Paws and Claws talks cat crisis, urges the spay and neuter of pets

On a recent day, kittens are woken up from their afternoon nap. The Paws and Claws Adoption Center have seen a large influx of stray cats and kittens, which puts a strain on its finances and staff.

The Paws and Claws Adoption Center in Columbus is seeing more cats than it can handle coming through its doors.

Cats are more likely to go into heat and reproduce during the warm months and animal shelters often see an increased number of felines being brought into their facilities.

However, this year has been a particularly bad spell for Paws and Claws.

As of Thursday afternoon, they had 86 adult cats and kittens, 15 of which were adoptable, said Paws and Claws Manager Cheri Vetick. The others are too young to be adopted or are being treated for an ailment, such as ringworm before they can be adopted.

"We adopt out two or three, and we get two or three more in so it's really hard to keep our head above water," said Deb Potter, executive director of the Platte Valley Humane Society, which does business as the Paws and Claws Adoption Center.

The issue can be attributed to people failing to spay and neuter their animals, Potter said, and residents feeding strays. Although people may believe they’re only feeding one or two strays, those strays attract other cats and the females will most likely end up pregnant.

Another problem has to do with well-meaning people who, upon seeing a vulnerable kitten they think has been abandoned, take kittens and bring them to the shelter.

"We strongly suggest and urge people to leave those babies alone because more than likely, nine times out of 10, unless they see a mother that's deceased or something (like that such as illness), those kitties have a mama somewhere," Potter said.

Mother cats often move their kittens from one place to another. Too often, Potter noted, the mom was interrupted or spooked and someone sees the kittens alone and unintentionally takes them away.

"That leaves the poor mama, if somebody brings in all her kittens, she's still got milk and not able to nurse those kittens," Potter said.

Vetick said the shelter is receiving more pregnant cats than it did in 2022. Last year had also been a bad year, but they had seen then more kittens coming in than pregnant cats.

Having a high number of pregnant cats makes the shelter's situation more difficult, Vetick said, as they do not know how big the cat's litter will be.

"We have to keep them at least for eight weeks here and then we can't vet them until after the eight weeks," Vetick said.

The shelter is also seeing an increase in cats that are positive for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which is a disease that can comprise a feline's immune system.

While an FIV-positive cat can live a long life, the infected feline could transmit the virus to other cats, usually through deep bite wounds. Because of that, Paws and Claws prefer that FIV-positive cats be the only cat in a home, which makes it more difficult to adopt them.

The cat crisis is causing a financial strain on Paws and Claws, Potter said. She noted the shelter treats all of the animals that come in, including vet care if needed. They are also seeking foster homes as they like to send the mama cats and their kittens to a more relaxed environment.

This is resulting in a burden on shelter staff as well. Typically, with a normal number of dogs and cats, cleaning is completed by 11 a.m. or noon, in time for adoption hours in the afternoon.

With the high volume of cats, Potter added, staff sometimes can't get the cleaning done until 2 p.m., at which point they have to start over with cleaning the litter boxes and letting the dogs out.

"We can only find so many homes for them," Potter said. "That's why we're doing farm cats right now, trying to find farmers that will take some of these cats and hopefully give them a life in the barn or being mousers."

There are resources available for those who are unable to afford getting their pet(s) spayed or neutered, such as area low-cost clinics. People can call Paws and Claws at 402-562-5683 for more information.

Potter said the shelter's cat situation would be alleviated by the implementation of a trap, neuter, release (TNR) program.

"In that situation where people have an area in town – for example, trailer courts where there's a lot of stray cats – if we were legally allowed to trap those animals … give them the vet care, spay and neuter them and then be able to return them to those areas where there's a congregation of these cats, that really helps to solve a lot of the stray cat, the feral cat problems," she said, noting other communities such as Fremont and North Platte have one in place.

A barrier to making this possible locally, Potter added, is Columbus’ leash law, which requires all animals, regardless of species, to be on a leash or tether when off the owner's property and under the control of the owner at all times.

A solution she said she's seen in other towns is amending city ordinances so that any cats in the TNR program would not fall under the leash law as they technically don't have an owner.

Potter added that talks had taken place a few years ago about establishing such a program but that didn't go anywhere. Paws and Claws officials are considering bringing it up to the city, but most likely not until next year.

"We may look into trying to get some community support and maybe bring it to their attention again, to at least sit-down and discuss the program," Potter said.

Paws and Claws is always in need of litter, cat food and supplies. Potter noted the most important thing, though, is to avoid feeding the strays and leaving kittens alone.

Potter said anyone who has a question about or wants to discuss a TNR program can contact her directly at 402-276-3710. General questions about cats in the community should be directed to Paws and Claws.

Hannah Schrodt can be reached at [email protected].

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