Are some people who care for feral cat colonies clipping the ears of cats to give the impression that the cat is neutered (although they are not), which helps to protect the cat from being trapped and euthanised? I have no idea. Neutered (male) and spayed (female) cats do not present a problem to a community of people as they are part of a controlled feral cat colony. For that reason, they should be treated as community cats and left alone.
The allegation comes from Woodsman in a comment that I will not publish. I know we should give little credence to what he says. He is a heartless bastard and cat killer but it could just be true and I would like to see if I can receive some sort of feedback on the comment. Note to Woodsman: don’t bother to comment unless you keep it polite and provide some hard facts and proof.
If it is being done by some misguided but big-hearted feral cat carers, it is wrong. It will damage the long term prospects of TNR programmes. It is imperative that TNR is shown to work. The way to do that is to carry it out properly, thoroughly and for a long time, with the backing of local authorities, ideally.
Clipping the left ear of a feral cat is a sign that the cat has been neutered (male) or spayed (female). Sometimes the right ear is clipped. The procedure is carried out by the vet at the time the cat is sterilised. It should only be carried out by a vet for obvious reasons. There is a procedure that minimises pain and bleeding.
The top quarter inch of the left ear is cut in a straight line using sharp surgical scissors. It has been found to be the best way to identify sterilised feral cats as you can identify the cat from a distance. Taking photos of the cats, or ear tattoos and ear tags are all less effective, we are told.
Eartipping is a form of mutilation but a necessary compromise in managing feral cat colonies.
You’re right, you’d be lucky to walk away from an encounter with a stray feral cat unscathed. There is no harm done to the animal unless it’s captured and nuetered twice. The tipped ear works. If anyone has a better idea as if this subject wasn’t already carefully scrutinized when they implemented the program, let’s hear it.
They don’t just catch the cat just to clip it’s ear. They clip it’s ear AFTER it’s been spayed or nuetered so that the cat doesn’t get trapped and spayed twice. Seems like you’re misguided as well. You got a better idea? Let’s hear it.
I don’t agree. How is a hole punch different from an ear tip? I have dealt with dozens of ear tipped cats including 6 of my own and it does not inhibit the animal in any way. Anyone got any better suggestions, let’s hear them. Hole punching definitely not one of them.
I’m commenting here from the future, 2020, to bring this forward in search engines. I own a cat and dog boarding kennel and, due to necessity in our rural area, we also deal with TNR feral cats as well as take in and place friendly cats and kittens. 20 years ago we had ears “notched” when they were trapped and released. During recovery they were obviously bothered by the notched ears, pawing at them and often even causing them to tear and/or bleed.
We recently had two older kittens trapped and brought in. When neutered, a newer vet did ear tipping instead of the notching. Both cats completely ignored their tipped ears and the ears weren’t even slightly red in the 24 hours after the surgery. I took one home to try to tame him so I got a chance to really observe his behavior following the tipping and at no time did he indicate in any way that he was bothered by his ear.
I’m sure that the ear tip being much thinner than further down where they were previously being notched allowed for faster healing, less bleeding and less pain.
Tipping is a definite way to identify these neutered cats and is much more obvious than notching which can result from injury.
Thanks AR for your concern. I agree with you.
It’s a mutilated cat either way. How did this perversion of eartipping get started when a holepunch or small nick in the edge of ear is just as visible? How is removing a significant portion of the ear- a vital sense organ, permissible in terms of an animal returned to the wilderness?
There should be a class action suit against those humane societies endorsing & performing such damaging & disfiguring procedures on helpless cats.