October 16th is National Feral Cat Day. It’s the perfect day to celebrate these kitties and learn what you can do to help them!

You’ve probably seen a feral cat roaming near you. They are found all over the country – around neighborhoods, apartment complexes, work, shopping centers, gas stations, schools, highway rest stops, warehouses, and any little hiding place you can imagine.

They often get a bad reputation and are labeled as mean, aggressive, and even unadoptable. In reality, they are just misunderstood. 

These cats live outside and fend for themselves. They fear and hide from people because they’ve never been properly socialized with humans. They may have been born outside, abandoned, or just wandered away. Often, they don’t want to be a pet and just prefer an outdoor lifestyle. No matter where they came from, they deserve a chance at life! Whether a cat’s home is in our houses or in our communities, they deserve our care, our support, and our love!

Without getting spayed or neutered, these cats can quickly multiply and become unmanageable with kittens, kittens, and more kittens. Just one female can have up to 24 kittens a year and 100 in her lifespan. 

The statistics can be overwhelming sometimes – how many cats are euthanized in shelters, how many kittens one unaltered cat can have, how many cats must be spayed/neutered before we can see a positive change in our community – it goes on and on. BUT – the best thing you can do to help these kitties is Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR)!

TNR is the most humane and effective method known for managing these feral cats and reducing their numbers. During TNR, cats are trapped and brought into a veterinary clinic, such as Planned PEThood, where they are spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and ear-tipped. After they’ve recovered from their surgery, these cats are returned back to their original outdoor homes. When left unaltered, these cats can reproduce, and before you know it, there will be dozens and dozens of cats living in your neighborhood. 

We strongly believe in TNR and we want to help you help these feral kitties! This is why at Planned PEThood of GA, we offer a variety of ways to help these community cats. We offer humane trap loans at NO CHARGE to the public plus we can teach you how to set up the trap and tell you some of our tips and tricks for TNR. We want to help you go out there and help these feral and community cats.

These cats deserve the world. TNR is the most loving thing you can do to help a feral kitty live their healthiest outdoor life. We hope you will TNR to help these kitties!

MAKE A GIFT TO HELP FERAL CATS

For additional questions, visit our TNR resource page or email communitycats@PEThoodGA.org