Community cat<\/i> is an umbrella term<\/a> that comprises strays, abandoned cats, cats that walk up to people\u2019s doors and get fed, and the ferals in the colonies (see Long Beach Animal Care Services\u2019 Community Cats page<\/a>.) Ferals <\/i>are domestic pets that have not been socialized to humans and therefore aren\u2019t adoptable, although kittens born to feral mothers may be adopted if fostered early enough (see Virtually Pets <\/strong>below). According to Dr. Julie Levy, DVM and professor of Shelter Medicine with Maddie\u2019s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, most college campuses have free-roaming cats. Management of these and other colonies isn\u2019t a simple process of leaving food out and walking away. It\u2019s a deal of work, and it\u2019s all volunteer. Besides buying food and feeding the cats, colony management volunteers clean the area, get a vet out to inoculate the cats, help with trap\/neuter\/release (TNR) and ear tipping (a procedure done under anesthesia that involves removing the upper centimeter of a cat\u2019s right ear, and the universal symbol that shows that a feral cat has been fixed), make daily welfare checks that include attention and affection, and adopt out any adoptable cats. A small colony of aging neutered and vaccinated cats, she said, is much safer than an unmanaged colony with a high turnover.<\/p>\n Scrappy, a community cat in a colony in L.A., has a tipped right ear. Courtesy of Stray Cat Alliance<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d like to wind up with no cats on the campus, which is what TNR is [ultimately] all about,\u201d Prindle said.<\/p>\n Anna Wong of Stray Cat Alliance<\/a>, an organization that educates and empowers the community to actively participate in maintaining healthy cat colonies, described the vacuum effect, which feral cat experts say occurs when a colony is removed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you remove these cats from the campus, you\u2019re going to have more cats move in who are not neutered, who are not spayed, unvaccinated cats, babies\u2014cats that haven\u2019t been maintained in a colony bringing in mange\u2014all this stuff you don\u2019t want on campus,\u201d she said. \u201cBy allowing these cats to stay, you\u2019re preventing these problems because these ladies are actively maintaining this colony. If an animal is sick, they\u2019re removing that animal. If an animal comes in without an ear tip, they\u2019ll spay or neuter that animal. If an animal is pregnant, they\u2019ll remove her, allowing that cat to have her babies and adopting them out so that they don\u2019t come back to this campus.\u201d<\/p>\n Prindle and her volunteers have been managing the colonies in the proper fashion since two summers ago, and the results compare favorably to the Rabbit Population Control Experiment she and another staff member had organized. There were 50 to 75 adult cats on the LAC Carson campus and 75 to 90 on the PCC campus on Pacific Coast Highway. This number doesn\u2019t include over 100 kittens that have been fostered or adopted, or the cats who wander onto the campus from the surrounding neighborhoods. Today, the total number in both campus colonies is around 30.<\/p>\n \u201cWith historic low numbers in rabbits and cats, why does the college believe they need to act on a complaint now?\u201d Prindle asked.<\/p>\n Prindle was referencing a recent campuswide memo that was sent out by the administration that warned employees and students away from feeding the cats because of filed health complaints.<\/p>\n At about this time, Prindle said, the special feeders that the college had built to accommodate the cats had been vandalized on the PCC campus and around $1,000 of equipment needed to manage the colony has been stolen over the past few weeks. Several of the donation cans for the project had also disappeared over time.<\/p>\n Some of the volunteers who helped with the colony are also college employees, and they expressed uneasiness at the meeting over being able to continue to help. One student said that administrators had allegedly spoken \u201cabrasively to students who have shown an interest in getting involved with caring for the cats\u201d and that students themselves were fearful of getting involved in helping the cats because they believed that they\u2019d be expelled.<\/p>\n Vyskocil said that indeed, employees were not allowed to touch the feeders and that there was a worker\u2019s compensation claim against the college for feeding the cats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an interest in maintaining a clean and healthy environment,\u201d Vyskocil said. \u201cThe whole area smells like urine, especially when the sun comes out. What we\u2019re seeing are major complaints, and they\u2019re about physical issues\u2014a woman going into the area is required to take Benadryl, cat hair on people and a respiratory infection relating to that, and digging in the area where there are feces.\u201d<\/p>\n When pressed by one of the campus volunteers, Vyskocil said that what the employees did on their own time didn\u2019t fall under that umbrella.<\/p>\n There was doubt and disagreement from the cat advocates about the feeding and health issues. Tina Cassar, RN, FNP and a nurse practitioner at the college who helps feed the cats said that cat allergies are outdoor and not indoor conditions. \u201cI\u2019m allergic to cats myself, and when I go out and feed them, I have no problems,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m also a flea magnet, and I\u2019ve gotten 10 fleabites when I worked in the AA building and there were fleas because of the mice. Everyone has the idea that whenever there are fleas around, it\u2019s the cats. There are other animals\u2014dogs, wildlife, etc.\u2014I\u2019ve had students come in to my clinic; they\u2019re lying on the grass over there. And I\u2019ve never had one person come in to complain about [cat] allergy.