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Old 10-08-2011, 08:32 AM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,084,412 times
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Well - this clinic holds them for 24 hours, then suggest the caregiver keeps them in the trap for another 24 at least. Definitely for the females. More time would be better, especially in cold weather, I'd think.

I did TNR briefly with a neighbor when I lived in Colorado, that clinic gave you the cats back the same day and IIRC they said to hold them 2-3 days, at least the females.

STT Resident, good for you! That is my goal as well. To not see multiple litters of cute kittens running around all summer, most of which disappear.
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Old 10-08-2011, 09:00 AM
 
Location: St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
24,665 posts, read 69,418,810 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Giesela View Post
The surgery is much more invasive for a spay (female) than a male (neuter).

I have read and been told by the vet to hold them longer.

This sheet at the link says 3 days for non-pregnant cats and 5 for cats that were pregnant (surgery on a pregnant cat is even harder on them.)
This guideline sheet also discusses the dilemma of lactating females, another big issue. Females are just hard!

http://www.svff.org/TNR-guidelines-a...ics-upload.pdf
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiroptera View Post
Well - this clinic holds them for 24 hours, then suggest the caregiver keeps them in the trap for another 24 at least. Definitely for the females. More time would be better, especially in cold weather, I'd think.

I did TNR briefly with a neighbor when I lived in Colorado, that clinic gave you the cats back the same day and IIRC they said to hold them 2-3 days, at least the females.

STT Resident, good for you! That is my goal as well. To not see multiple litters of cute kittens running around all summer, most of which disappear.
Hmm, interesting and I can certainly understand the logic and the extent of the cautions as people who have all good intentions can often be woefully uneducated.

When I first started doing the feline TNR (this after years of rescuing, adopting and fostering a huge variety of four-legged furries and critters) I concentrated on the females first for obvious reasons and a couple of them did turn out to be in the first stages of (another!) pregnancy when taken in for spaying so were obviously aborted at the same time. I'm not arguing with the absolute common sense in holding particularly spayed females for a few days but when you're dealing with ferals that's rarely possible so common sense prevails. Never lost one nor encountered any residual problems - just watched them enjoy their new-found litter-free freedom (and was able to have a couple adopted)!

I wouldn't have been able to do it all on my own but my restaurant customers at the time regularly and generously chipped into the "Anti Kitty Litter Kitty" fund on the bar while the local vets drastically reduced their charges. It's usually a joint project to get this sort of thing going and thriving!
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Old 10-08-2011, 09:26 AM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,084,412 times
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I would like to target the females as a priority, but most of the cats in this loose colony down the road are really wild, so for the most part whatever goes into the trap is what gets snipped! Unless I can see testicles, or the cat's a fairly gender-specific color (calico, orange) I don't know what sex the young ones are because I can't get close enough.

I'm getting some cooperation and help from neighbors....in fact one of them has been feeding these cats for over a year, she's the one who got me involved. My next-door neighbors will chip in a few bucks, they said. Which will help - I can only afford so many a month.

AAA is having a free "shelter-building" day, next Sunday. Where attendees will get to build various types of inexpensive shelters for winter - we're in Michigan - so the cats can keep warm.

LOL @ the "Anti Kitty Litter Kitty" fund.
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Old 10-08-2011, 10:28 AM
 
Location: St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
24,665 posts, read 69,418,810 times
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Good for you and it sounds as though you're very much on the right track! The more people you can get to contribute the easier it obviously is. The Humane Society here now has "cat cafés" at various resorts and condo complexes. Of course we don't have to worry here about cold weather protection but the "cafés" are basically feeding stations which volunteers maintain and member funding supports. As the cats become familiar with the stations, the schedules and the volunteers who man them, they're trapped and "culled". Obviously sick cats are euthanized and the others are spayed/neutered, have their ears clipped, are given their basic shots and released back. The resort and condo owners continue to enjoy the obvious benefits of non-toxic pest control (!) and many visitors who miss their pets at home enjoy the opportunity to socialize with some of the more friendly felines.

No program is without its problems but even one person can make huge changes so carry on (as though you need any prompting from me!)

You mentioned the difficulty in sexing kittens who don't fall within the sex/color parameters. A few years ago in the middle of a busy Mother's Day Sunday dinner I got a call from a young man I knew who was at that time working in a supermarket. While dumping trash out back he came across a tiny kitten who he said needed help and asked if he could bring it over when he finished work. Too busy to argue, I said OK and he said he would be off around 9PM. He arrived around 10PM as the last customers were leaving, holding in the palm of his hand this dishevelled tiny tabby whose dirty matted baby fur was sticking up on end, eyes were closed and all gummed up, nostrils likewise gummed up and with an obviously dreadful upper respiratory infection with every breath a labored groan. Good grief!

