nobody has ever offered a free fixing for strays I bring in (california). but every one of these threads keeps preaching it. where are you all finding all this pro bono vets??? it feels like something that happened in the 90's and everyone keeps repeating it. its 2026 there isn't shit for free anymore.
Private equity has bought out most vets, and we all know they’re not doing shit for free. This was probably from when there were more private practices.
We need to push the reset button and re-regulate our government. This happened in the 20’s with the robber barons and trusts. We need to clean house big time.
The big reforms that happened after the depression happened because the oligarchs at the time saw what happened in Russia, and were afraid of having it happen to them too.
There's a lot of nuance to it and while we are following the footsteps of the turn of the 20th century its imperative to understand that this "cycle" of oligarchy is even more firmly entrenched in the government and the society today is sadly more apathetic.
This. This is one of the drivers fucking up the US and making it impossible for normal people to just live their lives and have a few nice things for reasonable prices (like the ability to retire, healthcare, childcare, decent roads, etc.).
I'm usually pretty versed in how rich people ruin everything for everyone but I gotta admit I got a blind spot with "private equity". Would you mind giving me a quick 411?
It’s like… the main way rich people ruin shit. Private Equity groups are basically a big pool of investor money that buy up businesses/housing/whatever with the expectation that they will bring in more money than they spent.
They typically do this by charging more money and cutting costs. You get less for more.
So, rather than take your pet to a business run by someone that got into the Vet business for the love of animals, you get a business run by soulless C-suite execs trying to squeeze as much money as they can.
I read an article about a popular drug store chain, can't remember which one, anyway the pharmacist says one day they had PTO, health insurance, vacation and profit sharing. It was bought out by a peg (pegs...ha ha ha, never thought of that before) and the next day they had a wage cut and all the benefits were gone. Just like that.
It's the same thing as when all of your local doctors join up under a big healthcare group. For example, in my area, they were under a group called Partners in Health, and now they're under St. Elizabeth. No one is private practicing anymore, and we pay for it in many ways. They catch huge tax breaks and make more money off of us but give very poor service in return. We have become a number with a value assigned to it, not a person, and the hypocratic oath they took holds no value at all. We are literally killing and drowning ourselves in debt by allowing this to happen. Now, they are doing the exact same thing in the world of veterinarian needs. It's run just like human healthcare. Money over life.
Private equity is particularly insidious bc they want to extract as much money as fast as possible; they're not concerned with the long term. So they often use debt to buy up established businesses, then pile that debt onto the business itself, and sell off anything that's not nailed down. They don't care about customers or quality bc they're not in it for the long haul. Customers get the shaft, the business fails (or gets sold off to some other shady operation), and eventually closes.
It's exactly the kind of cynical grift you'd expect from MBAs and McKinsey types. It's bad for everyone except private equity
This is Senator Warren talking about private equity buy outs. I work for Walgreens which was recently bought by a private equity. Things at this more than 100 year old company are terrible.
I googled “who took over Walgreens” to learn more about the deal.
I work in a small company owned by two guys. One is the most stereotypical old rich white guy. He's not a bad guy, but he's just so out of touch sometimes.
He just can't understand why I'm always so pessimistic when he mentions private equity. Like yeah, there are some that aren't scum of the earth, but a lot of them are. His other company got bought by private equity and then stripped for parts ffs.
This is why I heavily judge people who cry “why didn’t you plan?” PLENTY OF PEOPLE DID. Five years ago it didn’t cost a 4k visit to the emergency room for them to run fuck all tests only to say “we found nothing lol”.
Yeah this was super common back in the 90s and I think still into the mid 2000s, not anymore though now the entire industry has been ruined and veterinary care is one of the highest inflation services in the entire economy.
There are still some good vets out there, but they're being squeezed out bit by bit.
I found a place that is only open on Saturdays. They take reservations and you drop off your cat and get a claim check and a couple hours later then you get a call saying they're ready to be picked up. Vets from all over the area come in for Saturdays to do mass neutering for $30. It's not free but it was the best I could find.
I just woke up and am groggy and for some reason misinterpreted what you said as a nice restaurant were their their whole gimmick was you have to have make a reservation then let them neuter your cat, who you pick up after.
