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I volunteer one or two days a week at a feral cat spaying and neutering clinic. It's an enlightening experience, it makes me feel like I'm useful and contributing to something worthwhile. I wasn't going to do it at first due to lack of motivation, but once I got into the program I wanted to keep coming back and helping out, because they need all the help they can get.

Sometimes I clean the cats after their surgery (wiping off their surgical area, cleaning their ears, cauterizing the tipped ears, clean their cages, and put them back in the cages to be picked up later). Recently I got to shave the cats before their surgery and sterilize the area with iodine and alcohol. Apparently I'm good at shaving, since I got lots of compliments. o.o

Feral cats are house cats gone or born wild... homeless kitties struggling to survive. To keep them from breeding and creating more homeless cats, they're brought in by volunteer trappers to be spayed or neutered, and then they are re-released to live the rest of their lives in their wild colony (though there is a cat ranch/sanctuary that takes some). It's better than euthanizing them or trying to give them to a family (they're just too wild). Sometimes kittens are brought in, which are young enough to be socialized, and are adopted.

Also, cats are given the rabies vaccine before being re-released.

I'd recommend volunteer work to anyone, it really does make a person feel good inside and worthwhile.

That's a REALLY good program. I wish someone offered it in my area. I know of a ton of wild cats, but the only thing available here is euthinasia. It's sad.

I love cats, I'm an animal right activist. whee Where did you go to volunteer, I'd love to help out, or maybe even adobt a few kittens that arent so wild. eek

I had a feral kitty named Dotty that was actually really sweet. She was just used to being outside and was a little skittish. Well, I took her in to get her fixed and apparently she had feline leukemia. The vet had to put her down to stop the spread of the disease because my other kitty Rackedy had it as well. They were both put to rest together.

People should take better care to watch their animals and not let them get wild. Too many wild cats means that disease spreads more quickly, and the diseases can kill beloved housepets that happen to come in contact with sick feral animals. I had to watch three cats die because of diseases they caught from feral cats.

That's an awesome thing that you're doing. Keep up the good work at keeping the pet population down. I just hate to see starving cats and the like, though luckily none live around here. My spoiled Siamese is neutered so we don't have to worry about him bringing home kitties.

What you are doing is great. smile

I don't think its immoral to neuter cats. Surely they don't have a desire to have kittens. Neutering pets and strays is great for so many reasons, you are doing the environment a favor. Stray domestic pets cause havoc to some native habitats, especially so where i come from.

To each his own. I think that qualifies more as humans interfering with nature. In all honesty, if you went to africa and saw the over population, would you insist on neutering the people there?
I can't say I agree with it. Populations of animals and beings are all natural, and I don't think we should directly prevent something that doesn't belong to us in the first place.
However, with that being said, I do believe that it is great to get out and volunteer for something like this. Morals and ethics are different for everyone, and I'd like to say I condone your sense of duty foremost. ninja

that's really generous what you're doing for your community. it will benefit the cats as well biggrin