Happy National Feral Cat Day! Remembering the First TNR’d Cats In My Yard

Starting in 2004, I learned about TNR from Alley Cat Allies and trapped a few cats. They were mostly mother cats with their kittens, so I brought them inside to be socialized and admitted into shelters.

Then in 2005, as I was trying to trap a very sick cat, I trapped Bobcat instead, and he ended up being the first cat I initially TNR’d, trapped, neutered, and returned outside.

He looked like a Bobcat, down to his stubby tail.

Along with Bobcat, I also TNR’d a dozen other cats in my yard, including Magic, a grey male, and Princess, a female white/brown tabby.

The three of them bonded, and were my first real colony. 

I never fed cats in my yard initially. The colonies formed after the cats were TNR’d.

Since they hung out in my yard all the time, of course I now fed them, but we did not have much shelter. I made one Rubbermaid bin shelter, but they would only lay on top of it. I worried about them that winter. My backyard was only grass at the time and there was no cover for them.

My next door neighbor had an old open garage that had some bedding for them, and she turned on a heat lamp for them at night.

When summer came, I started experimenting with the garden, and the colony continued to spend their days in my yard.

When fall came, Magic started coughing. Because they were bonded to me at this point, I was able to get all three of them into separate carriers and take them to the vet.

Magic and Princess tested FIV+/FeLV+. My neighbor, the one who had the heat lamp for them in her garage, adopted them.

Unfortunately, because Magic was symptomatic, he died six months after being brought inside.

Bobcat tested FIV+, and I fostered him until he was admitted to PAWS Chicago and adopted within a few weeks.

I’ve learned a lot since then and am so grateful that TNR is becoming more popular and known as it the most humane way to control the cat population. It is the only way I could have helped Bobcat, Magic and Princess.