National Organizations

 

• Alley Cat Allies
• Best Friends Feral Cat Library
• Neighborhood Cats
• Indy Feral
• The Humane Society of the United States - Feral Cat Program

Yahoo Groups
Search Group: Feral_Cats


Texas Feral Cat Organizations

• Feral Friends, Dallas
• Shadow Cats, Austin
• San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition
• O'Malley Alley Cat Organization 
• Southern Methodist University

On the Web

• What is a Feral Cat?
• Basic "Trap-Neuter-Return"
• Feral Cat Colony Shelter Ideas
  
• Feral Cat Facts
• TNR INFO FOR VETS
• Caring for Feral Cats

Helpful TNR Group "Start-Up" Resources:

NOTE: The Web sites listed are intended as resources only. They are not a substitute for professional veterinary care if you have an animal emergency situation or medical question.

We recommended that you seek qualified training and experienced advice before attempting to humanely trap feral cats. ***Attend one of our frequently held Trap Training Workshops!

Always make sure you follow compassionate guidelines for trapping feral cats. For example, always line the humane trap with newspaper to protect the cat's toes from getting injured. Don't trap during extreme heat or during cold weather. For more tips, attend a Trap Training Workshop!

If you are using a personal veterinarian or other animal clinic for the TNR process, please make sure you have an appointment scheduled prior to trapping and that you inform the office that you are bringing in a feral cat. Each office may have its own policy for handling feral cat spay & neuter. Ask the vet to LEFT EAR TIP the cat for future identification.

***TNR INFO FOR VETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is Heart of Texas Feral Friends?

Heart of Texas Feral Friends is a 100% volunteer group of the ABC Clinic’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program.  The ABC Clinic is a non-profit organization, so all donations made to the “ABC Clinic’s TNR program” are tax-deductible.

What exactly is a feral cat?
A feral cat is an un-owned, free-roaming, unsocialized "semi-wild" cat who is the offspring of a domestic cat. The parent cat may have been lost or abandoned, but if she was not fixed, then she became pregnant and raised her kittens in the wild. These outdoor kittens have little, if any, human contact, so they’re not necessarily the cute kittens you find for adoption at the Waco Humane Society. These un-owned kittens grow up to be feral cats and are sometimes known as alley cats or street cats. However, these street cats are NOT completely wild, so they still rely on humans to feed them and help shelter them. 

What is TNR?
Trap-Neuter-Return is a compassionate, non-lethal alternative to feral cat control and maintenance. Basically, we humanely trap the feral cats, take them in to be fixed, where they also get scanned for a microchip. They’re given a rabies vaccination and a general check-up by the vet, and their left ear is clipped for tracking and identification. Then the cats are returned to the location where we trapped them to be monitored by the caregivers who feed and water them on a daily basis.

Where are feral cats located?
Mostly, feral cats are found behind restaurants and businesses, or near parks, where they can find food. There are a lot near apartment complexes and near college campuses because, unfortunately, many pets get left behind by people who mistakenly think the cat will be okay if abandoned. It is never “okay” to dump or abandon a cat – or dog, for that matter.

Why does the spay/neuter help?
Once a feral cat is spay/neutered, they are healthier because they’re not fighting, or mating, or marking their territory for mating purposes. Feral cats can co-exist in neighborhoods and communities without being a nuisance as long as they have been fixed and aren’t producing any more litters of kittens. 

Why doesn’t this “trap and kill” work?
Any creature, humans included, will go where there is food, water and shelter. Taking the cat out will only leave a void for another cat to fill. It’s called the “vacuum effect.” By trapping and returning, these established, stabilized and healthy feral cat colonies are better able to defend the territory without as much fighting.

Where have you done TNR in Waco?
We have several feral cat colonies in Waco that are in process or are in the "assessment" stage to determine how we can help. Again, some colonies are at businesses while others are located near an individual’s home. These are monitored colonies, meaning that our volunteers and caregivers are feeding the cats on a daily basis and checking for any signs of new cats.  

So these colonies are monitored daily? 
Yes. At least once a day. A big part of TNR is monitoring the colony for any new cats. If a new cat shows up, we have to trap and spay it quickly, because one pregnant Mama cat can set us back quite a bit.

How do you know which cats have been fixed?
The left ear tip is the universal sign for a feral cat that has been fixed through the TNR program. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the left ear tip from the front, but it’s usually very easy to notice when we look at the back of their head.

 

When was the ABC Clinic’s TNR program started?
The ABC Clinic started the TNR program back in March 2007. Volunteers have been working with the ABC Clinic on a regular basis for more than a year, so we decided to give ourselves a name: Heart of Texas Feral Friends. We offer New Volunteer Orientations to train people who want to help this program succeed here in Waco. We also help train caregivers who want to trap their own colonies, and we also provide mentors for new trappers. 

What are the goals of Heart of Texas Feral Friends?
Our ULTIMATE GOALS are to reduce the number of reproducing feral cats in our community through the compassionate TNR method, and decreasing the number of cats destroyed at the shelter. To do this, we teach caregivers how to TNR so they can get their feral cat colonies fixed - stopping new kittens from being born every few of months. We also want to bring awareness to the community that there is a humane alternative for feral cat control, and that trapping and killing is cruel and doesn't work.

Why are the feral cats not relocated or rehomed? 
The “R” in TNR is “return” so it’s putting the cats back in their home after we spay/neuter. WE ARE NOT A "CAT/KITTEN RESCUE" OR RELOCATION. We can help you with resources and our "animal partners" if this is your need. We are strictly a "TNR group." These feral cats prefer to be outdoors and do not do well as someone’s pet. Feral cats can live pretty good lives if they are allowed to live in their own preferred environment, have someone to feed them and give them fresh water daily, and definitely spayed or neutered. We don’t do relocation at this point. TNR groups in other cities have tried it, but it takes about 2-4 weeks of constant care and supervision to acclimate the cats to their new environment, and it is not always successful. Just like dogs, these cats will travel long distances to get back “home.” So we return the cats to their chosen home to live out the remainder of their life happy and healthy.

What are your challenges right now?
The response to people needing TNR for the feral cats they feed is actually overwhelming. As fairly new program, we need a lot of volunteers and donations to get this program equal to the huge demand. If you can help, please CONTACT US for our next VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION.

Are donations tax-deductible?
Yes. As a non-profit organization, all funds that we raise go directly to the ABC Clinic’s TNR program to help cover costs for spay/neuter of feral cats. We try to help people with the spay/neuter costs, but as a new program we’re trying to stretch the few donation dollars we have. While the caregiver looks to us for help trapping, we look to the caregiver for help raising funds, either out of their own pocket or getting donations from their friends and family. One caregiver had her friends and family make donations on her birthday and raised a lot of money for her own colony. The ABC Clinic has generously set up this program so that 100% of donations raised by an individual caregiver can go directly into his/her own colony to help cover costs of TNR.

Is there grant money available?
There is also a government assistance grant that is available to people who have an award letter for Disability, Medicaid or Government Food Stamps, but it will expire in a few months, so anyone who is eligible needs to act now. That grant can cover up to three spay/neuters, and the ABC Clinic can give you more information about the qualifications.  We hope to look into other grant opportunities as our program expands.

How can someone learn more about TNR or volunteering?
Check out this website for more information about TNR, volunteering orientations and training, upcoming fundraisers, resources, government spay/neuter grant qualifications, and how you can make a donation. If someone wants to make a donation for this program, please make donations payable to: “ABC Clinic’s TNR Program."