National Feral Cat Day: Learn the Ins And Outs Of Trap-Neuter-Return To Help The Cause

Source: Headlines & Global News

It's National Feral Cat Day, how are you participating? Grab a bag of cat food and feed a group of strays in your area. Look for ear tipping - if they aren't tipped, chances are they need to be trapped and fixed as well.

Their original mission was to promote feral cats, often referred to as community cats, to raise awareness of the highly successful Trap-Neuter-Return program (TNR) and to support the people across the country who care for the millions of feral cats across the U.S.

Statistics are ugly for the feral cat. Cats in general don't get a chance at shelters, with a 70 percent average of them being euthanized, and that includes the friendly ones. Feral cats have a 100 percent death rate at animal shelters, which is why Alley Cat Allies came up with the TNR program.

"During TNR, cats are humanely trapped ad brought to a veterinarian to be evaluated, spayed or neutered, and then vaccinated. While under anesthesia, the cats are eartipped - a small portion of the left ear is painlessly removed for identification. After they recover from the sterilization surgery, they are returned to their outdoor home," says Alley Cat Allies, according to The Cat Channel.

"Trap-Neuter-Return is the only effective method of stabilizing cat colony populations. In the last decade, the number of local governments with official policies endorsing TNR has increased tenfold, with hundreds of cities and towns successfully carrying out TNR programs," Alley Cat Allies added.

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Read more: http://www.hngn.com/articles/141105/20151016/national-feral-cat-day-learn-ins-outs-trap-neuter-return.htm