The Community Cats Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, who founded The Paw Project in 1999, joins Stacy to discuss the organization's mission to end declawing in the U.S. & Canada, using education, research, and legislation. The Paw Project is made up completely of veterinarians and the group compiled the evidence, drafted the legislation, composed the language of the legislation, built the coalition of support, and obtained the representatives for every law prohibiting declawing in the U.S. Stacy and Dr. Conrad discuss the surprising way Dr. Conrad became interested in ending declawing and educating people everywhere on its devastating effects on cats. "Declawing is a misnomer," Dr. Conrad tells Stacy. "It is really more appropriately called de-knuckling. It is the amputation of a toe bone." They discuss the behavioral issues of biting and litter box avoidance that declawed cats have been shown to be prone to, and they talk about the organization's new "Claw-Friendly" certification for veterinary practices that do not perform declaw surgeries. With legislation banning declawing passed recently in New York, and more bills in the works around the country, Dr. Conrad encourages listeners to join The Paw Project's mailing list to stay in the loop on action needed regarding legislation in their area. She notes that, "There is a reason that we need to ban declawing: It actually saves cats' lives … If we could get these bans all across the United States, we would be saving millions of cats' lives." To learn more, visit The Paw Project's website. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or check out their documentary, The Paw Project on the App Store, Google Play, YouTube, and Amazon Instant.

Julia Grosz earned the nickname "Cat Hustler" due to her ability to match cats and adopters through strategic copywriting and social media use. So it was only natural that when she developed her skills into a teachable set of cat marketing practices, she would name her organization Cat Hustler. The nonprofit specializes in creative marketing for shelter cats and also hosts community-building events like The Acatemy, a cat conference "for rescuers, by rescuers." The next Acatemy will be held January 17–19, 2020 in the Washington DC area, and the cost is $180 for whole weekend. (Be sure to listen to the whole podcast to get a special 15% off discount code for CCP listeners!) The Acatemy started as Julia's way of trying to make sense of loss after the death of a beloved cat, and it has since grown into a way to try to bring more rescuers together to get face time with each other, and to bring awareness about TNR to different kinds of cat rescuers. The Acatemy, Julia tells Stacy, is her way of doing for others what she wishes had been done for her. In this episode, Stacy and Julia also discuss some great marketing tips for cats, including what Julia calls the "scratch and dent" specials. She tells Stacy that the most important thing is to keep it light. "You have to make[people] smile," she says, "or there's no impact to speak of." To learn more about Julia's organization, visit the Cat Hustler webpage. To learn more about The Acatemy, and to purchase your tickets, visit the Acatemy website.

John Boone, a wildlife biologist previously interviewed on CCP, joins Stacy to discuss new research on how we can use the tools we have to manage cat populations more efficiently and more effectively. This particular study was conducted by a group of people connected with the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D) and used computer modeling and simulation tools to predict the outcomes of various community cat management scenarios. John and Stacy discuss the methodology of the study in detail, including the new twists it involved, and what the outcomes were. To learn more, you can read the full paper published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, or view the story-map version on the ACC&D website. For groups with larger-scale TNR programs, John encourages you to email him so he can put you in touch with resources and people who can help with planning, setting up, and measuring your programs. This episode is sponsored by Dr. Elsey's Veterinarian Formulated Quality Products for Cats, makers of "litter we're so confident you'll love, your first purchase is on us." Learn more!

In this episode, Stacy is joined by Lizz Whitacre, founder and CEO of Pawlytics, a technology solution to help rescues manage their paperwork and gain insights from their data. Pawlytics is also expanding into the TNR/community cats space in an effort to use technology, data, and innovation to drive lifesaving efforts for community cats. Stacy and Lizz discuss how Pawlytics came to be, and how its affordable fee structure operates. When Lizz got started working on this project, it seemed to her that all the available software was designed for large organizations. She wanted to come up with something that worked for small groups, and that was accessible to any and all potential users. To do this, her team interviewed over 400 smaller organizations to find out either why they hadn't yet adopted data management software, or, if they had, what they did and didn't like about it. The result is Pawlytics, a stripped-down, incredibly user-friendly piece of software that can still run all the typical reports you'll need for metrics, grant applications, etc. It also works with all the major adoption platforms, like Petfinder and others, and it can upload all of your pre-existing data—even if it's in spreadsheets! Plus, they are currently working on adding all kinds of community cat-related functionality to help streamline the logistics of the TNR process for your group. To learn more and find out how to sign up for a free trial, visit the Pawlytics website. While you're there, feel free to use their online chat feature for more information! This episode is sponsored by Dr. Elsey's Veterinarian Formulated Quality Products for Cats, makers of "litter we're so confident you'll love, your first purchase is on us." Learn more!

Valerie Sheppard, Director of Professional Development & Credentialing at the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA), joins Stacy to discuss what the AAWA is all about these days, including details on their Learning Center. Valerie created the Learning Center when she joined the AAWA in 2018, and it offers a variety of webinars (live and recorded) and online classes, most of which are free. Valerie wanted to make sure people from anywhere could access learning opportunities anytime instead of only having access to them at conferences, which aren't accessible to everyone. The AAWA is a membership-based organization, but many resources, including the Learning Center, are not limited to members. Members are anyone in the animal welfare world who sees themselves as a leader or emerging leader. The organization's goal is to help animal welfare professionals advance their careers and be the best they can be to help save more lives. The AAWA is also excited to announce its latest webinar series, which is a multi-year program in partnership with the Association of Shelter Veterinarians that will include webinars almost every month. To learn more, visit the AAWA website, or the Learning Center website. You can also email Valerie directly with questions about the AAWA's programs.