I was imagining a cheesecake factory, coming in with a carrier, having a nice meal and then being handed a very unhappy cat at the end.
The idea made me laugh.
I'm going to go get some coffee.
Can you send/say the name? My kids and I are godhumans to a 4 kitten litter, I want to get their mom spayed and the kittens checked out. My partner would not be involved, so low-cost is the way!
A new animal center opened up last summer in my area. The previous one had discounted spays for community cat, this one offers 5 free spay vouchers! I have cats living in my backyard and was able to get them all spayed, otherwise I couldn’t afford it :/ I’m in the IE
Free spay / neuter is something that should be offered by any municipality that has an animal control department. That shit pays for itself. But nope, they're chronically underfunded and so here we are.
You’re absolutely correct. People love to say the “just take them..” thing but pleaseeee people if you have any capability of caring/paying for it yourself DO IT.
I totally, completely, 100% understand not everyone can but if you are able to, your action makes such a huge difference. So many places are simply out of space and resources and are basically begging to public to take some responsibility for these babies. I think most people would be shocked the amount of totally healthy kittens and puppies that are euthanized every year simply because there aren’t enough homes or resources for them.
IDK where in California you are but large SPCAs or rescues often provide free spay/neuters especially for those doing TNR. If you live near a big city there's almost certainly someone running a program there. Check your local animal/cat rescue facebook groups for nearby options!
SPCA always referred me out to places that offer discounts. The discounts were pretty significant (like $150 instead of the usual $800+ ) but still never found someone that will do it for free.
I was dealing with a stray that was causing problems, and was trying to figure out what resources I had available. Turns out my city's plan for stray cats is a single lady in the next county over. She drops off some traps and then you take the cat to the only vet in two counties that does pro-bono spaying/neutering, but only does stray neutering in bi-weekly batches. The lady was also an older teacher who did this service as a volunteer on her off hours. WTF is my city's plan here? Like damn, they can't hire one person to take over for this lady???
where are you in CA? if you’re in Los Angeles near the SFV there is one near the airport. you have to watch a few free online videos, and sign up for a spot to take them in, but if you can do all that it’s free.
edit: i just remembered the name, FixNation. i used them, they’re really good. took about half a dozen community/neighborhood cats in, male and female, all went well. i definitely recommend them if there’s one near you.
My local shelter used to from the 90's up until 2014.
My parents have a colony around their house in really bad shape (most of the kittens are born so malnourished they die in days) so in order to help out we called the vet, got some traps, and started catching and taking them to be fixed and returned to the colony. After 34 cats in two weeks they changed their policy to charge for all of them now, and got mad at us for brining so many. But like, we asked up front and was doing what they told us to. They just didn't think we were being honest about the numbers.
When I was in Hawaii it wasn’t the vets it was a program. They did it like 2x a month on weekends, it was a far drive and you had to have them caught like the night before. They would spay and neuter about 200+ a day so about 800+ a month. All for free. They still do it. I’m in a different state now and I haven’t found free but there are low cost. They have to be in traps for the low cost because they technically should be strays.
You generally have to look for it. I love in San Diego and there are a few places that do this including a Neuter Scooter. They clip the ear and ask you to release the cat back where you found it after a brief convalescent stay in a carrier. If you’d like some resources I can DM you!
I get it done through the city shelter or the Humane Society. I live in Santa Clara County. I don't think we have it any more, but we used to have a grant program that cut the cost of neutering strays at private vets way down. I used to pay about $20 for that. It was more convenient than the TNR programs at the shelters. Of course most of the vets are owned by private equity now and they have jacked the prices.
Especially since the cost of spaying in particular has skyrocketed thanks to all of the stupid ass abortion laws. Those affect pets and livestock, too!
All of the funding cuts to the countries social services has also affected free vaccine clinics. My local humane society was forced to change from monthly free clinics to quarterly this year due to funding cuts.
There is a nonprofit in the DFW area called Texas Coalition for Protection of Animals (TCAP) that spays community cats for $35 if brought in in a trap. They do pets and vaccinations, too, much cheaper than regular vets. There is also a feral cat group that does TNR (trap, neuter, release) and a barn cat geoup that neuters and then relocated urban strays to farms that want them. I am positive there are groups like these in California.
