Trap- Neuter-Return-Management (TNRM)
Whose cat is that???
Cats wandering in backyards, behind restaurants, apartment complexes – we see them wherever there is a food source and shelter. We wonder whose cat is that? Do they have a home or are they lost? The truth is that community or free-roaming cats can be owned, abandoned, lost or stray cats or unsocialized(feral) cats. All are considered domestic cats.
Free roaming pets. Pet cats permitted indoor/outdoor but have a dedicated home providing food and shelter. These cats may or may not be “fixed”.
Stray cats, abandoned or lost pets, are pet cats who were either intentionally abandoned or unintentionally lost. Some are very friendly to people, some will revert to survival behaviors and can become distant from people depending on their temperament and how long they’ve been outside. Sometimes its difficult to distinguish some of these cats from true ferals if they’ve been out for a long time. But there are little clues that an astute cat person will pick up on that this is a former pet. In many cases, if rescued and given enough time, former pets have the best potential to be re-socialized and placed in an adoptive home.
See- Lost / Found Cats
Feral cats. Feral is a descriptive term of temperment. A true feral cat has had little to no socialization to humans, cannot be handled and is largely unsuited to an indoor home. They may have been born outdoors or were lost or abandoned and have completely thrown off the effects of domestication in their need to survive. The extent of their temperament depends on their age and amount of human contact. True feral cats, while dependent on humans for food and shelter, are not suited to living indoors with humans. Their defensive behavior is often misunderstood as aggression when in fact these cats fear human contact and will flee from attempts to touch them. Bringing a feral cat indoors be so stressful as to impact both their physical and mental health.
Many well-meaning people, convinced they are “saving” a feral cat by bringing him indoors, end-up condemning the poor creature to a life of hiding under the bed and in constant fear. The truly compassionate choice is to allow him the freedom of living in his outdoor home.
The Need to Control Cat Overpopulation
The urgency of controlling the population growth of stray and feral cats is unquestionable. These cats, in addition to intact domestic cats, are responsible for the overwhelming flood of cats and kittens entering our shelters. During kitten “season”, from April to October, shelters are forced to euthanize tens of thousands of friendly, healthy, adoptable adult cats and large numbers litters of incoming kittens.
Trap-Neuter-Return-Management – A Solution at Present
TNRM is a humane, non-lethal method of feline population control in which cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered and vaccinated and returned to their caretakers. Their left ear is tipped to indicate that the cat has been sterilized and vaccinated. True adult feral cats are NOT adoptable or suited as indoor pets. These cats are returned to their original environment where caregivers provide them with food, water, shelter, and medical care as needed.
Alternatives to TNRM?
Do Nothing: Shelter overpopulation is an ongoing crisis. Common sense dictates that a vaccinated, sterilized, fed and monitored cat stops the breeding and presents less of a health threat.
Remove all feral cats from the environment (Trap & Kill or Trap & Shelter): This approach is simply unrealistic as there are neither the resources nor funding to effect this on a large enough scale. Even if possible, the vacuum effect arises when cats are removed from an environment as other cats move in to take advantage of the food source that is available.
Catch & Tame: With the exception of young kittens and some reverted domestic cats, true adult feral cats cannot be socialized to humans to the point where they are adoptable as pets. While every possible effort should be made to remove all potentially adoptable cats and kittens who can be re-socialized, it is more important to spay and neuter all cats first to stop the breeding.
Relocation: Relocation is difficult, very risky and should be done ONLY in rare and extreme or dangerous conditions i.e cruelty, abuse, poisoning. Because cats are so bonded with their territory in which they live, relocation puts them at high risk. If someone is moving and the cats can be fed a few doors away, that’s a simple move as the cats are still within their territory. However, to take a cat and just put them in another colony far away from their home with no acclimation puts the cat at high risk of being driven out by the existing cats and dying in the course of trying to get back to his old home. If you find a barn or other outdoor placement, the cats must be confined for a minimum of 2 months to imprint on the new location, which is still not guarantee they will stick around. Most times, TNRM will resolve the issues prompting people to want the cats gone and keep the cats safely on their own turf.
Benefits of Managed Colonies
There are many benefits to having managed colonies in our communities. Cats provide natural rodent control and in doing so, halting the spread of disease. Managed colonies also teach compassion for cats, non-violence and tolerance for others. Removing and placing friendly cats and kittens from feral cat colonies can reduce a colony by a significant percent.
Studies have proven that once a colony is stabilized (spayed and neutered), its members prevent other free roaming unaltered and unvaccinated cats from entering into an area. In addition, altering cats eliminates many nuisance behaviors including spraying and the loud yowling noises made by intact males fighting over a female in heat and/or territory.