Meagan Larrea is a cat mom and cat lover who works as a civil engineer by day. The rest of the time, she runs Joy 4 Cats, a growing project that puts together toy and treat baskets for shelters to give away to new adopters. The program began in the fall of 2018 when Meagan heard about a local shelter with an overflow of adult cats looking for homes. As a creative way to help, Meagan created adopter baskets to bring joy to cats and to give people an incentive to adopt—and it worked! Since then, Meagan has become a major advocate for ways to keep cats healthy and happy, and Joy 4 Cats has begun helping a number of shelters around the U.S. While not yet a 501©3, Meagan plans to become one in the future. She requests donations from cat care companies, and her baskets generally contain $50-$75 worth of goodies for new adopters. Partner shelters have found the baskets very helpful in promoting adoptions, and Megan is always happy to help more shelters in need, no matter the group's size or location—so feel free to reach out! To learn more, you can email Meagan or check out Joy 4 Cats on Facebook and Instagram.

fostering, which she initially began doing through local shelters, she has discovered a deep passion for TNR and advocacy and now works independently to take in, care for, spay/neuter, vaccinate, and adopt out cats and kittens. Ashley got involved in fostering kittens after she lost her father to suicide, and she talks with Stacy about how much fostering helped her and her mom through the grieving process. Ashley is a big believer in the fact that fostering can be great for your mental health and notes that the kittens were "an amazing distraction." Stacy and Ashley talk about Ashley's social media presence and how that has evolved for her over the years. She uses social media to facilitate adoptions and to fundraise, and it was through social media that she was nudged toward becoming an independent foster home. Ashley encourages everyone to adopt locally and to consider fostering. As she puts it, "You can change one kitten or one cat's life just by being willing to give them a space in your bathroom … for a few short weeks." To learn more about the work Ashley does, visit her website, or follow her (as Youngest Old Cat Lady) on Instagram,Facebook, and YouTube.

Isa Peraza Martinez began her career at the APSCA as an animal caregiver at the organization's adoption center. Today, she serves as Community Cats Outreach Manager. In this role, she delivers monthly TNRM (trap-neuter-return-monitor) workshops, held in conjunction with several other organizations in New York City, and she serves as the primary point person for feral cat concerns from the NYPD. Isa and Stacy discuss what the TNRM workshops consist of, and how things have changed in New York City for community cats since 2011 when Isa began her work in the field. They also discuss a program Isa has developed in which area youth who are part of the NYPD Explorers program assist with building community cat shelters. In 2020, Isa hopes to translate the TNRM workshop into Spanish in order to reach even more caregivers and community members. If you live in the New York City area, you can get involved or register for a workshop at the ASPCA Pro Trap Neuter Return Certification page. If you have questions about community cats or need support, you can email Isa directly. If you are interested in the Spanish translation of Stacy's Community Cat Pyramid, click here.

Dr. Kimberley Khodakhah (better known as "Dr. K.") runs Vetopia, a mentoring, wellness, and coaching business serving veterinarians. With 23 years of experience as a veterinarian herself, Dr. K. knows the business inside and out—including the fact that the animal medical field can come with incredible stresses and challenges. She mentors new and recent veterinary school graduates to help them develop skills and to facilitate success during their first few years of practice, and she also coaches established veterinarians who are experiencing burnout or feeling unsatisfied with their career. In addition to her coaching work, Dr. K. is known for her incredible skill and patience when it comes to working with frightened patients, especially cats. Dr. K. also coordinates several veterinary outreach programs, where vets, vet students, and vet techs travel to underserved communities to provide veterinary care. In this episode, Dr. K. and Stacy discuss what led Dr. K. to dive into the field of coaching, and how excited she is about her veterinary outreach programs, which she believes are a great way for veterinarians to reignite their passion for the profession. To learn more, visit the Vetopia webpage, email Dr. K., or follow her on Facebook.

Sally Williams, who previously chatted with Stacy on CCP Episode 104, is a cat behaviorist and the founder and director of the Brodie Fund. She joins Stacy to talk about her newest effort, the Feline Fine Project, which aims to educate cat guardians and offer solutions in order to get more cats in for annual veterinary exams each year. Sally shares with Stacy that 55% of owned cats don't see a vet annually and 9% will never see a vet in their lifetime. The Feline Fine Project aims to change these statistics. Sally and Stacy talk about why so many cats don't see a vet regularly, and about why annual exams are so important. Sally also offers some great tips on affording exams, and on getting cats used to carriers. To learn more about the Feline Fine Project, or about the Brodie Fund, contact Sally through the Brodie Fund website, or email her directly.

Colleen Bray, Director of the Boone County Kentucky Animal Shelter, has seen a lot of change with regards to cats in her time in animal welfare. She has worked in many roles in the field, and she joins Stacy to share not only her own shelter's success stories but also the cumulative success of the northern Kentucky region. In 2011, Boone County Animal Shelter had a cat live release rate of 26.5%. In the fall of 2012, they began an animal control-administered TNR program, and by 2013, their cat live release rate had gone up to 46%. By 2015, they were TNRing every cat colony they could find, and in 2018, they achieved an incredible 94% live release rate for the 1,135 cats they took in that year. To learn more about Boone County Animal Shelter, you can visit their website (which is under construction at the time of this podcast), or you can email Colleen directly. Colleen also recommends visiting the Kentucky Animal Care and Control Association's website to learn more about that organization and the training opportunities it offers Kentucky groups.

Anna Skaya, the CEO of Basepaws, joined Stacy last year on CCP Episode 213, and now she's back to update Stacy on everything that has happened in the past year—including a successful appearance on Shark Tank! Basepaws is a simple, at-home DNA test for your cat that can give you an idea of the breeds your cat has in its DNA, and if your cat is a carrier for certain genetic diseases. According to Anna, Basepaws is laser-focused on cats, and the Basepaws test represents the first time that so many genetic tests for cats have been combined into one—and that such testing has been made affordable. Anna and Stacy also discuss feline nutrition, and how genetic testing will affect the personalization of nutrition as more and more data is gathered. There is a lot of research happening at Basepaws, and your cat may even qualify for free testing and reports, depending on breed and health conditions. One of the issues Basepaws is particularly passionate about is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As Anna puts it, Basepaws is "way more than just a cat genetic company; we are a feline health company." To learn more, visit the Basepaws website and check them out on social media to see what other people are saying. If you're interested in seeing if your kitty qualifies for free testing, visit Basepaw's Research page. And be sure to sign up for their blog to learn more about upcoming research needs. Anna and Stacy also discuss feline nutrition, and how genetic testing will affect the personalization of nutrition as more and more data is gathered. There is a lot of research happening at Basepaws, and your cat may even qualify for free testing and reports, depending on breed and health conditions. One of the issues Basepaws is particularly passionate about is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As Anna puts it, Basepaws is "way more than just a cat genetic company; we are a feline health company." To learn more, visit the Basepaws website and check them out on social media to see what other people are saying. If you're interested in seeing if your kitty qualifies for free testing, visit Basepaw's Research page. And be sure to sign up for their blog to learn more about upcoming research needs.

