Population management for “untouchable” cats.

Most of us have seen them at some time: the cats living outdoors who have no desire to be petted or cuddled. Sometimes they are happy to come close to you if you have food, but many of them hide in the shadows, and come out mostly at night. If you corner one of these cats, your hand or leg may be left in bloody shreds as the frightened kitty tries to escape. They can’t be safely scooped into a carrier for a trip to the vet for spay or neuter. Instead, we use humane traps to keep both cats and humans safe during the process.

TNR is the process where a cat is purposely trapped to be sterilized or neutered. After a brief recovery (normally in 24-48 hours), the cat is returned to the place where it was trapped: they are safest and happiest when they return to their familiar territory and the “colony” of cats they are used to.

When Kotor Kitties began, in 2018, there was only one known trap in all of Montenegro. It circulated around the country as needed, frequently disappearing for periods when not needed, until someone posted a need for it and it would resurface.

With an entire country of frightened or feral cats needing to be sterilized, Kotor Kitties quickly determined the need to obtain a large number of traps and develop a formal TNR program to teach the skills of colony care and management and trapping techniques to decrease the stress on cats and increase the safety for both cats and human trappers.

Kotor Kitties faces significant barriers in developing a TNR program: traps are not available for purchase within the country, and they can’t be affordably ordered online for delivery within Montenegro; there were no “how to TNR” materials available in the Montenegrin language. We are working to overcome those barriers!

Thanks to a grant from SNIP International* and some generous donors, Kotor Kitties now has 24 traps of our own; we can access two more traps that are privately owned! Our partner vets have been equipped with trap separators, injection cages, and large recovery cages so there is seldom a need to handle a cat before it is sedated. That is a huge step forward for the safety of the cats and the veterinary staff. Find specific “how to” information for TNR on our Resources page.

*SNIP International is a UK registered charity dedicated to improving standards of animal welfare around the world. In particular SNIP International promotes neutering programs aimed at stray and feral animals.

Why are there cats with one ear flattened on top?

Once a cat is spayed or neutered, it’s important to be able to identify them so that they will not be trapped again or taken to the vet for a second sterilization surgery. Yes, you can sedate and shave the cat and try to recognize an abdominal scar, but a scar can mean anything, not necessarily that a cat was spayed. A male cat without visible testes (testicles) could be cryptorchid or could have had a penile urethrostomy.

Spay-neuter and TNR programs need a consistent way to identify cats who have been spayed or neutered. Most programs around the world use “eartips” as an easily visible way to identify a sterilized cat.

Kotor Kitties adopted the eartip protocol of the Feral Cat Spay-Neuter Program in Seattle, Washington, USA:  males are marked on their left ears and females on their right ears. Approximately 1 cm of the tip of each cat’s ear is removed immediately after the sterilization surgery, while the cat is still anesthetized. The cat still has full use of its ear–it will twitch and swivel normally, and its hearing and balance are not affected by the missing cartilage. The cats don’t seem to notice it once they wake up.

Our vets now also add a small tattoo on the cat’s belly, just in case the ears are damaged or for some reason the tip is not recognized. We have asked the vets to place an abdominal tattoo on all cats and dogs they sterilize, so that if they are lost or change owners, they will always carry proof that they were sterilized, visible on their bellies.