You can’t keep the cats swiped off the streets of Singapore

Natural attrition and the vacuum effect. These are very important concepts relating to TNRM for kitty minions. The reality is that there will always be people on both sides and the silent majority on the fence, taking the butt-poke, well, silently. But there is always the question of information and awareness too.

Marty, old-man-of-the-rails. 8 year Area3 alpha. Best friends with grand dame Henna.

As much as human-animal-issues can’t be legislated away, spreading the word is vital to get people to SEE. Some people will refuse to see, and in fact, take pleasure in perpetuating their misconceptions and taking matters into their own hands, sometimes even tag-teaming, but why should they be the only ones to shout out their misguidedness?

Benji. 3 year veteran resident in Area2. His best friend-brother Kenji disappeared in 2008

There are more humane ways to deal with cat issues than actively setting traps on one’s property and getting the cats so trapped to be put down by the government agency dealing with animal issues on the tax-payer’s tab.

We can shout back and louder because logic and reason is on our side. But we must know what we’re saying and why we’re saying what we say. Natural attrition and the vacuum effect are 2 important TNRM terms. In fact, they are on the tec library’s “coming soon” list. Of course I did not have the time to get round to it, but things do catch up in their own way. Filched here is a very nice blog from Dawn about both and why it’s important to understand the lingo of our own yammer:

Thursday, July 23, 2009
The vaccuum effect and natural attrition
Today’s post is about two phrases we bandy around a lot :- the ‘vacuum effect’ and ‘natural attrition’.

Here’s a definition of the vacuum effect from Alley Cat Allies. Here’s a definition of attrition. Now that we have our definitions out of the way, we can talk a bit about what they really mean to us in terms of TNRM 🙂

Some people deny that this happens – and most of the time it’s because they’ve never dealt with a colony being removed.

However, most people who DO work with cats, or who have had issues with the cats will have noticed that the vacuum effect is very real. This includes a condominium I know that used to spend a few thousand a year getting ‘rid’ of the cats or town councils that asked why there are new cats coming in when the existing ones were removed and killed. This also includes a caregiver I know who removed the cats from the area thinking it wasn’t safe on the streets. When she went by the next day, there were four new cats waiting.

We see how nature abhors a vacuum every day in nature. We see it when water floods in to fill an empty space, or when air does. I’m sure one day we may even understand WHY it happens, but we can already see its effects. We may not all understand how gravity works exactly (or maybe that’s just me:)), but we don’t deny it exists.

Many people may not have much exposure to cats – and that’s where caregivers like you guys come into play. That’s also why it is so important that caregivers are accurately able to explain concepts to people who may not know much about cats.

I spoke recently with a caregiver who said that natural attrition would kill off all the cats in the area. It’s natural (no pun intended) to be confused when so much literature tells us that natural attrition will kill off the cats. BUT, if you accept that the vacuum effect exists, then there is no way that natural attrition can kill off ALL the cats. Will natural attrition kill off cats? Yes, of course it will. Cats can’t live forever after all. It may even, when coupled with sterilisation, bring the population down dramatically depending on the size of your colony. But to have NO cats in the area? Not if you accept the vacuum effect because logically new cats will move in when there is a vacuum.

At some point, the colony numbers after the cats have been sterilised, will drop to such a point that the territory CAN accommodate more cats – note I said, territory, NOT food. Even if you try and remove all newcomers, new cats are going to keep showing up. Some of you may remember the analogy I once gave. If you have a castle with four entrances, and you have five or six guards posted at each door, chances are you’ll be able to defend the castle. If you have two guards, chances are that some intruders are going to sneak in. It’s the same with the cats.

The vacuum effect does not respect your intentions, good or otherwise. The vacuum effect does not care whether you removed the cats to adopt them or relocate them. It does not care if the cats died a natural death or were killed in animal control somewhere.

Some of you may wonder why I’m splitting hairs about this, but it’s very important that a person or organisation who agrees to a TNRM programme knows what to expect. Some expecting that all the cats will die out after they have lived out their natural lifespan and that there will be zero cats is going to be in for a big shock. They might well think the programme is a failure.

Some complainants may also ask why not just remove all the cats NOW. If they are all taken away, then why wait for them to be sterilised and eventually die. In other words why wait for natural attrition to kick in, when we can have UNnatural attrition?

