Community Cats Program
Community cats are free roaming cats occupying a neighborhood or area that have had little to no interaction with humans. This type of cat doesn't need to be captured for adoption because the outdoors is already their home.
CMHS offers a Community Cats Program that offers spay-neuter services for the feral and free roaming cats from Mid-Missouri. Cats with guardians and cats slated for adoption or foster programs are not accepted.
Scheduling An Appointment
Community cat trap and release (TNR) services are offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on a first come, first serve basis.
The TNR cat MUST be in a humane live trap.
Drop off is at 7:30 am with pick up being the following morning.
Free, Mandatory Program Services
- Sterilization surgery
- Ear tip of the left ear
- Rabies vaccination
Community Cats FAQ
What are community cats?
When cats are unaccustomed to humans, especially when they're still kittens, they become what's known as feral. This means they're used to their outdoor surroundings and mostly human-free lifestyle. They can roam as single cat or as group, aka a cat colony. These cats are typically too scared or wild to be tamed and adopted.
What can I do if a community cat is in my area?
Contact the Central Missouri Humane Society and give your contact information, the number of cats and whether or not you have access to a live trap. After scheduling an appointment for up to three cats, use your live trap or one leased from us to catch the cats. Once captured, bring them in during their scheduled appointment time and we'll enter them into our trap-neuter-release program.
What is Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)?
When a comunity cat or colony is discovered, our trap-neuter-release (TNR) program is designed to safely decrease the population or cease a single cat from exhibiting unwanted behavior. TNR invoves:
- Humanely capturing the cat(s)
- Spaying or Neutering them
- Vaccinating them against rabies
- "Tipping" their ear (safely taking the tip of the ear off as a universal sign they have been spayed/neutered)
- Releasing them back to where they were taken
Why release them back in the same area?
Once a cat has went through our TNR program, it's typically released back into the area it was caught in. Most unwanted behaviors previously seen or heard (such as mating cries, spraying and overpopulation) will stop or decrease with time. It also prevents unvaccinated and unspayed/unneutered cats from moving into the area since it's already occupied by a neighborhood feline.