not destructive to property.
• Feral cats bury their urine and feces just like their domestic relatives do. This is an inherited trait, not one that is taught. This prevents them from leaving a trail for predators.
• Feral cats and raccoon cohabitate well, especially when they have a food source that can sustain both species. We have seen feral cats and raccoons play together.
• Feral cats are excellent at being “invisible”. They prefer to stay out of sight for the most part. You may have a colony in your neighborhood and not even know it!
• Unlike our domesticated feline friends, feral cats are quite active in comparison. They spend many hours per day roaming, hunting, playing, mating, and scavenging.