Відео

It feels overwhelming sometimes, right? TNR can be effective when done properly, but it requires targeting 100% of a colony, tracking new arrivals, and understanding that it’s a long-term commitment-it takes significant organization and dedication to really do it right. That said, TNR alone-even if executed perfectly-isn’t always the solution. Population issues are pretty complex and we've learned they require a mix of programs, such as low-cost spay/neuter for owned cats to reduce outdoor populations, surrender prevention initiatives (like behavioral support and affordable vet care), and strategies like return-to-home or finder fostering to keep cats out of shelters. These efforts free up shelter space for cats most in need and allow organizations to reallocate resources more effectively. Plus, they empower the public and raise awareness. There’s also ongoing discussion about removing barriers for adopters, enforcing responsible breeding laws, advocating for legislation that reduces access-to-care pressures, and providing better community resources-all of which play critical roles. Ultimately, it’s about coordinating services tailored to a community’s needs to make a lasting impact. You might want to check out the information we have on the community cat pyramid philosophy at www.communitycatspodcast.com/cat-pyramid/. Stacy developed this framework to visually represent how spay/neuter, rescue/sheltering, and resource allocation intersect across different populations."

I’m glad you found it helpful!

There is some guidance in Neighborhood Cats' TNR Handbook (which you can download here: www.neighborhoodcats.org/learn-more/books-guides) and some great tips for disease prevention that can be build into a colony caretaking routine, but it really depends on the severity of the injury or illness. In my experience, I find drop trapping the ailing kitty and heading to the vet is the best plan. A mobile vet that services colonies would be amazing but I don't believe I know of any. But, if a local vet makes house calls, it wouldn't be out of the question to ask if they'd make a colony call - the worst they can say is no, right? You'd likely still need to trap the cat ahead of time to be examined so I'm not sure how much of a time saver it would be but I could see it being less stressful for the cat than traveling.

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. We're not vets so we're really not qualified to weigh in on those medically specific questions. But! I can point you towards the Facebook group for FeLV+ cat owners that Margaret recommends. You'll find it here - facebook.com/groups/26073442228. They are pretty active and there are a lot of members so bringing your question to that forum will likely get you a lot of experienced replies. Good luck. We've got fingers and paws crossed for your little guy!

I'll check it out - thanks for sharing!

Losing a sick kitty is always difficult. I'm so sorry you had to go through it. What makes you think your cat was FeLV+?

Working cat programs are pretty amazing! Do you have one or are you thinking about starting one?

This is so good to hear! The more successfully integrated homes there are the more acceptable it's going to be. :)

Run ins with difficult people are always tough. You have to hear them out and keep a level head. I think the thing to remember is - most of the time anyway - we usually have a similar goal - less unhealthy cats suffering in unsafe places. Could you say a little more about how you're using the drop trap and what you've tried to entice them to go in? The community might have some tips and tricks that could help.

Hello! I *think* I have some ideas for you but I have some questions. Would you mind emailing support@communitycatspodcast.com so we can start a convo?

You're welcome 😊

Thank YOU! I'm so glad you got a lot out of it even with all of your experience! If you want to see it with all the visuals you can hope over to ua-cam.com/video/SGKhv6QbhxU/v-deo.html.

I'm sorry to hear about the surprise diagnosis but so glad to hear you're keeping her happy and healthy. Could you email me this story at support@communitycatspodcast.com? I'll get you connected with the presenter to answer your question.

Hi, thank you very much for answering! Sure, I'll write everything about her medical history. Thanks again! ​@@communitycatspodcast

Oh those trap-savvy kitties are always frustrating. But you've got this! The drop trap is a total game changer and trying that out is the best thing you can do. But in the mean time sometimes it helps to combine things. The last tough-to-trap cat trick that I learned about was a trapper using Friskies treats and a little cat nip in the trap to get him interested and then a laser pointer to distract him with some play and he followed it right in.

I went right to Margaret for the answer. Here's what she said. "They are the same. The test that they want is #26355 from IDEXX. It does the quantitative PCR test and also a lab-controlled Elisa test." She said feel free to contact her if you want more details - I believe she gives her contact info at the end of the recording. :)

I'm glad you're finding it helpful! You can certainly subscribe to the UA-cam channel by hitting the subscribe button and then you'll get alerted when new shows and webinars are released. (The podcast itself is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.) There's also the a whole FeLV playlist on here - ua-cam.com/play/PLd6QBidLDxPMKV2XYuz46DzzZ-KCURFVT.html&si=mh0BPbM8Xzx7lwhw - and we do a virtual FeLV conference every year. This year's is going to be on 6/19. Also - feel free to get in touch if you have questions! (communitycatspodcast.com) We're always happy to answer questions or point you to the right person if it's something we don't know. :)

Thanks! I’m glad you’re enjoying them as much as we enjoy chatting with our guests. :)

Oh! Not sure if you're interested but - heads up! - we have the 2025 version of Colony Caretaking Tips & Tricks coming up in November if you wanted to be there live. It's totally free if you want to take part, have tips to add, or have questions you want to get in to Bryan and Suzi. :) www.communitycatspodcast.com/events/colony-caretaking-tips-and-tricks-presented-by-neighborhood-cats-nov-2024/

That's an excellent resource too! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you so much for the update! Sounds like there's been a lot of progress. I do have a question (just to clarify, this is Kristen, not Stacy) is there any worry about their being more euthanasia due to capacity if the town opens its own shelter?

