coming soon; to a feeder near you

(why just feeding isn't enough, and counter-productive to boot)

The reality is that if you are feeding cats, you are already significantly affecting their lives…you’ve already established some sort of relationship to them in the ecosystem.  The most relevant effect you will have is that by feeding them, you will enable the females to birth larger litters than they might otherwise…as the feline reproductive nature is based on availability of resources…that means more food = more kittens born.  Because males and females alike will have to spend less time hunting for food, they will have more time to mate…once again resulting in more pregnancies and more kittens.

the back-story

(how it all started...with a trap and the best of intentions)

Like most individuals involved in TNR (Trap, neuter, Return), I did not set out to work with feral cats.  I became involved in TNR in direct response to the situation (quite literally) in my own backyard.  In Nov. of  2007, my husband and I moved from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn into a house on Staten Island.  We quickly discovered that the house we had purchased came with a neighborhood full of un-neutered cats.  In place of a house-warming party, we were treated (subjected?) to nightly rounds of howling and yowling; soon accompanied by mating calls as spring approached.  We knew the situation needed to be addressed, and soon; not only for the sake of our sleep and sanity, but in order to avoid the inevitable conclusion: kittens.

We had never heard the term, “TNR.”  But we did the only thing that made sense; we stepped up.