The uninitiated animal lover might not be familiar with some terms that are commonly used in the animal rescue community. Below are some of the most common terms that are used. Most of the below terms refer to cats.
Cat rescue terms
- Kitten Season is the time of year when kittens are born. It usually starts around March and ends in October. During this time of year, cat rescue groups are bursting at the seams and will usually have long wait lists. This is also the time of year when it is hardest for rescuers to adopt adult cats.
- A stray is a cat that was owned by someone that is now homeless. Most often stray cats were abandoned when their families moved, but sometimes they have become lost.
- A cat rescuer is a person who takes in stray cats and kittens and tries to find good loving homes for them.
- A cat rescue group is a group, usually with non-profit 501(c)3 status, that is dedicated to finding new homes for stray cats or kittens.
- A forever home is the goal of every cat rescuer or rescue group. This is a home where the cat will live for its entire life without being abandoned or relinquished to the shelter.
- A feral cat is the wild born offspring of a domestic stray cat. These cats are the same species as a pet cat, but they were born outdoors with little human contact and are fearful of people
- A feral cat colony is a group of feral, and sometimes stray, cats and kittens that live in a particular area. These areas can be in apartment complexes, neighborhoods, behind stores or restaurants, in industrial areas, in gas stations, in rural areas, near rivers; the list goes on and on.
- TNR stands for Trap Neuter Return. It is the method used of catching feral cats and sterilizing them so they can no longer breed. While programs differ, at a minimum, the cat is trapped in a humane box trap, taken to a veterinarian, sterilized, and one ear is cropped for easy identification.
- TNVR Many programs that do TNR also give the cat a rabies vaccine and some will also treat other ailments such as removing rotten teeth, providing antibiotics, de-worming the cats, providing flea treatment, and more.
- An ear crop or ear tip means that a small part of the cat’s ear was cut off. This is usually done in a straight horizontal line, but sometimes the cat’s ear will be notched, which means a V shaped area on the side will be removed. Each program consistently crops either the left or right ear, but not both. This is done because it is the easiest way to identify a sterilized feral cat.
- A colony caretaker is a person who cares for a feral cat colony. This person provides food, water, and shelter for the cats on a daily basis. This person is also responsible for making sure the cats are sterilized so they can’t breed.
- A trapper is a person who traps feral cats for the purposes of TNR. Most often this is the same person as the colony caretaker, but sometimes non-profit groups have specialized trappers that help the caretakers.
- Kitten taming is when a young feral kitten is fostered and tamed. While there is some debate as to how old is “too old” it is generally agreed that kittens 8 weeks and younger are the easiest to tame. Kittens 8 – 12 weeks are still fairly easy to tame but require a little extra work. Most people agree that most kittens 4 months and older should be sterilized and returned to their colonies. While these kittens can still be tamed, it requires a lot of time, effort, and most often the kitten will only bond to one person.
- A neonatal kitten is a kitten that is not weaned. Neonatal kittens usually range in age from one day to four or five weeks. These kittens require the most time and effort to care for. Because they are not yet eating solid food, these kittens will require feeding of kitten milk replacement formula (which can be bought in any major pet store) either in a special kitten bottle or with an eyedropper. They will also require a heating pad, and need their butts wiped with a damp cloth to stimulate urination. The youngest kittens will require feeding every two hours, while the older neonatal kittens might not require butt wiping and might be old enough to sip the formula from a saucer.
- A kitten old enough to get spayed/neutered will weigh at least two pounds. This usually occurs when the kitten is around two months old so it’s easy to remember two pounds or two months. Please note that some veterinarians will not want to sterilize a kitten this young and will insist on waiting until the kitten is four to six months old. If this happens to you, simply call another vet until you find one that agrees to spay/neuter your kittens this young. There is no danger to the kittens and this guarantees that they will not breed in their new home.
Other animal rescue, and animal shelter terms
- A low cost spay/neuter clinic is a day when people can bring their animals to be spayed/neutered for a very low cost. Here in San Diego, cats can be fixed for as little as $30. Because these clinics are so inexpensive, vaccinations are usually not included. These clinics sometimes have income restrictions to qualify and an appointment is almost always required
- Asilomar Accords are “Guiding Principles, standardized definitions, a statistics table for tracking shelter populations and a formula for determining shelter live release rates.” There are many in the animal rescue community that think the definitions in the accords are too vague and that this may lead to misapplication or misuse.
- No Kill means that only animals that are "unadoptable" or "non-rehabilitatable" are killed. The problem is that each shelter has slightly different definitions for “unadoptable” or “non-rehabilitatable.” According to the No Kill movement, the proper definition of this term is that no animal is killed unless it is irremediably suffering or truly vicious and a danger to the public. In practice this means that 90% or more of animals entering a No Kill shelter will leave alive. Unfortunately, because it is bad publicity to be a high-kill shelter, some shelters claim to be no-kill but really aren’t. The easiest way to tell if a shelter is truly No Kill is to ask for their live release rate. If they’ve released 90% or more of the animals alive then chances are very good that they are a true No Kill shelter.
- No kill for adoptable animals is unfortunately a term is sometimes used to mislead the public. With this definition of no kill, the shelter or humane society decides the definition for “adoptable.” Sometimes an animal will not be considered adoptable because it is younger than 8 weeks old, has a cold, or a broken leg or a behavior problem that could be remedied with some proper training.
- Live release rate is a formula that calculates the number of animals that left the shelter or humane society alive. They can leave either through adoptions, by being returned to their owners, or by being transferred to a rescue group that will then be responsible for finding the animals a new home.
- Save rate is the number of animals, usually stated as a percentage, that were not killed in the shelter or humane society.
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