Community Cats
ACCT Philly TNR Days
Have you been seeing cats outside for a while, who don’t appear to be owned? These are known as “Community Cats,” cats who live outside and don’t have owners. Some are friendly, and have been abandoned by owners, and others have lived for generations outside.
The most effective way to decrease this number is TNR: TNR helps prevent thousands of cats from being added to the population! Unfortunately, this critical service is not funded as part of our contract, but thanks to a generous gift by Cynthia Silber, we are launching a special spring initiative to spay/neuter 800 unowned Philadelphia cats: The Fix Philly Felines initiative!
*This initiative is in addition to our collaboration with the Penn Vet Mobile Clinic, which enables us to provide TNR on site multiple days a month year-round!
Ready to trap some cats and save some lives?
- Take a look at the clinic drop off schedule at ACCT Philly here and determine when you want to try to trap the cats (you should place the trap out no earlier than the night before unless you are planning on housing them inside for a short time prior to the clinic).
- If you don’t have a cat trap (most people don’t!), you can rent one for FREE at the Catadelphia trap library in Tacony
- Watch this video here to see how to set up the trap
- Once you have the cat, bring them to ACCT Philly at the time and date of your appointment. You’ll fill out some paperwork, and they’ll get spayed/neutered, vaccinated, given flea/tick preventative and ear tipped (this lets people know the cat has been altered)
- Pick up the cat and trap the next day at ACCT Philly, take them to where you trapped them, and release them!
- Clean your trap and return it to the trap library so that it can be used to help others!
Need trapping assistance?
Upcoming TNR Days for Penn Mobile Clinic at ACCT Philly
- Tuesday, October 24th
- Tuesday, October 31st
ACCT Philly Community Cat Program
Intake Process for Trapped Cats
ACCT Philly is proud to work with citizens, volunteers, and TNR groups to help control the community cat population through spay and neuter. Cats in the ACCT Philly Community Cat Program receive spay or neuter surgery, left ear tip*, vaccines, wellness exam, and food is during their stay. *A left ear tip, indicates a cat has been spayed/neutered and vaccinated.
Any questions? Please e-mail communitycats@acctphilly.org.
Need trapping assistance?
Caretakers / Colony Managers:
Are you taking care of the stray and feral cats in your area? We are working on creating a database of all colony caretakers, trappers, transporters, and feeders in Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia is estimated to have around 60,000 free-roaming cats; this database will allow us to quickly help cats in need of TNR. Our goal is to connect people who are helping out either the same cats, or cats in the same area, to help streamline the TNR processes. To assist us in this process, please fill out our Caretaker form here.
If you need trapping assistance, please contact us at communitycats@acctphilly.org.
Interested in learning more? Please check out our informational packet for all things Community Cats here!
Volunteer
We are also looking for volunteers to help with caretaking, trapping and transporting cats for spay/neuter surgery. Email communitycats@acctphilly.org to learn more.
General Information about Community Cats
What is a Community Cat?
If you’ve spent time in the city of Philadelphia, you’ve more than likely seen a cat outdoors. Cats who spend most of their time outside are referred to as “Community Cats” or “Free-Roaming Cats”. These blanket terms refer to indoor/outdoor pet cats, abandoned stray cats who have adapted to the outdoors, and feral cats who have had no human contact. They may have vastly different personalities but they are all referred to as community cats, and all cats who will be outdoors, even for just a short period of time, need to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated.
The best thing we can offer free-roaming cats is TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). TNR is the process of humanely trapping and transporting community cats for spay/neuter surgery and then returning them to their outdoor home.
Why TNR (trap-neuter-return)?
TNR (Trap. Neuter. Return) is the process of humanely trapping and transporting community cats for spay/neuter surgery and then returning them to their outdoor home. Seeing stray cats? Want to TNR? We’ve got options!
TNR is the only proven humane way to reduce the number of the cats who live outside. Once cats are spayed or neutered, they cannot reproduce and contribute to the cat population. TNR will also drastically reduce nuisance behaviors, such as spraying, caterwauling, and roaming out in traffic-ridden streets.
Without TNR, community cats’ lives are at risk! A high intake animal shelter such as ACCT Philly simply does not have the capacity to find adopters for the thousands of cats who are found to be living outdoors. Many cats who live outside have not been socialized to live indoors with humans, and are better suited to life in the urban wild.
Stay Up to Date
Join our Community Cats Program email list to be informed of important program changes, upcoming events, and more!
Harming community cats is a crime!