Chelsea White is a host, writer, producer, comedian, and cat enthusiast. She currently hosts the Bravo digital series "Adulting by Bravo," a weekly Facebook live talk show called "What a Delight with Chelsea White," and the dating podcast "Ghosted Stories." She is also the creator and host of the "cat-pawsitive" web series "Show Me Your Kitty." In this CCP episode, Stacy talks with Chelsea about how she came up with the concept for "Show Me Your Kitty," and Chelsea describes some of her favorite moments from the show. You can learn more—and watch!—on the show's website, or search for Chelsea White on YouTube. Note from Chelsea: not all shows are safe for watching at work or with the kids!

Shelly Simmons has worked for Greenville County Animal Care, the largest open-admission shelter in South Carolina, for twelve years now. She sits down with Stacy to talk about how, in the last four years, through the implementation of a variety of community cat programs, the shelter's cat intake has decreased from 9,000 cats annually to under 3,000 a year. Most of this was accomplished by offering free spay/neuter for all community cats in Greenville County. A county resolution supporting community-wide TNR and a 2016 grant from the PetCo Foundation helped kick the program off. By focusing on giving the community the resources to help fix the overpopulation problem themselves, Shelly feels they have put together a truly sustainable program—and the great statistics that she shares with Stacy prove that it is also a successful one. Visit the Greenville County Animal Care Service website to learn more. You can also email Shelly directly at [email protected].

Tabitha Kucera, a presenter at this past January's CCP Online Cat Conference, joins Stacy to discuss low-stress cat handling, clicker training, and more. Tabitha is a registered veterinary technician and a certified cat behavior training consultant. She is also certified in feline-friendly handling by both Fear Free and the Low-Stress Handling University. Tabitha has her own company, Chirrups & Chatter Cat Behavior Consulting and Education, along with a dog-related company, Positively Pawsitive Dog Behavior Consulting and Training. Tabitha knew early on in her life that she wanted to be a veterinary technician. Once she became one, however, seeing cats euthanized for behavioral and other reasons were deeply troubling to her. Tabitha felt, and continues to feel, that cats are often stereotyped and used as scapegoats—even by cat lovers—making it harder for them to get the help they need to stay in their homes. Tabitha feels that "Humans aren't really set up for success for cats. They love their cats; they just don't have the education to do their best." Through Chirrups and Chatters, she hopes to change that. Tabitha and Stacy discuss low-stress, feline-friendly cat handling in-depth, and they touch on the concept of clicker training cats, including how it can helpful in a shelter environment. To learn more about Tabitha and the work she does, visit the Chirrups & Chatter website, or follow Chirrups & Chatter on Facebook or Instagram. Tabitha is always happy to share resources and encourages listeners to follow her to learn more about upcoming events, including a fearful kitten webinar coming up in September. For those interested in learning more about low-stress handling, Tabitha suggests checking out Fear Free, the Low Stress Handling University, International Cat Care, and the American Association of Feline Practitioners websites. Tabitha also recently wrote this article about feline-friendly handling. You can also view a video of feline-friendly handling techniques here. To learn more about clicker training cats, visit Jackson Galaxy's Cat Pawsitive program for shelters.

Jenny Hart, a Brooklyn-based travel writer and mom to cat Rajah, is quickly becoming a cat travel expert. Soon after adopting Rajah as a kitten, it became clear to Jenny that he needed more stimulation than life in a New York City apartment could provide. Jenny began training Rajah to walk on a harness and leash shortly thereafter. Since then, the pair has traveled together on planes, trains, and in cars to nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C., with more travel ahead in their future. In this episode, Jenny talks with Stacy about her must-have cat travel supplies, including a cat backpack and travel litter box. They discuss whether cats are the pet of the Millennial generation, as well as the positive impact that safe outdoor time can have on feline behavioral concerns. In addition, Jenny gives some tips on staying in hotels and rental properties with cats, and the frustration that so many "pet-friendly" establishments are really just dog-friendly—something that she and Rajah are working hard to change. To learn more, you can visit Jenny and Rajah's website, or follow their adventures on Instagram. You can also read this recent Wall Street Journal article featuring Rajah and Jenny.

In this episode, Stacy sits down with Will Zweigart, founder of Flatbush Cats, a nonprofit focused on reducing the outdoor cat population in central Brooklyn, New York through TNR and rescue work. Flatbush Cats teaches TNR classes and offers support and resources for trappers. They are also launching a mobile spay/neuter clinic pilot program to support low-income residents, a project done in partnership with the Toby Project. Stacy & Will talk about the work Flatbush Cats does and the organization's goals. Will talks about how he has been inspired by Stacy's Community Cat Pyramid, which helped him think about how important getting to the root of the overpopulation problem is. As Will puts it, "There's got to be a way to turn the water off, instead of just scooping buckets out of the basement." Flatbush Cats is well known for their visual documentation of the work they do, and Will shares some of his tips and ideas on how best to use visual media. He discusses the idea of proactive fundraising by telling authentic stories and explains that platforms like Instagram help your supporters see exactly where their money is going. To learn more about Flatbush Cats and see the extraordinary video of how Will and his partners got started, visit their website. You can also follow them on their very active Instagram.

Preston Tobery, an expert at "maker technologies" like 3D printing, is the founder of Adaptive Tech and Consulting, a small business that makes adaptive technologies for special needs animals. Preston came to this specific work through several remarkable interactions with the Kitten Lady (Hannah Shaw) and two of her foster kittens, Chloe and Badger. The success of the technology Preston designed to help Badger with his megaesophagus, the Mega Feeder 3000, convinced Preston that he should start a business. You can learn more about Preston's company and the devices he makes, including information on how to order, at the Adaptive Tech and Consulting website, or on their Facebookor Instagramsites. You can also check out Hannah Shaw's video of Badgerthat started it all!

In this episode, Stacy talks with Siri Zwemke, author and founder/executive director of the Siamese Cat Rescue Center. The organization has been in operation for over twenty years, utilizing over 900 volunteers to save over 13,000 cats in that time. Siri has also just published a book, Rescue Meez, about her experiences running the nonprofit and rescuing cats over the years. Siri and Stacy discuss how Siri came to start Siamese Cat Rescue Center, how decreasing shelter populations have affected breed-specific rescues, how SCRC works with breeders, and about some of the particulars of Siamese cats and their traits. To learn more about Siri's new book, visit her Facebook pageor email her at [email protected]. You can order the book from Amazon and other online bookstores. Learn more about Siamese Cat Rescue Center at their website.

