Animal Humane NM

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Programs & Services

Feral Cats

What Is a Feral Cat?

Trapping Feral Cats

Taming Kittens

Feral cat surgeries are done Monday through Friday

Cats must be dropped off between 8:00 am and 8:30 am ONLY (On the second and fourth Fridays of the month, please bring feral cats to the south entrance of the Clinic.)

No appointment is necessary

Cats must come in a covered, feral cat trap

A regular pet carrier and towel must be provided for post-surgery recovery

Cats will be fixed and vaccinated for a fee of $15.00 payable to Animal Humane

Full instructions for recovery will be given when you pick up your cats. Each cat who attends either clinic will be sterilized, fully vaccinated, given pain medication, fluids, and antibiotics, and its left ear will be tipped for identification purposes.

If you want to participate in our Feral Cat Trap & Release Program, cat trap rentals are available from Animal Humane for a deposit of $50.00 Call 505.255.5523 x105 or x142 to reserve traps.

Animal Humane's feral cat policy reflects nationally accepted best practices for humane feral cat population control. Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) has been proven in multiple communities to be the most effective way to humanely reduce the feral cat population over time. See "What is a feral cat?" for more information and the definition and dynamics of feral cat communities.

Street Cat Companions at Animal Humane

Animal Humane partners with New Mexico Animal Friends "Street Cat Companions" (SCC), an all volunteer feral cat organization. Every second Sunday of the month, Animal Humane makes its Veterinary Clinic available to SCC for a feral cat spay/neuter clinic. This clinic is an all volunteer operation and several area veterinarians routinely donate their services to help Albuquerque's feral cats. If you bring the cat in on one of the scheduled Sundays, drop off time is between 8:00am and 10:00am.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is widely recognized as the most humane and effective approach to dealing with feral cats. So what does TNR involve? The feral cats in a colony (hyperlink highlighted words to definitions) are trapped in humane traps and taken to a veterinary clinic to be sterilized and vaccinated. While they are under anesthesia, the tip of one ear is clipped off to indicate the cat has been sterilized. The cats are then returned to their original location. Ideally, a caregiver provides basic shelter, water and food for the cats and keeps a watchful eye out for any newcomers so they can also be trapped and sterilized. Over time, the size of the colony declines because the sterilized cats are not producing kittens. Studies have shown that an alternative approach known as Trap and Kill isn’t effective in reducing the feral cat population. When the feral cats in a colony are trapped and killed, new, unsterilized cats move into the area and have kittens, starting the cycle all over again. Trap-Neuter-Return is the only method that’s proven to control and reduce feral cat populations.

To learn more about TNR, and how Animal Humane can help, contact: Read about TNR at the links below:

Humane Society of the United States’ position statement on TNR http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/feral_cats/TNR_statement.html

Alley Cat Allies http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=285

Best Friends Animal Society http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/resourcelibrary/feralindex.cfm

Stray Cat Alliance http://straycatalliance.org/solution.php

Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project http://feralcatproject.org/how_help_cats.aspx

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Feral Cat TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) Information

There are two TNR programs for feral cats available at Animal Humane|New Mexico.

Street Cat Companions, a subsidiary of New Mexico Animal Friends, conducts a feral cat spay/neuter clinic at Animal Humane on the second Sunday of every month, with occasional scheduling changes around holidays. Anyone can bring a feral cat (as opposed to a friendly house pet) to these clinics. We request that all cats be brought in a covered trap, but exceptions can be made if this is not possible. Each cat must be accompanied by a plastic pet carrier and a towel for recovery. The cost is a $15.00 donation payable to Street Cat Companions. Patient drop–off begins at 7:30am in the south parking lot of Animal Humane. If you need information about these clinics, or if you need to obtain traps, call New Mexico Animal Friends at 881-7297 or Jane Sage at 247-9357.

Animal Humane|New Mexico spays and neuters feral cats Monday through Friday. Anyone wishing to participate in this program should contact the veterinary clinic at 217-0300 to make arrangements.

All cats must be brought in a covered trap accompanied by a plastic pet carrier and a towel for recovery. The cost is $25.00, $10.00 of which is subsidized, so for the time being, client responsibility is $15.00 payable to Animal Humane. Patient drop-off is from 8:00 to 8:30am in the clinic. Animal Humane has a few traps to loan out; call Pauline at 255-5523 x142 for information about traps. If you have questions about the clinic, call the feral cat information hotline at 217-0300 and select option #5, or leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

Complete trapping and recovery information is also available at Animal Humane.

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