02/19/2025
Why We Promote EarTipping
I saw this on a friendās page and thought it was a great way to explain the importance and reasoning behind ear-tipping. This is a discussion that people doing TNR often have with the community cat caregivers.
"Someone cared enoughā¦
Thatās what the corner of that catās ear being tipped (cut off) means. Someone cared enough. Enough to take time out of their day for that wild cat. To load up trapping supplies, go to the trapping location, set traps, monitor traps, and wait hours in most cases to fill traps. Then to bring them home in the traps and get them set up somewhere overnight and care for them. To drive them to the vet the next day, wait in line, and check them in for surgery. To pay (or get vouchers) for them to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated. If they are extra nice, they pay extra for flea meds and dewormer, knowing it will only last a month, but knowing that might be the only month of reprieve they have in their whole life from being eating alive. They care enough to drive back the next day and pick them up from the vet and in most cases house them for a day or two for recovery. In that time they care for them and make sure they are healing from surgery well. Then they drive them back to the trapping location and release them back to their outdoor home. From there, back home to clean and wash the traps and supplies to be ready for next time. This takes HOURS. Hours for a feral street cat that so many people hate.
So that feral cat you see out there with an ear tip, someone cared enough to take the time to give them a better life. To stop the cycle. To try to tackle the overpopulation and suffering. To help curb the testosterone driven territorial fights and spraying. To help that female not get pyometria from having litter after litter until she dies. To try to keep the numbers down so less people threaten their lives.
That indoor cat with the ear tipā¦someone cared a little extra. They saw that cat had potential to thrive in a life off the streets and they gave them that chance. They worked with them to overcome their fears so they wouldnāt live that harsh street life with a much shorter life expectancy than indoor cats.
That ear tip is how us trappers identify a cat that has already been spayed/neutered. It is a quick way to look at a feral cat and know if they have been fixed or not. This helps us not trap the same cats and send them through the stress of transport to the vet repeatedly, because we can see they have already been fixed. If a cat with an ear tip ends up in the trap, we can just release them immediately and keep trying until we get a cat that is not ear tipped.
Some people donāt like how the ear tip looks, or how painful it might be (itās done under anesthesia during their spay/neuter surgery)ā¦ But that ear tip is a badge of honor. Someone cared enough."
Written by:
Amanda Rumble
Community Cat Care
