Question On Notched Ear

[ArtNJ]

When we rescued a 3 year old neutered cat from our yard 6 years ago, she was severely underweight, definitely did not have a home at that time, but warmed up to us really quickly. Indeed, she ait moist food from my hand within minutes. She has a small notch in her left ear, but I understand that the right ear is the common choice for catch-spay/neuter-and-release. Also, this notch is TINY -- like paper clip diameter width. The pics I've seen of deliberate notching are bigger. Given how quickly she warmed up to us, my guess is that she was an escaped/abandoned house cat that got a tiny notch in her ear by combat. Or maybe some vets do a tiny notch and some ferals are just that quick to warm? I guess there is such a thing as strays that end up being caught and released as well, so maybe its that.

Thoughts? We have always been curious, so I thought I would ask the experts. Thanks!

 

[Moka]

Without pictures it is hard to say though even with a picture it is just speculation. But, from the ear tipping that I have seen, the entire tip of one ear is removed leaving a clean, straight line. If there is just a "notch" missing, that makes me think it is from a fight. The whole point of ear tipping is to be able to quickly identify a cat as fixed from a distance. It would not make much sense to just take a tiny piece out of the ear. But, that is just my 2 cents and I am definitely no expert.

 

[Willowy]

One of my mom's cats has a tiny notch like that. She's had her since she was a kitten so we know it's not a deliberate notch, although nobody remembers when it happened, lol. And she's not a fighter. . .maybe just nicked it on something. So, yeah, it can be natural.

Lots of tame cats get spayed under TNR programs, though, for various reasons. So a deliberate notch isn't out of the question. But they usually are larger.

 

[marmoset]

It's hard to say without a picture and even if it looks like an ear tip it might not be. Some cats lose tips from frostbite. But a little notch sounds more like a healed injury.

I do wish there was some way we could figure out our cats' pasts. We have taken in 4 from outside. One is true feral and the other 3 were in varying stages of being love-bugs when we brought them in.

True feral cats would not be rubbing a human hand after coming inside- they might but it'd take a long long time. I think your cat was previously owned. He could've been an escapee or a cat that was abandoned.

All these cats are little miracles though.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree with previously owned or abandoned if the cat is that friendly. As was said, a tipped ear is an ear that is missing the tip. I have never heard of a notch. My rescued GSD had a notched ear but it was because the morons who owned him were trying to make him an attack dog...as soon as my vet saw it he said, "Oh, this guy was in a dog fight." Having said that, I have seen some pretty ragged tipped ears on ferals, and some vets don't actually tip enough.

 

[FarmersWife24]

When we rescued a 3 year old neutered cat from our yard 6 years ago, she was severely underweight, definitely did not have a home at that time, but warmed up to us really quickly. Indeed, she ait moist food from my hand within minutes. She has a small notch in her left ear, but I understand that the right ear is the common choice for catch-spay/neuter-and-release. Also, this notch is TINY -- like paper clip diameter width. The pics I've seen of deliberate notching are bigger. Given how quickly she warmed up to us, my guess is that she was an escaped/abandoned house cat that got a tiny notch in her ear by combat. Or maybe some vets do a tiny notch and some ferals are just that quick to warm? I guess there is such a thing as strays that end up being caught and released as well, so maybe its that.

Thoughts? We have always been curious, so I thought I would ask the experts. Thanks!

When we rescued a 3 year old neutered cat from our yard 6 years ago, she was severely underweight, definitely did not have a home at that time, but warmed up to us really quickly. Indeed, she ait moist food from my hand within minutes. She has a small notch in her left ear, but I understand that the right ear is the common choice for catch-spay/neuter-and-release. Also, this notch is TINY -- like paper clip diameter width. The pics I've seen of deliberate notching are bigger. Given how quickly she warmed up to us, my guess is that she was an escaped/abandoned house cat that got a tiny notch in her ear by combat. Or maybe some vets do a tiny notch and some ferals are just that quick to warm? I guess there is such a thing as strays that end up being caught and released as well, so maybe its that.

Thoughts? We have always been curious, so I thought I would ask the experts. Thanks!

When we rescued a 3 year old neutered cat from our yard 6 years ago, she was severely underweight, definitely did not have a home at that time, but warmed up to us really quickly. Indeed, she ait moist food from my hand within minutes. She has a small notch in her left ear, but I understand that the right ear is the common choice for catch-spay/neuter-and-release. Also, this notch is TINY -- like paper clip diameter width. The pics I've seen of deliberate notching are bigger. Given how quickly she warmed up to us, my guess is that she was an escaped/abandoned house cat that got a tiny notch in her ear by combat. Or maybe some vets do a tiny notch and some ferals are just that quick to warm? I guess there is such a thing as strays that end up being caught and released as well, so maybe its that.

Thoughts? We have always been curious, so I thought I would ask the experts. Thanks!

That doesn't sound like an ear tip from a feral spaying/neutering. All the ferals I've brought in for TNR have their left ear tipped, like the cat in my member image, and it's quite pronounced. It seems more likely that this cat had been spayed as a pet and somehow ended up on its own -- whether dumped, left behind, or it decided it looked like a better gig at your place. An ear-tipped kitten will not have a tiny notch, just as another member described. I'm so happy she found a loving home with you!

