SMITH ISLAND FERAL CAT PROJECT – FINAL REPORT

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            The feral cat overpopulation problem on Smith Island, a small Chesapeake Bay island, became known to Maryland Feline Society, Inc, in the spring of 2002.  That year Maryland Feline Society sponsored a state-wide feral cat spayathon for about 350 cats. Through this project, we were contacted by some residents of Smith Island for help.  We were able to help about 10 cats at that time. We understood that there were approximately 300 unaltered cats on the island.  There are no veterinarians (or doctors, for that matter) there.  In order to get these cats altered, residents would have to trap them and take a 45-minute ferry ride and then a 20-minute car ride to the closest veterinary hospital.  Then they would have to reverse the process to return them to the island.   In 2003, President Jean Townsend suggested that Maryland Feline Society undertake altering all of the cats on Smith Island.  She had vacationed on the island as a child and remembered the cats coming in from the marshes in the late afternoons to see if any scraps had been left for them.  She felt that concentrating the spaying in one area, especially an island, would have more impact than the statewide effort of the year before. The organization dedicated $5000 to the project.

 

MFS member Peggy Nemoff contacted Animal Rescue, Inc, a no-kill shelter at the Maryland Line, because of their interest in feral cats and their experience with spay/neuter clinics.  They run a low-cost spay/neuter clinic every week at their facility. Several of our members also belong to Animal Rescue. In March 2003, Grace Froelich (founder of Animal Rescue), Peggy Nemoff, and Denise Batista went on a scouting mission to Tylerton to meet with resident Marge Laird, who was our contact there.  They were amazed by the large number of cats they saw lounging around the docks and strolling the streets.  Grace immediately noted that most of the females she saw were pregnant.  The need to start spaying these cats immediately was apparent.  Two weeks later, we launched Phase I of our Smith Island Feral Cat Project.

 

 

Trapping cats on the Tylerton Dock

 

We decided that it was not feasible to trap cats on Smith Island, transport them to Crisfield, and then taxi them to the closest veterinary hospitals.  We decided, therefore, to set up a MASH-type hospital.  Tylerton graciously allowed us to set up in the Tylerton Volunteer Fire Department, where we had running water, heat, and shelter.  Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, donated $1500 which we spent buying 30 live-capture traps.  We had them shipped to Tylerton, the most remote of the three towns on Smith Island.  Jean Townsend, VMD, a house call veterinarian from Lutherville, and Kate Howard, DVM, a small animal practitioner in York, Pa, were the veterinarians involved. Spouses Larry Townsend and Brad Howard also were pressed into service.  Grace Froelich and husband Phil Staelens of Animal Rescue brought spay packs, anesthesia machine, surgical supplies, vaccines, and medical supplies.  Peggy Nemoff and Denise Batista performed countless organizational tasks such as coordinating with island residents, finding lodging for the participants at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and doing much of the trapping.  They also, along with Liz Ackerman, functioned as vet techs during the surgeries.  Island resident Sally Tyler also acted as a technician.  Residents of Tylerton came to the firehouse, picked up traps, set them, and returned with cats for us to alter.

 

            We went to Tylerton on March 28.  We were set up in the fire house (amid the fire trucks and fire-fighting gear!)  by 7 pm that evening and began to do surgeries.  We operated that Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. We spayed or neutered the cats; notched the right ear for females and the left ear for males; vaccinated them for rabies, feline distemper and upper respiratory virus; cleaned their ears; dewormed them; and treated them for fleas.  They spent the night in the fire house and the next day were fed and returned to the area where they had been trapped.  Sunday afternoon, we tore down our “hospital,” loaded up, and took the late ferry home.  There are almost no motor vehicles in Tylerton, so most of our equipment had to be carried to the dock from the fire house. Residents were very helpful with getting our supplies to and from the docks in various push carts and golf carts.

