The Spay Neuter Project

09/11/2026

Please consider donating to help these cats who were abandoned when their caretaker died.

06/26/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ESmra96Xd/?mibextid=wwXIfr

**ALL SPOTS ARE FILLED**

It is full swing kitten season and we know everyone is feeling the pressure! Do you have a litter of kittens? PLEASE get them fixed before rehoming them so they do not continue to reproduce! We are hoping to help make that possible by offering a litter special for kittens. If you bring in your mom cat and her litter of kittens, it will be $10 each to be spayed or neutered. Kittens need to be at least 8 weeks of age and weigh 2 lbs. These spaces and funds are limited so these spots are first come, first serve. You may call our office at 865-856-7729 to book OR book online (you MUST mention "Litter Special" if booking online or the discount will not be applied).

05/24/2026

🐾 20 Cats TNR'd: Stopping the Cycle in Jefferson County TN! 🐾

Whew, what a week! We successfully trapped, neutered, and returned (TNR) 20 community cats across three different locations in White Pine and New Market, TN.

Thanks to dedicated local caretakers, every single one of these cats has a safe place to call home, with regular food and warm shelter. Even though these kitties aren't socialized to be indoor pets, they are deeply loved by the people who look after them every day.

Why this matters:

By ensuring 100% of the cats in these colonies were TNR'd, we have officially stopped the cycle of reproduction. No more future kittens will be born into the harsh outdoor elements here. Over time, these managed colonies will naturally stabilize and decrease in size, leading to healthier cats and happier neighborhoods.

A massive thank you to our donors, clinic staff, and the kind colony caretakers who make this lifesaving work possible! Together, we are making Jefferson County a better place for community cats. 🐱

05/18/2026

Last week, we helped TNR six cats at a Jefferson County residence (five were female), and we rescued six kittens who are now in foster care. All the babies are now thriving and will be adopted into indoor, forever homes as soon as they are big enough.

Our TNR Efforts:
Cats TNR'd this year: 137
Total TNR'd since Oct 2018: 3,604

*A Friendly Reminder to Caretakers *

Requests for help far exceed what our two-person volunteer team can manage. If you feed outside cats, you must take responsibility for getting them fixed—preferably before two or three cats turn into 15.

If we are able to help, we require your active assistance, availability, and commitment to following trapping protocols and transporting cats when possible. To ensure we can help as many community cats as possible, we rely on the person requesting assistance to be our partner on the ground. Because our resources are limited, we cannot respond to every call, but we will help guide you through the process.

Low-Cost TNR Resources (the following clinics offer affordable options for TNR cats):

The CARE Shelter: Facilitates one monthly clinic for TNR cats.

Kindness Counts: Located in Sevierville Kindness Counts Spay Neuter Clinic.

Claws & Paws: Located on Asheville Highway in Knoxville Claws and Paws 4 a Cause.

05/14/2026

Companion Animal Rescue & Education -CARE, the Jefferson County animal shelter, is providing low-cost clinics for community cats and household pets, with grant pricing available for Jefferson County residents.

This clinic is for outside community cats.
Grant pricing is available for Jefferson County residents only, but we also offer our regular low‑cost pricing for anyone outside the county.

The clinic for household pets was posted separately.

05/02/2026

Mission Accomplished in Jefferson County, TN! 🐾

We recently completed a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) project for some local homeowners who wanted the best for their outdoor cat colony.

By trapping three females and one male, we’ve prevented 10+ kittens from being born this spring! Beyond population control, TNR creates a more peaceful environment by reducing fighting and yowling. Healthy cats, happy neighbors, and a stable colony. That’s a win-win!

05/01/2026

Preventing a 'cat-astrophe'! 🐈‍⬛

TNR just in time to keep this colony manageable and healthy! When caretakers look out for community cats, they know the best thing they can provide—besides food and shelter—is TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). TNR not only prevents the colony from growing, but it also improves the cats' health and makes them better neighbors by eliminating hormonal spraying and the loud noises of mating and fighting.

We were so happy to help this group in Jefferson County, TN! Since seven of the cats were female, we’ve prevented a huge number of unwanted kittens from arriving this spring.

These are very kind folks doing the right thing, and we were glad to be able to help. They truly love the cats, even if they will never be able to cuddle them. They are so relieved the colony is stabalized and there will be no growth this spring with new kittens!

04/30/2026

Excellent post from Stray Cat TNR. Volunteers are asked so often why they cannot take the cats in to socialize. While most end up with way more foster cats and kittens than we should, it is just not feasible. There aren't enough homes for all the cats which is why TNR is so important. We have fixed 3,600 cats in our community through TNR.

We are in a world 🌎 where there simply aren’t enough homes for the number of cats being born. While people spend months or even years trying to turn one truly feral cat into an indoor pet, there are countless friendly, adoptable cats and kittens running out of time ⌚️ in shelters or suffering outside, waiting for help that may never come.

Some cats 𝘤𝘢𝘯 adjust to indoors and if individuals have the time to assess temperament and take on the responsibility, that is a wonderful gift to the kitty! 😘 But, for the feral cat who isn't able to adjust, it’s not humane. 😢 It can mean fear, stress, and a life spent trying to escape something they don’t understand. 🚫

That means we have to make hard, thoughtful decisions based on what helps the most cats and what gives each individual cat the best quality of life. TNR does just that.

It prevents suffering before it starts. It stabilizes populations. It allows cats who are thriving outdoors to continue living in the environment they know without contributing to more kittens being born into the same cycle.

There are times when a cat can’t be returned-medical issues, unsafe locations, or other circumstances. Those cats deserve careful evaluation for the most humane path forward, whether that’s placement, sanctuary, or, in some cases, euthanasia.

But for the majority of truly feral cats, forcing indoor life isn’t rescue. It’s asking them to become something they’re not.

This isn’t about giving up on cats.
It’s about meeting them where they are and doing the most good, for the most lives, with the reality we’ve been given. ❤️‍🩹

04/30/2026

TNR doesn’t always go as planned! 🐾

One of the cats we recently trapped in Jefferson County, TN, turned out to be very pregnant—so pregnant, in fact, that she started delivering her kittens right in the trap!

We immediately moved her to a quiet bathroom with a cozy birthing box in the linen closet so she could feel safe. We watched via camera as she delivered a total of six healthy babies. We are so relieved these little ones were born somewhere safe and warm.

Mom is doing a great job taking care of them! While she’s tolerating us for food and litter scooping, she isn't socialized. Once the kittens are weaned and ready for forever homes, Mom will be TNR’d back to her colony where she is loved and looked after. Welcome to the world, little ones! ❤️

04/29/2026

Teamwork makes the TNR dream work! 🐾

We recently assisted a kind family in Jefferson County with a colony of six cats. With only one trapper covering the whole county, the caretaker stepped up to trap and transport—help that allowed us to get 17 cats to surgery last Wednesday!

One mama is still out there with a hidden litter of kittens. We’ll be back in a few weeks to get her fixed and move those babies into foster care for indoor homes. Together, we’re stopping the cycle! 🧡