@@communitycatspodcast I don't see that as a problem, and I'm more focused on getting a shelter at this point than worrying about capacity. Without a shelter, we have zero capacity and cats are breeding and dying in the streets. You know the statistics: 75% of kittens born outdoors don't survive past 6 months. The existing animal shelter, which only accepts dogs, only euthanizes when dogs are very sick. They have a foster program, also. The shelter manager is on our side and wishes she could do more to help the cats in town, but they are understaffed - in order to even run the existing TNR program, they need a Feral Cat Coordinator to handle the calls and schedule the appointments - but the person who did that job quit several months ago and they haven't been able to replace her. (Maybe because the job is only 19 hours per week, offers no benefits, and includes weekends). Meanwhile the many volunteers like Stuart and myself continue to feed colonies, do TNR on our own, and advocate for better services in North Hempstead.

Yes! You can find instructions at this link - droptrapdesign.blogspot.com - and a download from Neighborhood Cats here - s3.amazonaws.com/jo.beta.bucket/neighborhoodcats/ckeditor_assets/data/36/drop_trap_specifications.pdf - Hope that helps!

I was going to say it's best to cover the trap as quickly and quietly as you can but it sounds like you're already doing that. Maybe trying cat nip or silver vine as bait as it sometimes chills them out and they might not be as apt to bounce off the walls? I've done this in box traps but I haven't used it in a drop trap so you might be more difficult to use if you're trying to catch several and if they are rolling around it might be harder to get them into the right position to drop it safely. But - worth a shot to see how it goes? I'm going to ask Bryan if he has any other suggestions and I'll post them back here if he's got some. (Are you part of the Community Cats Podcast Facebook group? It's worth looking it up because they are a pretty active little brain trust of experienced cat folks and they usually have great suggestions!)

Thanks for the feedback. Is there a particular subject you're interested in? I'd be happy to make a list for you. :) (Also - you're not wrong - it does make it a lot easier and we actually switched over to doing more of an episode title with the subject. Someday we're hoping to get to addressing the titles in the back catalog. It's on the to-do list!)

@@communitycatspodcast An episode on slowing down owner relinquishments for bad reasons like new babies or inherited animals that don’t get along with existing animals..etc. A lot of problems can be solved with cat enrichment, owner initiated play, catification etc. When I’m in online rescue groups and people try to rehome I get shouted down for trying to educate them on how to do Adjustments to keep the animal in their home. The Rescue in shelter systems are full of these cats and it keeps cats that actually need to be there from being able to get assistance. We need more education on keeping cats in their homes where they already are. I would also like some talks on how to tame feral kittens. Also on how to encourage and support people into fostering. My biggest struggle as a one person Rescue is getting people to pay an adoption fee in a rural community flooded with free kittens all the time. I have to beg Rescue’s in bigger areas an hour away to assist me with adoptions. I’ve been working to educate my own community for the past year on how free kittens are not free. I purposely go after people with free kittens offering to spay their mama cats in to help them get their kittens spayed and neutered. A lot of people won’t take me up on it. I have an idea for snapping up every batch of free kittens in my community as they come up, but I just don’t have the funding for that initiative.

Most traps don't close hard enough to do any damage. In most cases it would just surprise them and jolt them forward a bit. Plus, there's space at the bottom of the door that the tail can slip through fairly easily when they do move forward. I think bending the door might give them a small space they might try to push through once it closes and so do a little more damage to their nose/face. That said, there's always some inventive person out there who may have solved the problem and if I find anything about it I'll certainly post it here. - Tech Tabby

That is a fantastic tip! We'll make sure to send it on to Bryan and Suzi. Thanks for sharing!

Are they indoor pet cats or are they community cats? What prompted you to get them tested? Are you getting all the information you need or do you have questions? Feel free to reach out - you can reach us at support@communitycatspodcast.com - if we don't have an answer we can certainly point you towards someone who does! :)

Aww - that's a cute name. :) Janice's company has really come up with an interesting (and I think, pretty) solution. I hope you like yours!

You are so welcome!

Have you used a drop trap before? They are AWESOME for picking out a particular cat. If you've never seen/used one there's a recording of a webinar we did on it here - ua-cam.com/video/kyKv0D1aVrs/v-deo.html - and we're also doing an updated one live this weekend if you want to join in. (It's totally free. :)) The registration is here - register.gotowebinar.com/register/4676636804079928662 - and Bryan and Suzi will be available for questions. If you don't want to get super into the details on the drop trap though you can always do the bottle and string trick on a box trap to keep the door open if the wrong cat goes in but drop it once the right one heads in. I think they go over the finer points at 27:30 on this video.

It's one of my favorite phrases. Their hearts usually in the right place but it *is* less-than-helpful.

That's fantastic! It takes a lot of patience to work with adult community cats but, oh my gosh, is it not one of the best feelings in the world when they get curious and start to look forward to the extra attention? Nice work!

@@communitycatspodcast Thanks! I do my best. 😀😀

You so welcome - and thank YOU for everything you do!

Aww yay! I'm glad you're finding the content useful and thank you so much for being out there helping the cats! It sounds like it's rough out there. Do you know if there any MASH-style clinics happening at all for TNR in the area? (Or, if not, do you or someone else in the neighborhood have the bandwidth to organize one? It might be a good way to increase the spay/neuter availability for at least the unowned kitties.)

You're welcome! I hope you catch that queen!

If you're referring to culling here just to get a rise out of folks I'd rather you didn't answer - but - if you're serious and you'd like to talk about it, please say more to about what specific technique you're talking about and why it's a good solution for local communities we'd be interested to hear. If you could refer us to any actual data-backed articles or studies that support your opinion - even better! Also - if you're interested in Australian cat-issues in particular, you might want to check out this just-released research paper about the effects free spay/neuter services have had on the cat population - www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/11/1615