What the Heck is TNR?

 When I lived in an apartment complex in Texas, there were so many feral cats there.  They were not friendly, not pets.  They roamed the complex and made messes when plants were set outside.  It was obvious that this was their home, even though they belonged to no person.  I used to sit on my porch and watch them; soon you get to know each one by their personality.  

When spring came around, there would always be a huge number of kittens roaming with the adult cats.  Unfortunately, they did not understand about living with humans and many of the babies met terrible fates.  About half of them would live to adulthood and go on to have babies of their own.

I was saddened by their plight.  They were not very healthy, they were always hungry, and they fought incessantly over food and territory.  One day, while sitting on my porch, I decided to see what I could do for them because, although I am a dog person, I do love cats as well.

What is TNR?

I researched rescues in the area and was told that feral cats cannot be adopted and are summarily euthanized in shelters.  I was appalled.  These cats should not meet such a terrible fate.  I then found out about TNR at a cat rescue.  

Trap-neuter-return, or TNR, is a humane and effective approach to managing community cat populations. It involves trapping cats, having them spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and then returning them to their outdoor homes. By sterilizing the cats, TNR helps to reduce the number of kittens born and stabilizes the size of the cat colony over time.

I agreed that this was a great solution to the population problem at my apartment complex. I borrowed a trap from my neighbor and set it with a can of sardines that I punched holes into the top. I placed the trap about 15 feet away from my door and went inside.  In less than 10 minutes, I had trapped my first cat.

How to TNR:

When you are following this program, once you trap your cat, you make an appointment at the SPCA through TNR for a free spay/neuter and exam of the cat.  They also receive a rabies vaccine while under anesthesia.  Another thing that happens while the cat is out is the clipping of one ear tip. Once all this is done, you go pick the cat back up and take it home to recover in a safe, quiet, dark place.  I used a dog crate with a cover in the corner of my living room to recover my cat.  Once I saw the cat up and eating, I took the crate outside and let it go.  

Over the course of the next few months, I probably trapped 60 cats.  I followed the protocol of the TNR and once they were taken care of, I returned them to their homes.  There were fewer and fewer babies roaming the neighborhood, and I was so glad I would not be picking up dead kittens everywhere because people would run over them.

Benefits of TNR

• Reduces cat overpopulation: By preventing cats from reproducing, TNR reduces the number of kittens born each year, which helps to control the size of the cat population.
• Improves cat health: Cats that are spayed or neutered are less likely to roam and fight, which reduces their risk of injury and disease. Vaccinating cats also helps to prevent the spread of diseases.
  
• Saves taxpayer money: TNR is more cost-effective than traditional animal control methods, such as trapping and euthanizing cats. TNR programs rely on volunteers and donations, which helps to keep costs low.
• Supports a healthier ecosystem: Cats are natural predators and can help to control the population of rodents and other pests. By managing the cat population through TNR, we can maintain a healthy balance in the ecosystem.

Why TNR?

While TNR has been criticized by some who believe that cats should not be allowed to roam outdoors, it is important to note that community cats are often too wild to be adopted into homes. TNR provides a humane solution that allows cats to live out their lives in their outdoor homes while also managing their population.

Support TNR in your Community:

If you're interested in supporting TNR efforts in your community, there are many ways to get involved. You can volunteer with a local TNR organization, donate to support their efforts, or advocate for TNR policies with your local government. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of community cats and create healthier, more humane communities for all animals.

Rescue dogs, so many to choose from!

 My daughter has lost two of her dogs this last year and it was heartbreaking.  One was an older rat terrier and he was grumpy but loveable.  The other was a mixed breed rescue dog that came from a terrible hoarding situation and had many issues because of it.

We loved these two very much and miss them to this day; but I think my daughter is finally ready to get another dog or two and has been viewing rescues, shelters, and the pounds on the internet looking for just the right one.