I honestly didn't think it would make it through the night but managed to finger-stuff a mouthful or two of wet food into its mouth and then settled it into a bathroom with a comfortable towel-lined box with water and a litter pan, closed the door to keep it separated from the other kids and hoped for the best.

It was still alive early the next morning and I was at the vet's when the doors opened at 7AM to pick up nursing bottles, formula and antibiotics. To cut a long story short, I named it Max because it was so damned small I couldn't sex it and I couldn't keep calling it, "IT"!. "Max" because for some reason while I was either bottle-feeding or bathing her the Beatles song, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was on instant replay in my head. Go figure. Could have stayed simply Max if a boy and Maxine if a girl.

"Max" turned out to be a girl and now over three years old she is the little darling of the 5-cat household. One of the present clan joined the fold after her but the four others all very lovingly helped raise her. She'll always be small, a funny little lightweight who continuously sports a smile and has not one bad bone in her little body. She loved being a part of the restaurant (closed after 15 years just a couple of months ago) and customers marveled that if they played with her and were unlucky enough to NOT avoid her paws catching their fingers, those claws were never once unleashed. Most cats' natural reaction is to grab with claws out. Ouch. Max grabs with sheathed claws, pulls your hand towards her mouth and then licks you to death!

Sorry, got carried away there. Cheers and keep up the good work!
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Old 10-08-2011, 10:58 AM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,084,412 times
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Lucky Max!

One of the kittens I caught was a tail-less grey kitten....about 6 months old, it's been around all summer. It looked like just an inch-long hairless stump and he seems fine and active. I haven't ever gotten close enough to get a good look. Apparently he lost the tail due to some sort of trauma when very little.

Anyway "Bob" came back with a note on his chart saying they recommended a vet visit for the "healing wound" on his tail. So I stopped by the vet, and in fact his poor little tail stump was mildly infected. I really couldn't justify several hundred for ampuation and surgery to clean up his tail, but the vet opined that he seemed otherwise healthy and it would be OK to let him go with a two-week injectible antibiotic. Since obviously I can't give him oral meds.

One sort of nice thing is I'm getting to know a couple more neighbors...I just bought this house last summer. Several of them know that I'm involved with (mostly dog) rescue and have come over for help with dogs. Now I fear I'm getting a rep as a crazy cat lady! Oy.
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Old 10-08-2011, 11:14 AM
 
8,228 posts, read 14,150,794 times
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I've only trapped...4 females. 2 disappeared shortly afterward. I hold them as long as I can but 2 of the really wild ones I let go after a day or 2 I can't remember. One of the ones that disappeared after was a favorite
The wildest, hardest to trap and best momma of them (in terms of kitten survival) isn't around as often but I still see her or what I think is her once in awhile. I say think because she looks SO different! Her ear is tipped, I think it has to be her but not only has she gained weight but its like the whole shape of her head has changed - all that from not having kittens continually and perhaps few hormones?
She was extremely canny, I had to starve them all for 3 days (very very hard) to get her hungry enough to hit the trap.
Many of the neutered males have disappeared as well and fairly soon after release. One was hit by a car but I've started to wonder if the neuter/shots is somehow overwhelming their immune systems. Say if they had a condition that was sort of in check under normal circumstances but the trap/neuter/shot/release started a down spiral. No way of knowing but I've been wondering what to do now with the new males that have shown up. 1 looks a little older and 1 looks ok but somehow not the best.

STT- your restaurant customers sound really nice. And I'm glad to hear that the resorts aren't taking a complete eradication stance, so nice to hear positive stories!
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Old 10-08-2011, 12:24 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,084,412 times
Reputation: 10354
Giesela, could it be that the neutered males no longer have the drive to fight and defend territory, and are "run off" by the intact ones to new hunting grounds? Just a guess. I'm no fan of unecessary vaccinations, but a healthy animal isn't likely to be compromised by neuter and shots, IMHO. I think stray or feral cats that make it to adulthood are probably tougher than most, due to natural selection and probably a good dose of luck.

When I moved here last year, I brought a mama cat and her four kittens - strays that a neighbor at my old house was feeding. There was quite a bit of work to be done on the house before I could move in, so my plan was to keep them in the house with food, water and litter boxes for several weeks, then let them out when they'd settled in. Yeah I know - cats are better indoors but frankly I didn't want to share a very small house with three dogs, my own four cats plus five wild cats! And where I live, I have woods on one side, am on a quiet road that dead-ends into playing fields so basically no traffic and the nearest trafficky road is a half mile away.

Anyway, I had mama cat spayed and vaccinated, and planned to do the kittens as soon as they were old enough and hopefully find homes for them (I had one home lined up, actually.) Unfortunately mama cat disappeared shortly after the move. The kittens were around for weeks, then all of a sudden only one was left. I never figured out what happened to them, or to mama cat. A year later, the remaining kitten (Gorman) is still here. He and my black cat Archie are very bonded and are almost always together. They sleep with their paws around each other, it's cute.
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