TNR: Overview

If you aren't familiar with the acronym TNR, take a moment to look here. Since I moved in, I have had several cats of varying ages coming to the side door at night to see if there's any leftovers. I don't have a problem sharing, I did it often when I lived at the apartment, but what I do have a problem with is people not spaying their female cats.

We have one outdoor cat, Domino (or Domina...) who comes to the door every night when we get home from work. She's cute and reminds me of Poo, my Tuxedo indoor cat. During one feeding, I noticed that she was a little round on the sides. That was how I found my Siamese cat, Pig. I can only imagine that Pig went into heat and was subsequently let outside to let nature take its course.

At any rate... politics and religious beliefs aside... I've begun a small TNR campaign at SLP.

TNR 1
Domino 2, or Dom. This is a friendly black and white Tuxedo cat who was the first one to walk towards the trap. I picked him up (before he set it off) and put him in a carrier. He was a little unhappy to volunteer for the honor, but is no worse for the wear and was released on Tuesday after spending the night feasting and frolicking in the mudroom.

Services: $20. ($10 neuter at APL, plus $10 accidental donation. Oops!)
Total: $20

TNR 2
Grey Tabby, or (now) Snippers. We had the trap out pretty late as we were working in the garage. About 9:00, I said we should get the trap in and it was as if the word beget the action. Snippers was very unhappy overnight, but was pretty quiet for the car ride in the morning. I picked him up and left him crated until evening after I picked up a wire kennel from a nice gentleman on Craigslist for $10. Since he seemed fairly friendly (i.e. not hissing and spitting), we released him into the kennel where he promptly walked in, stretched, then took a frantic #1. He stayed in the kennel overnight and I let him out to explore the mudroom and get some petting in this morning. I will release him tonight if all is well. He was very interested in coming into the house, so obviously he has experience with humans.

Services: $20 (Neuter, plus de-worming.)
Wire Cage: $10
Total: $50

TNR 3
Siamese. M. put out the trap last night and again, as we were getting ready to go get it for the night, the trap snapped. Kitty was NOT happy, but fared well overnight in the garage and was a perfect gentlecat on the drive to the APL this morning. I should have taken a picture of kitty when it was calm, because it is gorgeous and reminds me of Pig when she was little. We'll see how it does tonight in the recovery room.

Services: $10 (Neuter.)
Total: $60

Related, but not... I feel the need to defend my TNR activity. If you have an outdoor cat, please put a collar on it. If the cat doesn't wear a collar, please tip the ear so it isn't caught by a mean ball-snipping-armpit-hair-farming liberal hippy like myself. I know some of these cats belong to people, they are just too friendly to be feral, and I guess I'm sorry that I took it upon myself to try to stop the yowling and cat fights outside my windows at night. If you live in Cleveland and need assistance altering your animal, please contact the APL. They will spay or neuter your cats for $10. Appointments are great, but their intake facility accepts walk-ins, too.

Cleveland City limits

• Kittens and cats - $10 each
  (as long as the City subsidy lasts, hopefully all year!)

Cuyahoga County suburbs (non-City)

• Kittens (up to 5 mos) - $15
• Cats (6 mos & up) - $25

Out-of-County

• Kittens - $25
• Cats - $40

Proof of in-county status will be required at the time of check-in for surgery.
Cleveland APL's website: http://www.clevelandapl.org/tnr.htm