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Before releasing a spayed female, remove any newspaper fromthe floor of the trap and have someone lift the trap up in the air whileyou crouch down and look at the cat’s belly from underneath. Use aflashlight if necessary and examine the site of the spay incision. Alittle redness is normal, but if you see oozing, bleeding, swelling orexcessive redness (inflammation), consult a veterinarian beforereleasing the cat. Lactating motherIt’s possible to learn for the first time during the spay surgery that a female cat islactating and may have a litter of kittens out in her territory. In this situation, our policyat <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Cats</strong> is to hold the mom overnight and then release her the next morningif she’s alert and appears well. We’ll let her go sooner than we would otherwise becausethe kittens need their mother, who can still nurse them after being spayed. If you learnbefore the surgery that the cat is lactating, see “Nursing mothers” in the “Special cases”section of Chapter 9. Location of releaseThe cats should always be released in their original territory. After their release,some of the cats may stay out of sight for a few days or even as long as a week or two.But they will soon re-adjust to their normal routine and learn to trust you again in theirown feral way.If it’s not possible to release cats in their original territory – because they would be inimminent danger, for example, the building they’ve been living in is scheduled to bedemonlished - a proper relocation process must be followed (see “Relocation” in Chapter15). Ferals are extremely territorial and cannot be safely released otherwise. If a cat is letgo somewhere new without a proper acclimation and confinement period, his instinct willbe to run off and try to find his old territory. The cat could end up terrified in a placewith no caretaker, no colony mates, no known food source and unknown dangers.Simply letting a feral cat loose at a new location without a relocation process amounts toabandonment, in our view, and should not be done.photo: Linda Mazzurco126
15. Relocation & Sanctuaries Relocation• When is relocation appropriate?photo: Doris BurtnerWhen a colony is unmanaged, a crisissituation will often evolve. The cats’ uncheckedreproduction and the typical nuisance behavior ofunaltered cats can lead to intense hostility fromlocal residents towards the cats and anyoneassociated with their care. Often when caring, butinexperienced people first encounter this kind ofsituation, their initial thought is to move the catsto a safer place. They don’t understand howdifficult it is to find a safer place, how arduousand uncertain the process of moving the cats canbe, how important it is to the cats to be able tostay right where they are and how quickly theproblems can be brought under control by spayingand neutering.The cats in a feral colony cherish theirterritory. They know their home intimately withall its pitfalls, shortcuts and hidden passages.Next to food, their surroundings are the factor most important to their survival. Theirhome – inhospitable as the back alley, empty lot or abandoned building may seem to us –is truly their castle and defines their very existence.Because their territory and their bonds to one another are so important to the cats,relocation should be considered only when their location is under clear, imminent threatand all other alternatives have been considered and exhausted. Most problems can besolved through TNR. A community’s initial hostility because of noise, odor and endlesslitters of kittens is ended by neutering; encroachment in a garden can be easily deterredwith a motion-activated sprinkler; a property owner’s complaint might be addressed bymoving a feeding station further away.Relocation is hard work with no guarantees of success. First, a suitable new site hasto be found with a new caretaker. Then, to reduce the chance of the cats running away,they have to be taught their food source has changed and the only way to do this is toconfine them in their new territory for two to three weeks. Otherwise, they’re likely to goin search of their old stomping grounds. Even with a proper confinement and everythingdone by the book, some of the cats may still run away after they’re released.Another consideration is what will happen in the old territory if the cats areremoved. If food and shelter are still available, sooner or later new cats will move in totake advantage of these resources and the cycle will begin again. Put simply, a vacuum127
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TNR HandbookThe Guide to Trap-Neute
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Table of ContentsForeword by Susan
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Chapter Ten: The Neighborhood Cats
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ForewordOne of the first ferals I e
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Introduction“If we keep ‘em in
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2. What is Trap-Neuter-Return?Trap-
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c) Fewer nuisance complaints. As me
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and as their hunger grows, they wil
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3. The TNR Process - An OverviewEve
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After you’ve determined how many
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for this purpose. Once you can talk
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like the board of a homeowners asso
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information provided because of the
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act to discourage cats from enterin
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epel. It operates on four “C” b
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• Free-standing fencesPurrfect Fe
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• Type of feeding stationThe perf
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Amazon (www.amazon.com) for “Le B
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will be drawn to this easily reache
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a search for “heated water bowl
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interior warm enough to prevent or
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food works best for your budget, th
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steroids, tranquilizers, anesthetic
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weather, loud construction work nea
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• Feralvilla Outdoor Cat ShelterD
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• Styrofoam boxesRestaurants and
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Another option is the Snuggle Safe
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apart. Knowing the correct number,
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4. Schedule the spay/neuterAfter yo
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three more traps than the number of
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Tomahawk Live Trap- Neighborhood Ca
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11 inches in height. In our opinion
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trap are attached. The transfer doo
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Feral cat densNeighborhood Cats Fer
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drop trap (code: KITDT) - see Figur
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That said, not every community offe
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practice. In our experience, there
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saving one day. Also remember, you
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intrusions you and others make into
Page 82 and 83: doing so. Don’t check too frequen
Page 84 and 85: Winter trappingSome trappers in nor
Page 86 and 87: around and inflict a severe bite or
Page 88 and 89: The bottle-and-string method is use
Page 90 and 91: you let her go right away, there is
Page 92 and 93: If you might have to care for unwea
Page 94 and 95: Unless a caretaker objects on relig
Page 96 and 97: Caddie” by Tomahawk (see Figure 9
Page 98 and 99: effective, some experienced trapper
Page 100 and 101: feet long, and lean it up against a
Page 102 and 103: sodium hypochlorite on the label of
Page 104 and 105: PreparationsAs with any trapping, i
Page 106 and 107: 4. Anchor the trap. Place a heavy o
Page 108 and 109: transfer cage, so the far end needs
Page 110 and 111: 11. Caring for Cats in TrapsWhile t
Page 112 and 113: Feeding and cleaningThe traps shoul
Page 114 and 115: 7. Secure the rear doorAfter you’
Page 116 and 117: Figure 12-1 shows the Setup fullyas
Page 118 and 119: unlikely the cat would be able to o
Page 120 and 121: • Special instructionsAny special
Page 122 and 123: The FVRCP vaccine, also known as th
Page 124 and 125: difficult without the ability to te
Page 126 and 127: windpipe and cut off her breathing.
Page 128 and 129: “snap” test, it produces a resu
Page 130 and 131: In our experience, the primary caus
Page 134 and 135: has been created and one set of cat
Page 136 and 137: and water bowls - see the Feral Cat
Page 138 and 139: enforcement agency will tell you if
Page 140 and 141: long will show signs of being socia
Page 142 and 143: feral at all yet and may tame immed
Page 144 and 145: When they’re verycomfortable with
Page 146 and 147: socialize enough, which is very lik
Page 148 and 149: When the cat no longer uses the cag
Page 150 and 151: alternatives, like scratching posts
Page 152 and 153: • Where to lookIn order to attrac
Page 154 and 155: In case you’re unable to return t
Page 156 and 157: 18. Feral Cat ResourcesBooks Implem
Page 158 and 159: Petco Foundation (4Rs Project Suppo
Page 160 and 161: ToolkitsAction Kit: Advocating for
Page 162 and 163: Appendix BHOW TO BUILDTHE NEIGHBORH
Page 164 and 165: 5. Place piece E two inches back fr
Page 166 and 167: Trap LogProject/Colony: ___________
Page 168: In memory ofBobby Kergis1952 - 2011
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