Alley Cat Allies has championed Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in the United States since our founding in 1990 and, together with our supporters, raised it to the standard of humane care for cats who live outdoors. We started our movement because we knew the endless cycles of catch and kill in shelters had to end, and that TNR was the only way forward.
Today, TNR is still the standard, and we work with grassroots advocates and decision-makers alike to defend these critical programs worldwide. But the success of TNR hinges on the compassionate people who carry it out and teach their communities to join them in their lifesaving work.
Alley Cat Allies and our resources are always here to help. Here are our top TNR tips, all of which and more can be found at alleycat.org/TNRGuide.
The Steps to TNR
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the only humane and effective approach to community cats, or unowned cats who live outdoors. Here are the three basic steps to the process:
1. TRAP: Humanely trap community cats in box traps lined with newspaper, cardboard, or vent covers.
2. NEUTER (or spay): Take the cats in their traps to a veterinarian or clinic to be neutered, vaccinated, eartipped, and microchipped with their caregiver or TNR advocate information.
3. RETURN: After the cats recover, return them to their outdoor home where they were trapped.
To emphasize, ALL TNR should include:
1. Vaccination
2. Eartipping
3. Microchipping
Vaccination is a key component of TNR, and it’s not true TNR without it. The standard vaccines include rabies and FVRCP, which protects cats from feline viral rhinotracheitis (feline herpes), feline calicivirus, and feline panleukopenia (feline distemper).
Eartipping is an effective and universally accepted method to identify a spayed or neutered and vaccinated community cat! The procedure, which removes the very tip of the cat’s left ear, is performed by a veterinarian while the cat is already anesthetized for spay or neuter surgery, so there is no pain. There is little or no bleeding, it heals quickly, and it helps ensure a cat is not needlessly retrapped.
Microchipping helps ensure that should community cats be impounded by animal control, they can be scanned and identified through their microchip and their caregiver contacted so they can be returned to their outdoor home.
With these steps combined, TNR saves cats’ lives!
TNR Means Coming Home
The “R” in TNR—AKA the ‘Return’—is a homecoming! Community cats are bonded to their outdoor homes and feline families, and TNR ensures they return healthier and free from the stresses of mating and pregnancy.
Pictured above is Charlie waiting for his pal, Peanut, to come out of her trap! Both were spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and eartipped as part of an Alley Cat Allies Feline Frenzy®.
Our Top TNR Tips
A community cat in her humane trap awaiting surgery through an Alley Cat Allies TNR program.
- Prepare and try to trap ALL cats and kittens you plan to TNR during your first trapping session. The more times cats are exposed to the trapping process, the more suspicious and avoidant they become—which makes trapping difficult!
- Withhold food 24 hours before trapping, but always provide water. This will ensure that the cats are hungry enough to go into the traps. Remind other caregivers and neighbors to withhold food as well.
- Always return community cats to the exact area where they were trapped. They have to go back to the outdoor home and feline family they know and cannot be released just anywhere. That’s why it’s called Trap-Neuter-RETURN and not Trap-Neuter-RELEASE.
- Never leave set traps unattended; stay nearby but out of sight. Once a cat enters a trap, cover it with a trap cover, towel, or blanket ASAP to calm them. When trapping in hot or cold weather, move cats immediately to a temperature-controlled space.
- ALWAYS use the proper equipment. Only use humane box traps to safely trap cats. Never use nets, darts, or tranquilizer guns, all of which are dangerous and stressful to cats and kittens. DO NOT pick up cats. For the cat’s safety and your own, don’t attempt to pick the cats up or catch them with your hands, a blanket, or the like.
- Get cats comfortable with entering humane traps by feeding them out of UNSET traps for a week or two before your planned TNR date. Then when the time comes, they’ll go in with no issue!
- Place the bait at the very back of the humane trap beyond its trip plate, then drizzle juice along the trap floor and out of the entrance to encourage the cat to walk in. A tiny bit of bait just inside the trap’s entrance could help, too!
- Just like you have paths you walk every day, so do community cats! Be observant and watch for the trails that cats most often take. Note if there’s a certain tree or bush they like to sleep under, and what time of day they’re most likely to be in a specific area. Set your humane traps at these places and times.
- Once community cats are trapped DO NOT remove them from their humane trap. The veterinarian will remove them after they are anesthetized for surgery, and you can release them from the trap when they are recovered and ready to return to their outdoor home. If a cat must be moved to a larger enclosure, such as for a longer recovery time from surgery or other medical concerns, use a transfer cage.
- Make sure every recovery space is temperature-controlled, especially shortly after surgery. Anesthesia impacts a cat’s ability to regulate her body temperature.
- Cats can be returned to their outdoor homes 24 hours after surgery if they’re clear-eyed and alert. Female cats may need longer to recover from spay. The clinic may ask you to make exceptions for other cats who are slow to recover or need continuing post-operative care.
Tips For Hard-to-Trap Cats
- If you’re having trouble, try to lure the cat into a more confined space. It’s easier to trap when you don’t have to do it in the great outdoors! Place food into a smaller space you can close in, like a garage or shed. Hide and wait for the cat to enter, then shut the door behind her. Before you lure the cat in, prepare the room with a set humane trap with more bait inside.
- Put a stick in it! For cats who have learned to step lightly to avoid triggering their humane traps, slide a stick through the side holes of the trap just in front of the trigger plate and a few inches off the trap floor. The cat will be forced to step over the stick and her paw will land harder on the trigger plate just beyond it.
- Get creative! Try to camouflage the trap with a material like burlap. Then, place leaves, small branches, palm fronds, or whatever is in the natural environment around the top, sides, and on the floor inside the trap. Just run a test first to make sure your disguise doesn’t interfere with the trap door closing!
Learn more TNR tips for those savvy, hard-to-trap cats at alleycat.org/HardToTrap.
We’re Here to Support Your TNR Work
We know that the work of community cat and TNR advocates can get expensive. To help, we compiled a directory of low-cost and no-cost veterinary services that’s searchable by state at alleycat.org/VetDirect.
You can learn more ways to fund your work for community cats here.
Our TNR resources are always on hand to help. You can find them all at alleycat.org/TNR.