About & How to Help

Just wanna know more about me, or learn about the process, or, if you're a particularly generous soul, join the efforts? Read on.

Disclaimer

First, I have to state this: I am not a public official, a veterinarian, a shelter worker, or anything of that sort.

I am just a member of the community, as many people who help with feral and stray animals are, and I am very passionate about animals and, particularly, cats. I work full-time, I am disabled, and I do what I can, where I can. To be completely honest, a lack of resources, time, and energy prevent me from doing anything in a more 'official' capacity.

So, no, I am NOT a 501(c)3. I don't know how they work and frankly I have no interest in figuring it out.

I am not a shelter. I am not an established rescue. Any cats I take care of are taken care of at my own expense or at the expense of people that have been kind enough to help me. Keep that in mind as you explore this website.

The TNVR Process

Everyone has their own method of TNVRing, but it typically follows the same formula:

I follow this same general formula as well. However, circumstances can sometimes shift how the process is handled, and no individual is perfect. Life happens. So long as the cat is always safe, has a maintained environment, has access to clean water, and (unless within 12 hours of the start of the surgery appointment) food, there is no need to fret. While being trapped is stressful for a cat, they are highly adaptable animals that live in the moment. Once things have calmed down and they are allowed to decompress, they will almost always relax and realize they are not in danger. If anything, they will just be a bit bored!

A Note on Pregnant Cats

People get extraordinarily worked up when it comes to TNVRing pregnant females. Obviously, nobody likes the implication of performing an abortion on innocent kittens. However, the harsh reality is that there are simply not enough homes for all of the domestic cats in the world as it is, and knowingly bringing more kittens into the world that will end up also having kittens, dying violently in the streets, or taking resources that an existing litter of kittens could use instead is considered highly irresponsible.

It is my belief, and the general consensus across the scientific and veterinary community, that domestic cats are just that: domestic. They belong controlled by humans. That is, indoors-only or on leashes or in escape-proof outdoor enclosures. Free-roaming cats devastate ecosystems worldwide , and this generates hostility from governments and people. Moreover, while cats and dogs both are the most frequent subjects of physical abuse from humans, domestic cats suffer uniquely harsh consequences. Outdoor access uniquely exposes cats to a much wider swathe of humans than indoor-only or monitored pets face, and cats suffer from unique social stigmas that many dogs do not. Cats are also frequently viewed by society as inherently feminine, and as such, suffer from misogyny as well.

This is not an exaggeration. A cat hanging around a woman was often used as justification to label her a witch during the European witch trials, leading to mass killings of women and cats both. The sound of a cat's screech of distress, pain, or shock is used commonly as a gag in cartoons and movies. Media also overwhelmingly paints cats as cold, villainous entities (think James Bond films, Cats & Dogs, The Emperor's New Groove, The Lady and the Tramp, or Pet Sematary). While it's unlikely that anyone depicts cats this way with the explicit intent of showcasing a hatred for cats, it is undeniable that this consistent stream of images of cats as villains affects the people that see it.

The reason I bring all of this up is to prove my point that it is irresponsible and selfish to force a cat to bear kittens when you have no plan for those kittens going forward. And, even if you do, it is hard to justify doing that instead of helping kittens that already exist and need help right now. Not to mention, the female cat you pick up with a very round belly may not be pregnant at all. She may actually have pyometra, an infection of the uterus in which the organ fills with pus. Pyometra can present with external symptoms, but cats, especially feral or timid cats, are very stoic and may not show any at all. There may not be any discharge at all, meaning you may not realize it's pyometra until she is already septic or her uterus has ruptured.

Yes, you read that correctly. Ruptured.

To take in a stray, pregnant cat and allow her to have kittens is dangerous and comes at the very high likelihood of you looking at an extensive vet bill as well. What happens if a kitten gets stuck? What happens if there is an emergency and umbilical cords are wrapped around all the babies and mom is too inexperienced to know what to do? What if there is complications resulting in hemorrhaging? What if mom's babies are fine, but she was so emaciated and weak beforehand that her organs were already shutting down, and you don't know until she's had them and passes away suddenly? Are you capable of finding another nursing female, making sure she accepts the kittens, or of waking up every 2 hours to feed, potty, and bathe neonates?

All of these issues are much more expensive and life-threatening in comparison to a spay. A spay is a routine surgery that many veterinary surgeons have done hundreds to thousands of times before, and in many communities, are offered for free or significantly reduced costs for feral or unowned cats. Most veterinarians agree that spay-aborts are necessary, regardless of their own personal beliefs about abortion in the grand scheme of things.

Political beliefs should not be the cause of suffering for animals. Unfortunately (and for many reasons I do not have the space here to get into), they all too frequently are. In this circumstance, however, you have the option to choose to be a savior for the cat in question and not further overburden already greatly overstressed shelter systems.

You do not have to like it. You do not have to be a stone-faced person about it. You can cry, you can scream, you can grieve however you wish. Nobody will fault you for that. Just please try to keep the wellbeing of the cats in mind. Even if your reasons are partly financial, financially ruining yourself is the fastest way to make sure you are never able to help more cats again. So, yes, taking care of yourself in this situation does also still benefit the cats in the end.

