Free spay, neuter program curbing Sussex County’s feral cats

An expanded grant now offers free spay/neuter services to curb Sussex County’s stray and feral cat population.

Nonprofit cat rescue Forgotten Cats Inc. received a PetSmart Charities grant for a second year to humanely reduce cat overpopulation by eliminating the birth of homeless kittens. While last year’s grant offered services to many Sussex County ZIP codes, the new grant covers the entire county.

“The first grant really opened our eyes to the needs of Sussex County,” said Felicia Cross, founder and executive director of Forgotten Cats. “In just 14 weeks, we achieved our year-long goal. Our intent is to develop a permanent location and presence for all local rescue groups so we can pool resources. This is too big an issue for any one group to solve.” 

In fact, just one homeless cat and her offspring can grow to a colony of 20 cats in less than a year, Cross said. Last year, Forgotten Cats sterilized more than 1,000 cats through the grant. This year, the group plans to serve 200 cats a week - roughly 50 per day - to prevent the births of thousands of homeless kittens.

“Our goal is to help as many cats and people as we can. Along with the cats come the people who care for and about them, and many are seniors who need help. We respond to their call and help make a better solution for everyone.”

Individuals, homeowner associations and even municipalities can contact Forgotten Cats to control outdoor cat colonies through its TNVR (trap, neuter/spay, vaccinate, return) program. Forgotten Cats humanely traps all cats within the colony and transports them to one of its facilities where a licensed veterinarian performs the sterilization, and provides vaccinations and post-surgical care. Any domesticated cats are offered for adoption, and remaining cats are returned to their original neighborhood. The TNVR program quickly stabilizes outdoor cat colonies; nine months ago, Forgotten Cats provided TNVR to 152 cats from a Dover mobile home park, stabilizing the colony and eliminating the birth of any new kittens.

“This is a community issue, so we’d love to get the community involved,” Cross said. Forgotten Cats needs volunteers for many activities, including trapping, transporting, cat care and answering phone calls. To learn about volunteering, cat adoption or to have a stray or feral cat sterilized and vaccinated, call Forgotten Cats at 302-429-0124 or go to www.forgottencats.org.