Operation Catnip offers services to non-pet cats or cats with no owner.
Eligible cats incude feral & stray cats in Alachua County over the age of 12 weeks old.
WHAT ARE FERAL CATS?
Feral cats are the offspring of stray or abandoned household pets. Raised without human contact, they quickly revert to a wild nature and form colonies where food and shelter are available. Although they prefer to be 'wild', they are still a domestic species. Feral cats make up a large portion of the cats euthanized at animal shelters.
TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN -- How Operation Catnip operates
The plight of feral cats has captured the hearts of animal lovers for many years, but only recently has a non-lethal option for their control become available. Called a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program, this humane alternative involves spaying or neutering feral cats, then returning them to their colonies were they are looked after and fed by caregivers. This solution successfully decreases the population, reduces birth rates and improves the overall health of the colony. Performed on a large scale, the success of such programs is felt at animal shelters where fewer cats are admitted for euthanasia.
Monthly Spay/Neuter Clinic
Operation Catnip holds monthly spay/neuter clinics, where a team of over seventy-five volunteers, comprised of veterinarians, veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and many others sterilize up to 350 cats in a few hours. All cats also receive a vaccination against rabies, feline leukemia, feline distemper, panleukopenia and calicivirus. Operation Catnip permanently removes the tip of the left ear of all cats altered in the clinic. The tipped left ear is an internationally known sign that identifies each cat as stray and sterile.
Operation Catnip Outreach
Your clever cats won't cooperate with the once-a-month clinic calendar? Sunday clinics don't agree with your schedule? Then Operation Catnip Outreach is for you!
Operation Catnip was established with a simple goal in mind: to reduce the population of feral cats in Alachua County by sterilizing as many as possible. Wise and frugal use of volunteer time and donations has made it possible to provide sterilization for more than 24,000 homeless cats during monthly free clinics held since 1998.
The program has been so successful that the demand for services has exceeded the capacity of the monthly free clinics operated by Operation Catnip volunteers. Operation Catnip type feral cat packages will be offered for $40 at the Big Fix Rig, home of Operation PetSnip, starting in the summer of 2009. Unlike the monthly clinics, feral cat services offered at the Big Fix Rig will not be limited to Alachua county residents.
How do I sign up?