WHAT COLONY CARE-TAKERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT TNR

          Maryland Feline Society has been doing Trap-Neuter-Return projects since spring of 2003.  We thought it would be appropriate to talk to some of the colony care-takers and see just what impact they feel altering the cats has had on life in the colony and on the community.

          Joanna cares for a colony of over 40 cats in Baltimore.  (We will not identify exactly where the colony is because the City still is unsure whether the “return” part of TNR is legal.  Also, folks tend to drop off more cats if they know a group of them is being cared for.)  Joanna’s colony is located in an industrial area. Joanna’s part in this venture began when she saw a litter of kittens showing up and being fed by workers in the plant.  The weather turned cold and she found a dead kitten.  More and more cats started to show up.  By March of 2005, “It was out of hand,” she says. She knew that there was not enough food to continue indefinitely. She contacted MFS and a TNR project was begun.  She got 20 cats in the first round.  The first round always is the easiest because the cats are naïve and don’t know what’s going on.  Although she continues to trap and bring cats to our spayathons, there have been no new kittens since fall of 2005.  Unfortunately, there are more cats moving in.  The building adjacent to hers also has cats and the workers there also feed.  Joanna feels lucky that most of the businesses nearby are pro-cat or indifferent to the cats.  One worker was concerned when he saw the traps.  He was afraid the cats were being trapped for research animals.  Joanna gave him a pamphlet about TNR and reassured him that the cats were coming back.

          Joanna provides shelters, the Rubbermaid totes stuffed with straw, and she reports that the cats do use them.  She also provides food and altering. 

          What are the benefits of altering the cats?  Joanna says that the cats are much calmer and healthier-looking.  She even sees them playing with each other and grooming themselves.  They do not hiss at each other any more.  The cats hang around more and bask in the sun.  They even meow when they see their feeders.  She feels it’s good for the employees to see the cats being cared for.  An added bonus is that the caterers located nearby have no rats at their dumpsters.  One gray female cat will now let them pet her and even sticks her tail up.  Joanna has paid for all of these surgeries for her colony.  “We are supposed to be the stewards of the earth,” she explains.

Rubbermaid Tote cat shelters (left) and custom-made cat shelters from a Balto. Co. colony (right)

          Alice has a colony in South Baltimore which she has been tending for 3 years now. She estimates that she has 20 or 25 cats and some visitors.  But there are no more kittens, a hallmark of successful colony management and a significant goal.  Her main problem these days is that people dump their own cats there, especially pregnant females.

          Alice got started when she visited a business in the area. She saw a mailman feeing a cat nearby and started talking to him. He asked her to feed his cat while he was away. While feeding the cat, Alice noticed that she was pregnant.  Then she had her kittens.  Then construction on new homes started where Alice was feeding.  She had to move her feeding location and soon she had attracted bunches of cats from a block away.  She contacted MFS at this point for some help. 

          Alice provides totes with straw as shelters, but she is not sure how much they are being used.  She also provides food and now altering services.

          What are the benefits of altering the cats?  Like Joanna, she feels that the cats are healthier and happier.  Before they were altered, the cats used to get in the way of moving machinery a lot.  Now they are not seen at all during the day.  The owners of the businesses are relieved that the cats aren’t in the way and being injured.  The cats know her car and appear when she shows up to feed.  Like Joanna, she rarely sees fight wounds and feels that the cats are tamer.  There also is a rodent control benefit to the community – the cats bring her mice!  And people thank Alice for doing this work. The only complaint she has had from workers is a man who parked at her feeding place who asked her to move the location because she was attracting too many pigeons and they were soiling his car.  She moved her feeding station and wound up using less food!