 

Dr. Kate Howard and husband
Brad preparing to perform surgery

Phil Staelens releasing cats

Phil Staelens and Peggy Nemoff returning cats

         
            We felt we had made a dent in the problem. In all, we handled 47 cats.  Nineteen were males (1 already neutered) and 28 were females.  Two of these already had been spayed, but 16 were pregnant with an average of 4 kittens each. We left Tylerton very tired but with the feeling we had accomplished something.

We were tempted to rest on our laurels for a bit, but Grace insisted we return to Ewell, the largest of the three towns, as soon as possible because of all the pregnant cats she had seen.  Our contacts in Ewell were Laura Evans and Cecil Laird.  This time we set up in the Community Center.  This building was scheduled for renovation and no one minded if there were cats in there. Again, Peggy Nemoff and Denise Batista were busy scouting facilities for us.  They found a Baltimore couple with a summer house in Ewell who offered to let us use their place for our dormitory.  The traps had to be shipped from Tylerton to Ewell.  Amazingly, we were beginning Phase II almost before we knew it.

On April 11, 2003, we took the ferry to Ewell to begin the next step. Dr. Jean Townsend, Dr. Amy Holstein from Crofton, Md, and Dr. Lisa Tuzo from the Humane Society of Baltimore County, Inc. were the veterinarians.  Dr. Tuzo brought an extra anesthesia machine and additional spay packs.  Larry Townsend, Grace Froelich and husband Phil Staelens, Peggy Nemoff, Denise Batista, Jenny Lawler (a volunteer trapper), and Jonathan Wolfe (a volunteer from Animal Rescue) also participated. Ewell resident Jeanie Landon also helped.  We were up and running and operating by late Friday afternoon.  We worked all day Saturday until midnight and started again Sunday morning.  We were done by noon and were able to pack up earlier than we had in Tylerton. Getting equipment to and from the dock was much easier in Ewell because there are many cars and trucks there. This trip we handled 94 cats.  Fifty-four were males, 5 of which already had been neutered. Forty of the cats  were females, 4 of which already had been spayed. Ten of these females were pregnant.  Again, we left exhausted but with the knowledge we were putting a dent in the cat population.

            Phase III took place October 3, 2003, again in Ewell.  This trip was timed to alter the kittens born in the spring that were too young to alter then.  Again we were able to use the Community Center since the renovations had not begun.  Our timing was such that we arrived about two weeks after Hurricane Isabel.  The Island still was drying out from that disaster.  Many residents had sustained damage to their homes and soft crab processing equipment.  The streets had become rivers during the storm.  We even saw photographs of cats swimming for the protection of trees to cling to. But residents still wanted to get their cats altered and actively participated in trapping the cats and delivering them to the MASH unit.   

            Dr. Jean Townsend, Dr. Amy Holstein, Dr. Kate Howard, and Dr. Terri White of Easton were the veterinarians who participated. Larry Townsend, Brad Howard, Grace Foelich, Phil Staelens, Peggy Nemoff, Denise Batista, Tom Ryan (Dr. White’s husband), Jennifer Lawler, and Jonathan Wolfe also assisted.  Denise Golder, a trapper from Grateful Paws, and Stephny Luce, a technician from Animal Rescue, also participated. Dr. Marian Siegel of Metropolitan Cat Hospital in Owings Mills, MD, graciously lent us an anesthesia machine. Again, we operated on Friday and Saturday, but this time we were able to tear down Sunday morning and charter a boat back to Crisfield so that we could be home earlier to go to work the next day.

 

               

           Jennifer Lawler and Denise Batista                                                        A volunteer checks cats to be released
            performing post-op duties                                                                            

 In Phase III, we handled 101 cats.  Fifty-nine were males and 42 were females.  Two of these females already were spayed but none were pregnant.  This time we were altering the kittens that had been born in the spring.  Some only weighed 1 ½ pounds!  We were fairly sure that we had captured nearly all of the cats. But we made plans to return in the spring of 2004 if needed.

