Clinic offers kitty-fixin’ care

The program is the most impactful way of preventing unnecessary homeless cat births, said Liam Montgomery, executive director of the Nine Lives Foundation. Good Samaritans can humanely trap feral cats or kittens, bring them into the Redwood City clinic, and the cats will get all their necessary vaccinations and surgeries, before being returned to their known environment. 

Approximately 70% of kittens born on the street don’t survive their first year, Montgomery said, pointing to a need to prevent unwanted births and an overpopulation of cats. 

“We think this is going to be revolutionary,” Montgomery said. “Last year over 1,000 cats were rescued, treated and adopted. Out of those, 600 were kittens born on the street.” 

The number of homeless cats the Nine Lives Foundation has treated has only grown in recent years. In 2023, the foundation treated under 300 kittens as opposed to the nearly 600 last year. 

“There is an increase of people utilizing our clinics and other low-cost services, but the need is just increasing,” Montgomery said. 

While kittens can be treated and put up for adoption, feral cats over 12 weeks old are often unable to become fully socialized and be at-home cats, Montgomery said. While returning homeless cats to the streets may feel wrong, bringing these cats back to their familiar environments is what’s best for their survival after they’re treated, he said. 

The Nine Lives Foundation provides this Trap-Neuter-Return service more than any other rescue clinic in the Bay Area, Montgomery said, a feat that can only be done thanks to the “good Samaritans who work tirelessly to humanely trap and bring these kitties to us.” 

The foundation is a certified no-kill clinic, in which Montgomery also expressed pride. 

Unwanted litters are possible even with owned cats, Montgomery said, so the foundation is also offering discount vouchers to pet owners. 

All cat owners, regardless of income, will also be eligible for vouchers to spay and neuter their pet, discounting the service cost by $150. 

“We think this partnership with San Mateo County is going to revolutionize the ability for people in potentially underserved communities that need to keep things low cost to take care of their pets,” Montgomery said. 

Beyond the chance of pregnancy, if a cat spends its time outdoors, unspayed or unneutered cats can face harm — female cats are at risk of infection and male cats are at risk of territorial fights. 

Research shows kittens should be spayed or neutered as soon as 2 months old, and the earlier the better, Montgomery said. He hopes cat lovers will take advantage of this opportunity to provide the proper care of their pets. 

“We’re really excited about this program,” Montgomery said. “We want to keep it as low cost as possible so that anyone can come to us and get the most basic of services. It’s super important to be able to be known in the community and for cats to have that access to health care.” 

Interested residents may visit www.ninelivesfoundation.org for more information.

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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