Strays still a concern in Cedar Rapids

Pam Wagner does her best to keep up with the cats on her rural Oxford farm.

“We never turn away an animal,” said Wagner, 60. “We always find room.”

Taking care of nearly a dozen cats, however, can be costly. So Wagner was grateful for a special program offered by the Oxford Veterinary Center. She brought three young cats to the clinic's first Feral Cat Day on Friday.

Veterinary Technician Kate Eiesland said the day was created in response to the area's growing stray cat population.

Appointments were taken for discount spaying or neutering. Male cats were neutered for $30 instead of $65 and female cats were spayed for $50, rather than the usual $85. Rabies shots were also included.

Eiesland said people sometimes dump cats in town or on farms. She showed a photo of one cat that was dropped out of car that had to have its leg amputated.

With 22 operations performed Friday, the clinic added a second day on March 26. “We have had an overwhelming response,” said veterinary technician Katie Wade.

Clinic staff also includes veterinarian Susan Jacobson and assistant Melissa Kinney.

Feral cats became a concern in Cedar Rapids after the floods of 2008 when some residents had to abandon their pets along with their homes, and cats began living in colonies in vacant houses.

Volunteers with the Iowa Humane Alliance and residents caught just over 450 feral cats to spay or neuter in Cedar Rapids last year, said Mary Blount Mincey, Program Director for the group.

She said the alliance can teach people how to use the traps, “but we really need the citizens of Cedar Rapids to step up” to do the work.

Cedar Rapids Animal Care and Control Manager Diane Webber knew of 143 cats that the Alliance had reported trapped last year. The number caught might not sound like many, but “every little bit helps,” she said. “For every one of those females, that's six to 12 kittens that aren't born” every year.

Webber said the

city offers traps for residents who want to catch feral cats.

“We don't have the staff to do that,” she said, noting that the traps must be closely monitored.

Webber said she hadn't heard many complaints about feral cats so far this year, “but of course, kitten season is coming up.”

Already, animal control officers are seeing pregnant cats and Webber expects to see many kittens by late April or early May.