Community & Feral Cats

Who Are Community & Feral Cats?

A community cat (also known as a feral cat) has been raised in the wild or abandoned/lost and turned to wild ways in order to survive. Community cats may not be accustomed to contact with people and are typically too fearful to be handled. Community cats do not easily, or may never, adapt to living as pets in close contact with people. Community cats are at home outdoors.

However, community cats can live full and healthy lives with their feline families (called colonies). There are many things you can do to help improve the well-being of feral cats!

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs humanely trap community cats in order to provide spay/neuter and basic healthcare. Each individual is vaccinated and eartipped (for easy identification from a distance) during the same visit. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs are incredibly effective! The altered feline is now free to live out her/his natural life with a colony caretaker, while not producing more cats.

Check out our short video with tips & tricks for keeping community cats safe!

Two Options

Pets Alive offers two packages for community cats.

Our $50 Feral Cat Plus Package includes:

Spay/neuter surgery
Rabies vaccination
FVRCP vaccination
Roundworm treatment
Tapeworm treatment
Mandatory eartipping

Our $40 Basic Feral Cat Package includes:

Spay/neuter surgery
Rabies vaccination
FVRCP vaccination
Roundworm treatment
Mandatory eartipping

* Please note – We ask that community members bring in no more than five (5) cats at a time. Thank you!

Why Eartip?

Eartipping is the universal sign of an altered community cat.

While the individual is sedated for the spay or neuter surgery, a quarter of an inch is removed from the tip of the left ear in a straight line cut. The procedure is relatively painless and is performed under sterile conditions.

Eartipping allows community members to easily recognize cats that have been altered, which prevents unnecessary trapping.

Drop Off

Pets Alive accepts community cats without appointments, but they must be brought in between 9 am – 11 am Monday – Wednesday. They will be kept in the clinic overnight to ensure at least one night of recovery indoors. Depending on what time they are dropped off and the number of surgeries that day, they may need to stay two nights.

Live Trap

To ensure their safety, all feral cats are required to arrive at Pets Alive in humane live traps; this is for the safety of the patient and our staff. No exceptions will be made. Traps must measure ~30x10x12 (small traps are NOT allowed; the cat must be able to turn around and stretch). Traps can be rented for one week at a fee of $75 via cash or credit card. Once the cat is released and the trap cleaned and brought back, the rental fee will be returned.

Partners

Have questions or need advice? Pets Alive is proud to partner with BARCO Feral Friends, Feral Cat Friends, Morgan County TNR, and Street Cat Community Outreach! Depending on where you live, reach out to these organizations for support! As they are able, folks may work with you to set traps or offer transport services.

Support Community & Feral Cats

We are able to offer our affordable Community/Feral Cat Packages, that include additional services, thanks to the help of our generous supporters! Pets Alive is committed to keeping prices low; we know that cats reproduce at rapid rates when left unaltered. If you would like to contribute to this incredible program, please consider making an online donation or donating an item from our wish list!

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