Ear Tipping TNR!

[booktigger]

i suppose the only other way would be a tattoo in their ear, but that might not be as obvious on certain colour cats - looking at my pure blacks ear, god knows how you could tell.

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by trixie23

True fact! I am wondering this: My kitten was feral and rescued by an adoption agency... The adoption agency had her spayed and vaccinated at the humane society! Since she was planned to be an adopted pet was the ear tipping still necessary if she wasn't going to be re-released to the wild? Is this standard for all ferals whether they go back to the wild or are going to be re-homed as indoor pets? Does the humane society do this in case the cat remains feral, does not adjust to domestic, and has to be re-released?

It is normal practice to ear tip only those that are intended to be released back into their environment. I don't know of any TNR groups in my area that will ear tip when they know that the cat is intended to be adopted into a home. Perhaps they didn't know where your kitten would wind up and just did it as a precautionary measure?

Having gone out to TNR feral colonies, I can tell you that an ear tip is the most obvious way to identify when a cat has been fixed at a distance. You don't always get close to these cats and you want to be able to see if they are already altered at the spot. If they are, you simply open up the trap and release them. You don't want to stress the cat out by having to bring it to a vet only to find out it was already done. A notch in the ear isn't as obvious, as cats that fight can have their ears scratched and a notch could easily be confused with a fight wound.

 

[barbb]

Where I live, the fees for spaying and neutering feral cats are greatly reduced (probably to encourage and support TNR,) compared to those for "tame strays" or household pets.

So if the cat is processed as a feral their ear is notched. And if they are processed as a housecat or stray, they charge more (but no notch).

And the adoption agencies mostly don't have much money, so that could be why the agency processed your kitty that way, just a guess on my part

.

 

[ktlynn]

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Having gone out to TNR feral colonies, I can tell you that an ear tip is the most obvious way to identify when a cat has been fixed at a distance. You don't always get close to these cats and you want to be able to see if they are already altered at the spot. If they are, you simply open up the trap and release them. You don't want to stress the cat out by having to bring it to a vet only to find out it was already done. A notch in the ear isn't as obvious, as cats that fight can have their ears scratched and a notch could easily be confused with a fight wound.

As linda_of_pgff has stated, "the point is not to be able to tell an eartipped cat from 100 yards away, as much as it is to be able to tell if you find that cat in one of your traps". I, too, can't see the advantage in being able to tell from a distance whether or not a cat's been eartipped. If the cat is trapped, you can easily see if the ear has been tipped or notched.

The ear notch won't be confused with a notch or tear that could occur from a fight. It has a definite, squared-off shape. It's an improvement on the ear-tip because more of the ear remains intact and there is less bleeding and healing time. As some members have pointed out, there are vets who unfortunately, are overzealous and do more than remove the "tip", sometimes taking almost 1/2 the ear. That's unnecessary.