A Note on Kittens

When attempting to TNVR a female cat with kittens, it is important to understand the age of the kittens. The Kitten Lady has a wonderful article all about determining the age of kittens. Kittens are very difficult for a human alone to care for prior to about 4-6 weeks of age. Kittens that are particularly young need to be fed constantly (around every 2 hours!), must be stimulated to use the bathroom, must be kept warm as they cannot maintain their body temperature, and will struggle to learn proper social 'ettiquette' without a mother cat or siblings.

Saying that to say, it is best to leave a nursing mother and her kittens alone unless you can guarantee that you can capture her and all of her kittens together. Ideally, you would wait until the kittens are weaned before trapping and taking them in. Spaying mom at this point is extremely important, as cats can go back into season and have more kittens very quickly after producing a litter. In fact, some will already be pregnant again! So, you should still always aim to catch mom alongside her kittens regardless of their ages, but it is extremely important when dealing with younger kittens.

Kittens are usually easily tamed down by people even if they are feral when first taken in. Younger kittens warm up to people faster. Older kittens may take more time. After 16 weeks or so, however, most cats will become much, much harder to socialize and acclimate to people. Taking in kittens can be very rewarding, but it is also a lot of effort and a lot of time. If you do not have that time or those resources, and are not able to find someone who does, kittens can also be TNVRed. Most veterinarians will not sterilize a kitten before they weigh 2 or 3 pounds, and they must be cleared of any infections or other health issues beforehand as well.

If the idea of releasing an 8-16 week old cat back onto the street sounds cruel to you, most people are inclined to agree. However, unless you are willing to offer the resources, your time and your energy, to take care of them and socialize them yourself, you should not criticize someone that chooses to return kittens to the outdoors after vetting and sterilization. It is easy to judge and criticize when you have nothing on the line.

About Me

I've spent my entire life in Virginia and have grown up around cats. If circumstances had been different, I may have chosen a career in veterinary work or shelter work. However, personal health reasons led my life to not quite going how I planned as I got older. That being said, my life is going pretty well right now, all things considered, and I am finally able to do what I can to assist with feral and outdoor cats.

My first revelation about how community can band together to help cats, and what a difference you can make even if you yourself have little to offer, was when I found UFO. UFO is one of my household's pet cats, born in July 2024. At the time, I was at a very low point in my life and spent my days working DoorDash. During my very last delivery of a day in early August, I went to deliver a pizza to a man's door and found this tiny, skinny kitten howling on his doorstep. The man I was delivering to claimed that he didn't recognize her, but there were plenty of ferals around, and he presumed she was born from them, especially because many of them didn't have a tail either. This kind man gave me a box to take her home in (and even though she climbed out of it immediately, I appreciated the gesture!).

UFO turned out to have several developmental deformities. She had no tail, could hardly walk, and when she did she appeared to have a slanted gait. We also could not tell what sex she was because she did not have any clear sexual anatomy, but a "cloaca" type opening. This extremely rare deformity resulted in me consulting with multiple vets, many of which believed she would ultimately need to be euthanized.

After doing more research, it became apparent to me that UFO was likely female, and had a rectovaginal fistula, in combination with atresia ani. This meant that her rectum did not end in an anal opening as it should have, and instead an opening had opened into her vaginal canal. This was how she had survived to 5 weeks up to that point. Yes... she was pooping from her vulva.

Furthermore, she has 'manx syndrome,' which is more or less a catchall term for a set of complications that can come from a cat being born without a tail. Her hips are crooked and that's why she walks with a tilted gait. Her spine does not close fully around the very end of itself, so the spot where her tail would otherwise be is particularly sensitive.

Dr. Barnes at James River Veterinary Surgery off Three Chopt Rd was able to perform a surgical correction on her, separating the rectum and vaginal canal, and reconstructing an anus for her. She is partially fecally incontinent and requires daily doses of miralax to prevent constipation, and it is likely she will need more reconstructive surgery as she ages. But for now, she is still a happy little kitty that really showed me how much I care for cats.

Not long after I found her, my personal life started looking way, way up, too. In a way, even if it sure didn't feel like it at the time, I think she saved us. And by extension, without the assistance of the community in Chester, VA, I never would have been able to help her. So, those kind people who believed they were only saving a helpless kitten, were actually helping save us, too.

So, from the bottom of my heart: thank you. And I hope this website offers something of substance in return.

How Can You Help?

TNVR efforts are paid for in resources (money, gas, cat food, etc), time, and emotional weight. So, if you want to help, the first thing you have to decide is what you can offer. Not everyone has time. Not everyone has the emotional bandwidth. Certainly not everyone has the money. Yet, if enough people can pool together a little of each of these, that's how you get community efforts that work.

Saying that to say, every little bit helps! Whether it's just some spare cat food you have laying around, some time to drop off and pick up a cat from their TNVR appointment, or a spare $5 here and there can go a long way to your local TNVR groups. Wherever you are, I can almost guarantee that there is a Facebook, NextDoor, or other such group where you can connect with other activists, hobbyists, and animal welfare personnel online.

If you want to help me specifically, you can check this page out.