I'm always teetering on that fine
line between cat lover and crazy cat lady, so you won't be surprised
that my weekend was filled with many great cat events, some of which
you can find on our cat calendar here.
The highlight of my weekend was a trip to the PAWS Lurie
spay/neuter clinic in Little Village where I participated in a trap,
neuter, return (TNR) project. If you've noticed feral cats in your
alleys, want to help reduce the number of animals that end up at Animal
Care & Control, or simply want a fun volunteer opportunity that
allows you to do real, hands on work, you'll definitely want to learn
more about TNR.
Feral cats can be found in
alleys, garages, and abandoned buildings all over Chicago. They are
different from strays in that they are wild and can't adjust to life in a
shelter or home. Life on the streets is hard, but they can live fairly
long and safe lives. So what's the problem? Babies. One cat can have
3 to 5 litters of kittens in a year. That's a lot of kittens! Gone
unchecked the population of feral cats can get out of control fast. Many of
these feral kitties end up at Animal Care & Control adding a lot of
stress to an already overburdened system. That's where TNR comes in.
TNR is the only non-lethal way to reduce the population of
feral neighborhood cats. It involves humanely trapping the cats,
bringing them to a vet for spaying/neutering, and then returning them to
their communities. Last Caturday Saturday I went out with a team of PAWS trappers to do some TNR. It's amazingly easy...and kind of fun!
We
headed to an area with an out of control feral cat population and set some
humane traps. Once they are trapped, the cats are totally freaked
out at first, but their trip to PAWS is quick and painless. Vets
spay/neuter the cats, vaccinate them, address any other health issues,
feed them some good meals, and give them a couple of days to
recuperate.
The best part of the day was releasing cats back to their
neighborhoods. We took some newly spayed and neutered cats back to the
exact spot at which they were trapped. Above and below are pictures of Jeremy, one of the cats we released. He bolted out of his cage, happy to be back in his community. I was happy he was returning healthier than when he left.
By trapping, neutering, and returning outdoor feral cats in targeted zip codes, we can make a huge dent in
the number of kittens being born and in the number of kittens being
dropped off at Animal Care and Control. If you want to participate in TNR work or just learn more, visit PAWS, Tree House, or Alley Cat Allies. I'll be out again next Saturday with PAWS, and I hope you'll join me!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: Cats, Feral Cats, Neuter, PAWS, Spay, Stray Cats, TNR
