# Introducing Myself



## Cheryl Lib (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi All, I'm Cheryl Libb and I'm new here. I'm really happy to be part of this group. I have three cats,Codie is almost six years old, Tommie is two years old and I just adopted a new little boy from our animal services here in Ft. Myers, FL. on December 27th and he is four months old. We have a TNR program here so I have trapped quite a few cats and kittens. Most adult cats I take they spay or neuter them give Rabies shot and ear tip them and when they are well I release them back to where I got them. If I get the kittens early and can socialize them we have found many homes for them. We have different people to feed daily so they are taken care of 7 days a week. The ferals live a sad life but we do what we can to cut down the population. Thanks,you will be hearing more from me.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Welcome Cheryl, and thanks for what you do! You and the other rescuers and TNR-ers and foster parents are doing God's work!! I tip my hat to you!
Can you tell me, is it common practice to tip an ear when an obviously friendly stray is brought in? My son found a stray and they brought it to a feral org (didn't ask the Catmom for advice first) that gave it shots and tipped it's ear because it was already neutered. I didn't think that could happen to a friendly stray. Son is heartbroken over the damaged ear and regrets taking it there.


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## Bonnie037 (Jan 15, 2013)

Ive heard of those catch and release programs. They dont have anything like that here in Maine. At least not where I live. I wish they did, they sound like a really good thing.


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## Cheryl Lib (Jan 14, 2013)

When we take the cats through Animal Services they don't ask any questions they always tip the ear so they can be identified as being TNR. The only way to avoid it is take them to your private vet.We only take the ones we know we are putting back out.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Bonnie037 said:


> Ive heard of those catch and release programs. They dont have anything like that here in Maine. At least not where I live. I wish they did, they sound like a really good thing.


You could start one!


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## Greenport ferals (Oct 30, 2010)

Yes, tipping is common in TNR circles. Some places devoted to spay/neutering ferals will not perform the (free) operation without tipping. Although last time I took a feral to our Human Society for a free operation they tattooed a symbol on her abdomen instead. She was a beautiful cat. It wouldn't help ID her at a glance, though. 
Tipping can be drastic or sometimes it is just a slit. I have had so many tipped feral cats become tame that I kind of resent the mar on their great beauty. But the cats don't care.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

Hi Cheryl,

It's great to hear that you care so much for the feral cat population in Ft. Myers! We need more people like you who are committed to reducing the feral cat population through TNR.

Here in Toronto you're required to take a 3 hour course on TNR to be eligible to have cats spayed/neutered for free through the OSPCA or the Toronto Humane Society. These are high volume spay/neuter clinics specifically intended for feral cats, and, as such, do automatically ear tip. 

Many of the cat rescues in the city though use particular vets that offer reduced prices for rescues, and those vet clinics will typically give you the option of ear tipping or not. The specific organization that I worked with in order to rescue my current fosters has a voucher system, whereby you can make an online donation and designate the funds for a particular cat, though this must be done prior to bringing the cat in; the voucher is sent via the rescue organization to the in-area vet that they use, which secures "rescue pricing", and, when the cat is brought in, the donation voucher is applied to the bill. I still had to pay for the services, as I'm not actually a volunteer with the organization, but it helped out a lot in terms of the cost. I did end up paying for the majority of the kitten's services out of pocket because I didn't secure a voucher for her ahead of time--I wasn't sure I would be able to trap her until I did--but it was still much less expensive than it would have been had I taken her to my regular vet.

I am scheduled to do the TNR course this weekend, as I have a feral colony in the area of my work, and there is really no way that I could afford to vet and possibly rehabilitate so many cats on my own--but at least with TNR they won't be reproducing. There are at least two that I won't be taking to a high volume TNR clinic though: A Black and White adult that's skittish, but is clearly not a feral, and the one remaining kitten from Autumn's litter that was missing for a couple of months, but has since resurfaced near one of the feeding stations I set up. It's now about 6 months old, which is older than most rescues will readily accept when it comes to feral kittens, but I feel obliged to at least try to rehabilitate it, since, before it went missing, I had planned to trap it back in October when I trapped Autumn and Ramona.


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