TNR with a Side of Adoption and Outreach

I’ve had an article published on Pet Radio Magazine, “TNR with a Side of Adoption and Outreach”. It’s part 1 of a four-part series of articles I’ll be writing about TNR and working with stray and feral cats. Part one discusses ways to make TNR successful in not only stabilizing an outdoor cat population but reducing it as proved in several studies and in practice, but removing all kittens and friendly cats and also enlisting the help and support of the cat caretakers already in place.
“But the goal of TNR for all concerned is not just to sterilize cats so they can’t reproduce. For both cat lovers and those who find them to be filthy pests another important goal is to reduce the population of free-roaming cats. We cat lovers want them safe in loving homes that understand their temperament, opponents just want them gone.”
The editor prefers articles with personal experience, so in this article I used the TNR/rescue/foster experience from 2015 involving Charm and her kittens and the nine other cats involved in that area. I linked some very interesting studies as well.
“In all seven adult cats were spayed or neutered, the three abandoned females and three owned males and one feral, and eight kittens were rescued and fostered. With fostering through our rescue and working with shelters, 10 cats out of 15 were not returned, and two owned males were not returned to roaming, leaving two cats of 15 out on the streets. Being able to foster and adopt is essential to reducing the populations of a colony with TNR.”
Please visit Pet Radio Magazine and read the article, and please share too. I love rescuing cats, but I also love sharing encouragement and techniques that others can realistically use to rescue cats in their turn and encourage people to spay and neuter their pets, the only way we will ever stop the overpopulation and killing.
Can’t adopt? Foster! Can’t foster? Donate or volunteer.
There are so many ways you can help cats who need homes and care. You may not have room to adopt another cat, but can foster a cat or kitten for a few weeks. If not that, you can volunteer at a shelter or with a rescue, or donate. You do this because you love your cat, and by doing so you help all cats. No matter which of these actions you take, you help to save a life, and make life better for all cats.
- Adopt one of the cats I’ve posted here, or from any shelter or rescue near you, or from Petfinder, to open up a space for another cat to be rescued and fostered.
- Offer to foster cats or kittens for a shelter or rescue near you.
- Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
- Find a group of volunteers who work with homeless cats and help them with their efforts.
- Donate to a shelter or rescue near you.
If you can foster kittens or adults cats to help prepare them for a forever home, please run to your nearest shelter and find a cat who needs you! Anyone can help with this effort at any level, even if all you do is donate to a shelter or rescue so they can help to pay for the food or medications needed for their foster, or the spay/neuter/veterinary care during a clinic.
Need to know more? Read Fostering for Your Shelter and Fostering Saves Lives
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Art With Donation from Portraits of Animals!

This award-winning art was inspired by working in post op at the May 25, 2014 Homeless Cat Management Team TNR clinic. I’ll make a $5.00 donation to HCMT for each poster sold to help spay and neuter more cats so there won’t be so many to rescue. Quantity discounts are available if you want a stack for a clinic or event. Read more about this artwork and purchase a print of this sketch.

Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.
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© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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