Jayne Sage began doing TNR when she moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico around 2002. After TNRing over 70 cats in her own neighborhood, she began looking for ways to help in other areas of the city and before long, she was a major advocate for TNR citywide. In this episode, Jayne and Stacy discuss how TNR advocates, working in conjunction with the city of Albuquerque, were able to decrease the city's feline euthanasia rate by 99% between 2009 and 2017. Some of this was accomplished through Best Friend Animal Society's community cat program, where Jayne worked for several years. After the program ended, she went on to found Street Cat Hub to continue the program's work. To learn more, visit Street Cat Hub's websiteor email them at [email protected]. You can also check out The Impact of an Integrated Program of Return-to-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Return on Feline Intake and Euthanasia at a Municipal Animal Shelter, anarticle by Dan Spehar and Peter Wolfe about the Albuquerque program's history and statistics.

In this special episode, Stacy talks with Moshow the Cat Rapper about teaming up with Arm and Hammer's "Double Duty" campaign. Moshow wrote and created a song and video for the campaign, and if it gets two million views on YouTube by October 31, 2019, Arm and Hammer will donate $10,000 to ACCT Philly and to the Cat Adoption Team in Oregon. In addition to chatting about the Double Duty campaign, Moshow talks very personally with Stacy about the loss of his beloved cat Tali and how he is handling his grief. Moshow also has lots of plans for the rest of 2019 and 2020. To find out more about Moshow and what he has going on, check out his website - iammoshow.com.

In the second part of this two-part episode, Stacy talks more with Betsy Banks Saul, this time about her new business venture, a franchise of house-call veterinary practices called Heal House Call Veterinarian. Betsy began thinking about this idea around 2013, and her top priority was to increase the quality of life for animals and for their people—including their veterinarians. Around this time, Betsy found herself frustrated and saddened by the fact that her own pets' veterinarians seemed less than happy, and didn't have the time to do the work they wanted to do. She started thinking about how hard it is to be creative and do creative problem solving when you're stressed out. She soon posed this question to herself: "How could we change the trajectory of veterinary medicine in the United States?" The answer was Heal House Call Veterinarian. The model is driven by the idea that if your vet isn't happy, they can't deliver the best medicine—and everything rolls downhill from that idea. To learn more, visit the Heal House Call Veterinary website—and if you are or know of a veterinarian who might be interested in working with Heal House, email Betsy.

Betsy Banks Saul, a co-founder of Petfinder, and founder of a new business venture, Heal House Call Veterinarian, has been working with animals since she was a teen. She has a background as a park ranger, with an interest in forestry. In the first part of this two-part episode, she talks with Stacy about the path that lead her from that world into developing the Petfnder.comsoftware with her ex-husband in 1996. Since that time, Betsy estimates that Petfinder.comhas had over two million adoptions annually. It was purchased by Discovery Communications in 2006, and then by Nestle Purina in 2013, and is one of the most successful interest businesses out there. Betsy and Stacy discuss how Petfinder came to be, and they also delve into the topic of compassion fatigue, including a discussion about Bartonella and why, if you work in the veterinary or animal sheltering fields, it may be important to get tested for it. Learn more about Petfinder and its current programs at Petfinder.com. To learn more about Bartonella, including the testing options Betsy discusses in the podcast, visit Galaxy Diagnostic's website.

Some of the content you enjoy will be releasing at on a different day of the week. Starting in August, the podcast will be released on Tuesdays instead of Saturdays. (However, being available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sticher or wherever you listen to podcasts, means that you can listen whenever you'd like!) Meanwhile, the blog will be posted on Thursdays instead of Mondays. We hope this change makes it more convenient for everyone to learn how to turn their passion for cats into action.

Stacy is once again joined by Dr. Rachel Geller, who has previously appeared on CCP Episode 18 and Episode 146. A certified Humane Education Specialist and Cat Behavior & Retention Specialist, Rachel is celebrating the launch of her new book, Saving the World One Cat at a Time. Rachel tells Stacy that she hadn't really entertained the idea of writing a book until the Boston Globe featured an article about her work. Shortly afterward, Nancy West, a Globe columnist, contacted Rachel to ask if she wanted to write a book with her. The book is an "as told to" book, meaning that Nancy West interviewed Rachel and then wrote the book. The information and stories, many of which are deeply personal, are all Rachel's, but, as Rachel puts it, Nancy "really brought my work to life." Stacy & Rachel discuss what that work entails, and how Rachel is doing a lot of work with shelter staff and volunteers to help keep cats in the homes they love by addressing behavior problems before they reach a crisis point. Stacy and Rachel discuss the top issues Rachel see in her works, why Rachel is "100% against declawing," and the five things that Rachel feels are the most important tools you need to have a happy cat. To learn more, check out Saving the World One Cat at a Time on Amazon. A portion of the sales proceeds will be donated back to cat shelters. You can also reach out to Rachel directly at [email protected].

Amanda Jones, a lifelong cat lover and self-described "totally sane cat lady," talks with Stacy about opening the Sunshine Kitty Catfe in St. Petersburg, Florida this fall. They get into the details of how the café will operate, as well as how Amanda came to be interested in cat cafes. At the age of 8, Amanda had her first experience as a "cat whisperer," in which she charmed a stray kitten at her father's office into coming to her. That kitten became Amanda's first pet cat of her own, and a lifetime of love for cats was born. Amanda eventually went on to work as a veterinary assistant, but after visiting a cat café in Seattle, she had an inkling of what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Currently working as a nurse (for people), Amanda tells Stacy that she always feels wonderfully calm and peaceful when she visits a cat café. In addition, she feels a real sense of community with other cat lovers, and it is exactly this feeling she plans to bring to Sunshine Kitty Catfe. Opening and operating a cat café is Amanda's way of bridging her love for helping animals with a way to make a difference in people's lives. To learn more, you can visit Sunshine Kitty Catfe's website. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram, or you can reach out to Amanda directly at [email protected].

Stacy chats with Mary Chromek, who has been fostering neonatal (bottle baby) kittens for over 10 years now. A cat person since she was a child, Mary found that cats really helped with her depression and anxiety, and as she got older, she decided to give back by fostering for local organizations. She soon realized there was a real need for bottle baby fosters, and learned everything she could about this specialized area of foster care. Mary and Stacy discuss some specifics around bottle baby care, including Mary's preferred supplies, and some information on treating fleas on neonates. Mary also offers some great tips on how to determine if kittens found alone outdoors really need help. One thing Mary has come to believe over her years of fostering is that if more organizations were able to support their foster homes more fully—with all the training and supplies they need—more people would be willing to help, and this, in turn, would save more feline lives. With this in mind, Mary is in the process of starting up her own nonprofit, Foster Purrs, that will specialize in neonates. "I just want to save lives and fully support the fosters so more people are willing," she tells Stacy. To learn more about Mary's work, you can find Foster Purrs (and their Amazon wishlist) on Facebook and Instagram.