Oddly enough, I have an adult cat that somehow took a chunk off its ear tip when I was socializing it to its new home in our barn. We have no idea of what happened, but somehow it sliced it off inside the barn. It looks just like a feral ear tip, even though he's never been feral or eartipped. As a back-up, we had him microchipped in case he decided to wander off to some new adventure.

 

[FarmersWife24]

It's hard to say without a picture and even if it looks like an ear tip it might not be. Some cats lose tips from frostbite. But a little notch sounds more like a healed injury.

I do wish there was some way we could figure out our cats' pasts. We have taken in 4 from outside. One is true feral and the other 3 were in varying stages of being love-bugs when we brought them in.

True feral cats would not be rubbing a human hand after coming inside- they might but it'd take a long long time. I think your cat was previously owned. He could've been an escapee or a cat that was abandoned.

All these cats are little miracles though.

Do you have any advice for socializing a true feral? The first couple of weeks after his neutering, he pretty much slept the entire time (unless he was up during the night while I was sleeping). After about four weeks in my basement bathroom, I "catified" the basement family room so he'd be able to get some exercise and sit on the window ledge of our lookout. He refuses to come out but he did tolerate my husband scratching him behind the ear. I've done all the things that experts have recommended. I know it can take months and months, but at what point does one just release the feral? It was my hope that he could be socialized and reintroduced to my farm where I trapped him, but I'm worried that he's getting depressed. The reason why I didn't just release him in the first place was that he got into fights when my other neutered toms got near him. It's a long, long story but I believe he does have the capacity to be socialized to some degree.

 

[ArtNJ]

Thanks all! I always figured she was neutered as a stray, but the wife kept focusing on the tiny notch and we were curious. I may say I told you so a time or two!

 

[fionasmom]

Having said all this, I have known a few people who ear tip every cat they own, even indoor because some AC agencies, including the one I live within, will immediately allow an ear tipped cat to continue on its way without interference unless they were called for some emergency reason.

 

[kittychick]

We do a decent amount of TNRing & I also volunteer for a cat shelter (doing most of their kitty photography) - so I've seen alot of kitties and alot of kitty ears.

I think it's interesting - - I SO love that the word about ear tipping kitties is finally reaching more of the public! What's funny though - - many people equate ear tipping only with feral kitties, which isn't quite right. It's meant to be a universal signal that a kitty's been spayed or neutered, not that it's feral. It's done only by a vet while a kitty's under anesthesia during a spay or neuter. And (in the US at least) - the vet ear tips the top of the left ear only, and they try to take off about the top ⅜ of an inch of their ear. My experience has been that sometimes the kitties being done in a high-volume spay/neuter clinic ---the vets are trying to go as quickly as possible, so it's not always quite as "perfect." All that said about ear tipping - - and I can still say that a few places in my area used to do a notch (a little "v" taken out of the outer side of the left ear only), but I don't think any vets use this signal anymore. Anyone else see that at all anymore?

The other things that can make it tough are frostbite and fights. One of the neighborhood colony of mostly all grey feral kitties ("Aspen") we TNR'd a few summers ago (that now calls our place "home") had less of his ear tip removed when he was neutered, AND he was "bottom of the pecking order" so he got his ears nicked a bit more in some territorial squabbles. To top it off - he then got a teeny touch of frostbite on his left ear, making it even more ragged. So for awhile (until we got to know for sure which kitty was Aspen) we actually retrapped him and got him (and the trap) to the car before we'd get a reaaaaalllllly good look at him and realize it was Aspen. Don't judge -- -I'm not exaggerating when I say at least 75% of the colony is solid blue/grey -- makes it tougher!

I'd definitely bet your little one wasn't feral - - true feral kitties rarely, rarely, rarely warm up that quickly (if ever!) to someone new. But that said - --one of our TNR'd ferals ("Flick" - and we know her history and she was a completely "true feral") we ended up bringing inside when a neighbor tried to poison
our colony - - and she's become the most outgoing, sweetest lap cat I've ever seen!

Anyway ---- that's a long answer to a not-so-long question (as usual for me!).

 

[kittychick]

Do you have any advice for socializing a true feral? The first couple of weeks after his neutering, he pretty much slept the entire time (unless he was up during the night while I was sleeping). After about four weeks in my basement bathroom, I "catified" the basement family room so he'd be able to get some exercise and sit on the window ledge of our lookout. He refuses to come out but he did tolerate my husband scratching him behind the ear. I've done all the things that experts have recommended. I know it can take months and months, but at what point does one just release the feral? It was my hope that he could be socialized and reintroduced to my farm where I trapped him, but I'm worried that he's getting depressed. The reason why I didn't just release him in the first place was that he got into fights when my other neutered toms got near him. It's a long, long story but I believe he does have the capacity to be socialized to some degree.

If you're still interested in help with your guy - - -I'd be happy to message with you about it! Or you might start a new thread and ask that question separately - -it's likely to get more specific answers. But I'd definitely be happy to try and help one-on-one later if you'd like!

 

[Willowy]

a tipped ear is an ear that is missing the tip. I have never heard of a notch

Back in 2009, I had some cats done at a low-cost spay/neuter clinic. The ferals got notched, not tipped. I don't like it because some of them healed, and some just look like fight scars---none of them look like a neat deliberate notch anymore. I hope that clinic does tipping now.

 

[kittychick]

W Willowy ---glad I'm not the only one with "notched ear" memories! Those were SO hard to tell at a distance - - and I agree -- - more often than not ended up looking like fight wounds!