Animal Welfare Professionals

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am a veterinarian working at a municipal shelter. We are a large open intake shelter and constantly at or over capacity. We have a TNR program but I am finding it difficult to find any resources or comparisons of what other shelters will offer to community cats beyond the initial TNR. We see many community cats that are already fixed with various medical conditions. Some are even 'frequent flyers' for a repeat abscess, skin issues or other concerns as the feeder expects the same service that was given prior. 

I'm curious what the expectation is for the level of care we are obligated to give for community cats. And what some other shelters will use as general guidelines of when to give treatment and when to refuse intake.  While we of course want to treat them all, we have limited space and the amount of times I've seen an already altered community cat for a mild URI is far too many. 

#CommunityCatManagement

Great question and I think the determination of services provided to all cats depends on where the organization is.  Most organizations want to ensure that all cats are living in a humane community.  So whether or not the cat is specifically "owned" I would decision tree it the same way...   if an owned cat/shelter cat/feral cat needs a dental(extractions) they get it.  If the person is bring in their cat for flea treatment/parasite treatment on a regular basis I would put that more in owned cat wellness vs TNR wellness.  At MRFRS(the organization I am on the board of and ran for 16 years) there has been a "chronic care and support" program that folks can qualify for if needed.  So that might be a way to capture the actual "cost" to the organization for these folks.    Does that help?   Thank you for all that you do for cats!

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Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090
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Check out this article which includes insights from some of our leading community cat veterinarians. It may shift how you approach the situation.

https://humanepro.org/magazine/articles/fear-and-loathing-and-feral-fosters

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DanielleBays
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Thank you all for this information and for the article.  We are currently struggling with this as we recently embarked on a massive county wide TNR project.  Community caregivers and residents request and would like all kinds of treatments as they would with their domestic house cats.  Education is key so I will be sharing this information with our TNR volunteers. 

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Cyndee Smolik
Volunteer
Craven Pamlico TNR Project
New Bern, NC

https://www.craventnrproject.org/
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-12-2025 08:03 AM
From: Danielle Bays
Subject: Community cat medicine

Check out this article which includes insights from some of our leading community cat veterinarians. It may shift how you approach the situation.

https://humanepro.org/magazine/articles/fear-and-loathing-and-feral-fosters

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DanielleBays
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This is tough question that we all face and that every organization will answer somewhat differently. I have worked at two different shelters (managed intake with municipal/county contracts, both often faced with capacity issues) and both shelters have had TNR programs. I also have some strong professional opinions regarding veterinary care for community cats that I'm happy to share more about privately or publicly (if desired). I have even done a couple of presentations for shelter staff and for our local veterinary community regarding decision-making for community cats that require medical care beyond TNVR.

Currently, we only accept cats through our TNR/SNR programs IF they are intact. Ear-tipped cats are not accepted through those programs. The way that HQHVSN TNR programs are able to do all the work they do efficiently is by working assembly-line style, moving cats from traps, to induction, to prep, to surgery, to recovery. We cannot interrupt that flow by stopping to perform other surgical procedures (dentistry, amputation, enucleation, etc.) if we want to get through the 30-50 cats waiting for services on a given day. Beyond core services (flea preventative, vaccination, surgery, ear tip), we will perform QOL assessments and euthanize if that is appropriate (this rarely happens...<10 out of 1,000+ TNR cats last year), quickly clip and clean wounds, administer inj. antibiotics if appropriate, shave off severe matts, etc.. Cats that need more extensive, recurring, or wellness medical care should be run through a different program, if individual organizations have capacity or choose to provide that care at all. We also do not perform any kind of temperament assessment. Cats must be presented in humane traps, receive only a visual exam/assessment in the trap prior to induction, and are returned to the traps after recovery from anesthesia. Most cases of loose, feral cats, or injuries/bites to cats or people have involved lapses in that protocol IME, where someone thought a cat appeared "friendly" or reached into a trap.

The important thing is to set boundaries that are appropriate for your organization and stick to them! Community members will always test them and push them :-)

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Rachel Powell DVM
Director of Surgery
Greenhill Humane Society
Eugene, OR
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