UPM HOLDS TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN PROGRAMME | UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA BINTULU SARAWAK CAMPUS
» NEWS » UPM HOLDS TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN PROGRAMME

UPM HOLDS TRAP-NEUTER-RETURN PROGRAMME

Visitors play with a neutered cat that was available for adoption.

BINTULU: Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Bintulu campus’s recent Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programme saw 15 stray cats neutered.

Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences animal scientist Dr Juriah Kamaludeen explained that through TNR, the stray cats were humanely trapped, neutered or spayed, and then vaccinated and dewormed.

Juriah (fourth right) is seen with the programme volunteers.

“We also rehomed or adopted out another 16 campus-born kittens to the public,” she said.

“In some cases, microchipping and ‘returning’ them to the location where they were trapped to resume life with their colony.”

She said the TNR programme was part of an ongoing audit of stray cats on campus, stabilisation of stray cat population numbers, and maintaining the health of the campus cats.

“Adopting or rehoming is another strategy applied in TNR due to cat safety and health,” she said, adding the programme has been used increasingly in other countries such as the USA, UK, Italy, and Australia.

Juriah pointed out stray cats pose many problems in neighbourhoods, including reproducing at high rates leading to an undomesticated overpopulation.

“Fertile cats are capable of bearing their first litter before one year of age – as early as six months old, be able to reproduce three times a year, and the average number of kittens in a feline litter is four to six, in an average lifetime of 15 years for indoor cat.

“This means that the number of kittens born into this world just by one female kitty is between eight and 12 kittens in a single year, and this could result in up to 180 kittens in her lifetime,” she explained.

Juriah said a combination of TNR and rehoming could help control the cat population and improve quality of life.

A woman prepares to adopt a kitten.

“As for now, we need to continue to monitor and manage colonies to ensure new cats who show up are neutered, spayed, or rehomed,” she said.

Juriah added the suitable age for a cat to get a vaccination for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is six weeks of age and for the rabies vaccination between 12 and 16 weeks.

The TNR programme was partly funded by the university, while additional funding was received through donations and fundraising.

Date of Input: 22/11/2019 | Updated: 22/11/2019 | lanz

MEDIA SHARING

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA BINTULU SARAWAK CAMPUS

Nyabau Road,
97008 Bintulu, Sarawak,
Malaysia

086855201
086855888
SXDdCAP~