If you’ve never been involved in animal rescue (or watched TV shows about it), you may not know what a trap-neuter-return program (TNR) for feral cats is. Read on to learn why feral cats need to be managed at all and how TNR, and other programs, can play a role in their welfare.
Why are Feral Cats a Problem?
Unmanaged feral cat colonies present several potential problems for the communities where they reside, including the potential for spreading disease to people and pets, negative impacts on prey animal populations, deterioration of community well-being and concerns over the health and safety of the cats themselves. The life expectancy of a feral cat is disturbingly short (often two years or less) due to the harsh environment and competition they face.
What is the Point of a TNR Program?
In their simplest forms, TNR programs are just what they sound like: cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, and returned to the area where they live. But why would you bother doing this in the first place? The primary reason is to reduce the population of feral cats in a given area. By sterilizing animals and therefore preventing them from reproducing, populations decrease over time.
TNR programs also help reduce some of the problem behaviors that people take issue with in feral cat populations like fighting, roaming and loud yowling. Spayed and neutered feral cats also often lead longer and healthier lives as there is less stress and potential for injury when competition for mating is reduced.
How Does TNR Work?
Cats are captured, usually in humane live traps, and brought in for veterinary care. The care may be limited to strictly spay or neuter operations, but often other care is administered as well. Vaccinations (especially against rabies) and parasite control are a couple examples of care frequently given when cats are captured for TNR. The cats’ ears are usually notched so that they can be immediately identified as sterilized feral cats, reducing the possibility that they’ll undergo unnecessary procedures in the future. All the care they receive is carried out humanely and in a way that reduces stress on animals who are not used to much human contact.
Once they’ve recovered from their operations, the animals are released back into their original environment. In some TNR programs, a subset of cats will receive a full veterinary work-up and socialization so that they can be adopted into loving homes. It should be noted, however, that many feral cats can (and should) remain with their feral colonies after receiving medical care.
Are There Alternatives to TNR?
There are a couple alternatives to TNR programs for reducing feral cat populations. In years gone by, cats were often eliminated by lethal means. Now, the evolution of animal ethics means that population reduction methods that allow cats to live out their lives are preferable. TNR is one of those, but there are also TVHR (trap, vasectomy, hysterectomy, release) programs, which take away an animal’s ability to reproduce but not the hormones that drive mating. Studies indicate that TVHR may reduce populations more effectively than TNR, but TVHR leaves some of the negative aspects of a feral cat colony (mating behaviors, aggression, roaming, etc.) unaddressed. In some cases, feral cats can be adopted or rehomed to sanctuaries.
Overall, studies show a positive impact of TNR programs on feral cat populations and the communities that are their homes. TNR efforts are an important part of improving animal and community welfare.