Community Cat Care

April 7, 2023

Want to help control the annual HMP spring kitty population boom? Several organizations are committed to helping pet owners and colony cat caretakers properly care for their pets and get them spayed or neutered. Many organizations encourage cat owners to keep cats indoors as it is safer for the cats and the wildlife on which the cats prey upon. And certainly, it is good for controlling the annual kitten boom. Rescue organizations warn that outdoor cats are at risk of cars, larger predators, mean people, or fights with other cats which can expose them to injuries and diseases such as feline immunodeficiency virus.

However, if you already have a cat the is accustomed to the outdoors, animal rights organizations encourage cat owners to supervise your pet while outside. Animal rights organizations warns that cats have a greater risk of being poisoned by rat bait or by eating rodents that has been poisoned by rat bait.

Caring for Community Cats

Community cat caretakers provide food, water, shelter, and medical care for community cats. They follow these Community Cat Program guidelines for caretakers:

  • Trap cats for spay/neuter, ear tipping, and vaccination for rabies by a licensed veterinarian.
  • Return them to where they were captured.
  • Provide adequate food and water every day.
  • Provide adequate shelter for the number of cats in the colony.
  • Seek assistance for any injured or ill cats.
  • Contact IACS to help find another caretaker if you can no longer properly care for your community cats.
  • Help community cats maintain a good neighbor status.
  • Report acts of neglect, cruelty, abandonment, or abuse directed against any cat(s) to the Mayor’s Action Center.

Caring for free-roaming cats without adhering to these guidelines may result in enforcement action. This is necessary for the welfare of the cats and to prevent neighborhood nuisance concerns.

Animal Care and Control Community Cat Program

This program uses a trap, neuter, and return (TNR) method. Citizens may catch stray cats in their neighborhood and bring them to Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS), FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinic, or IndyHumane Downtown Clinic. The clinics:

  • Provide vaccines to support healthy cat communities
  • Sterilize cats to help lower feral cat populations
  • Ear-tip the cats so they may be identified in the future
  • Return healthy, healed cats back to their neighborhood.

IACS
2600 S. Harding Street
Indianapolis, IN 46221
(317) 327-1397
https://www.indy.gov/agency/animal-care-services

Face Low Cost Animal Clinic/Indy Feral
1505 Massachusetts Ave.
Indianapolis, IN. 46201
(317) 638-3223

FACE

IndyHumane Downtown Clinic
456 N. Holmes Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46222
(317) 602-3423

Spay/Neuter Clinic

For more information, contact the Community Cat Program at communitycats@indy.gov or (317) 327-1429.