The volunteers are truly “unsung heroes”. Through their selfless help, which goes mostly unrecognized, the volunteers provide invaluable services to manage the cat population and to assure healthy feline colonies which coexist harmoniously with residents within their neighbourhoods. As official facilities and budgets to care for injured or ill street animals are lacking, volunteers provide invaluable help by organizing veterinary treatments for them, and often take the animals into their own home to care for them during their recovery. Volunteers are caretakers, who perform the valuable task of monitoring the health of the street cats, and take action where needed. Since no public funding is available, medical veterinary care, vaccinations, anti-parasite treatments and care for cat colonies depend on limited availability of private donations and the selfless assistance of volunteers.Volunteers receive little help with their expenses, and perform all these tasks without compensation for their time. They are motivated by their compassion and love for animals who deserve a protected and valued space to live among us. The volunteers of Andratx are unsung heroes; they deserve a wealth of gratitude.
The Volunteers
The volunteers are truly “unsung heroes”. Through their selfless help, which goes mostly unrecognized, the volunteers provide invaluable services to manage the cat population and to assure healthy feline colonies which coexist harmoniously with residents within their neighbourhoods. As official facilities and budgets to care for injured or ill street animals are lacking, volunteers provide invaluable help by organizing veterinary treatments for them, and often take the animals into their own home to care for them during their recovery. Volunteers are caretakers, who perform the valuable task of monitoring the health of the street cats, and take action where needed. Since no public funding is available, medical veterinary care, vaccinations, anti-parasite treatments and care for cat colonies depend on limited availability of private donations and the selfless assistance of volunteers.Volunteers receive little help with their expenses, and perform all these tasks without compensation for their time. They are motivated by their compassion and love for animals who deserve a protected and valued space to live among us. The volunteers of Andratx are unsung heroes; they deserve a wealth of gratitude.
Caring For Cat Colonies
Caring for cat colonies means:
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Avoiding malnutrition by providing them with basic food and water supply
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Providing anti-parasite treatments and administrating medical care for ill or injured animals
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Limiting the reproduction through Trap-Neuter-Release programs (TNR) and thus supporting healthy balance within a colony and a healthier community for people and animals.
Volunteers provide food for the cats at colony feeding points
Cats were domesticated by humans thousands of years ago, always settle in the vicinity of humans, as they depend on us. Thus feral and abandoned cats will always stay close to where humans are. Providing them with basic food and water supply, as required by law, avoids malnutrition, helps them to fight disease, and to reduce their hunger. Well-fed cats rarely hunt for other species or scavenge for food. This helps to keep a balance between cats and other biodiversity, and to avoiding conflict within a residential community. Volunteers selflessly assist with their time, and often with their own limited budgets, to buy and provide the food; however since no official financial assistance is available, food for cat colonies depends on the limited availability of private donations.
Food And Water
Volunteers provide food for the cats at colony feeding points Cats were domesticated by humans thousands of years ago, always settle in the vicinity of humans, as they depend on us. Thus feral and abandoned cats will always stay close to where humans are. Providing them with basic food and water supply, as required by law, avoids malnutrition, helps them to fight disease, and to reduce their hunger. Well-fed cats rarely hunt for other species or scavenge for food. This helps to keep a balance between cats and other biodiversity, and to avoiding conflict within a residential community. Volunteers selflessly assist with their time, and often with their own limited budgets, to buy and provide the food; however since no official financial assistance is available, food for cat colonies depends on the limited availability of private donations.
Medical Care
Volunteers assure injured or ill animals receive medical care
Sadly cats are exposed to many dangers and suffering, when living on the streets. They get injured by cars, they get diseases such as cancer from sun exposure and other causes, they get infected with viruses, and at times they are exposed to malicious acts by humans such as poisoning or cruelty.
Volunteers assure that cats are neutered via TNR (trap, neuter, release).
Trapping feral cats is not easy, can be very time consuming, and requires experience. To successfully trap street cats, one often has to get up very early or work late at night, when the quiet surroundings allow the shy, feral cats seek food. Yet the neutering by qualified veterinarians is an effective method to control the cat population by limiting reproduction. Managing population size allows to protect the health of the cats and to control public health requirements, and also reduces suffering for the animals. Public funding for neutering of street animals by veterinarians is too limited in comparison to the task at hand, and does not cover the efforts to trap and release the animals. Population control of cat colonies thus currently depends on the selfless assistance of the volunteers and limited availability of private donations.
Trap-Neuter-Release
Volunteers assure that cats are neutered via TNR (trap, neuter, release). Trapping feral cats is not easy, can be very time consuming, and requires experience. To successfully trap street cats, one often has to get up very early or work late at night, when the quiet surroundings allow the shy, feral cats seek food. Yet the neutering by qualified veterinarians is an effective method to control the cat population by limiting reproduction. Managing population size allows to protect the health of the cats and to control public health requirements, and also reduces suffering for the animals. Public funding for neutering of street animals by veterinarians is too limited in comparison to the task at hand, and does not cover the efforts to trap and release the animals. Population control of cat colonies thus currently depends on the selfless assistance of the volunteers and limited availability of private donations.
