RESOURCE GUIDES

SPAY & NEUTER SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE HAPPINESS & HEALTH OF INDOOR & OUTDOOR DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.

WHY SPAY NEUTER IS

ESSENTIAL

Sterilization or spay / neuter is essential for the health of all pets, including those outdoor and without homes. It should be considered as a requirement for any adopter-to-be or rescue looking for adoptions. While it has become inaccessible for families across the country due to increased veterinary costs and living expenses, low-cost options subsidized by the government and nonprofits are growing. These low-cost clinics cover things like surgery, basic wellness check-ups, vaccinations, microchipping, deworming, and more.

Spay is what we call sterilization for female mammals and neuter is for male.

Spay and neuter cures behavioral and hormonal tendencies such as fighting, yowling, courting and aggression. It is a myth that owners should wait until after their pet’s first litter or heat to spay or neuter them. In actuality, pregnancy increases the risk of health problems. They can be sterilized as early as 8 weeks old or when they weigh two pounds, though we tend to recommend 3-5 months old. Spaying or neutering before their first birthday can significantly increase their lifespan and it is a myth that they should be sterilized after their first heat.

OTHER RESOURCES:

https://veterinary.rossu.edu/about/blog/why-spay-and-neuter-pets#:~:text=BEHAVIORAL%20BENEFITS%20TO%20SPAYING%20AND%20NEUTERING&text=Spaying%20and%20neutering%20can%20help,year%20round%20in%20certain%20climates.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/spayneuter-your-pet

PROBLEMS IT SOLVES

75% of kittens do not make it over 6 months of age outdoors. Around 46% of cats in kill-shelters are euthanized and that percentage changes to nearly 100% for feral cats.

  • Many cats forced to give birth undergo a variety of difficulties like mastitis, sepsis, malnutrition, etc.

  • There are not enough adopters for the amount of kittens being born and not enough space in shelters and rescues, leaving millions across the country to be euthanized yearly. Texas currently has the highest rate of euthanasia, by nearly five times any other state.

  • Fatal diseases like FELV continue to spread via the cycle of birth or territorial fighting triggered by excess testosterone and other hormones.

THE BASICS

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRAY, COMMUNITY, OR FERAL CATS

COMMUNITY CATS, KITTEN SEASON, SPAYING PREGNANT CATS, & MORE.

Feral cats will not approach people. Stray cats are often ‘feeder-friendly’ or even completely willing to approach and be affectionate with people. Both live outdoors. The term ‘community cat’ is tossed around frequently but generally refers to any cat that is outdoors, whether feral or stray.

  • Over time of being fed — it can be months to years — feral cats can eventually become friendly. They will keep their distance from humans and often hiss or run if approached. It is important to assess the friendliness of said cat(s) to come to a conclusion on how to move forward. All situations are different and many formerly feral cats turn into lovely, adoptable members of the family.

    OTHER RESOURCES:

    https://www.alleycat.org/resources/feral-and-stray-cats-an-important-difference/

WHAT IS KITTEN SEASON?

Kitten season is the time of year that cats are most likely to go into heat and reproduce. It is typically due to warmer weather but kittens can still be born all year long and often are. From March to October, rescues and shelters are the most overwhelmed with kittens of all ages and usually do not have the resources to handle them. They rely on fosters to take care of kittens and puppies under 6-8 weeks old that need the most special, hands-on, hourly care.

  • Typical cat gestation (length of the pregnancy) is about two months or 60 days. On average, each cat gives birth to 4-8 kittens, though chances of survival for the kittens decreases if the mother is malnourished or young. Many female cats giving birth are kittens themselves, as they can go into heat as young as five months old. On top of that, they can go into heat just 8 weeks after giving birth.

  • With these numbers, it is easy to see how quick a colony of one or two cats can turn into ten or more and why shelters and individuals get overwhelmed.

    OTHER RESOURCES:
    https://www.foundanimals.org/everything-need-know-kitten-season/

SPAYING PREGNANT PETS IS RESPONSIBLE.

