Michael R. Moyer, V.M.D. Rosenthal Director of Shelter Animal Medicine University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine

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Adele Singleton
6 years ago
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1 Michael R. Moyer, V.M.D. Rosenthal Director of Shelter Animal Medicine University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine mobile

2 Success in sheltering has been elusive for cats, source of cats in shelters, a brief review of free roaming cats, every aspect of cat sheltering is distinct from dogs

3 Homeless dogs and cats are a social problem, not a veterinary problem, not a biological problem, not a legal problem. Don t look to veterinary medicine, vaccine technology, or laws to solve it quickly.

7 Cats are habitat flexible ( plastic ), furtive, and fecund; they are an invasive nuisance species with public health risks to some, but they are free-roaming-family to others

8 Problem: Number of feral/freeroaming cats is unknowable, but estimates suggest that it is equal in number to the approximately 75 million owned cats.

9 Problem: For estimation purposes, Julie Levy of UF suggests 0.5 free roaming cats per household. Philadelphia is 590,000 households or 245,000 free-roaming cats.

10 Barn cats Stray cats Neighborhood cats Community cats (new, very good description)

11 A cat that cannot be handled, is unsocialized (with humans), and not suitable for placement in a home as a pet (Slater) Any unconfined, un-owned cat regardless of its socialization status (Levy and Crawford) The cat in the trap in front of you (Moyer)

12 Free roaming cats may be a larger problem today due to remarkable success in control of free-roaming dogs. With removal of a significant predator for free-roaming cats, a possible check against their population expansion was removed.

13 In many shelters, feral cats have a zero chance of live exit.

14 1. Ignore

15 Feral Cat Intervention Options 1. Ignore 2. Trap & kill

16 Feral Cat Intervention Options 1. Ignore 2. Trap & kill 3. Trap/neuter/release

17 Many large TNR programs do not routinely screen for feline retroviruses

18 The following illustration is a summary of six large feline spay/castration programs, including 103,643 cats, between 1993 and 2004

19 Percentage of Pregnant Feral Cats

20 The Free Kitten Problem: Only 7% of cats (on average) come from a shelter source.

21 Source of Pets MLK 2010 MLK Cats 124 cats, 93 with source data 0/93 from breeder 41/93 from relative 3/93 from pet store* 17/93 from shelters 29/93 stray 1/93 other MLK Dogs 100 dogs, 75 with source 16/75 from breeder 32/75 from relative 10/75 from pet store 10/93 shelter 7/93 stray

22 The Free Kitten Problem: Only 7% of cats come from a shelter source MLK data for cat source This means un-spayed, unvaccinated, unbonded to owner (often)

23 The Free Kitten Problem: Only 7% of cats come from a shelter This means un-spayed, unvaccinated, unbonded to owner (often) Competes with you as the major source of kittens and cats

24 Cats arrive with latent viruses which break from stress

25 Cats arrive with latent viruses which break from stress Cats are typically less adaptive to change in housing; higher stress

26 Cats arrive with latent viruses which break from stress Cats are typically less adaptive to change in housing; higher stress Shelters (and vet facilities) grossly underestimate the amount of floor space cats need

27 Cats arrive with latent viruses which break from stress Cats are typically less adaptive to change in housing; higher stress Shelters (and vet facilities) grossly underestimate the amount of floor space cats need Cleaning/husbandry differences: Cleaning In Residence programs.

28 Cats arrive with latent viruses which break from stress Cats are typically less adaptive to change in housing; higher stress Shelters (and vet facilities) grossly underestimate the amount of floor space cats need Cleaning/husbandry differences: Cleaning In Residence programs. Retrovirus screening opinion

29 How to improve cat live exit rates? Keep them out! pre-release spay/castration subsidized spay/castration TNR

30 How to improve cat live exit Keep them out! rates? Give them back (owner reclaim); microchipping Give them away (only 7 percent of cats come from a shelter, major source of cats are stray and neighbor); you must increase market share

31 How to improve cat live exit Keep them out! rates? Give them back (owner reclaim); microchipping Give them away! (only 7 percent of cats come from a shelter, major source of cats are stray and neighbor) you must increase your market share

32 Barriers to adoption Location barriers How do you work around the fact that you are probably in a crappy location? When was the last time people stopped in just because they happened to be in the neighborhood? Are you taking cats to places where the people are?

33 Barriers to adoption Location barriers Hours of operation Think 7-11, not olde tyme banker s hours Evenings and weekends, people, or you re shutting out 80% of the market Convenience, not ease of staffing

34 Barriers to adoption Location barriers Hours of operation Lack of customer service mindset Clients, not criminals! Getting to yes (adoption) rather than shutting them down

35 Barriers to adoption Location barriers Hours of operation Lack of customer service mindset Illness stress results in URI; hard to sell snot dermatophytosis in kittens; hard to sell rot

36 Barriers to adoption Location barriers Hours of operation Lack of customer service mindset Illness Visual barriers unhealthy cats on display crowded confused overwhelming displays

37 Barriers to adoption Location barriers Hours of operation Lack of customer service mindset Visual barriers Policy barriers indoor only no declaw prior vet reference site visit no vet students!

38 Barriers to adoption, cont. Policy barriers Price barriers Alternative sources are all FREE! Two for one programs Sponsorship programs

39 Barriers to adoption, cont. Policy barriers Price barriers Alternative sources are all FREE! Two for one programs Sponsorship programs

40 Barriers to adoption Policy barriers Price barriers Process delays stray holds bite holds Medical holds RESCUE HOLDS (though, sadly, not much for cats )

41 Questions?

A New Approach to Saving Cats?

: A New Approach to Saving Cats? Clicker poll How well is your community handling unowned cats? Cats? What cats? We are importing cats into our community to meet the needs of local adopters. No problem