What is Trap - Neuter - Return?

T-N-R is a strategy used to solve the feral cat problem by humanely trapping wild, unowned cats in order to spay and neuter them. This reduces the problems caused by rapily growing feral colonies.

We provide the spay and neuter surgery at no-cost to individuals who have been referred to the Surgery Center from our Feral Cat Hotline. Vaccinations and testing, if desired, are available for a small fee. During the cat's spay or neuter appointment, our veterinarian notches the cat’s ear so that others can tell at a glance the animal has been altered. The trapper then re-releases the cat to his original location.

Why? Here are the Benefits of T-N-R:

• Altering cats will stop annoying mating behavior such as fighting, yowling, and spraying.
• No new litters will need to be rescued and you will not be faced with watching kittens starve and die from treatable diseases.
• The cats you have altered will protect their territory and food source from unneutered outside cats, so the population will stabilize to include a healthier, more congenial group of cats. Simply removing the cats and bringing to Animal Control (where they are euthanized) does not accomplish this! You have simply left more resources for fewer cats, so the cats remaining reproduce more rapidly. It is not uncommon for a feral colony, from which some cats have been trapped and destroyed, to grow larger more quickly as there is an increase in available food per remaining cat. They have larger, more healthy litters.
• Within a short period of time, the population will actually decline (due to a short life span of only 3-5 years).
• You will be humanely allowing the cat population to exist (but not increase), while they in turn can keep the rodent population in check for you.

The problem will not be solved with any other strategy because if you simply remove the cats by killing them off, others will take their place and continue to breed. Thus the killing cycle will be repeated again and again with no long-term solution.

How?

To trap feral cats, and take advantage of our NO COST spay and neuter surgery, you must be a resident of Alameda or Contra Costa County and willing to do the following:

• Provide a $40 deposit (refundable) to rent a trap from the East Bay SPCA, from either our Oakland or Tri-Valley facility.
• Provide, or arrange, transportation to bring the cat to the East Bay SPCA Spay and Neuter Surgery Center for no cost surgery. Registration for each cat will be in the morning (allow 30 minutes), and pick up will be in the late afternoon. 
• Provide some kind of shelter to keep the cat inside (such as in a garage) during post-operation recovery.
• Be willing to monitor recovery (males must be monitored for one day; females for 3-4 days).
• Provide cat food, water, other basic equipment like towels, newspaper, etc.
• Be willing to return the cat to its original location.
• Obtain permission to trap on the property, if you will be trapping on property other than your own.
• To return the trap to us within two weeks so it can be used by another trapper.
• Promise that our trap will not be used to trap an owned cat, or any other animal, for destruction, or to surrender an animal to an animal control agency.

Next Step:

Call the East Bay SPCA Feral Cat Hotline at 510-563-4635 for more information about trapping feral cats and to rent a feral cat trap. We’ll provide the tools and support you need to help the cats in your community.