To report animal cruelty, neglect or abuse contact:
Pennsylvania SPCA Cruelty Hotline
866-601-7722
cruely@pspca.org
Low-Cost Spay/Neuter & TNR Assistance Programs for Community Cats
Spayed Club Clinic
484-540-8436 | info@thespayedclub.org
PSPCA Clinic
215-426-6300 | info@pspca.org
PAWS Clinic Grays Ferry Ave
215-298-9680 | gfclinic@phillypaws.org
PAWS Clinic Grant Ave
215-545-9600 | neclinic@phillypaws.org
Project M.E.O.W. TNR Assistance in West Philadelphia
www.projectmeow.org | projectmeow.rfa@gmail.com
Temple Cats TNR Assistance around Temple’s Main Campus
267-579-2287 | Join their Facebook group “Temple Cats”
South Philly TNR Assistance
Join their Facebook Group “South Philly TNR”
Forgotten Cats Low-Cost Clinic and TNR Assistance
215-219-8148 | 302-429-0124 | www.forgottencats.org
A colony manager, or caretaker, is an advocate who is dedicated to maintaining a clean area for community cats, providing food, water, and shelter. Ideally, a colony manager will live on the block they are feeding on.
Having a dedicated Colony Manager on your block will drastically reduce cats digging through trash cans, using gardens as litter boxes, fighting loudly, roaming out of alleyways, giving birth to kittens outside, and reduce the overall number of cats living outside.
Colony Managers and community members can help reduce nuisance complaints together by having peaceful communication about any issues with cats on their block and helping each other implement the proper tools needed to resolve complaints.
If you are a Colony Manager / Caretaker or are interested in becoming one, please contact the ACCT Philly Community Cat Coordinator for more information and resources on helping manage a colony of free-roaming cats on your block:
215-385-3800 ext. 103 I communitycats@acctphilly.org
Set up a feeding station
Please, feed cats at the same location every time, preferably on your own property. Place a large Rubbermaid container on its side, place food and water bowls inside. This will help reduce cats ripping through garbage bags and roaming out in the streets looking for food.
Set up a feeding schedule
Feed the cats at the same time; once or twice every day. Clean up any leftovers within 60 minutes. This will help reduce other wildlife to enter the colony. This also creates a pattern for the cats and they will benefit from a routine.
Outdoor cats can have litter boxes, too
Build a litter box with wood frames, add sand or peat moss, please do not use actual cat litter, which is for indoor use only. Having an outdoor litter box will help reduce cats using lawns or gardens. Place this outdoor litter box in a strategic area, away from neighbors who do not want cats on their property. Be sure to keep these litter boxes and areas clean and change out the contents regularly.
Physical Barriers
- Cover and tightly secure trash can lids with bungee cords.
- Physically block or seal locations that cats are entering with chicken wire or lattice.
- Cover exposed ground in flower beds with large river rocks to keep cats from digging.
- Purchase a Cat Scat™ mat to keep cats from digging.
- Arrange branches in lattice-type patterns or use actual lattice fencing material over soil, this discourages digging.
- Purchase a car cover if cats are walking on your vehicle.
- Use plastic car carpet, spiked-side up and covered lightly in soil, in gardens, flower beds, and other landscaping.
Electronic and Battery Operated Deterrents
- Hoont™ Motion Activated Electronic Animal Repeller
- CatStop™ Ultrasonic deterrent
- Scarecrow™Motion Activated Sprinkler
*You can purchase these deterrents at a hardware store or www.amazon.com.
Scent Deterrents
To keep cats away from gardens, flower beds, or specific areas of property, scatter fragrant items that don’t appeal to a cat’s sense of smell.
- Fresh orange or lemon peels.
- Organic citrus-scented sprays.
- Sprinkle coffee grounds, vinegar, or pipe tobacco, oil of lavender, lemongrass, citronella, or eucalyptus.
in gardens or landscaping
Killing and relocating will not reduce the outdoor cat population.
Historically, cats are a part of wildlife, they were not brought indoors until the 1950s. Because of their history, all cats are born with an instinct to survive outside, and have adapted quite well to life in the city, where food, water, and shelter are abundant.
Not only can cats survive without human help, they have also been extremely successful reproducing in the city. Cat overpopulation is a community issue, and it is our responsibility to make sure that our tiny friends are spayed, neutered, and returned to their outdoor homes.
If cats are permanently removed from a location, the area will suffer from what is called “The Vacuum Effect” which a new colony of cats will infiltrate the unoccupied area, regardless of whether the cats are being fed by someone. By implementing TNR in Philadelphia, the outdoor cat population will eventually decrease; although this takes time and a great deal of help from people who live in the community!