Don’t Litter!

• Katie Logue

Help your community, wildlife, and cats in need!

Were you chosen by a stray cat?

Have you started to notice new cats appearing in your neighborhood?

Did your cat bring home a friend?

Are you upset that your bird feeders are being watched?

Have outdoor cats started to stress out your indoor cats?

Do you want to help homeless cats in your community?

Regardless of how you ended up on this page, taking action by spaying and neutering community cats is the answer.

Cats can have 3-4 litters a year, especially in places like Florida, where the weather stays relatively hospitable. Each litter can have 1-8 kittens, so one cat can turn into 20 pretty fast. People have a habit of waiting until they have a colony of feral cats before seeking assistance, and by then the problem is exponential, with new litters of kittens being born daily despite shelters already having cats and kittens in need of homes. Brothers and sisters will mate- potentially birthing kittens who need extra care, putting a strain on rescues, shelters, and vet clinics.

Picking up a litter of kittens and finding them homes doesn’t stop mom and dad from continuing to have litter after litter. Plus, if you don’t make sure those kittens are fixed, then they can start having kittens of their own by 4 months old.

Before your yard is filled with cats, start spaying and neutering.

Some important terms:

  • Feral Cat – A cat who cannot be approached by humans, cannot be handled, does not meow, and is aggressive when contained or startled. A feral cat is visibly uncomfortable around people and does not let its guard down. A true feral cat can’t happily live indoors or among people. If you can touch this cat, it is not a feral cat. A feral cat is definitely not owned by someone and catching them will require the use of a trap.
  • A Stray Cat – A cat whose caretaker is unknown or absent. This cat may be friendly or may keep a safe distance but is generally comfortable around people. They may meow at you. They may not let you touch but will show you their belly and sit with you. This cat isn’t feral – it’s domesticated, and trusts people. This cat has potentially lived in a home before but may be lost, abandoned, or comes and goes. Further effort is necessary to determine if they need your assistance, but calling a cat stray instead of feral communicates whether or not they’re domesticated and friendly toward people.

Once you’ve determined whether the cat is Feral or Stray, you can make plans to TNR using traps, or you can determine whether the cat needs assistance/rescue involvement.

  • An Outdoor Cat – Unfortunately, despite the dangers and despite the number of cats lost/killed outside each year, people do continue to have free-roaming cats. These cats can be very friendly and may even let you pick them up. A friendly cat you find outside isn’t automatically a lost cat and may belong to someone in your neighborhood. If you want to know who the cat belongs to, you can bring them by the closest vet clinic to scan for a microchip. If they have one, they’ll be able to put you in touch with the owner who will either say to bring him home or that he’s okay to be there. If the cat is friendly, there is no microchip, and the cat is not spayed or neutered, the cat is considered unowned and adoptable.
  • A Community Cat – This cat has lived outside in this community for long enough to be recognizable by neighbors. Community cats are under the umbrella of outdoor cats. Typically, they have a caretaker or a set of caretakers who spay and neuter any new cats, feed them, and monitor their wellness. These cats live outside because they were born outside and were not socialized at any point by humans. While they’ve learned that people mean food, they aren’t typically friendly or adoptable. If they’re friendly and love people, then if they are not microchipped you can work with a rescue to bring them inside or choose to adopt them yourself. A catio (screened in patio,) can often be an acceptable change for their lifestyle and limit their desire to go back outside. An indoor cat is safer than an outdoor cat, so if they can be happy indoors, they should be.
  • A Lost Cat – Most cats who are indoor-only and lost are going to hunker down. They don’t typically come up to strangers, they may dart inside or allow you to pet them, but they’re nervous. Lost cats are most likely hiding or may be meowing loudly and will probably freeze if you try to handle them, but put them quickly and directly into a carrier, since they’re likely to be incredibly stressed and scared. The nearest vet, rescue, or shelter will be able to scan for a chip and contact the owner who can come to pick up the cat.

“The Shelter” – When we refer to “the Shelter,” we’re referring to the Tallahassee Animal Service Center. The shelter is an open intake facility with a limited number of kennels, and a duty to provide humane care and shelter to animals.

The shelter should be viewed as a community resource, a place where people can bring found animals to be reunited with their owners when the finders can’t house them, a place for unwanted animals to access otherwise inaccessible medical care, or a place for unwanted animals to become wanted through adoption or transfer to rescues. The shelter is a community resource. They’re funded by taxpaying residents in Tallahassee and Leon County.

Our Adoption Partner, Tally Cat Cafe, has a microchip scanner they rent out at no charge to those who aren’t able or would prefer not to transport the animal.

What if there is no chip?

Well… is the cat otherwise well cared for? Are they spayed or neutered?

YES!

Try asking around or posting found signs, but if they are spayed/neutered and well cared for, they may just be outdoor cats.

NO!

Congratulations on your new cat.

Legally, without a microchip, the cat is unowned.

“Well, what now?”

The Tallahassee Animal Service Center will spay/neuter a community or found cat and return them to their community/where they were found if they don’t have a microchip. If you come across a cat who is not spayed or neutered, you can bring them to the shelter and if no microchip is found, there’s a good chance you’ll see them soon back in your neighborhood with a notched ear indicating they have been spayed or neutered. It’s a lot easier to convince a cat to make the transition inside when they’re spayed/neutered since they won’t have the urge to roam/find mates afterward. Even if the LEAST you can do for the cat is to bring them to the shelter, you should. You’ll be having a direct impact on decreasing suffering. If you’re able to foster them afterward and help them find a home, that’s ideal, but making sure they’re fixed is most important.

“I don’t want the cat to come back.”

If the cat is friendly, then we can discuss options for rehoming! Start off with emailing cats@leoncountyhumane.org

If the cat is friendly, unowned, and happy to be indoors, ideally, they should be not just be spayed/neutered, but rehomed so that they stop having kittens but also stop going outdoors to kill native wildlife. Some cats, especially ones who were born outside, will never be happy being indoor-only cats. For kitties who have a dedicated caretaker, the most humane thing possible is to spay/neuter and return them to the area with the knowledge that if they get hurt or sick, their caretaker won’t allow them to suffer and will see that they receive humane care.

“Why doesn’t the shelter keep and rehome the cat themselves?”

Data-driven decision-making has led them to returning the cats because of the likelihood they’re being cared for by a community member. This way, fewer cats are euthanized, and their caretaker now has a spayed or neutered cat. If a friendly cat is returned to your community spayed/neutered, you can help contact rescues to place a vetted cat.

“I don’t want it to be killed”

It may initially sound cruel, but there are far worse fates for an animal than a humane euthanasia. “Kill-shelter,” and “no-kill-shelter” are outdated terms. A shelter doesn’t need to be a place where animals go to die, shelters should be seen as a place providing animal related resources to the community, and a last resort for people unable to keep their pet.

Affordable Options for Spaying and Neutering:

When you take in a cat, you can keep them in a spare bathroom while you wait for their appointment. A spay or neuter will require a rabies vaccine, and cats should have food withheld from midnight onwards the night before their surgery.

Thank you for reading, and for helping community cats!

Rescue Contacts: