FAQ
TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) is the preferred method of feral cat population control by national organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States, as well as our local Washoe County Regional Animal Services. To learn more about feral cats, including cat advocacy the science behind TNR, click here.
Found a litter of orphaned kittens? Here is what to do.
What is a Feral Cat?
A "feral" cat is unsocialized to humans, meaning that they tend to be fearful of people and keep their distance. While they live outside human homes and exhibit wild behavior, feral cats are not wildlife. The vast majority rely on some form of human-based food source for their sustenance, whether it's a caretaker who feeds daily, a dumpster behind a supermarket, or scraps left on fishing docks. Very few subsist on hunting alone.
"Feral" describes behavior, not a biological trait. The same cat can be feral and not feral at different points in her life. An outdoor kitten may be born outside, taken indoors, socialized, and adopted out as a friendly pet. Or an adult cat may be a pet for years then become lost and, after a few months of living on his own, start to act unsocialized. “Feral” is not a black or white quality, but different cats will be feral to different degrees. Cats that are not socialized to people within the first 12 weeks of their life are unlikely to be successful indoor pets.
If a cat is truly unsocialized to people, the most compassionate choice is to let him live in his outdoor home. Trying to force him to exist indoors as a pet will do nothing but cause harm to the cat, your home, and you.
Why Not Just Get Rid of Them?
Not all cats that are seen outside are feral. Some are indoor/outdoor pets, while others still might be lost. For this reason, they are all jointly referred to as “free-roaming cats.”
Most free-roaming cats are not spayed or neutered, and so they contribute every year to the births (and deaths) of countless kittens. The exploding population of free-roaming cats in every community across the world is a man-made problem that requires man-made solutions. For the same reason that it is illegal to catch and remove “pests” such as squirrels, raccoons, oppossums, etc., catch-and-kill or catch-and-remove is not a solution to free-roaming cat populations.
The most recent studies show that regardless of the form of cat population management, intensity is the defining factor in how effective and successful it will be. That said, trapping, neutering, vaccinating, and returning cats is the only humane solution. For any method to work, the community at large must be involved. Mass-trapping efforts (described in our Trapping and Trap Rentals tab) involve entire neighborhoods. This spreads out the time and effort needed to prevent future litters from being born and diseases from travelling through our community.
While resources are currently limited for a variety of reasons across the nation, Nevada Humane Society is commited to working together with our community in tackling this problem as efficiently as possible. Whether you hate, love, or are indifferent to free-roaming cats, this is the best course of action, and anything else is going to land us right back at square one. We all need to be on board.
By neutering and vaccinating the cats, providing food, water, and shelter, and maintaining communication with NHS, a cat caretaker plays a role most supportive of feral cats by giving them the opportunity to live amongst their own, be free, and answer to their own unique natures. And just like the original wildcats that first started living near grain silos, they can provide amazing non-toxic, natural pest control for their home territory.
What it Means to Trap, Neuter, and Return a Feral Cat
Cats that are Trapped, Neutered, and Returned have an outdoor home with which they are familiar and strongly attached. Many cats removed from their home and relocated will try to find their way back, especially if they are not carefully acclimated. Their efforts often end tragically, and many relocated cats do not survive their first year in a new, unfamiliar environment. Meanwhile, cats allowed to remain in their outdoor homes can live long, healthy, and fulfilling lives with the help of a diligent caretaker.
Through our pay-what-you-can Trap-Neuter-Return clinic, Nevada Humane Society helps the community by spaying/neutering, vaccinating, ear-tipping for identification, and providing any other basic medical care to any free-roaming cat brought to our clinic on our specific days (currently by appointment). Please see our Clinic page for more information.
Nevada Humane Society also offers high-quality traps that can be loaned out to members of the community. We require a deposit of $90 for each trap, which will not be charged or collected unless a trap is lost or damaged and needs to be replaced. Please see our Trap Rental page for more information.
The only way to effectively address free-roaming cat populations is for there to be community effort and support. Trapping a few cats here and there will absolutely improve the quality of life for every one of those cats and make them less likely to be a nuisance, but unless the majority of a colony is spayed/neutered and the colonies bordering them are as well, cats will continue to roam, urine-mark, fight, mate, and reproduce.
