Welcome to Community Animal Treatment Center

“Community cat” is a term used to describe feral, stray cats, and owned pet cats who roam outdoors. These are the cats that live outside in our streets, alleys, yards and parking lots. Ferals and strays are cats without owners, often referred to as “homeless cats.”  

A true “feral” cat is one that has never been socialized and is living in a “wild” state. Most feral cats have been born on the streets and never interacted with humans. Even though feral cats are wild, they should not be confused with true wildcats, such as mountain lions or bobcats.True feral cats may look like regular housecats but are usually very fearful and distrustful of humans. They tend to come out only at dusk or at night. Some arch their backs and hiss and show aggression, while others just avoid eye contact and run. You can’t pick up or handle a true feral cat without getting bitten or scratched and very often you can’t even get close to them.

Feral kittens are kittens who have been born to a feral or stray mother. Feral kittens can generally be tamed and adopted into homes, but only if they are socialized within the first couple months of their lives. A kitten around 6-8 weeks old may take just a day or two to socialize and tame. Normally kittens under 12 weeks of age can be easily tamed with a little time and attention, but the older they get, the harder it becomes. If they are not handled at an early age, they will remain feral and therefore unadoptable.

 A stray cat is a former pet that has either been abandoned or strayed from home and got lost. These cats used to be cared for by an owner but are now trying to survive on their own on the streets. Stray cats are generally tame and friendly and will allow you to pick them up or pet them, although some may be skittish and run away. Many strays can be adopted as pets. 

 A tame cat is a domesticated cat that is either someone’s pet or a friendly stray. Tame cats can generally be picked up, held or pet and are used to being around or living with peopl 

 Community cat colonies are groups of homeless cats all living together. These colonies usually spring up when there is shelter and a food source. Sometimes cats will live alone, but most form colonies. 

 TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return. TNR is a community-based program that involves concerned citizens trapping feral cats in their neighborhood, bringing them to a clinic like CATC to get them spayed or neutered, and returning the cats to the exact spot where they were trapped so they can live out the rest of their natural lives. 

Trap-Neuter-Return, or “TNR” for short, is the humane approach to controlling feral cat overpopulation. It’s a community-based program that involves concerned citizens like you trapping free-roaming cats in your neighborhood, bringing them to a clinic like CATC to get them spayed or neutered, and then returning the cats to the exact location where you trapped them so they can live out the rest of their natural lives, ideally with a caregiver also providing food, water and shelter for them.

There exists in the Los Angeles area a very large population of homeless stray and feral cats. Given their strong survival capabilities and prolific breeding, if nothing is done, this population will simply continue to grow. If the population is left unchecked, it will only lead to more and more cats living in unmanaged colonies, a decrease in public tolerance of homeless cats, and increased pressure on the environment, animal control agencies and our society as a whole.

Trap and remove doesn’t work.

The old approach to controlling free-roaming cats was repeated extermination attempts. Capturing feral cats and turning them in to animal shelters, where they will be killed, may temporarily reduce their numbers, but this doesn’t solve the problem for long. Cats are living there in the environment because of two main reasons: 1) there is a food source (intended or not) and 2) there is some sort of shelter. When cats are removed from a location, it creates a “vacuum” effect — meaning the surrounding cats can sense it and they breed rapidly to fill in the gap, plus new cats move in to take advantage of the natural food and shelter sources. This vacuum effect is well documented. Trapping and removing cats often results in having even more unsterilized cats in the location than when you started. Catch and kill is very costly, doesn’t work, and ultimately it’s inhumane.

Trap-Neuter-Return is a proven and humane solution.
On the other hand, Trap-Neuter-Return programs are a very successful method of decreasing feral cat populations. TNR programs succeed at the least cost to the public and provide the best possible life for the cats themselves. Therefore, CATC devotes most of its resources – financial, personnel and material – toward decreasing the number of homeless cats in our community by offering free sterilization services for homeless stray and feral cats at our clinic.

Are you feeding outdoor cats? You’ve also got to fix them.
Providing food, water and shelter for outdoor cats is important, but it’s also equally important to make sure all of the cats in the group or colony are spayed and neutered. If not, your small colony of today will soon be a very large colony tomorrow! Cat colonies can quickly quadruple in size in a very short period of time, as cats can have two to three litters per year of five to six kittens each. And then those kittens can become pregnant at about six months of age…and so the cycle continues. Spaying and neutering the cats will not only stop the breeding cycle, but it will also eliminate problematic behaviors such as howling, fighting and spraying.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to TNR!

 Spaying and neutering the cats will end the cycle of homeless kittens being born so the population stabilizes and naturally reduces over time. Once the cats are fixed, behaviors such as howling, cat fighting and spraying also subside. TNR is the only humane way to effectively reduce the feral cat population, so that people and cats can peacefully co-exist. 

  Spaying and neutering the cats will end the cycle of homeless kittens being born so the population stabilizes and naturally reduces over time. Once the cats are fixed, behaviors such as howling, cat fighting and spraying also subside. TNR is the only humane way to effectively reduce the feral cat population, so that people and cats can peacefully co-exist.  Spaying or neutering is the most effective and humane way to help control the population of pet cats and homeless cats. Each year, millions of healthy cats are euthanized simply because there aren’t enough homes to go around.   

 Trapping and removing does not work. Cats are where they are because there is a food source (intended or not) and some sort of shelter. When cats are removed from a location, it creates a “vacuum” effect — the surrounding cats breed rapidly to fill in the gap, plus new cats move in to take advantage of the food and shelter. Trapping and removing cats often results in having even more unsterilized cats than when you started. 

 Animal shelters are a death sentence for community cats. True feral cats that have never been socialized to humans are deemed “unadoptable” by shelters, and they are not even shown to the public. They are held for a mandatory period of three days before being euthanized. There is no such thing as a no-kill shelter in Los Angeles, not when it comes to community cats. 

 Adult community cats are not pets and they already have a home – the outdoors. Most  are very fearful and distrustful of humans and therefore are un-adoptable. Confining them inside a home is like keeping them in captivity for life. If you want a pet, it’s best to adopt a tame cat from a shelter, as they all desperately need loving homes.

Feral kittens, on the other hand, can often become pets, provided they are socialized at an early age. Kittens up to around 12 weeks can be tamed relatively easily. However, the older the kittens get, the harder it is to tame them. If they aren’t socialized in time, they will usually remain feral and unadoptable. 

 If you ignore homeless cats, they will continue to breed. Cats can start having litters when they’re only four months old and can have three to four litters a year, usually with five to six kittens per litter. This is why TNR is the only humane, effective solution to control the homeless cat population.