If you have ever seen an outdoor cat with a squared off ear instead of a point at the tip, read on to find out how it makes a HUGE impact in the community!
Ear tipping involves surgically removing a small portion of a cat’s ear (typically the right ear) while the cat is under anesthesia for spay or neuter surgery. It is the universally accepted way to signify that a community cat has been spayed or neutered, which means no new kittens will be born and the males will stop fighting – it’s a win, win!
The ear-tipping is done during a Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program. This involves humanely trapping community cats, getting them spayed or neutered, and then returning them to their neighborhoods to live out their lives. TNR is the best way to humanely reduce the over population of outdoor cats and kittens.
These community cats are not usually approachable as they have spent their entire lives (or a significant part of their lives) living on the streets. They may have had varying degrees of socialization with people. They are lovable in their own way, but they are not always the cuddly types.
If you’ve spent any time around community cats, you know that getting close to one may not be an easy task. In general, these aren’t family pets.
By ear tipping the cats, this allows people to see from a distance whether the cat has been spayed or neutered. That tipped ear saves the cat the unnecessary stress of being trapped and put under anesthesia for a second time.
Ear tipping can also help anyone who is feeding the cats keep track of them and notice if a new cat has joined the colony. An ear tip tells everyone that the cat has someone who has invested time and resources in his or her well-being.
It is not painful to the cat, there is little or no bleeding involved and it is done during their spay or neuter surgery. The ear heals up quickly and the tipped ear doesn’t detract one bit from the appearance or beauty of the cat.
Over the years, we have come across several cats that we have TNR’d but for safety reasons, personality or just because we think the cat can be turned around, go into our foster program and not returned back to their original site. Turns out that we’ve been right time and time again! With lots of love and patience, they turn out to be complete love bugs! From mamas living on the streets with newborn kittens to males who just needed love, they’re now in fabulous, furever homes! They wear their ear tips as a Badge of Honor!
To see why TNR is so important, please see By Not Fixing the Cats
We receive no government funding, our rescue is funded only by your contributions.
100% of your tax deductible donation goes to lifesaving rescue efforts to spay/neuter (TNR) cats and kittens living on the streets!