Steve Lawrence, an award-winning filmmaker previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 178, returns to CCP to discuss the documentary film he co-directed, The Cat Rescuers. The film premiered in October 2018 at the Hamptons International Film Festival, where it won an award for "giving voice to the voiceless." Since then, Steve and his production company have set about making the film available for community screenings that can be used as fundraisers for rescue and TNR groups. This can be done either directly through the filmmakers, or through an online platform called Tugg, which will take care of the logistical details for you. Steve tells Stacy that his intention with this film was to make something that would help raise awareness about TNR and adoptions. One of the other points of the film was to make the point that much of this work that is being done to help cats is done on a volunteer basis and that the groups around the country need ways to sustain themselves. Steve hopes that the film allows people to raise awareness in their own communities about what it takes to do this kind of work, and also about why and how TNR is effective. "Our intention was to make a film that would be of use to the rescue community not only in the U.S. but around the world—but we also wanted to make a film that would be emotionally engaging and sufficiently entertaining that it would grab an average viewer who's just looking for a good story, for an interesting story with compelling characters—and I think we've achieved both." To learn more about The Cat Rescuers, including where/how to attend or host a screening, visit the film's website. To host a screening where the details (like finding a location and ticket sales) are all taken care of for you, go can go through Tugg's online booking interface.

Stacy sits down with Dr. Sara Pizano (a previous CCP guest on Episode 56, Episode 171, and Episodes 246and 247) to discuss Dr. Pizano's new book, The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters. The book is a result of the more than 100 assessments Dr. Pizano has done at shelters around the country as a Team Shelter USA consultant. She realized that the shelters she was working with were all struggling with the same issues. More importantly, she realized that the solutions needed to decrease euthanasia rates were always the same—so she decided to write this playbook so that those solutions can be used by anyone, anywhere. Dr. Pizano's number one tip, which she shares in this interview with Stacy, is that your shelter space should be used only for animals with no other options. Dr. Pizano discusses with Stacy her belief that there should be no stray hold periods for cats, and her strong belief in Return-to-Field. She & Stacy go on to discuss the best ways to talk to your elected officials, and what kind of data to focus on. "Get the information," Dr. Pizano says, "present the facts in a very professional way—not emotional—and just educate your elected officials." Finally, Dr. Pizano talks more about her new book. It is for everyone, no matter what role you play in animal welfare, and it includes lots of success stories. The idea, Dr. Pizano tells Stacy, is to change your perspective and inspire you. "This is about the answers that every single sheltering community has at their fingertips," she says. The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters is available now through Amazon. To learn more about having an assessment done at your shelter, visit the Team Shelter USA website.

Peter Wolf, previously featured on CCP Episode 74, joins Stacy again, this time to discuss a newly released research paper that he and Dan Spehar (CCP Episode 240) have co-authored. The paper, titled "Integrated Return-To-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Programs Result in Reductions of Feline Intake and Euthanasia at Six Municipal Animal Shelters," has been published inFrontiers in Veterinary Science, an online, peer-reviewed journal. For this paper, Peter and Dan pulled a very large set of data (around 73,000 cats) from six of Best Friends' Community Cat Programs. These programs are staffed by Best Friends and the locations are selected through a highly competitive application process. They all integrate Return-to-Field (RTF) with targeted TNR programs, a combination that Peter feels is vital to success. Across the board over these programs during the research period, Peter and Dan found a median decrease in feline euthanasia of 83%, a median decrease in feline intake of 32%, and a median reduction in intake of kittens ages eight weeks or under of 41%. All of this data, Peter says, adds to the body of information telling us that community cat programs offer a real benefit to shelters, the community and the cats. To learn more about Best Friends, their work with community cats, and their upcoming conference, visit their website. You can also contact Peter directly with questions, or read his and Dan Spehar's full paper here.

Scott Giacoppo (previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 25) has been involved in animal welfare since 1989. Among other roles, he has worked as an animal control officer and a special state police officer for cruelty investigations. He currently serves as the Director of National Shelter Outreach for Best Friends Animal Society. In this role, Scott oversees the development of life-saving efficacy and sustainability for animal welfare agencies across the United States. He & his team provide support to each of the eight Best Friends regions, working with the regional teams in each area that are working directly with individual shelters to help them accomplish their missions. Scott's team works mostly with municipal agencies, and he tells Stacy that more & more agencies are recognizing what we've been doing for decades to decrease the community cat population—trap & remove—is just not working, so more and more agencies are now embracing TNR. Scott sees this as part of a shift toward animal control becoming more of a proactive resource, instead of just a reactive one, as it has so often been in the past. Scott and Stacy also discuss the "best practices" resources he has helped gather, covering everything from how to do managed intake to how to conduct a dangerous dog investigation. All of these resources are available to download for free on the Best Friends website. In addition, Scott and Stacy talk about some recent policy changes around cats at the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), including abandoning their support for cat licensing and publicly recognizing that trap and remove does not work to control community cat populations. To learn more, visit the Best Friends website or email Scott directly. You can find the Community Cats best practices manual here and the Humane Animal Control Manual here.

In this episode, Stacy talks with Jackson Cunningham, founder of Tuft + Paw, a modern cat furniture company. Jackson and his girlfriend and business partner both have had cats all their lives, and describe themselves as obsessed with cats. After a trip to South America in which they observed stray cats being treated like pests, they swore that if a business opportunity came along that allowed them to help the stray cat community, they would jump on it. Fast forward a few months, and Jackson and his girlfriend had just moved into a beautiful new apartment that they wanted to furnish for both themselves and their cat. The problem was, they couldn't find much in the way of nice, high-quality cat furniture. This was when the idea for Tuft + Paw was born. Tuft + Paw works with cat behaviorists, veterinarians, and even shelters to design from the ground up. They currently sell both their own products and products made by others, but as they expand their own design and manufacturing, one thing they are very focused on is sustainability. Not only do they try to make sure their products will last for life (or have replaceable parts, like the sisal on cat trees), they are also careful to source materials that are as environmentally friendly as possible, like recycled ocean plastic. Jackson and Stacy also talk about e-commerce and affiliate programs (and how they can help shelters), as well as the pitfalls of social media in terms of where the best bang for your buck is. Tuft + Paw has recently launched both an affiliate program and a unique referral program benefitting the Stray Cat Alliance in Los Angeles. To learn more, visit the Tuft + Paw website or follow them on Instagram. Shelters interested in exploring being part of the Tuft + Paw affiliate program, can emailJackson directly.