What is Spaying and Neutering:
Spaying and neutering are effective methods to control overpopulation.
Spaying (also known as sterilizing) is a surgical procedure for a female cat, where a veterinarian removes the ovaries (in dogs also the uterus). Spaying eliminates the female animal's reproductive capacity and heat cycles.
Neutering (also known as castrating) is a surgical procedure in which a male animals’ testicles are removed, to prevent the male animal from breeding.
It is important and mandatory that spaying and neutering is only performed by a qualified veterinarian under general anaesthesia, adhering to all professional medical standards, with the highest care for the animal in mind. By undergoing the procedure, the animal should not be exposed to risks, pain, or experience any stress.
Spaying And Neutering
What is Spaying and Neutering: Spaying and neutering are effective methods to control overpopulation. Spaying (also known as sterilizing) is a surgical procedure for a female cat, where a veterinarian removes the ovaries (in dogs also the uterus). Spaying eliminates the female animal's reproductive capacity and heat cycles. Neutering (also known as castrating) is a surgical procedure in which a male animals’ testicles are removed, to prevent the male animal from breeding. It is important and mandatory that spaying and neutering is only performed by a qualified veterinarian under general anaesthesia, adhering to all professional medical standards, with the highest care for the animal in mind. By undergoing the procedure, the animal should not be exposed to risks, pain, or experience any stress.
Benefits of Spaying
Spaying and Neutering entail a series of benefits, both for the animals and the community with humans.
For the community:
Unwanted pregnancies and litters quickly lead to overpopulation and an increase in the number of abandoned animals. Spaying and neutering of cats is the most effective method of controlling their reproduction, and thus is an essential tool to avoid situations of overcrowding and lack of capacities in local shelters. Spaying and neutering are effective methods to avoids overpopulation, thus leading to healthy feline colonies which coexist harmoniously with humans within a mutual community.
For the cats:
- For female cats, it avoids fertility (being “in heat” or “in season”) and the problems associated with it: they do not attract males, the typical anxiety of this period (include excessive vocalizing and restlessness) disappears, and the tendency to run away from home is significantly reduced. It also avoids health complications that can occur during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. - For male cats, it decreases constant moaning of male cats due to their sexual need; it is likely to avoid urine marking, and greatly decreases the risk of roaming and fighting, thus reducing the risk of contracting diseases. - Applicable to pet cats: due to the reduced risk to run away from home, the risk of contracting diseases like FIV (Feline Immune Deficiency Virus), FeLV (Feline Leukemia Virus), rabies, feline calicivirus, and so forth, is greatly reduced. (While vaccinations can reduce those risks further, there is no vaccination again FIV).
Myths About Spaying and Neutering
Spaying and neutering is a responsible step towards protecting animals by avoiding overpopulation and their suffering. There is a wide dissemination of multiple MYTHS on this subject, lets address them:
The reality is: After spaying/neutering, a pet’s metabolic activity may be slightly decreased, however a sedentary lifestyle and inadequate diet have a greater influence on the animal. By paying attention to these two factors, weight can be easily controlled.
The Reality is: Spaying/neutering can calm an excited animal, reduce aggression and other hormone-related behaviors, but it does not influence the animal's true personality. If you keep cats as pets because you expect them to control rodents on your property by hunting, spaying or neutering will not reduce their hunting instinct. In fact, it has been proven that a cat, that is well nourished and feels good, will hunt more than hunting out of pure hunger.
The Reality is: We are talking about hormonal and chemical processes, so if cats are spayed, they will not have a need to reproduce, and therefore they will not have psychological pregnancies, seasonal stress or anxiety.
The reality is: cats don't feel sad about not being able to reproduce. The female only accepts the male when she is in heat, that is, when her body has a hormonal demand and she has the possibility of becoming pregnant. Outside of this situation, she can reject a male very aggressively, which shows that for her, there is no situation of pleasure related to sex, but a situation of hormonal need. Similarly, the male only looks for females when he receives chemical information that there is a female in heat nearby, that responds to his hormonal chemistry.
With respect to cats (and certainly dogs as well), humans started interfering with nature by domesticating them thousands of years ago. Even if feral, cats and dogs of today’s times are a result of the mark that humans left on their species for thousands of years. Thus, they are highly dependent on humans and we are responsible for them. While it might be correct to say that humans interfere, by taking the right to spay and neuter a cat or a dog, it is simply too late to make this argument. Managing their population by spaying and neutering is the most responsible and effective method to help our fury friends to thrive and to reduce their suffering. And remember: Adopting a cat can save ONE life, neutering a cat can save THOUSANDS of lives.
The reality is: Once animal babies are born and are weaned off their mother, they need “responsible” owners and “appropriate” homes. Animal shelters are full of homeless cats and dogs, many of whom were adopted as babies and abandoned when they grew up. Thus, the objective is not only to find a home or an owner, but to find a “forever-home” with a “responsible” owner, who adopts an animal being aware of everything that entails having an animal, and who is willing to accept that an animal is for life. In addition, giving an “appropriate” home to an animal means providing to the animal its basic needs for food, shelter, hygiene, space and movement, medical care, as well as attention and affection.
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