Best Friends Catnippers Program Elements
Our current operations focus on:
Conducting bi-monthly spay-neuter clinics (the "Clinic Program")
Through our sister program, FixNaton, Inc.
- Operating a full-time spay-neuter clinic for feral (and tame) cats, on an interim basis at 3201 Lacy Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031. Tel. (818) 524-CATS (2287).
- Distributing City of Los Angeles $30 discount vouchers.
- Maintaining a collection of traps which we loan out to caregivers and trappers of feral cats who participate in our programs, and
- Educating the public about TNR and offering training sessions on proper trapping techniques and care of feral cat colonies.
Caregivers interested in taking advantage of our programs, are directed to the following:
Providing access via www.bestfriends.org/la and a community hotline for callers interested in our services.
Channeling Web visitors and hotline callers to other spay-neuter and/or trap-neuter-return (TNR) resources if we are unable to accommodate their needs.
www.bestfriends.org/la
These pages on the Best Friends Web site were developed to provide a more efficient way to communicate with caregivers, volunteers and the general public. As you can see, these provide up-to-date information concerning our programs and allow all interested parties to download the forms necessary to apply for our services, together with educational materials concerning humane trapping, after-surgery care, and alternative TNR resources.
Community Hotline
The general telephone number for Best Friends Catnippers is (818) 377-9700. Aside from Web access, this number is the only channel through which our services may be accessed. Callers are offered menu choices and pre-recorded messages which explain our procedures and current capacity to handle reservation requests, which repeat or frequent callers can bypass to leave messages. Our initial greeting provides a basic overview of what we offer, and the menu choices are allocated to (1) our high-volume spay/neuter clinics, (2) a referral to FixNation for daily spay-neuter and TNR support services, (3) an extensive listing of other TNR resources in Los Angeles, including referrals to free and low-cost vets, and (4) information for those interested in volunteering or contributing. The Hotline also explains and invites callers to take advantage of our trap loan and training services, which are available only to program participants. This Hotline is monitored regularly, and every effort is made to return calls in a timely manner.
Program Criteria
We are a non-profit, all-volunteer organization providing free spay and neuter services for feral (wild and stray) cats only, which are then returned to their colony and looked after by their caregiver. We focus on providing free spay/neuter for "managed colonies", which means food, water and shelter is provided to the cats on a daily basis. Best Friends Catnippers does not remove, relocate or exterminate homeless cats, nor do we find homes for cats or kittens. We do not sterilize owned pets or friendly strays that will be adopted by the finder or placed in an adoption agency. At our clinics and under the FixNation program, the medical services we provide include sterilization surgery, post-operative treatments, vaccinations and medications. We cannot pay for or cover any additional medical needs of feral cats. Other organizations may provide funding for these costs, and a list of these is available online and via the Hotline.
Application Procedure
While we serve all TNR constituencies, our primary focus is to work with individuals who generally have no prior trapping or TNR experience, and who reach out to Catnippers because of a desire to finally "do something" about feral cats in their neighborhood. We have found that by working with such "managed colonies" we can not only make a difference by sterilizing 100% of the known feral cat population, but in so doing, educate and train hundreds of people to become bona fide caregivers of feral cats, knowledgeable about TNR. Dealing with this particular group can be very time intensive, as Catnippers needs a great deal of information to evaluate the situation, and to impart a lot of information concerning clinic dates, coupon or voucher availability, and TNR generally. In order to streamline this process, we have developed an extensive caregiver application, which all applicants must complete and return to us before any dialogue can be undertaken. After reviewing this application, our experienced staff determines which requests meet our criteria, and these individuals are then sent an extensive package of documents, all of which are now available online and, if approved, the caregiver is channeled in to the appropriate program, i.e. clinic or FixNation.
Our preference is for all caregivers to communicate by fax or e-mail, and to make use of our Web site resources as much as possible, so that we can be as efficient as possible with our limited personnel and financial resources. For those without computer access, we will continue to offer access through our Community Hotline. In either case, however, new applicants must request, obtain, complete and return a Caregiver Application in order to qualify. Caregivers who have already participated in one of programs may request additional services by completing and submitting the same Caregiver Application form
Clinics
In 2008, our schedule provides for 5 high-volume spay/neuter clinics to be held on March 9, May 18, July 13, September 14 and November 16, all Sundays. Historically, clinics have been held at donated veterinary facilities, but commencing in 2008, clinics will he held at the FixNation facility. Each clinic is organized to accommodate 80-100 cats (or more). In order to bring cats to a clinic, caregivers must first request, and be granted, a reservation. This is done by following the Application Procedure (above). If an application is approved, then, subject to capacity, our staff assigns reservations for the number of cats each caretaker plans to trap. At this time, each caretaker is notified of the clinic location.
On clinic day, check-in commences at 8:30 a.m. The cats are anesthetized by experienced technicians while in the traps, then checked for general health and special needs and transported to surgery. After surgery, each animal is de-wormed with Droncit and administered pain medications, vaccinations (Rabies & FVRCP), penicillin, fluids and other medications as may be necessary, given a complete flea treatment with Revolution, and groomed. Also the right ear is tipped to show the cat has been altered. Intensive care is provided as necessary.
Voucher Program
All "day-to-day" spay-neuter services are referred to our FixNation clinic. FixNation is authorized by the Animal Services Department of the City of Los Angeles to offer the City's feral cat spay/neuter discount vouchers, and regularly has city discount vouchers available for cats in the City of Los Angeles only, redeemable for $30 toward spay/neuter at approved vets located only in the City of Los Angeles.
Other Services
Through our FixNation sister program, we provide caretakers with humane trapping instructions and demonstrations, and information on transport, drop-off and collection of cats, recovery care, release, feeding, and other aspects of TNR. We also have a limited number of traps to loan out to caretakers, which our Hotline staff allocates through trap depots in the San Fernando and East Valleys. Also, we maintain a database of other TNR resources, which we update regularly, so as to provide Web site visitors and Hotline callers with a list of organizations that provide alternative spay-neuter resources, medical services, food and other services for feral cats.
