Clinical trials involving cats: what factors affect owner participation?
TNR for Cats – ITP March 2018 - Dogs Trust Worldwide
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TNR for Cats – ITP March 2018 Ian MacFarlaine RVN
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Transcript of TNR for Cats – ITP March 2018 - Dogs Trust Worldwide
TNR for Cats – ITP March 2018
Ian MacFarlaine RVN
Copies of the slides are on your USB sticks.
Throughout the session I have listed hyperlinks to the videos, if we fall behind time I will show you how to find the video and you can view it later at your leisure.
Most videos also embedded on your USB
Links to manufacturers of equipment featured
Plan
• Background to feral cats
• A bit about socialisation etc.
• Public perceptions and reactions
• Assessing sites incl, pop count
• Prepping
• Trapping
• Veterinary care & releasing
• Testing/EN etc.
• Legalities
Bio• Working in animal welfare since 1989
• Registered Veterinary Nurse
• Former Animal Welfare Inspector
• CP Neutering Manager 2008-2012
• International Cat Care, Head of Cat Welfare 2012-2015
• Shelter Manager in UK and other countries.
• Currently Manager at Malta MSPCA
• Ferals – since 1999.
• 8000 trapped.
• Over 400 colonies or groups
• 7000 ferals nursed/anaesthetised
• Most trapping as a volunteer
• Authored FAB Feral Manual
• Trained/taught in 24 countries to date
• Hands-on in 16 countries
• UK TNR in London, Stoke, Hebrides, Wales, Cumbria, Sussex, Manchester, Cheshire.
• Currently not involved in mass TNR
• I’ve learned that no one’s ferals are special or different, and I have come to this view as the person with the widest experience of TNR (in 14 countries) on the planet.
• I urge you to avoid formulating processes or policy on specific incidents or personal experiences, this is where most TNR (and animal welfare generally) goes wrong.
• Most issues are the same, whichever country.
• “Hands-on” experience is essential in decision-making.
• I see the same mistakes and same things crop up again and again; TNR’s reputation gets damaged by those who do it badly.
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
Why not scoop up all the cats and bring them to shelters?
Why not scoop up all the cats and take them to shelters?
(1) Capacity – even countries with the most sophisticated sheltering infrastructure do not have the capacity for every unwanted cat, while in many countries the potential pet homes are saturated.
(2) Humane reasons – fear reaction develops in young kittens from 5 weeks, and if not countered by positive human interaction between 2 and 6 weeks of age, a fearful or feral older cat will be the result.
(3) Solitary species – cats (all small felids and all felids except lions) have an ethological leaning towards a solitary lifestyle. Proximity to others is stressor.
(4) Community need – many humans gain benefit from the company of street cats. Street cats also perform a valuable sanitation role.
(5) Oh yeah, it doesn’t solve the problem
Cat problem – inter-relational
• Multi-factor
• No one solution can solve the problem or works alone.
• The cat problem is closely interrelated and a single action will not work if other actions are not in place.
• Pet cat overpopulation and street cat overpopulation are linked - divisions between the two are fluid
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
What’s the difference between feral and stray cats?
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FERAL AND STRAY CATS?.
• Feral cat
• Street cat
• Community cat
• City cat
• Alley cat
• Farm cat
• Semi-feral cat
• Long term stray cat
• Free-roaming unowned
• Outdoor cat
• Barn cat
It’s all in a name!
Level of fearfulness
Dependence on humans for sustainance
Length of time on street
Levels of ownership
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FERAL AND STRAY CATS?.
• Feral cat
• Street cat
• Community cat
• City cat
• Alley cat
• Farm cat
• Semi-feral cat
• Long term stray cat
• Free-roaming unowned
• Outdoor cat
• Barn cat
It’s all in a name!
Level of fearfulness
Dependence on humans for sustainance
Length of time on street
Levels of ownership
Sometimes these lines don’t always
run parallel – they may intersect!
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
What about biology / ethology?
More actively domesticated by humans and oftenfor specific tasks
Made first move to domesticate on own terms and keeping more distance
Up to 20-30000 years of domestication 10,000 years of domestication
Bred to shape and task over 300 years Bred for shape only 100-150 years, not much change of shape and most breeding accidental and aesthetic. Not bred for task.
Pack animal with system for greeting Solitary animal 2km with no defined greeting systems when meeting new cats
Almost always a top predator Preyed on as well as predator
Longer socialisation period (19w) with reprise at puberty
Small fixed socialisation period 2-6 weeks
Puberty usually breed-related and from 6 months to 12 months
Puberty depends on time of year born but can be as young as 3.5 months.
Pregnant for 61-66 days Pregnant for 61-66 days
Breeds at fixed intervals twice yearly Breeds over defined season of year, in heat every 3 weeks and with ability to reset quickly if not mated
CRITICAL SOCIALISATION PERIOD
2-7 weeks
Can extend to 4 months but only if
significant human contact by 6 weeks
•Object of trapping for homing is to
create a homeable pet that doesn´t need returning to care and doesn´t make owner feel they´ve failed, and
makes people want to take on a rescue
animal.