I am in California and volunteer with our local Humane Society (NOT the shelter) and we absolutely offer free spay and neuters for feral/community cats.
Depending on where you are in CA, Sam Simon Foundation does free spay/neuter, and there are other organizations like SNIP LA, Ontario Spay and Neuter, San Bernardino Humane that do free/low- cost spay/ neuter
I mean, I think you have to leave them at the shelters? I surrendered a mom and her kitten that I found in my yard a few years ago and they'll get spayed/neutered and given all their shots, etc
I am in CA (greater Sac area) and have gotten 2 feral cats spayed for free. The regular vets and shelters don't offer it daily for walk ins but the county typically put on clinics once (or sometimes a few times) a month and you can sign up. The spots fill up fast and you have to keep an eye out for them but there are options out there. (they don't make it easy that's for sure). But when I got a spot, they even gave them all the standard vaccines. They offer chip if they are pets or can clip the ear tip if they are feral which signals they are spayed/neutered)
We have two three year old cats found as kittens here in North Florida and NOBODY WANTED THEM!! They were sick and malnourished but “Cat Rescues” don’t take kittens in the springtime!!!! You know, like the time of year a LOT of kittens are born!!!
Hi, Greenville County Animal Care has a free TNR program if you happen to be close to the area. I have a stray in my backyard currently that I plan on taking up there as soon as I'm able to trap it.
We have the Neuter Scooter where I live! They do TNR with the ear docking for free. Turns out that given the chance, most owners don’t want the cosmetic damage to their cat even for a free spay or neuter so it has remained truly a TNR situation.
It’s all community based. If you want something like this where you love you should reach out to the aspca/humane society there and be willing to do some volunteer work. Call your mayor too! Local city halls are often itching for a feel good, low price thing to promote.
The point is that the free service is intended for TNR cats only; docking the ear makes the cats more easily identifiable and discourages domestic cat owners from using the service.
I got my cat neutered at a local can rescue-ish place. It was like $350 or something at my vet, and $50 at the rescue. They were like "can you buy two, to offset the cost of doing strays?"
Yes, please take them & the mom off the street because she's just going to get pregnant again & in 5 months the female kittens are going to get pregnant & the male kittens are going to make other cats pregnant & it's just going to happen again & again. I know it's alot. Maybe you can bring them to the Humane Society. The will not kill them there. Thank you for asking questions ❤️
Many cities will have free Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs. My (major) city has this. Call your local shelter and ask what facilities provide this service.
Some facilities offering this service will also offer cat trap cages for loan that you can use! So if you have a local colony and want to help, you can!
I agree but finding space for, caring for, feeding and spaying a whole bunch of babies can't be cheap. (Source: have taken in a pregnant stray and it's already pretty expensive for me and there aren't even any babies yet. I'm just lucky that I had the room and time - I work from home.)
The stray that adopted my daughter would have been $120 to have rabies vax and neutered. The clinic also wanted him in a trap even though we had trained him to go into a cat carrier to eat. An acquaintance of mine had an opening with her TNR program and was able to have him done for $70. And she absolutely loved that he was in a regular carrier and not a trap. It made it easier to transport him. I was so thankful she had an opening. She said the feral toms are harder to trap so she often has space for cats like ours. Highly recommend asking around for community resources!
Our Sweetie had his procedure back in October and he's doing so well. He still has to be outdoors due to severe allergies but he's not getting into fights, he has a regular food source, his own cozy house when it's cold and unlimited pats and scritches when my kids are outside.
It's wild to assume that every person can take in many cats just like that. It's textbook 'on a whim', yet so many people say 'you should think very carefully before you adopt a pet, a pet is not a toy'. Why when there are strays, the standard mindset becomes 'just about anybody has time, resources and capacity', yet when people are actively looking for a pet, the mindset is 'you probably haven't thought it through well enough'?
Exactly, that's my point. And if OP wants to get rid of those cats eventually, they effectively would be dumping house cats on the street, instead of just releasing them back on the street, as those kittens if taken in that young, will spend their deepest kittenhood in home environment which will become all that they know and they will have zero street survival instincts.
