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Shadow Cats kicked off 2010 with a major mass trapping effort, and with the addition of several new trappers, we are on our way to increasing the number of cats we impact each year through Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR).  Under the watchful eyes of Cindy and Linda, our trapping coordinators, our newest trappers became quite seasoned very quickly.

This past month (January 2010), Cindy was contacted about a situation in Leander - a senior citizen was feeding dozens of cats and needed serious help with spay and neuter before the spring population explosion of kittens.  She and another Shadow Cats volunteer responded and set up a time to assess the situation and indeed there were what seemed to be scores of cats milling about.  There were beautiful cats of all colors, sizes and patterns - black kitties, orange kitties, tuxedo cats, gray tabbies, long-haired beauties, tortoiseshells, "the works."  It was a smorgasbord of beautiful animals.  They quickly coordinated a group of volunteers to participate in trapping as many of the cats as possible at one time. 

On the evening of trapping, we had a well oiled plan in place - trap as many as possible the first night so as to not allow the cats to become "trap savvy".  Our team of volunteers set and baited the traps and within a very short time humanely trapped 27 cats.  They were whisked away to a safe holding area where we had volunteers in place to feed them, tag them and complete their paperwork prior to surgery the following morning. Thanks to the Austin Humane Society’s Feral Cat Program, all cats would be spayed, neutered and receive their rabies vaccine at no charge.    

Several volunteers returned early the next morning for the remaining few cats and trapped an additional three, still leaving five. 

Once the original group of cats came out of surgery, a second team of volunteers transported them from the Austin Humane Society to a recovery area in Cedar Park. This empty space was essential to the recovery of so many cats and its temporary use was donated by a Liberty Hill trapper.  The area was set up somewhat like a hospital ward for kitties.  Many volunteers helped with feeding, watering, changing out bedding and keeping the cats warm and safe for the several days they spent recovering from surgery.

We still needed to trap the last five cats and with the use of our drop trap we had them in very short order.  We were able to trap and sterilize all 35 cats within one week - a huge success!!!

A few cats had minor health issues which were successfully treated and all 35 cats were released back into their home area, feral and sterile!   The owner/caretaker was very appreciative that Shadow Cats volunteers responded to her need and we all were very aware of the most significant aspect of this intervention - the cats would be living better lives and no more kittens would be born to continue the cycle. 

As Cindy said, “This TNR project taught me that teamwork is inspiring.  Having team players makes the load so much lighter and when everyone knows what role they play, success is the outcome. The energy and excitement of everyone involved was awesome. Our Shadow Cats trappers gave each other high-fives and the electricity in the air was definitely catching - an incredible feeling! It spurs you on to want to do more and continue to be a part in helping the stray, homeless and feral cats in our community - the mission of Shadow Cats Rescue.”

One or two trappers on their own would not have been able to step in and TNR every cat in such a large colony in just one week.  With our newly expanded crew of volunteer trappers, Shadow Cats will be able to respond to situations like this where a coordinated group effort can have such a tremendous impact in a very short time.  And sure enough, almost as soon as this trapping project was completed another similar situation popped up.   More to come later...we're off to trap again!