Spaying pregnant pets is a near daily practice in animal rescue. It is often in the best interest of the animal in question, the rescue and shelter, and the community, that what we call a ‘gravid spay’ takes place. It is safe for the mother across all boards but should only be done if a veterinarian believes it is wise. Some are less comfortable spaying if the pregnancy is far along because the healing process can be more extensive.

  • Context matters in all situations but gravid spays are perfectly normal and healthy. It is an uncomfortable conversation, but one that animal rescue employees are forced to make all the time because of the lack of space and resources available.

    Spaying pregnant pets and not adding to the overpopulation crisis is the responsible thing to do! 

    OTHER RESOURCES:

    https://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/can-you-spay-pregnant-cat/

THE COMMUNITY’S ROLE

RESCUES &

SHELTERS

WHAT PART RESCUES, SHELTERS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, & INDIVIDUALS CAN PLAY.

Shelters such as Animal Care Services (or other programs subsidized by local government) have to accept any animal surrendered to their care by the public, no matter the state they are in or age. With this, they do not have the resources to care for the most vulnerable pets: neonate puppies and kittens and those with specific health needs or complications. Without help from specialized rescues, fosters, and other outside help, high euthanasia rates become inevitable.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

It is the job of local government to be aware of the problems in the community to know what to budget for and focus on. City and county officials can aim to allocate funding to affordable wellness clinics and spay/neuter surgeries.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of where local government can intervene to help people in times of crisis. Many individuals lost access to income or saw a high increase in veterinary care costs, forcing them to surrender their family pets. Since 2020, animal shelters across the country have seen a major increase in surrendering and a large decrease in adoptions, raising the euthanasia rate to the highest it has been in decades.

Animal Care Services is provided by the City of San Antonio and in many other cases, various city and state legislation across the country makes room for animal welfare in their budgeting depending on their needs. Texas has the highest euthanasia rate in the country by nearly 5-10 times other states’ numbers. Let’s change this!

INDIVIDUALS

In junction with local government, you can be active by attending City Council meetings regarding Animal Welfare and Animal Care Services, making sure to voice concerns in any surveys the city may take. There are also many fundraising efforts throughout the year for not only Animal Care Services but various rescues like San Antonio Pet’s Alive!, The Humane Society, The Feral Cat Coalition, and many more. Ultimately, louder voices can mean more funding and more funding means more resources to save lives and make the community safer and better for animals and people.

  • Speaking out about trap-neuter-return, fostering opportunities, or the overpopulation crisis gets more people to hear and learn about it and ultimately, creates more solutions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

DONATE, FOSTER, ADVOCATE, TNR, VOLUNTEER.

Rescues and shelters need additional hands to help across all types of work. No matter what you can or can’t do, they need help! Moving animals, bottle feeding, weighing, feeding, cleaning kennels, disinfecting, transportation between locations, trapping feral cats, temporarily fostering, printing flyers or brochures, photography and social media promotion, and more. Ask or do research into what your local rescues need assistance in.

VOLUNTEER

FOSTER

Fostering can be as simple as you make it. Because rescues need consistent availability of kennels and space, fostering helps save additional lives. Each type of foster situation is different from the next, but often times, fostering young kittens can just mean temporarily using a play pen or spare bathroom. They do not require much space at all and you can let any rescue know your availability for fostering and they will work with you.

Rescues often will cover the costs of any veterinary care, vaccinations, and sterilization surgery. They will give available fosters whatever advice and answers they need depending on what age the pet is. 

Foster-to-adopt is also a fantastic method of raising and socializing a pet you may be interested in adopting, sponsored by the rescue or shelter! Many shelters have a foster coordinator that will organize what you will need going forward. Fostering is immensely rewarding and helps rescues continue to take in more animals off the street or other dire situations.

ADOPT, DON’T SHOP & DISCOURAGE BACKYARD BREEDING

As stated above, there are not enough available adopters for the amount of pets needing help. Breeding pets, especially via backyard, unofficial breeding, should be discouraged and reported to any local authorities. It is not only contributing to the overpopulation issue but directly taking away life-saving care from animals who need it. One purchased, pure-bred kitten is one less adopter for a cat who has been waiting at a shelter for months or a kitten born on the street.