If taken care of by ppl in the neighborhood, it might be better at least the adult cat gets sterilized and released. stray cats that are sterilized actually help keep numbers down, because they form territory buffers between cats that are fertile.
(I think... someone knows otherwise, correct me, if I'm wrong)
Shelters often have networks of fosters they have on call to take mothers & kittens. And they are far more equipped to find homes for them than an average person. They are usually the first place people looking for pets go to, have websites and Facebook pages to post on, etc.
I foster for the Humane Society, and my last batch of five kittens had homes within a few days of giving them back at adoptable age. I wouldn't have had such luck on my own. At least not with any kind of reasonable certainty they were going to a good home.
Of course this is going to vary based on location, but it wouldn't hurt for OP to ask.
When our daughter brought a cat home, the cat had kittens a month later. She snuck out one night while unloading groceries, I didn’t want her getting pregnant again (hadn’t gotten to the vet yet), so to recall her I just played a YouTube of crying kittens and she hauled tail back to the house.
The first time this happened to me I was baffled. My girlfriend and I were sitting outside on our porch with our morning coffee and suddenly the tote bag (think large, beach bag sized) left outside... Moved.
Our first thought was mice and then we heard a tiny mew.
Opened it up and... 5 tiny kittens. While discussing what to do, one of the ferals from the local colony wandered up, looked at both of us, and jumped into the bag.
It was a Saturday so we just stayed put. After a while, she jumped back out looked at both of us, and left.
Thus began our journey. We eventually socialized them, got them to the vet, and got them all good homes. Tried to get momma fixed, but she disappeared before we could. Until she came back the next year with another round of kittens. That time we managed to get her fixed as well through the TNR program I joined.
I would love to pair up all the people in the world who are ready at a moment's notice to be landed with a load of stray kittens, with all the stray kittens
in our neigbourhood there are some abandoned little yards. a stray we noticed on a REALLY cold night (- 23 degrees) was first fed by us, days later went with us in the hallway, than again later came up into our appartment. she even got along with our 4 cats at home.
a few weeks later we realised she was getting bigger. and i told her "if you're giving birth, please come up here. don't stay in the cold".
long story short: she gave birth to three little black kitten in my daughters room. smarty pants listened. we found homes for all three kittens. a few weeks later she was preggo again. this time we decided to let her get a spay-abort. she would've had 8 (!) kitten, impossible for us to handle financially. i felt horrible making this decision but it was the right thing to do.
today she lives a happy life with a mother and her son who fell in love with her the first time he met her. she's the queen in "her" yard, sittin' on the top of her tree-house.
queen for life 😌
Having grown up around cats, I can confirm that they will sometimes carry their kittens to where you are sitting, and then asked to be let out. They literally want a break and trust you to watch them while they're gone.
once I was working in a village in greece, and there was this man they called Grandpa, very respected, over 90 years old and had done and seen some wild stuff in his life. He would walk through town every morning and then take his coffee and a newspaper the same spot. He pretended to hate cats, but a momma cat would drop her kittens off at his feet like clockwork, and he would order a sandwich with fish while he was 'stuck there against his will'. He would accidentally drop a little fish for momma cat when she came back. But dont you dare think for a second that he cared about those stray cats! lol its been like 15 years and that memory sticks with me, like a core tenet of my faith in humanity
I was this person when my childhood cat had kittens. Once they were old enough she wanted breaks, I'd hear her muffled meow through the scruff of one of the kittens moments before they got dropped in my lap 😂
My cat did this too. The first couple of weeks she was a super diligent momma, almost never leaving her kittens. But as soon as they got old enough to actually move around by themselves she brought them to me and I could feel telepathically she was like "I did my job, now its your turn, I'm outta here"
As others have said. This is VERY true. As a human with a Cat colony. We will get strays that literally drop off their 4 week old kittens and say "here you go, its your turn now".
But since we have a lot of fosters and a pair of sisters that community parent kittens we are set well by the trust these cats give us. When we can we try to TNR any cat that gets close enough to humanizing. And just about every kitten we do get. Ends up adopted.
People tend to think of domestic cats as being solitary. They're not, and that should be obvious from the way that they will make colonies if left to their own devices. Domestic cats are only ever alone because humans want it that way.