I know some people will say that complainants may not want to hear that the cats are always going to be there. I believe that if you’re honest right up front, but say that a managed, sterilised, cared for colony will create less issues than an unmanaged, growing cat population, most people will see the sense in that. Yes, the colony may always be there – but it doesn’t NEED to cause any problems. Removing the cats and killing them just means the same issues come back over, and over again. It may of course take more than one conversation to get someone to agree but don’t give up. There’s tons of resources online and it’s a good idea to take the information with you – one good resource is ACA’s website.

At the end of the day, your argument has to be logically consistent to you, before you can convince someone else.

Posted by Dawn at 3:28 AM Comments

Mary, 5 year veteran Area3 resident

Timely refresher: TNRM and how it can work

Of course this is no guarantee that following what Dawn said guarantees your TNRM to work, but having positive contributors to the situation surely add that much potential for success than disincentives. But well, it can be rather discouraging and sometimes feelings of indignation, injustice and wasted effort and hopelessness wells up. Especially following the recent spate of kitty letters and articles in the press, online and some RL issues.

Dr Henna-Jekyll contented after a good breakfast and some attention from btmao, still going strong after 5 years and who knows how many litters before her mojo was finally stolen. Ms Henna-Hyde will return shortly.

For a wild child like Henna, who still is wary of close contact with people after years of btmao tlc, one must ponder: Adoption – always the best thing for a cat?

But whatever the current situation, we must not forget it’s about the Tipped Ear Ones that we minions do what we do – feed responsibly, care for and sterilise them aka TNRM because real progress has been, and is being made, even though sometimes it feels like running on the spot. So here’s a timely refresher on TNRM, with emphasis on M=management.

Weekend Movie Choice: Food, Inc.

Movie choice: Food, Inc. (Credit to the woman of myanimalfamily)

Available at a GV screen near you, a movie generates food for thought.

If you don’t regurgitate and think about food after watching this, then you’re probably a card-carrying Darla-head who would watch Finding Nemo and made Nemo’s nightmare by joining the hordes who stampeded the aquariums demanding for a Nemo of your own, missing the reef for the polyp, totally.

Click on the title above to visit the official site for the trailer, more info about the movie, the issues, and take action!

Now if Animal Planet will premiere Whale Wars here, my weekend is complete. (Season 2 has already broken US viewership records for cetacean’s sake!)

Additional Ref related to Food, Inc:

• Food Inc. Reading List
• Industrial “Food” a Growing Menace
• A Sunless Hell by Matthew Scully
• Reuters 20070618: Geese get revenge: Pate may cause rare disease
• What goes into your favourite drink?
• I’m a virus Harming the earth
• Should We All Be Vegetarians?
• So you like Fried Chicken
• AnimalsAsia.org‘s Animal Welfare Action: Trade rules threaten efforts to improve welfare for farm animals
• Must meow can haz fish?
• Movie: Fast Food Nation – Official Site
• Movie: Earthlings
• Movie: Supersize Me

Appeals

Help needed (click on each picture to read the full story on pawpledge):

1 poor lady, 48 cats, and 1000 cockroaches!!!

3 Deaths in 2 Days

Our Saturday Visits to 2 Shelters

Suffering in Silence…

[NOTE: Comments disabled. Please go direct to pawpledge for enquiries and clarifications]

HDB’s cat ban elicits incredulity

Popular local blogger Mr Wang blogged about his brother’s art exhibition in Hong Kong. The interesting thing is its his “brother’s sixth exhibition of cat paintings, all of which are inspired by his real-life pet cat”. If this cat minion were in Hong Kong, this would an exhibition I’d go to. I was particularly piqued with this remark by Mr Wang:

And here’s another. I guess this is about HDB’s prohibition on flat owners having a pet cat:

The interesting thing is one reader’s reaction to the HDB cat ban:

Are you sure this is the case? I think this sort of statement spells disaster for credibility.
I think feeding strays is illegal or frowned upon, but not having legal pets.

I think this sort of reaction is good. People do tend to want to believe the positive where there’s a choice, never mind the reality. But this also shows how incredulous people find the ban to be. I’m interested to know the reactions when more people realise just how ridiculous Singapore’s pet and animal control policies are. I’ve responded (adding AVA’s pet cat brochure which extols the suitability of cats as indoor pets who do not need to roam for good measure), but of course it depends on whether Mr Wang approves my comment. I hope he does.

Forget awareness, I cannot believe in this day and age such things should be shocking news. What people need to do is acknowledge reality, not just about the pet legislations in place but also the whole animal population control situation – and the laughability of it all. TNRM is the way to go, culling is ineffective and an expense taxpayers should not be expected to subsidize. When the Singapore government and the bureaucrats running rings around their fingers see the light depends on more and different Singaporeans speaking up.

SOS: Animal welfare action-EU Animal Experimentation Directive

From the animalsasia site:

Animal welfare action
EU Animal Experimentation Directive
The European Union Directive on the protection of animals used in experiments is currently being reviewed, Please click here to find out more and to read a copy of our letter to the UK Home Office in support of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE).

Please click the link, read and take action. Not only dogs, cats are exploited too, and some 25 million cats are vivisected every year in the US alone.

Help to end situations like this…

or this (or worse)

(source: pictures from allcreatures.org‘s World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week page)

Homeseeker: Cody

Update

20091010 pics and vids: Cody’s such a sweetie

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(Must read: Cat care refs.)

A friendly and very affectionate male kitten.

Little Cody is 6-7 months old, an agouti tabby and the REAL Kuching Singapura.

However, he is shy and timid with strangers and will need time to warm up to new friends.

He is also a bit weak in constitution and will require extra care and attention, and supplements to maintain his health.

Cody is sterilised, litter-box trained and vaccinated.

(Click here to read his story)

To visit Cody
Email us at sephycat at gmail dot com, with your name, contact, and a brief intro of yourself/your family.

Genuine, serious adopters only please.

(Must read: Cat care refs.)

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Click here to see other home-seeking kitties.

Area1: New baby on the block

Late on 2 May, we came home from our granddad’s 88 birthday celebration, all tired and eyes drooping. But trust btmao to spot a small dark shape slinking along the pavement and entering the common rubbish chute at the bottom of our block, which was of course open.

With the tell-tale pointy ears and kitty-creep, the critter was no rat. We clicked softly to get its attention. But still it disappeared into the darkness of the chute room after pausing for a while.

We approached and tried to entice the kitten out. But we couldn’t see a thing and didn’t have food so we went back up. Thereafter, we were not able to locate the kitten anymore. The only thing we were sure about it was it had a short tail and thanks to btmao, were fairly it was a tabby kitten.

Kittens are rarely sighted in Area1 since we have sterilised all the adults we know of here since 2007 and have continued to mojo-nab any that have entered Area1 since. So it was probably an abandonee or a lost baby.  In any case we thought the kitten was gone for good when 2 weeks later, as we were reaching home after the usual daily office slog, we both heard a single meow. I didn’t see anything, but btmao stopped and pointed. To our left, peering out from a drain was a kitten, piteously wanting attention but wary at the same time.

Looking at the tail and the size, we believed it was the same kitten we saw going into the rubbish chute 2 weeks earlier. btmao had food, so she laid out service and we stood back to assure the kitten. Also, we could clearly see it was an agouti.

The kitten tucked in

But even in its hunger it was careful and was hesitant at first

While the kitten ate, a kid ran past, and caused the little cat to scoot back into the safety of the drain. But it was apparently too hungry as it crept back out after a while and slowly tucked in again. We discussed the situation. I went home to prepare dinner while she would wait for him (he had meta-dongs, shall we say) to finish up.

But I had barely started cutting the veggies when btmao called and say he was friendly and trusting after food. In fact, he approached her after a luxurious stretch and rubbed himself against her. Fancy that. So we called Foster Mum and confirmed a place for him, I went down with a carrier and we hopped into a cab together.

He was the calmest little cat, tucked himself comfortably and waited for his itinerary to unfold itself. We decided to name him Cody, and estimated his age to be 3 or so months.

Cody settled down to community living easily and was well-liked by Foster Mum and her helpers for his affectionate behaviour. However, he was obviously overwhelmed by being among so many cats as he tends to be shy and while ok with being carried by other people, tended to want to get back into his cage after a while. He is by all accounts, definitely trusting and not so anxious to return to his cage when it’s Foster Mum’s helpers who carry him. We had intended to put him up for adoption last month, but he fell ill. Thankfully he is now recovered and ready for adoption.

Foster Mum’s homeseeker: No-no

(Must read: Cat care refs.)

No-no is an adult male tabby.Affectionate, easy to handle, he in fact loves to be carried.

He was found abandoned but ever the calm cat, has taken his predicament in stride. He is litter-box trained, vaccinated and sterilized.

He’s patiently waiting for the special someone who he will devote his affection to. Will you be that special person?

ENQUIRIES: ADOPTION AND PROCEDURE
Please email sephycat@gmail.com with the following:

• your name
• contact
• a summary of your background and experience with cats

Serious adopters only, please. All info will be treated in confidence and forwarded to No-no’s guardian.