Dealing With Stray Cats
This is PJ, the author's cat that was taken in from the outside world.
TNR stands for “Trap, Neuter, and Release/Return.” Pasadena Humane’s Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor (TNRM) program traps feral cats who wander around neighborhoods, fixes them, and then releases them back outside. They release the cats because some aren’t socialized with humans and won’t thrive if they go to a shelter or a home.
In my neighborhood, many cats roam around outside, and it’s potentially dangerous for both the cats and other creatures like birds. I desperately want to rescue all of the cats, but there are around six that roam near me, and I already have three. PJ, one of my family’s cats, used to be one; we decided to rescue her specifically because she was on our porch for four days and was collarless. Most of the other cats we saw had collars, which is both good and bad. I’m glad the cats have a home to go to, but the owners really shouldn’t keep their cats outside, especially at night.
In this situation, where the cats have a home but are outside almost all the time, it is recommended to call Pasadena Humane anyway, even if the cats are not feral. Griffin Asimow ’25 said you should first ask the owners for permission to fix the cats. However, if the owners aren’t around or don’t care, TNRM will probably fix them anyway. They usually release the cats immediately after the procedure, but sometimes they need some extra care after the surgery. According to Asimow, female cats are more likely to be taken care of than males after being fixed, since the spaying process is more complicated than the neutering process.
It turned out PJ was pregnant, and my family wasn’t sure what to do with the kittens. After five weeks, which is usually when kittens can be away from their mother, they can be given to someone else or surrendered to a shelter. I learned that TNRM is not the solution in this case, since the kittens are inside and not feral. We plan to give PJ’s three kittens to some people we know, and will only surrender them to a shelter if no one takes them. Despite how much I’d love to keep the kittens who I’ve already grown attached to, it’d be problematic since we already have two other cats. If cats like PJ, who roam around outside, aren’t taken in or fixed by TNRM, they will just keep making more homeless cats.
TNRM is part of a larger program at Pasadena Humane called Community Cats, which is willing to spay PJ and spay or neuter her kittens once they’re ready, as well as give them all vaccines. Our family is getting charged an adoption fee for PJ, but the rest is free! Community Cats also includes a Return to Home (RTH) program which helps cats find homes and avoids taking them to shelters.
Harper Gowen volunteers at a cat shelter called Sante D’Or, and they have their own TNR program. Gowen talked to me about two members she knows who lead the TNR program at the shelter, noting, “...they both go to different locations where cats have been spotted and set up humane cat traps, and wait until the cats go inside, close the doors, and put a blanket over the cage because it can be overstimulating for the cats.” Overall, TNR is important because, as Gowen notes, “we already have an overpopulation of cats, dogs, and other animals that just can’t be housed…there are too many cats that can’t have homes and can’t be fed and it becomes an issue.” Asimow added that TNR “fixes the cats and releases them so they don’t keep making more cats.”
Some cats can live better outdoors, and some can live indoors. It’s not always necessary to find a home for a stray cat, as they might have been raised outside and might have a difficult time being around people. You should call TNR if you have stray cats around your neighborhood, though!