The feral future

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

If the huge number of feral cats is ever going to be reduced, it’ll take people like Donna Shields.
"It’s my passion," she said.
Shields is a cat lover whose husband, Don, is a veterinarian. The couple, along with Susan Zimmerman, have opened the Feral and Stray Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic in Holmesburg.
The clinic, located in a trailer off of Torresdale Avenue, was bustling last weekend as volunteer veterinarians, technicians and others took part in the Feral and Stray Cat Spay-A-Thon.
Almost 80 cats were brought in to be spayed or neutered. The kittens or other domesticated cats were put up for adoption.
The untamed animals were taken back outside to their home — or colony — to live out their lives.
"They’re a whole forgotten population of animals," Donna Shields said.
A feral cat lives in the streets, fields or woods. In Philadelphia, they can be found in alleys, yards, behind restaurants, near Dumpsters or anywhere else where there is food and shelter.
They are cats who have been abandoned or lost. The average life span is three years.
"They suffer and die silently," Shields said.
The feral cat population grows because the average female has five litters in her lifetime. Of these litters, about 22 kittens will survive to adulthood.
Each of the female offspring will have kittens, so it’s easy to see why there are so many feral cats living in the elements.
How many in southeastern Pennsylvania?
"It’s got to be thousands," said Dr. Christine Polaneczky, a veterinarian.
Where can they be found?
"Everywhere," Shields said.
The activists did not want to identify specific locations where feral cats congregate because that would encourage people to dump their cats there.
There is a humane solution to the crisis, Shields and others argue.
It’s called TNR — the trap/neuter/release program. Advocates say it’s rather simple.
They encourage anyone who sees a feral cat or a colony of them to place a metal cage in that area. Inside the cage should be a plate of food. Once the cat walks inside to taste the food, the trap door will shut.
Next, the individual should take the caged cat to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered so it doesn’t reproduce.
The cost at the Holmesburg clinic is just $20. Cats are anesthetized, shaved, scrubbed, spayed or neutered, groomed and vaccinated for rabies. Fleas, ticks and ear mites are removed. The cats are fed, too.
The University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School donated the medications.
One-quarter of the cat’s ear is clipped to identify it as a spayed/neutered animal so it doesn’t have to be trapped again.
"For twenty bucks, you get the works," said Barb Riebman, vice president of Mobilization for Animals Pennsylvania.
Last weekend’s event was held in conjunction with the fifth annual National Feral Cat Day. The theme was Feral Cats — A Part of the Urban Landscape.
Local organizers plan to apply to the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest continuous spay-a-thon on record. The clinic opened at noon on Saturday and stayed open until about 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Since the clinic opened in January, more than 200 cats have been spayed or neutered.
"We want to make this a permanent clinic open a few days a week, fifty-two weeks a year," Riebman said.
Right now, the clinic depends on volunteer veterinarians like Polaneczky, Don Shields, Geza Incze, Melissa Hoffman and Gregory Joo and third-year Penn veterinary student Tanya Kameneva.
Organizers were also delighted to welcome Dr. Margaret Slater, author of Community Approaches to Feral Cats. A professor of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University, she was in town to speak at the National Feral Cat Summit.
Slater said the nation has recognized the feral cat problem for the last few decades. The TNR program has been used for about 15 years.
The feral cat problem, she said, will be solved by a massive expansion of TNR and if owners take more responsibility to neuter, identify and keep track of their pets.
"We’ve made a lot of progress, but it will be a slow process," she said.
Local activists hope to raise money by convincing state government to create vanity spay/neuter license plates or give citizens a chance to donate a portion of their tax returns to the cause.
Shields said the only thing better than TNR is TNRM — Trap/Neuter/Return/Manage. Feral cat colonies must be managed by caring humans, she said.
Shelters can be made of Styrofoam or Rubbermaid products. A hole should be cut to let the cat get inside. The top, of course, should be covered.
The shelter should include insulation, a blanket and a flap to deflect rain. Similarly, water and food bowls should be kept under cover.
"That’s the most important part," Shields said, "the ongoing care." ••
To adopt a cat, call 215-357-4946. For more information about the TNR program and to make an appointment at the clinic, call toll-free 1-866-6ANIMAL or visit www.mobilizationforanimals.org
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com