•Measure welfare realistically rather
than idealistically
•Measure potential welfare gains
against the compromises needed to
achieve a homeable pet
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
How many cats are there?
Carrying capacity (K)
food
Food
Somewhere to hide
Rubbish
The basic needs to sustain a cat (or dog) population….
•No country has managed a reliable national population survey or accurate estimate of the unowned cat population.
•At local level, clusters (colonies) will be around 60-65% female
•The female cats will be related to each other and often similar colorations will be seen
•Not all queens will be reproductive at any time but those who are will frequently be synchronised.
•Neutered males regarded as females by the other cats
•There is no menopause in cats!
•There will be a small number of older males and more young males
•Lots of peripheral males not part of colony
•Number Seen X 1.5 = Number there
•Kitten care shared – when dealing with lactating cats
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
How many cats do we have to neuter?
“Critical Neutering Rate”
• Population multiplication x
• Survival
- Not all queens reproductive
- Removal of a reproductive queen causes a non-reproductive queen to join the breeding group OR other queens to up their game!
85% of population (old hypothesis)
vs 40% of unneutered population every
6 months (new modelling)
Neuter more females first to achieve initial results
Let’s imagine each female produces 3 kittens
So, after 3 months….
Neuter more females first to achieve initial results
Let’s imagine each female produces 3 kittens
So, after 3 months…. (female cats,
not gay cats)
Neuter more females first to achieve initial results
Males first? Result:
Females first: Result
Males first? Result:
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
Know limits, and select a cachment if needed!
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
How do we catch the little buggers?
Processes for TNR
• Site check & count or census (use google earth if available)
• Correct preparation
• Gather your correct equipment and use it correctly
• Schedule to get cats neutered quickly and back out fast
• Allow adequate time to trap all cats
• Correct monitoring afterwards
Site census?
Acclimatise! Using a trap which is unset to build up a bank of good experience and make the whole group of cats less fearful of the traps once you begin catching. This can improve results by 50-60% and cut time spent on trapping.
Introduction and outline
Understanding populations, colonies and population normals.
What is a cat? And how is that relevant to population management?
Veterinary aspects and releasing
“So can you help me catch this really clever cat who keeps
having babies”
What they actually mean is…
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
VETERINARY ASPECTS AND RELEASING
“So if you are the expert, please explain to me how I can
catch all the cats who won’t allow themselves to be caught
because I ****ed up the trapping from the start”?
I prefer to use a
manually operated
trap if I can, so I
control the door and
select the cats,
targeting female cats
first.
This trap also helps
me avoid catching the
cats which are already
neutered
I can catch more than
one cat at a time, so
reducing the number
of times I shut the
door (as each catch is
a factor in making
other cats who have
not been caught yet,
more scared and less
likely to want to go in
the trap)
• Manual Cat Trap (“MAC TRAP”)
• http://www.mdc-exports.co.uk
• http://www.mdcexports.co.uk/mac-trap-a178-320_140690.html
•
Supplier information
Drop traps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_PqOP
0lowQ
• Tomahawk drop trap
• http://www.livetrap.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30249
Supplier information
https://vimeo.com/122771312
Combine methods
Automatic traps
Great for:
- 1 or 2 cats
- Wary cats
- Last of colony while others at surgery
Automatic trap
• “Trucatch 30 LTD” - www.animal-care.com (ACES)
- www.animal-traps.com/ (Heart of the Earth)
- www.trucatchtraps.com (Tru-Catch)
• MDC “Easicatch trap with wire floor” –http://www.mdcexports.co.uk/eezicatch-cat-trap-mesh-floor-178-340_140682.html .
Supplier information
• Label all automatic traps
• Monitor and supervise if on public-accessible land (whether legal or illegal)
• Do not leave unsupervised if on accessible land
• If on enclosed, private, access-controlled land, check every 3-4 hours (no more than) or get householder to monitor.
• Someone out there needs to invent a texting trap!
Keep traps
clean but
don’t use
bleach or
strong
detergents
unless you
can rinse
completely
Anything with a cat in (trap, carrier) should
always be covered. No excuses not to
Anything with a cat in (trap, carrier) should
always be covered. No excuses not to
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
“You see we’ve got this problem with our vet”
Vet capacity
1. “As & when” – highly flexible, low risk to the clinci, copes with the surprise odd cat. Vulnerable to emergencies at practice. Not good for colonies.
2. Set up a day with defined slots – depends on the practice trusting the trapper: underpromise and over-deliver very slightly. OR have a plan B, such as a shelter animal than can be substituted
3. “Free-for-all” day. Depends on the practice. Book them for the day, pay for materials at cost, do a cat-a-thon. Make it fun, have lots of volunteers to clean / help / buy lunch etc.
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
“But the vet we use is a bit of an asshole”
Vet issues
1. Understanding the differences of rescue / shelter medicine –trying to treat ferals as pets (sometimes this is exaccerbated by rescuers not understanding the difference either)
2. Vets aren’t up to date with CPD and current knowledge
3. Vets not having the capacity or skills to neuter
4. Rescuers who expect free services and don’t pay their bills on time
5. Rescuers who are unreliable or discourteous
6. Rescuers who treat the vets like murderers if they suggest euthanasia
7. Rescuers who “shop around” either because they have accumulated bad debt or because they don’t trust the vet.
Restraint..2 options – either a squeezer cage which pulls the cat close to the edge to give
the injection, or a restraining fork.