In this episode, Stacy is joined by Sarah Dunsmore, who co-owns CDE Animal Cages with her husband. Lifelong animal lovers, Sarah and her husband purchased the thirty-year old company several years ago and decided to shift its focus to helping shelter and rescue groups. As a small, family-owned company, CDE wants to help connect shelters and rescues with caging that helps keep their animals healthier, and helps make their staff's jobs easier. Sarah and Stacy discuss how changes in cat caging—including the "portalization" of cat cages—have run parallel to the shift from high euthanasia rates saving as many cat lives as possible. CDE cat cages have portals that can connect cages horizontally or vertically, as well as individual panels that can be easily removed, allowing shelters to customize their caging arrangement. In fact, one of Sarah's favorite things is working with individual groups to truly customize their cages so they can get exactly what will work best for their space and their needs. Another unique offering at CDE is catios. CDE got involved with the Oregon Feral Cat Coalition's "Cats Safe at Home" campaign* a couple years ago, and since then, have really become enthusiastic about catios. Sarah and Stacy talk about how catios benefit cats mentally and physically, and also benefit birds and wildlife by keeping them safe from cats. CDE can cater to whatever individuals or groups have in mind for their catios. To learn more, visit the CDE Animal Cageswebsite. From there, you can also feel free to call or email. Sarah is always happy to start a conversation about how CDE can help you and your group. *Stacy interviewed Karen Kraus of the Oregon Feral Cat Coalition, along with Bob Sallinger of the Aubudon Society of Portland, in CCP Episode 262. Check it out to learn more about the Cats Safe at Home campaign.

Christina Ha joins Stacy again (having been interviewed by Stacy in CCP episode 144 and episode 245), this time to discuss the third annual Cat Camp event, to be held this June 1 and 2 in New York City at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Christina, who is one of the co-founders of Meow Parlour cat café, founded Cat Camp in 2017 as a resource for the many people who were asking her about how they could help cats and learn more about them. Cat Camp is for anyone who likes cats, whether you're a cat owner who wants to learn more about your pet, a shelter or rescue worker or volunteer, or just someone who thinks Cat Camp sounds interesting. Basically, Christina tells Stacy, "If you love cats, we'll have something for you this weekend." In past years, between 2,000 and 3,000 people have attended Cat Camp each year, and this year looks like it will be just as well attended, with people from 30 states and 9 countries having already purchased tickets. This year's speakers include many previous CCP guests, including Jackson Galaxy, "Kitten Lady" Hannah Shaw, Nikki Martinez, and Dr. Mikel Delgado, plus many more. This year, Cat Camp is really "leaning in" to the "camp" theme, with speakers (aka "camp counselors") also holding small-scale "counseling" sessions on more in-depth topics. Attendees will be able to ask the experts directly about the topics at hand. Understandably, these sessions sold out immediately! Cat Camp will also have tons of vendors this year, with offerings from jewelry to veterinary advice. In addition, Meow Parlour will be setting up an onsite cat café at the event for the first time. Cat Camp has also partnered with ASPCA this year to offer TNR certification during the event. Earning your certification will get you access to free spay/neuter for trapped cats through the ASPCA's program! To learn more or buy your tickets, visit the Cat Camp website—and be sure to stop by the CCP booth at Cat Camp to say hi to Kristen (our technical cat) and get some CCP swag!

For the 300thepisode of Community Cats Podcast, Stacy is joined by Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs for Neighborhood Cats. Previously featured on CCP Episode 13, Episode 127, and Episode 218, Bryan is back to talk about how things are going for community cats in Hawaii, and about the new book he has co-authored. And of course, he and Stacy discuss the ongoing webinar series that CCP and Neighborhood Cats are partnering on. Bryan, who is now located in Hawaii, reports that Neighborhood Cats has established a great partnership with the Maui Humane Society. MHS has a high-volume spay/neuter clinic that handles community cats, and over the past two years, the shelter has seen live release rates for cats go from around 25% to over 90%! He is also seeing some progress on Oahu as a result of working with humane organizations there. In general, the wildlife and conservation community is still opposed to TNR in Hawaii, and Bryan reports that Neighborhood Cats' early efforts to sit down with these groups to get on the same page did not meet with success. So they have chosen to focus on the work at hand—how to get the cats under control—rather than on trying to convince the "other side" of the merits of TNR. Bryan feels that people are hungry for practical solutions, so Neighborhood Cats just keeps on doing the work they feel needs to be done. "We don't ignore the concerns," he says, "but we're not going to let the debate stop us from making progress." Bryan also has a new book out called The Return to Field Handbook, which he co-authored with HSUS's Danielle Bays and two other leaders in the community cat world. The book arose as people were starting to think that Return to Field (RTF) was a good idea, but didn't have a lot of information on how to implement such a program. So the authors decided to put together a handbook to start to build a base of knowledge around RTF. Stacy and Bryan talk at length about some of the keys to an RTF program, and also some of the sticking points for shelters—particularly dealing with healthy, friendly cats. Bryan cautions against going on an "auto-pilot" or one-size-fits-all approach and notes that each individual cat's circumstances must be examined carefully. He also notes that "TNR and RTF…are two sides of the same coin; they're both parts of a good community cat program." To learn more or get your copy of The Return to Field Handbook, visit the Neighborhood Cats website's resource section. You can also get a copy of the book, as well as more information on TNR and RTF at the Humane Society of the United States website.

Lindsay Hamrick, Policy Director for Companion Animals at the Humane Society of the United States, works to support local, state and federal policies protecting pets. She holds an M.S. in Animals & Public Policy from Tufts University and was the New Hampshire state director for HSUS prior to her current role. She spent ten years as CEO at three different New Hampshire animal shelters and, like so many of our guests, knew from a very young age that she wanted to work with animals. In her operational positions, Lindsay came to realize how much policy can affect the work of animal shelters—even though most shelter workers are so busy they often can't pause to think about it until they have to. For Lindsay, one of those "have to" moments was in dealing with the New Hampshire state restriction on adopting out FIV and FeLV+ cats. She worked to change that rule, and she is now trying to take her "on-the-ground" experience in shelter operations and apply it on a national, policy level. Lindsay tells us that it's important not only to make sure that there aren't negative policies affecting the community cat population but that it's also critical to be proactive and progressive about policy. Lindsay and Stacy speak at length about the incredibly successful Spay-a-Thon for Puerto Rico program, as well as the current state of affairs for animals in Puerto Rico. They also touch on some "hot topics" in legislation affecting community cats around the country right now, including some good bills in the works in the Midwest. To learn more about HSUS and their work with community cats, you can contact Lindsay directly via email or you can reach out to Danielle Bays, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at HSUS.

