TNR in the Winter

We don't do TNR during the Winter Months unless it's for inside ferals or male cats. A term we'll define at another date but for now, I'll explain why we don't do winter TNR. It's a matter of choice, some groups do, we've chosen not to. When spaying a female, their bellies are shaved. We usually hold her for 2 days after surgery for aftercare then return her to her home territory. During winter months, those shaved bellies expose bare skin to snow and the elements, leaving the cat more susceptible to the cold and illness without their usual fur for insulation. It usually takes 2-3 months for the hair to return. Much as we want to avoid spring kittens, our concern for the welfare of the female takes precedence. If you do have yard cats that are in need of TNR, and are in our area (within about 10 miles of Maywood IL) email us at catvandotnr@yahoo.com, to make arrangements for when the weather permits - usually very early spring. If you're outside our area, just google TNR in your area or ask your local shelters for a reference.

Check Your Salt!

Use Safe Salt rather than the usual type Sold under many brands, safe salt is salt that will melt the ice without drying up cats tender paws during the winter months. It's more expensive but you don't use as much. Regular salt harms the cats paws. They dry out, then crack and become infected and very painful! Bad enough that most people use the regular stuff but if you have yard cats, switch to the safe stuff. I get it at Walgreens for about $8. I've seen the same size at a local pet chain for $16

Yowza it's The Season

A Stone Park Colony - 6 cats black or black and white except for Scotty. Poor boy, never saw a cat so flea infested. Wasn't doing much itching but there was a 1/16" layer of flea larve & poop under his cage after 24 hours. It was horrible and took an entire morning to deal with. Couldn't bathe him but did give him Revolution for fleas and parasites. Washing would have been great to get rid of the flea crap but wouldn't have done much for the fleas...... He has a great feeder.

Here's where his devoted caregiver delivers food every day. She drives from her home and feeds this and one other colony. This is behind an empty house. The man who use to feed the cats lost his home and had to move. She heard about it and started feeding and contacted us for TNR

We trapped 7 the first day and 1 the second. We did however, trap a skunk (our first and we didn't get sprayed releasing him!) and a possum. The night before we trapped our first raccoon... a banner 24 hours I'd rather not repeat!

Newest TNR project 316

This is a sweet looking colony most that have eyes that look like they're lined with black crayon. Not all are pictured. This caregiver and I connected the day these photos were taken. As luck would have it, our first attempt at pre-baiting was successful. At times there were 3 on one side and 2 on the other side of the trap. Pre-baiting is a technique used to assure cats will easily enter the trap, so that when it's 'set' to trap, cats are accustomed to entering, usually at a fixed feeding time. It eliminates the need to wait hours for the cats to mosey in to the set trap. It's unusual to pre-bait with one trap and numerous cats but TNR methods, while static are also flexible and 'you do what you can with what you have'.... Fortunately, these cats were hungry so dove into the traps first time they saw it. These lucky cats have a feeder who cares for them and who understands that few can turn into many in a short period of time. The cat in the upper right of the blog, with the grey crown and white face, is pregnant. She's also the mom of the 3, approximately 6 months old kittens in this colony. These are all feral cats. Secure enough to come close but not enough to be petted. Their at home with the caregiver and use to her and even secure enough to eat while I'm there. These pictures are taken from inside the porch through a window. We're only 3-4 feet from them.

For the next few days, their caregiver will be putting their food in the traps (they'll have 7 traps over there by the end of the weekend). Sunday morning will be their last meal until Monday afternoon, when we'll begin trapping. It works best if they're hungry. On Tuesday and maybe Wednesday morning, they'll be going to Animal Care League's, Feral S/N Clinic. They'll all be sterilized and vetted (see TNR sidebar). The mom will be aborted (I know, it's a horrible thing to take a life, but it's humane when you think of the thousands of kittens born with no place to go), then they'll be back home by next Thursday or Friday. Between that time, they will remain in their traps, covered to make them comfortable (it soothes them), monitored for any after effects of their surgeries. Rule of thumb is if they are urinating and moving their bowels, they're ready to go home, unless there's infection or other complications - usually isn't. Generally speaking males are kept 24 and females 48 hours during aftercare. In this area, all the immediate neighbors will receive info on TNRing, free roaming cats, and cat deterrent info.

We don't get to publish all our TNRing projects, but this one, you'll get to follow from start to finish. It will be an interesting journey into TNR. Each colony and situation is different but similar enough to get the gist of things. This one is different because the cats were hungry the minute the first trap was put out. Many times, we pre-bait for a week to assure comfort and ease with going into them before we set them. We'll just see how things go next week! and........... we'll keep you posted!