Here a SNIP, There a SNIP, Everywhere a SNIP SNIP!
HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!
If you and your community are not gettin’ it goin’ with some SNIP SNIP, then you might want to have a look at this post. Anyone new to my bloggy may not know about how proud I am of my Mom L and Dad P for their volunteering four times a year for our county’s SNIP CLINIC—Spay, Neuter Impact Program. This is an all volunteer clinic, including DVMs (vet docs) RVTs (licensed vet techs), full catered food service by many of our volunteers who also take up stations during the clinic. Our county animal services department allows SNIP to utilize parts of their shelter including the surgery, on four Sundays a year when the shelter is closed. SNIP brings in all its own medical supplies and some medical equipment as well as supplies for the bathrooms and such! All done through generous donations from these very same volunteers and others in our county. Oh and did I mention that most of the DVMs and RVTs come from outside our county, from all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area?
This spay/neuter clinic is exclusive for community cats brought in by either private citizens or cat rescue groups who do TNR (trap, neuter, return). The cost of spay/neuter is $15USD and all the cats get a good physical check up while they are sedated, including but not limited to: vaccinations, wound cleaning, mani/pedi if needed for health, ear mite treatment, flea treatment, antibiotics if the cat has an infected wound, pain medication to help them recover. All cats are recovered to a fully awake status onsite at the clinic and then their caretakers pick them up and take them back for complete recovery at their homes before returning them back to their community homes or cat colonies.
The cats and their caretakers/transporters arrive and present themselves to one of two admission stations. They all have reservations so SNIP can plan ahead for staffing and supplies, etc. Mom L does the admission for the cat rescue groups. They check in with their cats in traps waiting to be processed.
Each cat trap, with cat inside, is lifted onto the admission check in table where one person identifies the cats color/breed and the other person writes it down on the cat’s “toe tag” which will remain attached to the cat’s trap, or the cat itself once sedated. The trap is tagged with a number, the cat’s trap cover has the same number attached and that “toe tag” is never separated from any cat during the whole process. This enables SNIP to ensure that each cat is returned to its very own trap after surgery and then returned to its caretaker.
Oh hey, did I tell you about what happens to the cat’s trap while they are prepped for surgery and then go through surgery??? That trap gets all cleaned up! The cats are returned to sanitized traps, with fresh paper for them to recover. They are also placed on warmers after surgery to ensure they don’t get cold. Not bad, right?
Dad P serves in the morning as an Admit Transporter meaning he transports the newly admitted cat to the area where it will receive its sedation injection.
The male cats don’t take much time for these experienced Vets to neuter them—like maybe 3-5 minutes!! So most of the vets spend their time in the surgery doing female cat spays. This past SNIP Clinic saw approximately eighty four cats come through and many of the females were already pregnant. So begins my county’s “kitten season”. When kittens are aborted the community cat population can be actively diminished by literally hundreds of cats. An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and 2-3 litters per year. During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years. Now you do the math and figure how many cats will be added to a community cat population if one female is allowed to birth her kittens and then all her kittens, not neutered and not spayed , start to reproduce within six months or less from their own birth.
So many of the community cats Mom L and Dad P see every SNIP Clinic are beautiful cats. So unfortunate they did not have the care they deserved early in life such as spay/neuter and proper vaccinations.
Let me introduce you to some of the cats Mom L was able to capture during the April 2017 SNIP Clinic. You can read the captions I added if you simply hover your “mousie” over each photo. Hope you enjoy my added captions.
This last clinic saw a large number of Siamese.
One sweet, not completely feral, ladycat caught Mom L’s eye.
So many community cats, so few humans who care enough to simply ask for the resources that are available in communities across the USA—many low cost or now cost—
SPAY/NEUTER ALL YOUR COMPANION ANIMALS
KEEP THEM SAFE AND STOP THE OVER POPULATION OF UNWANTED COMPANION ANIMALS
PURRLEASE DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT VIEWING THIS SLIDESHOW
Savannah's Paw Tracks 
Excellent post. Mom really admires what you do to help and support these clinics and the community cats. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy
Savvy I can’t believe it is that time of year already. Such beautiful kitties and I wish they didn’t have to all be feral. My vet clinic does most all the spay/neuter for the humane society and local non-profit here. Bless your peeps and all the peeps who take the time to care!
Your mom and pop are the best for doing this!
Your parents ROCK Savannah and Sage! And thanks for all the kind words over the last week and a half, it has really helped fill that hole in my heart.
Love Barb
Wow! I did not know that about cats and how quickly they can reproduce!!! Two paws up for your hoomans on doing such great work!
Great post. You humans are doing a great job in helping the community cats, and I must say, they are absolutely stunning kitties. Can’t believe that Siamese is a feral. No way! Keep spreading the word about snip, snip.
Wonderful work all round!
Appaws! It’s like Planned Parenthood for cats. Don’t let the conservatives find out they do abortions too. I wish all communities could do this.
Why doesn’t this happen EVERYWHERE? Why don’t people take responsibility for owning a cat (or pup) Grrr SNIP totally rocks and so does this amazing report.
Thank you SNIP!
Amazing! Paws up to your peeps for pawticipating in such an impawtant program!
Such beautiful kitties. Your folks are so wonderful to help.
Paws up for your pawrents, Savannah, we’re so proud of them ! They do an amazing work with the other volunteers for those cats ! Purrs
we are SO proud that your peeps step up to help with these clinics. every surgery helps with overpopulation. GREAT JOB!!
I am Proud of your mum and dad too and all the others,they all do a great job,xx Speedy
We are so proud of them too sweet Savvy, it is such important work and so much to do.
This is so wonderful to see, and the folk that do this need congratulating for their kindness, generosity and for showing what humanity and care means. The figures make perfect sense for these programs to be rolled out across the country, where ever possible. Great post Linda, so hope more folk get to take part in these programs.
Purrs, Erin
Your humans are awesome sweetie for all the work they to with spay and neuter programs. Because of their work, I’m sure there are fewer kitties running around your cifry area. Keep up the good work.
Savannah, your parents are great, helping some many cats. This story made me cry, some many cats living in the streets, maybe sick, and this story made me happy,too, so many volunteers for this campaign.
What a huge impact events like this have on communities – the cats AND the humans as well. Thanks to your Mom and Dad for all the great work they do AND all the doctors and techs who perform the procedures.
Hugs, Teddy
Your human do such AWESOME work, Savannah! I am so glad they and the other volunteers are looking out for all these community kitties.
your pawrents are like guardian angels for the cats of your area. and after reading the title, the mama sings the old mcdonalds song with savvy’s pawrents help the cats e-i-e-i-o…. directly in my ear… help….