A feral cat colony in Fort St. John has recently seen a large surge of sick kittens, many who had ruptured eyes, extreme lung congestion and stomach ulcerations. To stop their horrible suffering, many of these kittens sadly had to be euthanized.
In previous years, the North Peace BC SPCA branch has spayed and neutered 27 adult cats in this colony, ensuring no new kittens would be born and increasing the health of the individual cats in the colony. The staff and volunteers spent nearly 100 hours of volunteer time to ensure the project was complete. Three kittens were rescued and had to spend nearly 5 months in quarantine suffering from horrible respiratory infections, with multiple daily medications and bi-weekly medicated baths. By the time they were clear of their issues, they were fearful of people’s touch and needed plenty of time learning how to trust again. Not the best start to life!
Unfortunately, only six months later the colony manager informed us that a cat or cats had been dumped again. After many attempts he was unable to trap them before the cats became pregnant. Many kittens are now being born, all with terrible infections causing them unimaginable pain right at the start of their lives with very little chance of survival.
We have strong requirements in place for any trap-neuter-return projects in cat colonies that we support or work on, to ensure long term support is in place and the colony size is reduced. This only works if no new cats are abandoned in these areas which the public unfortunately may consider ‘dumping areas’.
Community adult cats are sadly not adaptable to live with a family and become a pet. Kittens can often be socialized and later adopted, however with this colony seeing a spike in untreatable illnesses sadly most do not make it. Trap-neuter-return (TNR) doesn’t just help a feral cat colony dwindle in size over time, it also improves the health and well-being of each cat living there. Reducing their desire to roam is beneficial for their safety and with decreased competition for mating, cats are less likely to suffer from injuries and diseases.
Nearly a dozen cats in the colony currently require spays or neuters to prevent the suffering of newly born kittens. Please donate today to help us save as many lives as possible!