For large colonies, this will look like a multi-day, concentrated effort to trap every cat in that colony, but we rely heavily on people in the local neighborhoods to take part in their own solutions. The Community Cat Program is prepared to guide local trappers and caretakers to engage in meaningful, large-scale trapping whenever possible. It is through these partnerships and joint efforts that we can reduce the free-roaming cat population and make sure that all cats are cared and accounted for.
Do You FIV/FeLV Test Feral Cats?
In general, no. Here's why.
What about FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis)?
FIP is a condition that is a progressive form of an existing and extremely common feline caronavirus. FIP is not contagious. The virus that causes FIP mutates in about 10% of infected cats, and cats that develop clinical signs do typically pass away. There is no current ability to test for FIP, and very little chance of being able to effectively prevent the initial (generally benign) infection. Research on this topic is ongoing.
Cats brought in for Quality of Life assessments when very ill or injured may be euthanized due to a high likelihood of suffering and a low likelihood of recovery. This is the kindest thing we can do for them. Please consult your personal veterinarian for any concerns about your owned pet cats.
Are Free-Roaming Cats a Significant Vector for COVID19?
Not likely. But if you are diagnosed with COVID, you are likely to give it to your pet cat. Keep them inside to prevent them from potentially spreading it to other free-roaming cats or wildlife.
But the Cats Are a Nuisance!
No one can pretend that cats aren’t capable of being a nuisance in the area. Someone doesn’t need to hate cats to hate their urine and feces in their yards, or to hate their yowling and fighting every night. Luckily, TNR helps to resolve these issues. A neutered cat is less likely to roam very far from their home and will not spend their time fighting, mating, yowling, or urine-marking.
The goal of TNR is to reduce the number of cats outside, which is the goal of anyone else who finds issue with those same cats. We can all come together to address this problem, and community-wide TNR is the only proven long-term solution for free-roaming cat populations.
At the end of the day, the options are either to:
1) Do nothing;
2) Remove or kill the cats in small batches and allow the same issue to take place over and over again in the coming years (often at huge taxpayer and personal cost); or
3) Allow and assist with TNR and see what happens.
Nevada Humane Society is not here to force anyone to love or care for cats. We are here to help find solutions to our pet overpopulation problems, and to work together with our community.
It is perfectly reasonable to not want free-roaming cats in your yard. Here are some suggestions on things to do to make your yard unpleasant for cats. The idea is to break the habit of going in your yard, which takes time; think of it like going to your favorite hangout, and realizing it smells bad or is playing bad music. You’ll probably still go back, because you’re used to going back. But if it still smells bad or has bad music every time you go, you’ll stop going at some point.
Nevada Humane Society’s Community Cat Program currently offers motion-actived sprinkler head rentals that can be extremely effective in deterring unwanted cats in the yard. Please contact us at communitycats@nevadahumanesociety.org for more information.
How Can I Help?
Thank you for your interest in helping our community cats! There are multitudes of ways that our community can help, many of which never involve directly interacting with the cats themselves.
NHS relies on the commitment of our volunteers, some of which engage in trapping, transporting, and caring for feral cats, but also those who help otherwise. Here are just a few ways that you can help the cats in your community as a Nevada Humane Society Volunteer!
- Help our clinic check cats in and out and enter data
- Cut and sew trap covers/bottoms to help keep the cats safe
- Engage and educate the community by answering phone calls and emails, reaching out to other supporters, and canvassing areas for more cats to help
- Find homes for displaced feral cats with our Barn Cat Adoption Program
- Build cat shelters and feeding stations to help colony caretakers provide clean, humane, and unobtrusive care for outdoor cats
- Assist disgruntled community members in keeping cats out of their yards by donating supplies.
- Sponsor spay/neuter surgeries
- Sponsor displaced feral cats by providing food, litter, and other supplies to help them acclimate to their new homes
- Donate traps, XL wire dog crates, and medium-sized carriers for trapping efforts
- Donate dry and wet cat food to help colony caretakers that are engaging in TNR
- Transport supplies to dedicated colony caretakers in our community
- Foster semi-feral kittens to socialize them and adopt them out to loving homes
- Provide temperate garage space for cats to be held in their traps before/after surgery
There is nothing too little or too great, all that matters is a desire to help these cats and limit the free-roaming cat population! If you’re interested in finding a way to help support this cause, please reach out to our Community Cat Program at 775-856-2000 ext. 337 or email communitycats@nevadahumanesociety.org for more information.