Trap. Neuter. Return.
TNR ( Trap-Neuter-Return) is the only effective and humane solution to a colony of community cats. By humanely trapping, neutering, and returning the cats you are preventing hundreds of kittens from being born, stopping the spread of illness, and stopping many problem behaviors like fighting.
What is a community cat?
A community cat is a feral or stray cat that is not owned by anyone, lives outdoors, and might be fed regularly by a caregiver.
What is the difference between a feral and a stray cat?
A feral cat is a cat who was born outside and has never had any human interaction and cannot be touched. A stray cat is a once owned cat who has been abandoned outside. Stray cats are usually not as skeptical of humans and can adjust to indoor life quickly.
Why can't feral cats be taken to animal shelters?
Feral cats are not adoptable, so when they get taken to a shelter they have a euthanasia rate close to 100%. As TNR is getting more popular, ear-tipped cats are recognized as cats who have a caregiver and are fixed and they are returned instead of euthanized.
Why return them?
TNR works because feral cats are territorial and very bonded to their environment. Sterilized cats defend a territory against newcomers, and it has been proven that removing feral cats will result with new (unfixed) cats moving into that environment.
Getting Started
The first step to starting a TNR Project after finding a colony of community cats is to figure out who is feeding them and get scheduled with a veterinary clinic. Knowing who is feeding and when is helpful so you know what time of day to expect the cats to come around and you can get a better idea of how many total cats are present.
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Trap: Using a humane trap and some smelly cat food you can safely catch the cats. If you are local to us we do have a trap loan program, or traps can be purchased online or at a local farm store.
*A helpful tip from our director: If you have been using canned cat food or canned fish to bait the trap, but need something higher value for those trap smart cats, try getting an order of KFC chicken and pull the warm meat off of the bones (never feed cooked bones to any animal) and use that for your bait! Bonus, you can snack on the rest while you wait for the cats to go in!
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Neuter: You will bring the cat to the clinic you have an appointment at and they will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and ear tipped. If you need TNR appointments at our clinic, email TNR@snipwv.org to get on our list!
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Return: After the cat has recovered overnight and the effects of anesthesia have worn off you can return the cat to the place where they were trapped.
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Kittens 12 weeks and under can be placed in foster care, socialized, and eventually adopted out. After 12 weeks of age it becomes a little more difficult as they have grown up without human interaction. You can reach out to adoption organizations (see our Resources tab for groups local to us) to see if they have foster/shelter space to intake cats.
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What is an Ear Tip?
After a cat is neutered, the vet will take a little tip off of the cat’s ear. This signifies that the cat has been fixed and vaccinated, and it lets other rescues/animal control/neighbors know that this cat is part of a TNR program and that it is not contributing to the overpopulation of cats.
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In cities where TNR programs are popular these eartips keep these feral cats out of shelters, and stops them from being euthanized.
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Eartips are also helpful if you have cats that look identical in the same colony, which happens frequently!
SNIP WV Feral Free Program
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Through our Feral Free Program, colony caregivers from West Virginia are able to get their feral and stray cats spayed/neutered at no cost! We host Feral Free Days, where we will see 80-120 community cats in one day! We also accommodate cats through the Feral Free Program on regularly scheduled days as needed as well.
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How do I sign up?
You can email TNR@snipwv.org to be added to our Feral Free Interests List! We have someone new monitoring that inbox and catching up our waitlist, so if you have reached out through there and still have kitties who need to be fixed feel free to send another email!
We need: Your name, address, phone number, and approximately how many cats are in your colony.
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Do they need to be ear tipped?
Yes, an ear tip is a requirement for this program.
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How is this program funded?
This program is funded by grants and donations!
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Do cats need to be in traps?
With the safety of our clients and our staff in mind, we prefer that feral cats come in humane traps. However, we do understand if the only way you can catch the cat is a crate/carrier.
What is included?
Through this program community cats will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, given an HCP vaccine (while grant funded vaccines are available), and ear tipped!
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Can you rehome my friendly/feral kittens?
We are not a shelter and do not have a place to intake animals/adopt them out. We would recommend reaching out to local rescue groups if you have kittens at your colony that you think could be homed.
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Do you have geographic restrictions for this program?
Due to funding sources, this program is currently restricted to West Virginia at this time. We are looking into additional grants to be able to offer this program to the surrounding states near us!