World Spay Day

 Most everyone loves little kittens and puppies. It's estimated that 78 million dogs and 85.8 million cats are owned in the United States. Sadly there are over a million cats and dogs euthanized each year according to the ASPCA. There is also an estimated 70 million stray and feral cats in the USA. Bottom line is there is an over population of dogs and cats, especially cats.  The chart below shows how cats can multiply out of control. 

February twenty sixth of 2019 is World Spay Day. It takes place each year on the last Tuesday in February.  Spay Day USA was created by the Doris Day Animal League in 1995. It evolved into World Spay Day and is now campaigned by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Humane Society International (HSI) and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA). It is an international day to promote the sterilizations of pets, feral cats and street dogs. 

I, personally had eight feral cats spayed and neutered. They all live outside. They have access to my garage and are fed twice daily. My brother and I caught each cat in a live or humane trap. My county has a low cost TNR program. TNR stands for Trap, Neuter (or spay), Release. Feral cats are trapped, taken to a vet to be neutered (males) or spayed (females), then released back in area they were trapped in. Feral cats' left ear is tipped to signify they have been sterilized. While under anesthesia, a very small tip of the left ear is cut off in a straight line. It's relatively painless with little or no bleeding. The vet here also gives a rabies shot to the cat. Ear tipping will prevent another rescuer from trapping the same cat. It also lets an animal control officer know it is a sterilized feral cat. Below is Smokey with her tipped ear. 

 My local animal shelter loans humane traps. It's a metal cage. It has a back and front door. Lift the back door up and place a small amount of food in the back of the trap. Lift the front door and set the trigger bar. There is a metal plate in the back of the trap. When the cat heads to the back to get to the food, the trap door will close when the cat steps on the metal plate. Place a towel over trap to calm the cat.  Photo of a trap is below. 

When the ferals were brought back, I kept them in a large dog crate for a couple of days til they recuperated from surgery. Below is Iris and Tucker.

I am so relieved all eight will not be adding to the cat population. If you have a pet that isn't spayed or neutered, contact your vet to see if there is a discount on World Spay Day. The same for any feral cats in your neighborhood. 

If you are a cat lover, regardless if you have one or not, look HEREat the cat flags, doormats and more that www.flagsrus.org has. They have dog items too HERE.