After surgery, keep recovering community cats in a safe, warm and quiet sheltered area until the confinement period is over.  Community cats should be released at the site of trapping as that is the cat’s home. Reasonable times for the cats to be returned are as follows:

● An actively lactating female cat may be returned to the site of trapping 24 hours after surgery

● Healthy male cats: 24-48 hours following surgery

● Healthy female cats: 24-72 hours following surgery

 

Confinement may be extremely stressful for free-roaming cats, so if the cat shows signs of extreme stress – repeated attempts to escape the trap or not eating – he or she should be released immediately. If the cat has a medical problem that was identified at the time of spay/neuter surgery, postoperative holding time may be extended. If a cat is to be kept for an extended period of time, he or she must be transferred from the trap into appropriate longer term housing such as a large dog kennel with a feral cat den.

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Please check out the resources HERE for further information about Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) and post-operative care.