I have been appalled at the sheer number of dogs that are currently looking for homes just in our area of this state.  It breaks my heart that so many dogs need a forever home.  These are all good dogs, but do not have pedigrees so they are viewed as less-than worthy.  

I have always had rescue dogs my whole life.  I currently have two; they are getting up there in years and I worry about losing them but for now they are mine and I love them so much.  I cannot tell you how much love and entertainment you get from a dog.  It seems that rescue dogs, unlike pedigree dogs, seem to realize how lucky they are when they find a forever home and they give back in large amounts of love.

In this current time, there just is no reason for so many dogs, cats, and other animals to be waiting for homes.  If people would just spay and neuter their pets, we could completely erase this problem.  However, for some reason, there are so many people who refuse to spay or neuter their pets.  

Maybe it is a money thing; but if so there are numerous low and no cost spay/neuter clinics around. Maybe they are misinformed about the overburdened pet population in our country and don't see the issue of having puppies all the time.  If so, there are so many ways to learn about how to be a responsible pet owner that you wonder why they don't already know this.

I firmly believe that we need to become a "No Kill" country and with a concerted effort by us all we could make that happen.  No Kill supports shelters and rescues in spay and neuter for their animals.  Trap-Neuter-Return programs catch feral cats and spay or neuter them then return them to their home communities to live out the rest of their lives without offspring.  

It is doable sometime in the future that we could have a No Kill country.  That is my prayer and hope.

Pet's need consideration during Easter Holiday--What to watch out for!

Here's a message from my veterinarian that I took from my email. Seems like a good time to review the necessary precautions associated with Easter and all of the holiday happenings.  When enjoying all the holiday hoopla, don't forget to monitor your pets.  Chocolate is deadly.

Happy Good Friday, to you .  I hope everyone has a blessed and special Easter Holiday this weekend.

Easter Tips

 

Easter is almost here and we all love chocolate bunnies or Easter eggs! Chocolate is as appealing to pets as it is to us but it is very toxic to dogs. Theobromine and theophylline are a xanthine compound that affects the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Symptoms of intoxication are vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate and urination, muscle tremors and restlessness.

The Easter Lily is a beautiful holiday flower but if you own a cat it is recommended that you don't keep it in your house. Just one leaf can cause kidney failure in your pet and it is potentially lethal.

One more item that could be harmful to your cat is Easter grass. Cats love to play with it, just like they love tinsel or string. Easter grass if ingested can easily tangle around your cat's intestines causing major problems that will require emergency surgery.

Here's an update on the cats.

 Here's KT.









Here's Ditto.

The two older black cats are doing well.  Both are fattening up with all the food I put out.  It helps them both to be fixed so their energy does not go into fighting and mating behaviours. 

Then there are the four kittens left on my doorstep by their mama cat.  I cannot seem to convince them that they do not belong here.  Every night they are sitting outside my door waiting for dinner.  They run the two bigger cats off if they can.  They sleep in my flower beds and flower pots and frequently turn them over.                                                                                                   
Although I don't want to keep them, I have named the two black and white kittens.  They are Tulip and Petunia because they are my flower garden this year.  The other two are all black and they hang back and stay at the edge of the activity.

Ditto and KT have started staying somewhere else when the kittens are outside my door.  Two of these kittens are getting brave enough to let me touch them, so they will soon be going to the vet to get fixed.  The other two I will have to trap, I think.  But if I can trap them, they too will be fixed.  I want no more babies at my door.  It worries me that these kittens and the cats live out in the parking lot of a busy apartment complex, but so far they seem to have learned how to avoid cars and trucks.

I'll try to remember to post on these cats sporadically.  Since, now, they seem to be a fixture in my life and in the family.

Continuation of the Saga of the Kittens!

Thought I'd update you on my kitten fiasco.  As I have said before, the two little black kittens that I adopted and feed are grown now.  They are brother and sister and I named them K.T. (boy) and Ditto (girl).  They live quite happily on my porch because they started out feral and are just learning over time to trust me.  I feed them daily and K.T. goes walking with me and the dogs in the mornings.

