Getting Your Feet Wet: How to Help
You don’t have to care for every homeless cat in your community to start making a big difference in the lives of community cats. Everyone can help, in many small ways that all add up. You just have to care enough to make the effort.
First, do no harm
Community cats are there because people put them there, or let them go wild. You can help be a part of the solution by making sure no cat you know adds to the problem. We offer a few ideas to get you started:
Keep your own pet cat indoors. A cat can lead a perfectly healthy, happy life without ever setting a paw outdoors. You’ll always know where your cat is and who she’s hanging out with if you keep your pet inside — and you also don't have to panic when your cat doesn’t come home one night. (For tips to keep indoor cats happy, see Chapter 9.)
Alter your cat. Cats who are spayed or neutered make better pets. Spayed females aren’t always crying for mates, and neutered males are less likely to roam or spray urine. And if your cat doesn’t reproduce, you don’t need to worry about finding responsible homes for the kittens. A simple fix is all it takes, and it can be done before a kitten is sexually mature. (For more on neutering, see Chapter 13.)
Helping the helpers
You don’t have to actually do the hands-on work of caring for cats to help the community cat population. You can get involved by simply supporting those people and groups who do. Here are a couple of suggestions:
Support community cat management with your voice, your vote, and your donations. Let your local government know that you oppose any program that has a goal of eradicating community cats. Write letters, call your elected representatives, go to hearings, and let your voice be heard on this issue. Support nonprofit groups in your community that put trap, neuter, and release programs in place. The support doesn’t always have to be monetary. You can contribute items for a group’s garage sale fund-raisers, or you can donate materials — everything from old towels to cars — that the groups use in their work. You may be able to find other cat rescuers by asking at your local shelter or by checking with pet-supply stores that offer adoption space to community groups.
Consider adopting a formerly wild cat or kitten. Even in areas where cats are trapped, neutered, and released, a few kittens always manage to be born. And no matter how hard animal activists work to educate, some people always figure that dumping a cat is easier than finding him a home. Kittens and domesticated cats are often available for adoption from community cat groups, and are something to consider when you’re thinking of getting a cat.
Feeding community cats: Help or harm?
Feeding cat colonies without caring for them otherwise isn’t very helpful. Some people do this on a grand scale, and we have no doubt their hearts are in the right place. But feeding community cats who haven’t been neutered leads to a population explosion, with all the problems that entails. In the end, your cats may be fruitful and multiply to the point where they become a real nuisance, and when that happens, someone will call for their removal.
Not ready to take that big a step? Then maybe you’d better think twice before offering your tuna sandwich for the very first time to a friendly cat. If you are ready to take that step, the information you need to get started is in this chapter.
Learning to Care for Community Cats
Caring for free-ranging cats is not a responsibility to be taken lightly, nor is it a short-term project. The animals will come to rely on you. If you don’t believe you can handle the long-term commitment of caring for cats, it’s really best not to start.
But if you are ready to really help the wild ones, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. By following the lead of other cat lovers, you can make learning how to manage a cat colony — including trapping cats to be altered and released — as easy as possible.
Setting up a routine
If you already feed community cats, you’re ahead of the game. If not, you need to get your cats on a routine, which makes it easier to trap them later. Seeing your cats every day also allows you to monitor any changes in the group and to be aware of newcomers, pregnancies, or new kittens.
CRITTER QUANDRY
Gina has a former coworker who called her one day about the free-ranging cats on acreage she’d just bought. The woman was a lifelong dog owner who’d never paid that much attention to cats, but suddenly she was dealing with a dozen of them every day. The cats expected her to pick up the feeding duties that the previous homeowner had taken on.
The woman didn’t know what to do. “Can you tell me who to call?” she said. “I need someone to pick up these cats and find them good homes. I’ll be home this weekend, if that’s convenient.”
Gina let her know as gently as possible that she was pretty much on her own with her new cats, and told her about the choices she would have to make on their behalf. She guessed the advice would fall on deaf ears, and she’d never hear about the cats again.
Gina guessed wrong. The woman did her research and decided to trap, neuter, and release the cats. A year later, their numbers had stabilized, and the cats were doing well. And the woman came to enjoy their presence!
Cats are creatures of habit. If they know that food appears in a certain place, at a certain time, you can be sure they’ll be there. Pick a time that’s convenient for you and a spot that’s away from high-traffic areas.
Lining up help
Because the heart of a compassionate program of caring for cats gone wild involves trapping and neutering, you need some help from the beginning to understand how to use these tools.
Tracking down traps