Volunteering at the Feral Cat Spay and Neuter Clinic

Heaven Can Wait does a monthly Spay and Neuter Clinic for Feral Cats. As part of PAWS, the pre-veterinary club at UNLV, I was invited to volunteer.

10-16-2011. The cats were brought in that morning. There were a total of 426 cats brought in. Each cat was given an identification number. The cats were checked for ear tips which indicated whether or not they had been through this experience before. They were then sedated in their cat traps, possibly the hardest part because they are wild animals. Sometimes the cats were scared stiff which made injecting the sedative easy. Others were fighting all human intervention. There was a large gray tom cat that sounded like we had caged a lion. Once sedated, they were moved into the next room where the sedative took effect. The cats were removed from the traps and checked for gender. The females were placed onto a table where they were shaved, bathed, and sprayed with betadine to prep them for their spay. The males were prepped for the neuters. The females were taken into a sterile room where they were cut open. The fallopian tubes were tied off and then cut from the uterus. The males underwent an less invasive surgery where the scrotum was sliced open and the testicles removed. After the surgeries, the cats were taken to a separate table where they were inspected for any issues. Mites, fleas, and minor wounds were taken note of and treated. The cats were then vaccinated, including rabies vaccines. The cats were taken to recovery where the fae was washed, ears were cleaned, and coat was brushed out. Some of the young kittens required stimulation to revive them after sedation. Once the cats were beginning to wake up, they were placed back into the traps before they were fully conscious. By the time they woke up, they were back in the same traps withe some fur missing and a funny smell to them. They were very ungrateful to what we had done for them.

But if not for this, there would be more kittens to suffer the life of a feral cat. Feral cats live an incredibly hard life without stable food sources or shelter; not to mention the dangers of diseases like rabies and feline leukemia, animal attacks from other cats and other animals, and cars.

Total there were four hundred and five cats fixed that day making our goal. And a happy ending. One of the feral cats had a collar and when the number was called, they informed us that Camo had been missing for three years.

If every cat had a home, we wouldn't need feral cat spay and neuter clinics. But we can at least stop the number of kittens that grow up feral.