TRAP NEUTER RETURN - TNR

While spaying and neutering all adoptable pets is important, it is just the same for outdoor / community cats as well! If kittens and puppies keep multiplying outdoors, it continues the cycle of suffering from the elements, malnutrition, or euthanasia in the overwhelmed kill-shelter system. TNR handles feral or stray cats to keep them from giving birth as well as significantly decreases the spread of disease, fighting, and more. It lessens the load on shelters and rescues and helps keep these outdoor cats healthier and from multiplying every few months, litter after litter.

It may be intimidating to handle feral cats in traps, but it is quite easy and safe; only taking a few days to change the cat’s life as well as do wonders for the lives of future cats and kittens in rescues and shelters. For more information on how to TNR, check our reference for guides below or our TNR information page.

DONATE

Rescues and shelters are always in need of resources to keep running and caring for their animals. Even colony-feeders that take care of large colonies of feral, neutered cats, often need help in keeping things like water and food clean and constant.

Dry and wet food is some of the most helpful items that can be donated to shelters, but so are things like carriers, beds, blankets, cleaning supplies, towels, newspaper, treats, toys, litter, soap, socks, and much more. Anything can be helpful.

Donating funds helps allocate finances specifically for things like supplies but also life-saving medicine and veterinary care. Rescues frequently pay thousands of dollars in bills for complex surgeries and situations for animals that would have otherwise not had the chance to be cared for. Even routine veterinary care like deworming, vaccinating, and spay/neuter accumulates. Rescues and shelters will always have a method of donating on their website or in person, as well as fundraisers to take part in such as sponsored marathons or partnering with local businesses to get a percentage of sales for a day.

IF YOU FIND A KITTEN

ASSESS THE SITUATION! USE THE ‘CASA’ METHOD!

Context is everything when finding a kitten that may be in need outdoors. Standby and keep an eye on it unless there seems to be danger nearby or extreme weather. Mother is almost always not far behind.

Make sure to check the following guides for helpful information on what to do. Nursing kittens require around-the-clock care and you may be doing more harm than good!

What To Do If You Find a Kitten -- How to Make the Right Call!

https://pethoodga.org/how-to-prevent-kitten-napping/#:~:text=So%2C%20what%20should%20you%20do,ve%20found%20one%20kitten%20alone).

https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/finding-kittens-outdoors/

https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/i-found-kittens-what-do-i-do

STEPS TO TAKE

TRAP NEUTER RETURN GUIDES

LEARN HOW TO TNR AND HELP SAVE MORE LIVES.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Make sure that you take an official TNR / Trap Neuter Return course, whether online, in-person, or trap with someone with experience before attempting yourself! TNR is a simple process but it is important to follow these guidelines for the safety of yourself and the cat(s) you are trapping.

The standard trap used is a Tru-Catch brand, as they tend to be safer for cats or kittens being trapped to avoid any sort of injury.

https://www.trucatchtraps.com/small-animal-traps/feral-cat-traps

Make sure you have all the supplies you’ll need. Things like:

- Carabiners (x2)

- Trap cover

- Newspaper or pee pad for the bottom of the trap

- Food / proper bait

- Tape (to label trap for the clinic)

- Space set aside (indoors)

Trapping and sterilizing one cat will hopefully not be the end of your journey into TNR! One cat is fantastic work, but there is always more to be done. Keep track of the other cats in your area without ear tips or known owners. Talk to your neighbors about who they may belong to and who is feeding them so that you can plan to trap them as well. Prioritize cats that may be pregnant or injured.

COURSES & VIDEOS

San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition Course: https://sanantonioferalcats.org/resources/#class

Feral Cat Coalition Form for Online Course: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfx31C0OTtIGFG-2xZjhpi1P5imiUkOfbGDAUVfg4jSZxyOeQ/viewform

https://fixnation.teachable.com/p/tnr-training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF_omFE7Etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IarsSTLUdTw

For anyone outside of San Antonio, it should take a quick Google search for any local TNR courses near you, but the Feral Cat Coalition’s course is made to be a standard across the board.