For feral cats, it's the tipping point

TIPPING FELINE ears is a simple technique that requires an almost bloodless snip of the left ear to help identify the cats - more specifically, feral cats - as having been sterilized and vaccinated. It's a highly effective device used by those who care for feral cat colonies to monitor the success of their efforts. It also helps animal-control officials know which colonies of cats are well-managed and stable.

Not only is it useful, but, unlike a canine ear crop, it's also considered absolutely painless when performed under anesthesia. In fact, cats uniformly recover without pawing at their ears or showing any other sign of distress related to the loss of this tiny bit of cartilage. Because it's performed with the cats' best interests in mind, this procedure definitely gets a pass on the animal welfare-o-meter.

Nonetheless, there is a downside to ear-tipping: Many people are reluctant to adopt cats with tipped ears. They view it as a slight on the animal's natural beauty. I ear-tip only the homeless who come my way as feral or free-roaming cats. These "freebie" surgical candidates may leave my hospital and find loving forever homes, but the reality is that most will not. The really dismal reality is that all but the most friendly, healthy and comely will land back on the streets.

That's why my policy is to ear-tip almost all of them. Here's more of why:

* Public safety: Since ear-tipped cats are typically rabies-vaccinated, identifying them as such enhances the safety of the human community at large.

* Population management: Because ear-tipping helps in managing a community's colonies, it promotes the welfare of its stray populations.

* Feline protection: It's the right thing to do for the individual cat. A cat who's not ear-tipped may end up in surgery for altering that has already been done, and who wants another experience under the knife? In communities where cats are targeted for eradication, ear-tipping can make the difference between a free-roaming cat's life . . . and lethal control.

But because ear-tipping may reduce an individual's adoptability, I've learned that concessions must sometimes be made to a cat's demeanor and appearance, depending on her individual circumstances. For example, is the cat truly wild, or a sweet, happens-to-be-homeless stray? Is the cat entering an established adoption program? Or is it at all possible that this "stray" free-roamer might possibly belong to a neighbor, and is really someone's pet?

If the animal might be reasonably expected to have a home waiting for him, knowing as we do that humans may refuse to adopt a "marked" specimen, I'll often opt for leaving the ear alone.

Here's where some of you may wonder, "Surely there has to be a better way." But given the current realities inherent to modern feline existence, where entire colonies can be eradicated pending one municipal official's say-so, why leave a life-and-death issue to chance? If what's best for everyone - especially for our free-roaming cats - is that they get their ears tipped, why should aesthetics stand in the way?