Winside Wayward Cats was the host of a cat cafe, an event to socialize and adopt cats on Feb. 3, in Winside. Emma Burris-Janssen has a doctorate in English and not a doctorate in veterinary medicine although it might’ve been helpful for what she does.
Burris-Janssen currently runs Winside Wayward Cats, a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program (TNVR) and cat sanctuary with the support of her husband Pat Janssen. Pat teaches in the communication department at Wayne State College. Emma teaches English at Wayne State College and Northeast Community College.
TNVR is when all cats within the community are caught in traps that are humane, medically assessed by a veterinarian, spayed, neutered and returned to their original homes. Bestfriends.org recommends vaccinating the cats while they get their checkups for feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus and panleukopenia.
According to humaneworld.org, kittens are the most vulnerable population of cats. Only 25% of kittens that are born in the outdoors survive past six months. According to humaneworld.org, researchers have found that high-intensity TNR results in 31 times fewer preventable cat deaths.
When Burris-Janssen moved back to the area five years ago, she noticed several cats and kittens in the area that were struggling. Her sister was the one who actually got Burris-Janssen into TNVR. Caroline, Burris-Janssen’s sister, lived in North Platte, and they had a good TNVR program. After that, they began to socialize some of the kittens so that they could have lives off the street.
Currently, Burris-Janssen is taking care of roughly 80 cats between the cats that are outdoors, barn cats, and the ones who live in their house.
“I think to me it’s an issue at kind of more of a system level there’s so many cats that are unhomed and unwanted, and I think if we can do more trap, neuter, vaccinate and return, hopefully that will help address that,” Burris-Jassen said “I think affordable vet care is a big thing, too.”
The Madison vet clinic currently has a barn cat program where people can get their cat spayed, neutered and vaccinated for $50.
Burris-Janssen is willing to teach people how to TNVR and even loan out traps to people. While Winside Wayward Cats’ focus is within the Winside area, there is a TNVR group in Wayne called Cats of Wayne County who will also loan out traps.
“I would really encourage folks to reach out to Cats of Wayne County and hook up those resources, and I’m happy to help teach people how to trap,” Burris-Janssen said.
When at the cat cafe, Burris-Janssen knew every cat by name and even let a cat, who doesn’t like other cats, take over her bathroom. Piper, the bathroom cat, has her own litter box, food and water. Burris-Janssen makes sure that none of the other cats go inside to bother her.
If you are thinking of adopting a cat please visit the winsidewaywardcats Instagram page. Burris-Jansen has a way to donate on her page.
Pat Janssen is the advisor for the Wayne Stater.
