FixNation is a non-profit organization providing free spay/neuter services for homeless stray and feral cats. We also offer low-cost spay/neuter services for tame pet cats. Our goal is to humanely reduce the number of homeless cats throughout Los Angeles by sterilizing as many as possible.

FixNation supports Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short. TNR is a community-based program where concerned citizens humanely trap feral cats, have them spayed or neutered, and then return them to the exact location where they were trapped so they can be cared for and live out their natural lives. We loan out humane traps for free to the public, plus we provide training on how to properly and safely TNR. We make it as easy for you as possible to help the homeless cats in your neighborhood.

Our “Free Feral Program” for Homeless Stray & Feral Cats

FixNation offers free spay/neuter services for homeless stray and feral cats. Under our “Free Feral Program,” all homeless cats who will be eartipped for identification purposes will receive the following free services at the time of surgery:

• Spay or neuter surgery
• Physical exam
• Rabies vaccine
• Feline distemper vaccine (FVRCP)
• Revolution – to treat fleas, mange, ear mites, hookworms and roundworms
• Pain medication
• Fluids
• Antibiotic
• Droncit injection – for tapeworms, only as needed
• Limited medical treatment
• Lots of TLC!

The eartip is the universal symbol that an outdoor or free-roaming cat has been fixed. It is done while the cat is under anesthesia, is relatively painless for the cat, and does not significantly alter their beauty. We also go one step further and apply a bit of pain medication paste to the freshly tipped ear, to make it even more comfortable for the cat.

Eartip

We can do small eartips for any homeless cats or kittens who you may be trying to adopt out and our services will still be free, provided the cat or kitten is indeed homeless. Just make sure to request a small eartip when you check in if this is the case.

You do not need to live within the city of Los Angeles in order to bring cats to our clinic. We will service cats from any area, provided the cats can be safely transported to and from our facility.

Click here to get started with our “Free Feral Program” today

Tame Pet Cats

FixNation offers low-cost spay/neuter services for tame pet cats who are not being eartipped. The cost of a female/spay is $55 and a male/neuter is $40.

We also offer the following additional services for tame cats while they are here for spay/neuter surgery:

• Rabies vaccine – $8
• Distemper vaccine (FVRCP) – $8
• Revolution (flea treament and dewormer) – $20
• Microchipping – $25
• Feline Leukemia/FIV combo testing – $25 for cats not being eartipped
• Nail trims (tame cats only) – $5

Please be aware that our additional services are only provided at the time the cat is here for spay/neuter surgery. Since our main mission is to humanely reduce the number of homeless cats in Los Angeles, this is where we concentrate our time and attention. We do offer low-cost monthly vaccine and microchip clinics, in case your cat is already fixed and you are interested in vaccines or microchips only.

Click here to get started and make a tame cat appointment

Let’s face it, cats are part of our community. Both the ones who call the outdoors their home and the ones who live inside our houses. TNR starts with people just like you. When you decide to take action to help the cats within our community, or even fix your own cat, you help to build a better community for all.

We apologize for any inconvenience and will share updated schedules and details for 2012 vaccine clinics as it becomes available.

Why should you come to FixNation’s vaccine clinics instead of the ones held elsewhere? Because all of the money raised goes directly to providing free spay/neuter for homeless stray and feral cats. So it’s win-win all around — it’s good for Fido and Fifi to stay up on their shots, it benefits the homeless cats in LA, it’s good for the community and last but not least, it’s good for your pocketbook.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The traps we loan out are humane traps that won’t harm the cats. While the traps may look intimidating, they are actually very safe. Using a humane trap is the safest solution to catch a feral cat – safer for both the cat and for you. It’s also the best way to temporarily house and transport them. Furthermore, it’s safer and easier for our vet techs to anesthetize the cat through a trap, as well as monitor the cat’s recovery post surgery.

Traps and equipment may be borrowed for up to 30 days, provided you are actively trapping and booking reservations with FixNation. All equipment must be returned promptly or upon request.

We do require a credit card and a driver’s license in order to check equipment out, but your card is not charged unless the equipment is not returned timely. If you don’t have a credit card, we can hold a refundable check or cash deposit instead. A replacement fee of $75.00 per trap is required if a trap is damaged, stolen or lost. There is also a $5 per day late fee if a trap is not returned promptly within the 30 day period.

We are a life-based organization and our mission is to help cats – therefore our traps are not to be used for any purpose other than trapping cats to bring in to FixNation to be spayed or neutered. They are not to be used anywhere else, for any other reason, whatsoever.