I was able to trap K.T. and so he got carted to the hospital and neutered.  Got him a complete physical and all his shots, too.  Since then, he has become quite loveable and allows me to pet him and even pick him up sometimes.  He has also begun following the dogs in the front door when we come in from our walks.  He doesn't want to stay inside, though, and begins to howl if I don't let him out right away.

Ditto got pregnant before I could trap her.  She had a litter of two little ones.  The children in this apartment complex caught the smallest and I guess they dropped it because it's front leg was broken.  So I took both to the vet and had the little one put to sleep while getting the other one shots.  This baby was inside my house from about 5 weeks of age to 3months of age, but she never got friendly or trusting and she bit and hissed and scratched if you got anywhere near her.  I finally had to catch her and take her to the animal shelter because she was biting me all the time.  I am sorry that I had to do that, but I really didn't know what else to do. 

Anyway, all this time I never could catch Ditto and she got pregnant again!  I was so upset.  This time, she had her babies close by and when I put a box outside the door, she brought them to live in the box.  Three little kittens now living in a box in my doorway.  When the kittens were about 4 weeks old, someone took them.  They were there in the morning and gone in the afternoon.  Ditto was frantic!  They finally were returned after a couple of days and they were thin and frightened.  I brought them in the house for safety and Ditto came inside to care for them.  She is very skittish and frightened, but she was so happy to see her babies again that she forgot to be afraid. 

Once the kittens were eating on their own and getting more independent, I finally got to take Ditto to be spayed.  No more kittens for us!  I found good homes for all three of these delightful babies who were well socialized from being in the house.

I was so happy to think that my cat issues were now over.  Or so I thought!  About the time I got the last kitten placed, I noticed another feral black cat hanging around.  She looked like she was nursing and she came to see if my two left any food.  The next day, I went out to feed my cats and guess what I found!

Four kittens were waiting to be fed.  No mother cat in sight.  Great. 

These are truly feral kittens, but they were starving and they fought my cats off the food.  Now, if I want my cats to be able to eat, I have to feed the kittens too.  I am not thrilled.  I really don't want to be the cat lady on the block.  So, my plan is to take the TNR class at the Humane Society so I can trap these four kittens and to release them away from my home after they are fixed.    I'll let you know how that goes.

It really is a shame that people in apartments just leave their pet cats when they move.  I have always seen colonies of feral cats at every apartment complex I have ever lived in.  Seems a shame. 

Related articles

• Dora The Explorer Kitten ~ The Feral Cat Rescue Project (feral-kitten-rescue.blogspot.com)
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Today we took Wicked to the vet for shots--What fun!

We got up early and put the wicked cat in the carrier where she howled and screamed for all the time it took me to get ready to go.  Once at the vet, she was calm and quiet and I was able to hold her and pet her.  She was remarkably good when she got her shots (three to be exact) and she was cooperative during the exam by the vet.  We have another appointment next month for her last shot and to have her spay.  Then she is off to her new home.  I cannot wait.  Although she is warming up considerably--I can pick her up and hold her on my lap quite often--I will be glad for her to get to her forever home and settle in. 


Here's what she looks like tonight after all the excitement!

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Wordless Wednesday

Here are some pictures of a remarkable artist who specializes in paper mache dogs and cats.  I found this artist by accident, but want to share her work with as many people as possible.  She is absolutely fantastic!  I hope you enjoy this quick view and visit her site at PapierDog. Once there, click on each individual picture and a larger picture will open.  These are so cute.

Here is a feast for your eyes!  Enjoy.....

The continuing saga of the feral cats.....

So, KT is finally becoming friendly enough that he wants to be scratched and petted.  He even lets me pick him up occasionally.  I want to take him to get fixed and his shots, but I am afraid that if I do, the other cat will freak out and leave. 

