The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) estimates that there are tens of millions of community cats roaming throughout the country.  Our region is home to a countless number of these cats.  Community cats are cats that are born and raised in the wild or have been abandoned or lost and turned to wild ways to survive. Community cats typically live in a colony which occupies a specific territory where food and shelter can be found. Many times, they are found around restaurant dumpsters, abandoned buildings, and under porches. Often, the colony is fed by a person who is concerned for the cats (caretaker). As the cats are fearful of people, they are seldom seen except by those who are aware of the colony or who feed them.  Community cats can also be described as feral; these cats are often fearful of human interaction and are resistant to contact. They can be difficult to approach and may resort to violence to escape capture. Due to the lack of contact with people, feral cats are typically too fearful to be adopted and must be protected in other ways.  

According to the Humane Society of the United States, community and feral cats are a problem based on defined nuisance behaviors. These behaviors include urinating and defecating in a yard or garden, digging, jumping on cars, upsetting an owned cat, fighting, and overpopulation. As female cats can become pregnant as early as five months of age and can reproduce frequently, overpopulation is one of the largest factors in determining how to react to community/feral cats.

Utilizing current funding from the Coalition for Community Cats (C4CC) and the County of Sacramento, the Sacramento SPCA spays/neuters over 3,000 feral/community cats each year during our Sunday clinic alone. The Sacramento SPCA holds feral cat spay/neuter clinics each Sunday of the month. These clinics are specifically for feral and free-roaming cats that have been trapped the day before the clinic, and are not intended for pet cats.

During the clinic, each cat receives:

• spay/neuter
• mandatory ear tip
• FVRCP and rabies vaccinations
• flea treatment          

When funding is not available, the cost to the public is $30 per cat. To continue offering this service at no cost, the SSPCA is excited to offer a sponsorship opportunity to the cat and kitten lovers in our community.

The commitment to sponsor one week per month is $1,500. This will allow up to 88 cats to be altered, ear tipped and vaccinated in one day.

The benefits of spaying/neutering feral/community cats are:

• reducing cat overpopulation in our community
• better health, diseases are not spread
• roaming behaviors are reduced
• Foul odors are greatly reduced as well because neutered male cats no longer produce testosterone which, when they are unaltered, mixes with their urine and causes the strong, pungent smell of their spraying.

To learn more about how you can sponsor one of the clinics, contact Sarah Haney, Interim Chief Executive Officer, at 916.504.2805 or email shaney@sspca.org.