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Cat Wrangling 101
Ear Tipping of Feral Cats - Universally Accepted
The following information about ear tipping of feral cats is written by Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, ACVIM at College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida for web use for our organization. She sent the photo of an ear tipped cat to accompany her article. We wish to thank Dr. Levy for granting Pawprints and Purrs, Inc. expressed written permission to reprint this excellent info.
Ear tipping is the only reliable choice for identifying sterilized feral cats. I have been working with feral cats for 15 years now in California, North Carolina, and Florida in programs that have sterilized and ear tipped more than 7,000 feral cats.
Trap-neuter-return (TNR) has become a national grass roots movement for the humane control of feral cats. Alley Cat Allies has a mailing list of more than 60,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations participating in TNR. One thing that is very important is that all groups working with feral cats agree on a universal method of identifying sterilized animals. Feral cats may interact with a variety of caretakers, vets, and animal control people during their lives. If every group has a different method of identifying the animals, there is no way to interpret what the marks mean. It is very traumatic for a feral cat to be retrapped and transported unnecessarily because of unclear markings. Even worse would be the euthanasia of a sterilized feral cat becuase of uncertainty about the significance of a marking or the failure to notice a mark at all.
Although I have heard animal welfare activists complain that ear tipping is inhumane, I have to disagree. It is performed under anesthesia at the same time as a major surgery and is certainly less traumatic than a spay or neuter. The worst possible thing is to perform unnecessary surgery on a cat that is already spayed or neutered because it was not marked with a universally recognized symbol, and this I have done. This is NOT equivalent to ear cropping for cosmetic reasons in dogs.
I have previously used tattoos and microchips to identify individual cats, but this must be done in addition to ear tipping. Tattoos are frequently unreadable in feral cats unless they are anesthetized, and microchips often fail to be detected if the cat is in a metal trap. Many people forget that tattoo equipment should be autoclaved between each cat to prevent the spread of FELV, FIV, and other infections. Cold sterilization will not work when there is blood, tattoo ink, and hard to clean crevices on equipment. I have also used various ear tags and buttons designed for mice and rabbits, but these became infected or fell out too often.
Rest assured that ear tipping is considered essential by experienced feral cat advocates and is endorsed by all the major humane groups.
Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, ACVIM
College of Veterinary Medicine
2015 SW 16th Avenue Box 100126
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32610-0126
(352) 392-4700 ext. 5717
(352) 392-6125 (fax)
Email
Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/eartipping.html
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