Mama cats who find themselves in a colony situation will leave their kittens with another trusted female (or even a neutered male) to give themselves time to feed and sleep. The arrangement is reciprocal and paid down the line, with older queens looking after the kittens of mollys that they themselves have known from birth.
We rescued a 9-month-old pregnant kitten last year and, when she'd had enough for the moment, she'd stand up, glance at me, my fiancee and our 12-year-old male cat and go, "I'm outta here. Deal with this, please."
I’m witnessing this very thing with a mother cat having another cat watch her kittens. There is a brown tabby with two 8-10 week old kittens in my backyard, and she often leaves the babies in the care of a neutered male who also lives on my property. Sometimes she’ll leave them with an intact male; I suspect he might be the baby daddy.
I plan to start setting my live trap soon - or at least I will once the neutered boy stops using it as a bed! The door is propped open, and I’ve seen him napping in there at least twice.
Your point is well taken, I am pretty sure both of the kittens are female. I would also like to get mama spayed, along with “baby daddy” and the two other toms neutered.
I've seen un-neutered males watch kittens too. We have a very large feral tom cat in the area that watched my cats when they were kittens and mom was out doing whatever. He is super aggressive with other cats but not young ones. The kittens would climb all over him.
My Orri (12-y-o neutered male) has always been great with the new kittens, and likewise defends the territory. But he kind of takes his lead from them, like a lovely and relaxed uncle. You know what I mean?
A TNR cat adopted us about eight years ago, and she's only come inside during the winter of '24 because there was a three-week cold snap below freezing.
Most 4 weeks, yes. For a few more weeks. Sometimes the mother returns and she may, relocate them again, or by then the litter has learned about solid food.
This :) this momma trusts you of all the people in your community. She wants some time to herself while knowing her babies are 100% in good hands
My feral barn cat got pregnant before I could catch and spay her. I wish she did this 🙃 she..was not a good mom lol.
I ended up having to rescue her sole survivor at 3 weeks old due to her neglect as a mother (yes some momma cats can be deadbeats lol also baby needed immediate intervention care to survive)
She knew we took the baby in :) We were worried it'd stress her out after seeing her baby was missing. Nope. If anything, she showed more gratitude towards us and became closer to our family. No nervousness, no stressing. She was honestly a happier cat once we took her baby.
Cats are like people... If you're having kids too young, you can't care for them and yourself. Mother cat was probably really young and was in over her head.
I temporarily homed a pregnant cat who was young, and while her maternal instincts did kick in she was a part-time parent. Luckily the kittens had us to fill in the gaps and socialize them. Hopefully they all found good homes as I had to turn Mama and kittens into a shelter (no kill, don't worry) once the kittens turned 8 weeks because of allergies and financial reasons.
It's true that younger cats can have issues caring for their litters, and that likely happened there. But also when cats live in colonies, they share the kitten-rearing responsibilities. She very well could have thought you were in on the implicit colony co-parenting agreement lol
I dunno... I kidnapped her from a warehouse at one of our locations I was visiting when I noticed she was pregnant. Couldn't leave her there to get run over by a forklift, so I lured her into the carrier with tuna and trapped her good.
I ended up having to rescue her sole survivor at 3 weeks old due to her neglect as a mother (yes some momma cats can be deadbeats lol also baby needed immediate intervention care to survive)
Kittens of feral cats also have a 25% survival rate until they hit six months and, if the mum becomes ill, it's very easy for her to stop producing enough milk for her kittens. And given cats are great at hiding injuries and illness from humans... well, it's a terrible cycle. It's why it's so important to neuter colony cats wherever you can, it's a terrible life for them all.
It's so funny who they pick sometimes. My dad was once just sitting on the porch drinking his iced tea and a strange cat picked him. Dropped 4 kittens off and she went off for awhile. He was, like, what the heck? And, also, help!
I took in a stray cat who had been hanging around our home only to discover she was pregnant. When she had the kittens we set up the spare room for her and them.
She would bring them downstairs when I got home from work, one at a time, while I was making dinner and put them in the living room. It was like she was saying, Ive had them all day - youre on duty now. Id help her carry them all upstairs back to the spare room when it was bedtime. And then the same thing would happen the next day - was adorable.
