The “Why” Behind The Movement
Before May of 2022, I had no idea about community cats and the world of TNR. I actively avoided fostering kittens, thinking I would “foster fail” the moment I met them and would “keep them all.” I avoided adoption events at pet stores, because I worried I would have a difficult time seeing the cats in cages. And then I moved into a neighborhood with too many outdoor, unaltered, free-roaming cats that were not owned by any single community member. The cats simply existed in the area, and started to approach me as I spent more time in the garden, and more time watching them.
These particular community cats - The Greys, as we dubbed them - were a colony of brown tabby females, black and white males, and a few grey tabbies in the mix as well. While they were a joy to observe, the first interactions were tinged with sadness. Finding a kitten far beyond saving, I shakily Googled the nearest emergency vet clinic and took the kitten in for help. She was tiny, her eyes not yet open, and had a lovely jet black coat that would have grown long and very regal had she lived. This was about three months after arriving to the neighborhood, shortly after the cats started approaching the yard, and finding this suffering kitten made me realize that I needed to help.
The obvious step may have been to call the City and complain about the cats, to blame the neighbors for having been irresponsible for letting these unaltered cats roam the area without any care. That didn’t occur to me, because I never wanted the cats to be removed: I simply wanted them cared for, and I was willing to do it.
It is important to define “care” here. “Care” is not limited to feeding stations; just because one provides food and water for the free-roaming cats, doesn’t mean they are sufficiently cared for. Responsible cat colony management, as I came to learn (and continue to learn daily), involves obtaining spay/neuter/vaccination appointments for the community cats, and then continued monitoring of the cats once they return to their original outdoor home, so any further medical attention can be provided. Yes, the cats are fed twice daily and provided with outdoor shelters should they choose to use them, but the key component and the only action that would really make a difference in the lives of these free-roaming cats was to have them humanely trapped, transported to their spay/neuter/vaccination appointments, and subsequently returned to their same outdoor location to then be cared for by a caretaker (in this case, me, but there are many of us caring for various colonies).
Our website explains TNR in-depth on this page. If you’re not familiar with the practice, it’s worth reading about and seeking out more information. You would be surprised how many TNR advocates exist among us, and how many of us are independent trappers trying to navigate vouchers, obtain appointments, and ultimately coax some savvy unowned cats into humane traps. Once I learned that TNR existed and that it was the most effective way to save these unowned, free-roaming cats, I dove straight in.
If a humane solution exists for the overpopulation crisis of community cats, why not embrace it? There are various roadblocks, of course. At times, it felt nearly impossible to find spay/neuter appointments. And, when I fostered a feral mother cat (our sweet Bengal) with her litter of 5 (born indoors unexpectedly, under a bathroom sink, because we could not find spay/neuter appointments fast enough) it was difficult even to find appointments for “tame” kittens (as opposed to “feral” TNR appointments). But, as the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” as so our rescue was born. It was clear that this colony had impacted me in ways I never expected. I was forever changed by their presence, and by the plight of community cats on the whole.
I was willing to serve as their Colony Caretaker, and it’s a task I embrace. To any free-roaming, unowned cat that arrives at feeding time, I promise them the same I promised each of the Greys: “a plate, some (cat)nip, and a snip.” And, I promise them: “It only has to happen once, and then you never have to see the trap again. Or me, if you really dislike me after this.” But, typically they arrive the next day at meal time and there are no hard feelings, just Friskies.
