Change Lives: Spaying & Neutering Cats Works!

Hello, friends –

It’s been a busy first-half of 2024 for our spay/neuter program! Thanks to your generosity, we’ve been able to continue working to reduce the suffering of community cats and prevent many kittens from being born in those dangerous circumstances. In just six months, we have spayed or neutered 520 community cats!

We work in very rural areas in several North Carolina counties where spay/neuter services for community cats are rare or non-existent. As you might guess, this is also an area where lots of cats are duped and left to fend for themselves. The ones who survive at all wind up in community cat colonies that, if they are lucky, are tended by caring people.

Here’s a story of how many cats end up in a colony. Blind Cat Rescue’s Emma was one such cat, whose story mirrors those of so many other cats. Her owner had died, and the family didn’t want Emma, so they tossed her out, leaving a blind cat who had always been indoors outside, terrified and very much at risk. She was found in a large colony and trapped for spaying and release with the other resident cats. It was clear right away that she wasn’t feral at all. Because she was blind and a senior, our program’s veterinarian knew sending her back to the colony would likely be a death sentence. No adopters stepped up, but she found a forever home at Blind Cat Rescue, where she lives today.

There are many other cats like Emma still in the colonies. So, we do our best for them when they come in, spaying and neutering most and finding homes for as many kittens and cats like Emma as we can. The danger for all of them is very real. Recently we had a call about a rural trailer park that was overrun by cats (as is often the case). The residents had been shooting them and were threatening to resort to poison. A new park manager came in and, after talking to our team, agreed that if we could get the population under control so it wouldn’t grow, the cats could stay. We were able to trap them all and get them all spayed or neutered. They’ll go back to the trailer park, and we expect the residents to leave them alone, but there will be no more kittens born in that group so the number will get smaller.

Our TNR workers are a determined, dedicated and loving group of people who work tirelessly to help the cats who need them. We’re thankful for them and all the good work they do. You make all this work possible with your generous donations!

With deep gratitude,

Dr. Linda, Sam and the Cats