• http://www.mdcexports.co.uk/smart-cat-trap-comb-178-343_140666.html “Cat Comb”
• “Trap Divider”
• - www.animal-care.com (ACES)
- www.animal-traps.com/ (Heart of the Earth)
- www.trucatchtraps.com (Tru-Catch)
Supplier information
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
“First do no harm””
Surgery• “Elective surgery” animals were not sick or
injured when they entered process.• “Hands-free” – ketamine or zoletil• Maintain in same cage or trap• Pre-weigh cages and traps where possible • High levels of hygiene and asepsis• Clinics are a disease transfer risk because we
bring lots of cats together. Use things like old rubbish bins to soak the traps and cages in disinfectant to keep them clean
• Reduce stress – try and avoid mixed species TNR programmes.
• Reasonable, sensible ops list.• Learn to structure your ops list.• If poor anaesthesia or analgesia, don’t
neuter.• In-date material especially sutures. Avoid out
of date of short date donations.• Avoid unnecessary repeat surgery
Anaesthesia is differ-ent in street cats• No IV access which means that the
choice of regimes is restricted to is those using ketamine and alpha 2 agents. Once injected, its there.
• Use of multi-agent anaesthesia as a concept – not hard & fast set combinations.
• Multi-agent = less side effects and more chance of one agent counteracting the undesirable effects of another.
• Implications of overdosage reduced.
• Key agents used cause vomiting early on so not neccessary to starve for periods B4 surgery.
• Pain relief essential
• Away from food and water = risks with NSAIDs – feed and water at every opportunity and use fluids.
• Ear tip
• Remove 3 to 8 (occasionally 10) mm from the ear in a straight line.
• Don’t make small v-shapes, or use tattoos.
• Consistent to left ear – no point in switching ear according to sex
• Ear tipping done under GA
• Generally speaking if it bleeds when done then you are removing too much but as anaesthesia improves, so blood pressure doesn’t lower as it used to.
• Ear tip – Veterinary Record 1983 (Remfry, Neville & Eachus).
Introduction and outline
Understanding populations, colonies and
population normals.
What is a cat? And how is that relevant to population
management?
Practical aspects of trapping and tnr
How to work with the community and
understand their fears
What about the legal aspects and how can we
be sure we aren’t trapping pets?
Neutering from 9 weeks
Pre-pubertal neutering• Safe from 8-9 wks
• Professional experience since 2000 and to this date I have anesthetized over 1400 kittens under 16 weeks with no crashes and no deaths UGA. First person to introduce EN in a charity in the UK.
• Male testes descent pre-natally
• Less bleeding
• Better visualization in spays so reduced surgical time
• Quicker recovery
• Preventative & effective
• Not pregnant or in season
• Multiple kitten per cage occupancy
• Cheaper as less Bodyweight
www.kind.cats.org.uk
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
Vaccination at time of neutering
• Fischer et al, 2007 - https://www.avma.org/News/Journals/Collections/Documents/javma_230_1_52.pdf
In a controlled study of feral cats on a university campus, a
single administration of vaccine give in a group of
anaesthetised cats at the time of spay/neuter showed a
significant increase in protective antibody titre levels
after administration when tested 3 months later for :
Parvo 90% (previously 33%)
Herpesvirus 56% (prev. 21%),
Calici 93% (previously 65%),
Rabies 98% (previously 3%),
INTRODUCTION AND OUTLINE
UNDERSTANDING POPULATIONS, COLONIES
AND POPULATION NORMALS.
WHAT IS A CAT? AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO
POPULATION MANAGEMENT?
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRAPPING AND TNR
HOW TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR FEARS
WHAT ABOUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS AND HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE AREN’T
TRAPPING PETS?
Knowing when to let go..
Releasing• Check weather conditions (cats
will cope fine – but public perceptions important)
• Release exactly to the same spotwhere caught
• Put food down at site. Cats may not eat then and there but will come back later.
• Males and flank spay females : Morning following surgery is fine
• Extended midline spays, pyometras, spay/abort – late on following day or second morning after
• Dependent on vet’s skill, technique• Minimise captivity – welfare /
disease/stress/anorexia/hygiene if kept in
• Same-day? Conscious is not always physiologically recovered. Secondary haemorrhage. Temperature.
Contributing to TNR
• NGOs/charities must re-evaluate their effectiveness
• Board members and directors and CEOs should go back to the floor to see how this works in progress.
• You need to moderate and adapt your processes to make them feral friendly – both for the welfare of the cats but also to make the process easy.
• Clinical decisions and compromises – you can’t treat feral or street or shelter cats to the same standard as pets (eg eye drops) so may have to euthanase more.
• Work together with stakeholders and the community
• Raise the status of this function in CP as these cats are just as important
• Not acceptable to carry out the process badly, but easy to get away with as these are hidden cats.