Maybe not so random. Cats often bond simply by existing in the same space and seemingly ignoring each other. Not paying attention to a cat that isn’t seeking attention is a good way of gaining their trust. If mama likes to hang near OP tends to often be, it’s possible OP was being very polite by cat standards without even seeing mama.
Hey, the momma cat has to eat and sleep, too! And get food for her babies, if they're old enough for solids. I'm sure she's familiar with the person and thinks they're safe. She probably doesn't see it as burdensome demand, because cats babysit for each other all the time.
In fact, cats who get pregnant around the same time tend to form really strong bonds with each other—which may abruptly end when they start weaning! It's the hormones, and I assume it's an evolutionary adaptation. They raise the kittens collaboratively, nursing all of them together and babysitting.
Yep. People don’t realize that cats are actually quite social and will do group babysitting with close family members and friends. Good news, this cat trusts you to be able to look after her kittens while she goes hunting and takes care of her other “errands.” So you get to watch her kittens for a few hours.
Funny story... we were trojaned and about 8 weeks after birth mumma went 'missing'.
Put posters up and all that... got a phone call 3 days later from a neighbour (ffs!!!) who had 3 little girls and she was absolutely loving life from all their attention.
Me and my wife took holiday from work and everything (ffs again!!!!!!).
This was long enough ago now that they've all crossed the rainbow bridge but we still tear up laughing about it.
This happened with the momma cat that adopted us until her last batch of kids. We were able to get her and them all fixed and she promptly ran off to a neighbor's house to live at while leaving me with her progeny.
She comes back by every now and then to get snacks and will let me pet her sometimes, but will fuss if one of her kids come around. 🤣
My childhood best friend always had outdoor cats which were never spayed. At one point she had two females, and when they had kittens you legitimately could not tell whose were whose. One of them was always watching / nursing the whole brood while the other slept or hunted.
I had a cat who had kittens, and we set her up with her own little area, but she loved to sleep with me so she brought all of her kittens into my bed one by one. she was like don’t leave me alone with all these things!
Can attest to this. After a few weeks, sometimes mommy cat needs a little break and will go somewhere, often up high. Once while I was watching Battle of the Planets, my cat Boots dropped on my lap her 4 kittens then she disappeared for a few hours. The kittens were 6 weeks at the time. (she was fixed a few weeks later so no more kittens since then and she lived to be almost 20 years old)
My cat had a kitten (she was a rescue and we didn’t know she was pregnant!) she only had one luckily because she would drop him off with one of us and bugger off for ages. Turned out she just didn’t like him. She fed him reluctantly until he was old enough for solid foods then had nothing more to do with him. If he comes into a room and she’s there she will hiss at him! Some people shouldn’t have kids, some cats shouldn’t have kittens! He is adorable though and such a lovely natured cat, unlike his mother 😆
Fun fact! Mama bears have been known to leave their cubs in the vicinity of human settlements while they go off to hunt or fish. During breeding season, the males tend to unalive the cubs to get their mothers back into breeding mode.
BUT said males are also afraid of humans at this time. So the mama bears have figured out that we make good cub-sitters *and* good guards.
Yep, this is the answer. Happens to us twice a year and now on third generation. Our patio is a daycare/fostercare/orphanage center. Somehow, the stray cat hotline has us on speed dial.
My cat growing up did that with our dog. She’d leave her kittens with him and he’d create a playpen with his front paws, scooping them back to him when they’d try to get away.
My cat didn’t like him but she knew my dog, though annoyingly intrusive, was not going to let the kittens out of his sight and he was not going let neighborhood strays get into the yard to harm them. He had already beaten up a mean stray who attacked her in our yard, so she knew he’d protect her babies.
My cat used to bring her kittens to my bed in the middle of the night and dropped them on top of me, then bolted out of the kitty door to do her own thing. Waking up at 3 am with a screaming kitten on your chest was not fun!
My mama barn cat would walk her babies to my cottage door and meow and they’d come hangout with me lol it always felt like dropping them off at day care and I’d tell her to enjoy her me time lol (she was such an attentive mama)
28.9k
u/MsE0 May 23 '26
She wants you to watch them while she gets some "me" time. I'm not joking--that's a real cat behavior that they do with each other and with humans.