Research from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University found that vasectomies and hysterectomies were more effective at reducing feral cat populations than traditional neutering methods.
The findings support trap-vascectomy-hysterectomy-release (TVHR) as a better alternative to trap-neuter-release (TNR). Professor of Biology in the Tufts's School of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the study J. Michael Reed explained, "With TVHR, a male cat's life span, sexual drive and social status aren't altered with a vascectomy, so he'll fend off competing males who try to intrude into his area even though he can't actually produce offspring."
The study was conducted using a computer-based model that compared the efficacy of vasectomy (vs. neutering) and hysterectomy (vs. spaying). Each computer run simulated the cat population over 6,000 days, tracking individual cats on a daily basis. New cats were added to the population as they were born and deceased ones removed. The simulation showed that to reduce the population by a quarter, 57% of the cats in a colony had to be removed by lethal means or captured, neutered and released. TVHR however, could reduce the population by half with an annual capture rate of 35% and at that rate could completely eliminate the colony within 11 years. (TNR required capturing 82% of the cats in order to eliminate the colony in 11 years.)
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