Catnip Society has successful 2025, is working hard in 2026

The year 2025 was a successful one for the local feline welfare organization Catnip Society.

Through their monthly low-cost neuter clinic and TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) work, they were able to spay and neuter 230 males and 29 females. At the neuter clinic alone, 216 males were neutered.

That included domestic cats, ferals and community cats, and adoptable males being held at Mariposa County Animal Control. The clinic has been offering low cost neutering services for over 12 years. Their TNR efforts are headed by much-appreciated longtime volunteer and super-trapper Susan Chase-Hawksworth.

Clinic coordinator, Cathy Avila, has been running the clinic since 2013.

“The clinic would not be possible if it wasn’t for veterinarian Dr. Jeanette Mero. Dr. Mero is a local mobile large animal vet. She has volunteered her time and services since the clinic began. It’s incredible when you think of what she has given to Catnip Society and the community. She is amazing! Catnip cannot thank her enough,” said Avila.

Likewise, the clinic could not function without the help of Mariposa County Animal Control. The AC officers assist Mero with the procedures.

“Animal Control has been involved with the neuter clinic since its beginning,” said Avila. “They’ve always been so friendly and cooperative. The current group of officers are absolutely amazing. They really are onboard with helping to control cat population through spay/neuter.”

Volunteer Troian Cummings assists with intake and checkout of the cats. Her help is invaluable to the smooth running of the clinic.

Catnip Society is a nonprofit 501(c)3 that works to improve the lives of both domestic cats and ferals in Mariposa and surrounding areas in the county. They do not have an office or a shelter so cannot take animals from the public.

The group is operated entirely by volunteers. Their funding comes totally from donations from the public.

Since their beginning in 2007, a major priority has been helping cat owners and caregivers with low cost spay/neuter services and doing TNR in the community. But this has become increasingly more difficult over the last several years.

Avila bemoans the fact that there are so few options for low cost services currently offered to people. There are several reasons for this, she explained.

Fewer graduates are coming out of veterinary schools to cover the increase in services sought by pet owners and to replace retiring vets. Large numbers of vets are now working for corporate owned veterinary clinics. The number of independent private practices is shrinking.

“The corporate vet structure is not into providing low cost spay/neuter,” she said.

In the last few years, several clinics available to Mariposa residents have ceased their low cost services.

For example, for several years, a mobile clinic from Simi Valley came to Oakhurst for several months in the year. They began having difficulty hiring vets to do their clinics, so it ended in 2024 with no reopening in sight. Many Mariposa County residents took advantage of this clinic which was close and affordable.

According to Terri Alice, president of Catnip Society, “We are the only low cost neuter clinic in the immediate area. People come from all over the county to the clinic: Coulterville, Greeley Hill, El Portal and Yosemite.”

A resource for cat owners in North County is Northside Pet Connection, which gives out vouchers to be used at vet clinics in Tuolumne and Sonora. Their voucher program covers dogs and cats but the number is limited per each household.

So people often bring their males to the neuter clinic at Animal Control and use vouchers for spaying their females.

Catnip Society officials said they cannot do females since spaying a female is a much more complicated procedure which requires a state licensed surgical setup.

“Neutering males is a minor procedure, whereas spaying females is an operation, a hysterectomy,” said Avila.

The closest low-cost spay services for females are in Fresno. Hope Animal Foundation has a low-cost program, but they do not regularly do ferals. They do hold feral clinics on occasion.

They can be reached by phone but all of their bookings are done online. Fresno TNR is another service. They can only be reached on Facebook.

“I’m thankful Hope and Fresno TNR are a resource for Mariposa residents, but for so many people in our county they’re just not do-able, said Avila. “The distance, time and cost of going to Fresno and the fact that not everyone is on the internet or social media friendly are obstacles.”

The Catnip Society neuter clinic is held once a month at the Mariposa County Animal Control facility across from the fairgrounds. It is generally held on a Wednesday in mid-month.

The cost per cat is $30 which includes a one year rabies vaccination. Feral cats who come in a trap are done for free and are ear-tipped (a marker that a cat has been fixed).

The clinic usually takes between three to four hours. People are given after-care instructions when they pick up their cats. Participants for each clinic must sign up ahead of time. No walk-ins are taken.

There are certain requirements to follow for the clinic. Food needs to be withheld the night before, cats must come in a hard carrier (a trap if the cat is feral) and someone must monitor the cat while they recover from the anesthetic once they are taken home.

Alice, who does the clinic sign-up over the phone, said, “If people want to bring a cat(s) to a clinic, they need to call Catnip very early in the month. We have to put a limit on the number of cats that we can do and the clinics fill up very fast.”

The clinic for February is full so no sign-ups will be taken until the beginning of March.

To inquire about the Catnip neuter clinic, call (209) 966- 4780 or (209) 742-1023.

Donations can be made to Catnip Society via the donate button on their website, www.catnipsociety.org, or by mail to: Catnip Society, 5008-304, Highway 140, Mariposa, CA 95338