It’s imperative that you never leave open, set traps unattended for any length of time. You should always stay within earshot or eyeshot of your traps. A trapped cat is very vulnerable. There are those rare instances when a cat could get hurt going into a trap. Passersby may release a trapped cat, not knowing what your intent is, or worse yet, steal your trap altogether. Cars could accidentally run over a trap in an unattended parking lot. You could inadvertently trap another wild animal (i.e. skunk, opossum, raccoon) who may injure themselves trying to gnaw their way out of the trap (opossums often do this). Even when you think it’s safe in someone’s yard, sprinklers could go off around a trapped cat, or a stray dog could approach. Please do not ever put a cat in jeopardy by leaving traps unattended.

Traps need to be returned to FixNation fully cleaned. When returning traps, please ensure all newspaper and bits of food are removed and traps are scrubbed down with soap and water. Please also remove any FixNation masking tape ID letters (not the plastic trap ID tag, but masking tape ID letters) that may have been used at prior clinic reservations. These should be removed from both the trap and the cover, each and every time you bring the trap into the clinic.

If you do plan to TNR on an ongoing basis, we suggest you invest in one or two traps of your own. We prefer Tomahawk model traps; that is what the majority of our inventory is. Click here for more information on ordering your own Tomahawk trap today.

A feral cat

Feral cats are not handleable. They look like regular domestic house-cats, but because they have never been socialized, they are very fearful and distrustful of humans. Generally they come out at dusk or at night. Some arch their backs and hiss and show aggression, others just avoid eye contact and run. With true ferals, you can’t pick them up or handle them without getting extremely bit or scratched. Very often you can’t even get close to them.

Feral cats are different from friendly stray cats. Stray cats are former pets who have either been abandoned or “strayed” from home and got lost. These cats used to be cared for by an owner, but are now trying to survive on their own on the streets. Stray cats are generally tame, friendly and handleable, although they still may be skittish or frightened and run away from people. Generally, though, stray cats exhibit temperaments similar to pet cats, can be picked up and touched easily, and can be rescued off the streets and re-adopted into homes again.

Both feral cats and stray cats are un-owned. These are the cats out in our streets, alleys, yards and parking lots. They are considered un-owned cats or “community cats.” Ideally, with a little work and care, friendly stray cats can be re-adopted into homes. Feral cats, however, live their lives outside on the streets of our communities. The outdoors IS a feral cat’s home.

Feral kittens are kittens who have been born to a feral or stray mother. Feral kittens can generally be tamed down and adopted into homes, but only if they are socialized within the first couple months of their lives. A kitten around 6-8 weeks old may take just a day or two to tame down. Normally kittens under 12 weeks of age can be easily tamed with a little time and attention, but the older they get, the harder it becomes. Even then, some kittens never quite tame down. If they are not handled at an early age, they will remain feral and therefore unadoptable.

Feral cats are usually found living in large groups called feral colonies. Feral colonies usually spring up when there is shelter and a food source present in the environment. Sometimes cats will live alone, but most form feral colonies.

Trap-Neuter-Return, or “TNR” for short,

There exists in the Los Angeles area a very large population of homeless stray and feral cats. Given their strong survival capabilities and prolific breeding, if nothing is done, this population will simply continue to grow. If the population is left unchecked, it will only lead to more and more cats living in unmanaged colonies, a decrease in public tolerance of homeless cats, and increased pressure on the environment, animal control agencies and our society as a whole.

Trap and remove doesn’t work.

The old approach to controlling free-roaming cats was repeated extermination attempts. Capturing feral cats and turning them in to animal shelters, where they will be killed, may temporarily reduce their numbers, but this doesn’t solve the problem for long. Cats are living there in the environment because of two main reasons: 1) there is a food source (intended or not) and 2) there is some sort of shelter. When cats are removed from a location, it creates a “vacuum” effect — meaning the surrounding cats can sense it and they breed rapidly to fill in the gap, plus new cats move in to take advantage of the natural food and shelter sources. This vacuum effect is well documented. Trapping and removing cats often results in having even more unsterilized cats in the location than when you started. Catch and kill is very costly, doesn’t work, and ultimately it’s inhumane.

Trap-Neuter-Return is a proven and humane solution.

On the other hand, Trap-Neuter-Return programs are a very successful method of decreasing feral cat populations. TNR programs succeed at the least cost to the public and provide the best possible life for the cats themselves. Therefore, FixNation devotes most of its resources – financial, personnel and material – toward decreasing the number of homeless cats in our community by offering free sterilization services for homeless stray and feral cats at our clinic.

Are you feeding outdoor cats? You’ve also got to fix them.

Providing food, water and shelter for outdoor cats is important, but it’s also equally important to make sure all of the cats in the group or colony are spayed and neutered. If not, your small colony of today will soon be a very large colony tomorrow! Cat colonies can quickly quadruple in size in a very short period of time, as cats can have two to three litters per year of five to six kittens each. And then those kittens can become pregnant at about six months of age…and so the cycle continues. Spaying and neutering the cats will not only stop the breeding cycle, but it will also eliminate problematic behaviors such as howling, fighting and spraying.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to TNR!