\u201d<\/p>\n Toxoplasmosis, Cassar added, affects mainly pregnant women; Levy stated that cats shed toxoplasmosis organisms only twice in their lives and become immune to it thereafter. The colony volunteers suggested that the excrement may not all be cat related but come from wildlife; they maintained that they clean the cat area regularly and will continue to do so, no matter who or what left the droppings. Wong also presented an ultrasonic device called Cat Stop<\/a> and a sensor-activated device called Cat Scarecrow<\/a> that she cited as good nonlethal methods to keep cats and other unwanted animals away from an area.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the administration hammered out a 90-day assessment period for the colony managers and advocates to work out a schedule of feeding and cleaning to assess the needs of the colony and recruit volunteers. Prindle will also work with Timothy Wootton, the Facilities, Maintenance and Operations Department manager, to locate a place to relocate the PCC colony cats, one that is secure and that won\u2019t have them running back home across busy streets. The act of agreeing on a feeding schedule for the assessment period was more contentious since it appeared to be the fulcrum around which the health issues revolved.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s drawing the wildlife to our campus\u2014it\u2019s the feeders,\u201d Vyskocil said. \u201cAnd every report I\u2019ve read says that wildlife are attracted to food. Remind them to feed only for 30 minutes a day and then remove them.\u201d<\/p>\n Wong retorted that 30 minutes wasn\u2019t a sufficient time to get the cats adjusted to a schedule and suggested starting with four hours to start training the cats. \u201cWhat I suggest is, we start with a window of time. It has to be sufficiently ample\u201430 minutes won\u2019t work. That\u2019s not going to get these animals on a feeding schedule. This can\u2019t be done overnight\u2014this is a process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot be so cut and dried when we\u2019re dealing with living things.\u201d<\/p>\n You are too wild a spirit to live inside with me Here are six potential forever companions that had more than humble origins: found in rusty machinery parts, left in litters in buckets\u2014all on the PCC campuses. The pictures below show the potential they had that was obvious only to their rescuers. Check them out at Forever Home Pet Rescue South<\/a> by clicking the links on the links on the right of the page or visit them and the other good cats and dogs at Unleashed by Petco, 6331 E. Spring St. at Palo Verde Avenue, on Fridays from noon to 4:00PM and Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00AM to 3:00PM.<\/p>\n Burton, 9 weeks<\/i><\/p>\n Tom, 10 weeks (Tom and Burton would make a good set if you admire the Sydney Opera House<\/i><\/p>\n Zeppelin, 9 weeks<\/i><\/p>\n Rem and Ryuk, 18-month-old twins<\/i><\/p>\n Dr. Horrible, 2 years<\/i><\/p>\n Operation Santa Paws, Various Shelters December 1 \u2013 20<\/strong><\/p>\n Would you all be able to help collect dog and cat toys, treats, food or supplies to donate to the local animal shelters with our Operation Santa Paws program? If so, let Justin@JustinRudd.com<\/a> know the public drop-off places you’ll be hosting (names, addresses, phone numbers); we can include that on the website. Then, for the Long Beach\/OC area, we\u2019ll gather all the collected goodies on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 20 in Long Beach and distribute them all to the pets in area shelters and rescues. You can also take your collected goods directly to your favorite shelter or rescue! For more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Low-Cost Pet Vaccination Clinics<\/strong><\/p>\n December 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Signal Hill Park Stearns Champion Park December 20<\/strong><\/p>\n Bixby Park Marine Stadium Pet owners must be 18 years or older. All pets must be on leashes or in carriers. Only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. If you have a prior rabies vaccine certificate, license tag or license renewal notice for your pet, please bring it with you to the clinic. Vaccination and microchip services are provided for pets residing in any city. Licensing service is provided for residents within our jurisdiction: Long Beach, Signal Hill, Cerritos, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. For more service information and pricing please visit Southern California Veterinary Vaccine Clinics<\/a>.<\/p>\n West Coast Animal Rescue and Long Beach Animal Rescue 12 Days Adopt-a-thon, December 6 \u2013 17, Seaport Marina Hotel next to Pat and Kyrie’s Christmas Trees on the PCH (front) side of the hotel, 6400 E. PCH., Long Beach, 11:00AM \u2013 8:00PM<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"ear](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ear-tip.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/i>You need my protection, but you still need to be free
<\/i>To neuter and to nurture, that is my responsibility.
<\/i>~S.L. Smith, \u201cA Prayer for All the Street Kitties\u201d<\/i><\/p>\nVirtually Pets<\/h3>\n
![\"Burton](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Burton-9-weeks.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Tom-10-weeks.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Zeppelin](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Zeppelin-9-weeks.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Rem](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Rem-and-Ryuk-18-mo.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Dr.-HOrrible-2-years.jpg\")
<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\nKIbble<\/h3>\n
![\"Humane](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Humane-Education.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\nPet Projects<\/h3>\n
2175 Cherry Ave.,
Signal Hill,
10:00AM \u2013 11:30AM <\/p>\n
4520 E. 23rd<\/sup> St.,
Long Beach
1:30PM \u2013 3:00PM<\/p>\n
130 Cherry Ave.,
Long Beach
10:00AM \u2013 11:30AM<\/p>\n
5255 Paoli Way,
Long Beach,
1:30PM \u2013 3:00PM<\/p>\n