Featured Pet: Asher, at at City of Bloomington Animal Shelter!

Asher is a 2-year-old domestic short hair cat with a big personality. Asher has been at the shelter for nearly a year, as he arrived at the shelter in December of 2021. Shelter life can be stressful for many animals, and this has been true for Asher. For the past few months, he has has been in a foster home because he is overstimulated by life at the shelter.

Shelter staff believe Asher has a neurological condition hyperesthesia, based on his behaviors and marked changes that come and go.  Without obvious triggers, he will have ‘fits’ that occur body-wide, but primarily on his left side. These instances can consist of twitching ears, multiple body muscle areas twitching at a time, and unilateral whisker flexing. These spells can last over 24 hours. He doesn’t harm himself, but he does become hyper-elevated during these times. He can become much more reclusive: hiding in the pantry, sleeping more, and when he interacts, it seems to bring on more of the symptoms.

Asher’s care team are currently trying out strategies to help Asher – as well as medication, like gabapentin, to manage symptoms. Asher is under veterinary care and needs a calm and patient family who are willing to continue the care Asher is currently receiving.

While he can take a little time to adjust, Asher does do well with people, children, dogs and other cats.  Asher is a sweet and fun cat! He’s doing well in his foster home, but is patiently awaiting his forever home. If you’re interested in adopting Asher, please contact the Bloomington Animal Shelter.

Asher – photo source: City of Bloomington Animal Shelter

Featured Topic: Community Cats

“Community cats” is a term that’s used to describe unowned cats who roam outdoors. Community cats may be feral or friendly, altered or unaltered, and healthy or sick. Many community cats may live in an area together, often called a cat colony, and have a dedicated caretaker who helps get them spayed and neutered and makes sure they have what they need to live safely outdoors.

Many well meaning people will trap community cats and bring them to their local shelters. But, this can sometimes cause more harm than good. Many community cats are not adoptable and the shelter environment isn’t the best place for them.

The widely accepted best practice to care for community cats is TNRM, which stands for Trap-Neuter-Return-Monitor. This method starts with humanely trapping community cats, getting them the vaccinations they need, having them spayed and neutered and then returning them to where they were found.

One way you might know if a cat is a community cat is that their ear may be tipped. This means that the top quarter inch of the left or right ear has been safely, surgically removed, which is often done when a community cat is spayed or neutered. Ear tipping helps you know the cat is spayed or neutered and you don’t need to trap it or bring it to your local shelter; it’s fine right where it is.

 Most communities have at least one or more groups working in TNRM. You can contact your local animal welfare groups to learn who is doing this work, and if you want to get more involved – consider becoming a cat caretaker or volunteer.

TNRM has been proven to be the most humane, efficient way of stabilizing community cat populations and – over time – reducing the number of overall cats in an area. TNRM helps cats live longer healthier lives.