 In mid-March 2004, Peggy Nemoff contacted Cecil Laird of Ewell and learned that there still were unaltered cats (that is, cats whose ears were not notched).  On April 2, we embarked for Phase IV.  Dr. Jean Townsend and Dr. Terri White were the veterinarians.  Grace Froelich, Phil Staelens, Peggy Nemoff, Denise Batista, Jonathan Wolfe, and Ron Lambert (a volunteer trapper) made up the rest of the crew.  This time we set up in the Glenn L. Martin Wildlife Center, part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, since the Community Center was being renovated. We operated Friday evening and Saturday.  Dr. White even spayed a pregnant dog.  We were able to pack up and leave by Sunday morning on a chartered boat. 

 

Larry Townsend, Dr. Jean Townsend, Grace Froelich,
 Dr. Kate Howard and Brad Howard returning to Crisfield

 
We handled 19 cats in all (and one dog!).  Fifteen of the cats were males. Since 2 already were altered, we performed surgery on 13 of them. Four cats were females, one of which already was altered and one of which was pregnant.  According to our sources, we missed one female whose family has a trap and will get her altered. We also suspect we missed 2 or 3 males. 

The grand totals are as follows:
    Total cats handled                                 261
    Males                                                   147      (8 already neutered)
    Females                                                114      (9 already spayed) 
                                                                            (27 pregnant)
    Total surgeries                                      244

             We were very gratified that no cat died under anesthesia or as a result of the surgeries.  During each trip, our veterinarians were asked to examine and treat owned cats for health issues.  Also, during this project one owned cat and one owned dog were euthanized due to terminal illness.

 All of us who participated have a tremendous feeling of doing something worthwhile to help cats and people. Residents of both Tylerton and Ewell-Rhodes Point would stop participants in each of the four phases and tell us how much they appreciated what we were doing for them.  They seemed incredulous that other people cared about their cats.  Jennings Evans, a retired waterman and the unofficial historian for Ewell, told Peggy Nemoff, “It’s great.  We’ve had cats run wild up here for years.  Since you’ve all come here, it seems like a different place.  We’ve had them born in the marsh.  We’ve had them born in the weeds.  It’s a dilemma.  Half the people would try to take care of them.  It’s a great service you provided.  It was smelly because when they were cattin’, well, you know how male cats are.  They would give off this odor around your doorsteps… They used to kill a lot more birds.  It’s so many benefits.  It’s a lot of difference here.  It’s not as many of them run over.  Seems like they’re more particular with themselves.  It’s not so much fighting.  I don’t see a lot of the open wounds I used to see.”                                              

                                 

Caleb Evans comforts a recovering cat

 

            That’s all the reward any of us wanted.  We thank all of you who made this effort happen – participants, residents of Smith Island, and donors.  We – and the cats – thank you!

 

Stumpy Laird says “Life is good!”

 

WE HEARTILY THANK THE FOLLOWING

 

VETERINARIANS

MARYLAND FELINE SOCIETY, INC
            Denise Batista (also of Animal Rescue)
            Jen Lawler (also of Noah’s Children)   
Peggy Nemoff (also of Animal Rescue)
            Dr. Jean Townsend, President
 
ANIMAL RESCUE, INC
            Liz Ackerman
            Grace Froelich, Founder
            Brad Howard, Board Member
Dr. Kate Howard, Board Member
            Stephny Luce
            Phil Staelens, Director  
           Jonathan Wolfe, Board Member
           
ADDITIONAL PARTICIPANTS
            Denise Golder, Grateful Paws
            Ron Lambert
            Tom Ryan, helpful spouse
            Larry Townsend, man Friday!

SMITH ISLAND PARTICIPANTS
          
OTHERS

WE ALSO THANK THESE CONTRIBUTORS

©June 1, 2004 – Jean B. Townsend, VMD –Maryland Feline Society, Inc. P.O. Box 144, Lutherville, MD 21094 

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