Cat Clinic Day

After very little sleep from Saturday night (I arrived home from the duathlon at about 12:30), I was up early to get ready to help out at a feral cat spay/neuter clinic. There is a facility about 45 minutes from me where Oneida county residents can bring stray and/or feral cats for free spaying (for the girls), neutering (for the boys) and vaccinations. This is *not* a clinic designed for house pets belonging to people with low incomes. Most of our cats come from one of two situations: some are part of colonies which hang around restaurants, strip malls, etc (usually where there's waste food around a dumpster area). Sometimes these colonies exist without anyone ever knowing they're there, but there are groups of individuals who will monitor the colony and attempt to help, sometimes just by leaving food during the winter. Some people will actually try to help control the population by trapping the cats and bring them to our clinic for surgery, thus breaking the cycle. The other cats we see are usually brought by farmers who are constantly having cats dropped off at their barns. We usually neuter about 30 boys and about 20 girls at each clinic and we hold clinics once a month, except January and February (because it's too cold for the cats to recuperate) and June (because of a lack of volunteers). Most of these cats are very afraid of people and getting them sedated can be quite a challenge. I happen to work in the anesthesia area with the girls. The cats arrive in wire traps, which I can weigh with the cat right in the trap. I then calculate the dose of sedative combined with a pain reliever and give them an injection into their muscle. They sit for about 15 minutes for that to take effect, then I give them a second injection of their main anesthetic. After about another 5-10 minutes, they are completely anesthetized and they leave my station to go to the prep area where they're shaved and scrubbed for surgery. It is labor intensive and sometimes I wonder if we're doing the right thing, but there's a good feeling from knowing that these female cats won't be faced with a lifetime of bearing litter after litter after litter. Our program is not unique; there are many others across the country. Here is a link to an excellent article (with additional links) which explains the benefits of sterilization and releasing, versus euthanizing the cats. And here is a link to our particular program. I wish nobody would have to address this issue -- I wish everybody would spay and neuter their pets and I really wish people wouldn't drop off their unwanted pets in the country. But until that day happens, we try our best to stop the cycle from repeating endlessly.