Speaking of the other one.  I have named her Ditto and she is definitely a she as I think she is pregnant.  Great!  More feral cats.   She is still very skittish and bolts if you get too close.  I am trying to find a place to fix her a box for birthing her babies, but I think she will just find another spot herself if I do.  I have been feeding her extra to try to ensure the babies are healthy. 

The surprise, however, is that there is a third cat.  This litter originally was 4 kittens.  One was run over in the apartment parking lot pretty soon after they were around.  Then there were three.  They played and slept and played some more, but one day there was just two, so I figured the third was run over too.  I was wrong.

I don't know where this cat has been, but it is exactly the same age and size as the two I have been feeding.  It even has the faint white spot on its neck that the other two have.  So, I have decided it is the long lost litter-mate.  It is really feral--hisses and bolts the minute it sees you, but it does come to eat at the bowl so I think I have a chance to calm it also.  Don't know if it is male or female, but I would guess it is male if it has been able to fend alone so long. 

Anyway, here are some new pics of the little feral kitties.  Satchmo and Austen are enjoying KT, who goes on walks with us every morning and plays with the boys' leashes.

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Austen still needs a haircut!

I have tried and tried to clip this foster dog's face and feet.  All to no avail.  He is more adept than I and he squirms out of my grasp and runs off to hide.  All I have really done is to make his situation worse.  I finally broke down and asked my neighbor, who clips his own dog, if he would help me.  I'll let you know how that goes, but I have some reservations.  I think this dog will outwit both of us.

About the cats--both are still alive and well.  They show up every morning to eat and get fresh water.  The largest one, I call it KT, is very curious about us and he/she has started to let me scratch his/her head.  I even got to pick that one up very, very briefly.  These little kittens hardly weigh a pound.  I have simply got to get them caught and taken to the vet.  With summer coming, I need to get them immunized and neutered/spayed.  I also want to have something done to help them with fleas.  Since they hang out on my porch, I don't want the little jumping bugs to decide to jump on into my house.

I'll just have to continue to be patient and if I can get the one to let me hold him/her, maybe I can get the other into a trap and then take them both together.  More to follow.......

This is about cats...not Satchmo

Image by shannonpatrick17 via Flickr

I know this blog is about my dog, Satchmo, but I just have to talk a minute about cats.  I live in an apartment complex in Austin, TX.  As you may know, apartments are a veritable source of feral cats from people moving away and leaving pet cats, the industrial dumpsters filled with trash attract strays, etc.  So, there used to be a black female cat that "sort of" lived down the row from my house--(I say sort of because the elderly lady living there did not own the cat, she just felt sorry for her and fed her fairly often).  Anyway, this cat has had several litters of kittens in the two years I have been here.  The problem is that they are feral and yet they live up close to people.  What usually happens is the kittens either get run over in the parking lot, get eaten by wild animals (I've seen foxes, skunks, and snakes), or they go all wild and run off. 

Anyway, before this lady moved, there was a litter of 4 little black kittens living inside her car (which was never used because she was house-bound).  One was run over, another was killed because he was up inside a motor well when the owner started the car--but two remained.  My Satchmo has always loved cats and so he wants to go check on the kittens whenever we go outside, so I guess I was sort of familiar to these little babies.  So, when she moved, I began feeding them on my porch. 

It did not take even a day for them to find my food and start sleeping on the chairs outside.  So, recently, they have become quite curious about where Satchmo and I go when we go inside.  I frequently find them sitting just outside the door when I open it.  So, last night I put the dogs up in my bedroom and left the front door open for a long time.  These two little black fuzz balls cautiously came up to the door and then-----they came inside.  They were very frightened and bolted if you moved, but they stayed in the front area sniffing and looking for quite some time.

My goal with these two is to be able to capture them and take them to be sterilized and get shots before returning them to their current life as outside cats (unless they want to come inside again).  We'll see.  I don't know if this is possible, but I will keep trying.

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