Dave Hanley, developer of the Tomorrow app, is an entrepreneur who is also a pet (and human) parent. Tomorrow is designed to help anyone set up a legal will quickly and easily—and even appoint guardians for their pets and/or children. The app is free, with no strings attached. (It is funded by the optional sale of life insurance products.) Dave's own love for cats began as a child when his parents gave his older sister a kitten one Christmas. Since then, Dave has always felt a connection to cats and currently shares his home with two twin sister cats. He was inspired to create Tomorrow after learning that 50 million children are not protected by legal guardianships providing for their care. Dave's experiences in wading through his own parents' outdated estate plans and documents after their deaths provided additional motivation to develop the app, which he hopes will encourage everyone to protect themselves and their families with these important documents. One experience that really stuck with Dave after his mother's death was the challenge of finding a new home for her cat. The process took him and his siblings quite a while, and the whole time, he felt certain that someone in his mother's retirement community would have taken the cat in—but neither he nor his siblings had any idea who might have been willing, because they had never had that conversation with their mother, nor had his mother ever noted the information anywhere. The Tomorrow app would have solved all that, had it been available, as it not only allows you to set up guardians for your pets, it also allows you to enter important information about them and their health, diet, etc. Dave encourages everyone to have conversations about what will happen to your pets, children, and assets after your death. "It's not dark," he tells Stacy; "it's just having a plan." You can learn more on the Tomorrow website , or you can download Tomorrow through an app store—it's available for both Apple and Android phones.

You may remember Dr. Kate Hurley, Director of U.C. Davis Koret School of Veterinary Medicine and co-founder of Million Cat Challenge, from CCP Episode 47. If not, be sure to check it to hear all about how Dr. Hurley got started in the world of animal welfare. In this episode, Dr. Hurley is back to talk with Stacy about the amazing success of the Million Cat Challenge (MCC) program that she co-founded with Dr. Julie Levy three years ago. Dr. Hurley talks about what she calls a "stunning transformation" that has taken place in the field of animal sheltering for cats since last time she was on the show, beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Not only did the MCC hit its goal (a year early!), the program has seen many shelters decrease their euthanasia rates by 80-90% after joining the MCC. These shelters have saved over a million more cat lives compared to their own baselines before joining the MCC. Stacy and Dr. Hurley discuss the specifics behind the numbers, and how the MCC was set up to amplify successes that were already happening in animal welfare. The idea was to connect people with each other and to make the progress that is happening for cats more visible in order to inspire both commitment and hope. The program has definitely done just that, with nearly 1,311 fewer cats being euthanized per day in the United States now. "This can be the new norm for cats," Dr. Hurley believes. She goes on to discuss what's next for the MCC, which is "the right outcome" for every single cat that comes to a shelter in North America." She hopes that CCP listeners will help out by visiting the MCC website, making sure that their local shelter is enrolled in the program—and if not, stopping by and taking with them about it! To learn more, visit the Million Cat Challenge website. You can see if your local shelter is a participant by clicking on "Who's Involved." You can also check out Dr. Hurley's recent webinar presentation on Cats, Birds, and Animal Shelters: Seeking Common Ground.

Nikki Martinez was always a dog person. That all changed one day when a kitten ran in front of her car on her way to a post-surgical doctor appointment. Feeling down and overly focused on herself after her surgery, Nikki poured her heart and soul into nursing that sickly kitten back to health, and eventually found it a new home. In the process, Nikki herself began to heal—and she found herself hooked on helping cats. Today, Nikki fosters kittens, serves on the board of directors for a Las Vegas TNR organization called C5, traps community cat colonies with C5, manages a popular kitten Instagram page, and runs a side business called Fostering a Purpose. She specializes in caring for critical care and neonatal kittens, and has fostered hundreds of kittens over the years. It took her a while to see the connection between the kittens she was fostering and TNR, but once she did, she devoted even more of her energy to TNR. As she put it, "I'd picture a bucket that's overflowing with water, maybe it has a hole in it and the water's gushing out. You can either mop up the water, or you can put a plug in the hole—and TNR really puts the plug in the hole and stops these cats from breeding on the street, which ultimately stops kittens from suffering." In this interview, Nikki and Stacy talk trapping—strategy, trap and bait preferences, how to handle injured feral cats, whether there has ever been a cat Nikki couldn't trap—and even using plumbing "snake" cameras to assist with trapping. Nikki loves working as a volunteer trapper for C5. "It's such a satisfying feeling to know that these colonies of cats won't be breeding anymore," she tells Stacy. Nikki also has an Instagram account for her foster kittens as a way to share knowledge and information about cats and cat overpopulation with folks who can't help but click on her cute kitten pictures. The page has blown up and Nikki sees it as a great way to get people involved in fostering and TNR. As a result of her Instagram page and interest in purchasing and selling merchandise there, Nikki started Fostering a Purpose. The company sells high-quality cat-related apparel for people and donates a portion of the proceeds to feline welfare causes. As part of C5, Nikki has been part of a big change for community cats in Las Vegas over the past decade. The group has TNRed over 35,000 cats, and since 2009, the euthanasia rate at the local municipal shelter has gone down an astounding 90%. "It's just a small, simple organization with volunteers, making a huge impact in Las Vegas." To learn more, you can follow Nikki and her foster kittens@myfosterkittenson Instagram, visit the Fostering a Purpose website, or check out the C5 website.

Danielle Bays, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is a frequent flyer here on CCP, having appeared before on Episode 55and Episode 261. She joins Stacy again here to talk about what's going on across the country for cats, and about various events happening in the animal welfare world this spring. One such event is HSUS'S annual Animal Care Expo conference, being held this year in New Orleans on April 15-18. Danielle tells Stacy that not only will there be a cat track again this year, there will also be a day-long program devoted to kittens, and lots more about cats within the other conference tracks, like behavior and veterinary. Jackson Galaxy will be at the conference as a speaker on cat behavior, and also as part of a roundtable session with attendees. There will be a session in the veterinary track about FIV and FeLV, which will discuss everything you need to know to get those cats adopted like any other cat in your shelter! Several sessions on trapping will also be included, including one focused on return to field, one on how to deal with large-scale colonies, and one on "cat counting." Stacy and Danielle also review the 2019 legislative update for cats, including several declaw initiatives making their way through the channels and how people can make the declaw issue a more pressing one for their elected officials. There is also interesting cat-related legislation happening in South Carolina and Illinois, and Danielle feels that each year, the "temperature" for community cats gets better and better across the United States. "We're just seeing such great work throughout the country," Danielle tells Stacy. "These ideas that we have about how we handle cats in shelters, how we treat cats outdoors, are really gaining so much traction." To learn more about HSUS, legislation, and the Animal Care Expo conference, visit animalsheltering.org. You can also can get in touch with Danielle directly at [email protected].

Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist with a Ph.D. in psychology, has quite a list of accomplishments under her belt. She has co-authored the book Total Cat Mojowith Jackson Galaxy, and she currently co-owns a cat behavior consulting business called Feline Minds, which assists both pet owners and shelters. Mikel is also a post doc fellow at the University of California at Davis doing research on cat behavior in multi-cat households and on the health and development of orphaned neonatal kittens. Mikel was, in her own words, "obsessed with cats" even as a child, though she never had particular aspirations toward being a vet, and it never really occurred to her until much later in life that she could have a job working with cats. Soon after the death of a beloved pet cat, Mikel began volunteering at the San Francisco SPCA, an organization with a robust cat behavior program. Mikel was hooked and ended up working for the SFSPCA for eight years before leaving to pursue her education. Today, Mikel and her business partner work on many feline behavior cases, most of which, Mikel tells us, are due to an under-stimulating environment. She explains that keeping cats indoors restricts their experiences, and if you don't replace those outdoor experiences with something else stimulating, it will lead to behavior problems. Mikel is also conducting some fascinating research on cats—all of it either on pet cats in their homes or on foster kittens in the pre-existing UC Davis neonatal kitten foster program. (In other words, there are no lab cats here!) Tune in to hear the details of Mikel's research and how it may help future cats and kittens in homes and shelters. For more information,visit Mikel's website, or you can follow her on Twitter @mikel_maria.

In this interview, Stacy speaks with Karen Anderson, an animal communicator and afterlife expert who has been practicing for over 20 years. She has received several awards and is a best-selling author of several books as well, including her most recent, The Amazing Afterlife of Animals. As far back as Karen can remember, she has always loved animals. They were her very best friends and for many years, she thought everyone could understand and talk to them the way she could. It wasn't until she worked in law enforcement many years later, however, that her animal communication abilities really came forward in a big way. She has no formal training as an animal communicator, just a very deep love of animals. In fact, Karen feels that anyone can learn to communicate with animals, and that you don't need any special skills. "I can teach most people how to send their first message in 15 minutes; that's how easy it is," she tells Stacy. She and Stacy go on to talk about overcoming negative and doubt-filled thought patterns, and Stacy shares why animal communication has been in her own toolbox for many years now—and why she feels people should be willing to consider it. Karen tells Stacy that most of her clients come to her either during the hospice process, or after they have lost a beloved pet. She loves to work with people going through these incredibly difficult periods and is constantly amazed by how just one message from a pet can bring so much peace and healing to those who are grieving. To learn more about Karen, her work, and her services, visit her website, or find her on Facebook. You can find her books such as Hear All Creatures! The Journey of an Animal Communicator, The Secret Inner Life of Pets: A Leading Psychologist and an Animal Communicator Bring You the Love and Wisdom of Animals, and Amazing Paranormal Encounters Volume 2 on Amazon and Audible.* *As an Amazon Associate The Community Cats Podcast earns from qualifying purchases.

Kim Saunders was a practicing attorney when she decided to move into the animal welfare world full-time (after years of volunteering). She spent 15 years at Petfinder before moving into a more hands-on role at St. Hubert's. She is now the Operations Director at Liberty Humane Society (LHS), the only licensed animal shelter in Hudson County, NJ, which one of most densely populated counties in the state. Hudson County has rich cultural and socioeconomic diversity, with 15% of the population falling under the poverty line. LHS provides all animal control services, as well as shelter and adoption services to the county. In this interview, Stacy and Kim discuss how the recent government shutdown has impacted shelters, particularly pet retention programs. Kim is passionate about keeping animals that already have a home in those homes, and LHS offers a flexible pet retention program that assists with whatever people need—from super basic supplies like crates and litter to more complex needs like intensive medical care. During the government shutdown, LHS collaborated with another area group to make sure that the needs of local pet owners facing shutdown-related difficulties were being met. LHS has also recently added a Community Cat Coordinator to its staff. This role, which is currently about 80% outreach, is tasked with coordinating and expanding the subsidized community cat spay/neuter program LHS began last year. They have a mobile spay/neuter clinic and they partner with another New Jersey group to provide services on that vehicle to both community cats and owned pets as well. The Community Cat Coordinator is in charge of community outreach regarding the spay/neuter program and community cat issues in general, and LHS plans to allow the position to grow and change to meet the current needs of the local community. Liberty Humane is always glad to share what they're doing and to hear about what others are doing. You can learn more about them or get in touch via their website.

Elena Battles of Shelterluv software has been working for animals in one capacity or another since 1999. It was then that she found Trini, a stray beagle who truly changed her life. Elena had been working as a physical therapist, but after rescuing Trini, she was re-awakened to the issues facing animals, and decided to change paths. She began volunteering, then moved on to several staff roles in animal welfare organizations all over the country. Now, at Shelterluv, Elena helps provide those in the animal welfare world with access to the technology she wishes she had when she worked in a shelter. Elena knows that working in animal welfare operations is much more complex than just working with animals, so she is so excited to be able to give people the technology tools to help make that job easier. She tells Stacy that considering making a change in systems often starts with asking some important questions about your organization (and she shares what those questions are). Elena & Stacy talk about configurability vs. customization, and the move towards getting animal welfare software systems to "speak" to each other. Elena also discusses the fact that as far as cost goes, there are a wide range of choices in animal welfare shelter platforms. If you're thinking about animal welfare software—whether for the first time, or as a change from your existing system, this interview has some great tips for you. In addition, Elena is happy to give you her advice and point you in the right direction, even if it's not to Shelterluv. To learn more, visit the Shelterluv website or email Elena. You can also find Shelterluv at many animal welfare conferences, like HSUS and Best Friends.

Kay Stout is the Executive Director of PAAS Vinita in Oklahoma, a multi-faceted group that grew out of the initial shelter that gives the group its name (PAAS stands for "Peaceful Animal Adoption Shelter"). Back in 2015, the shelter opened, but no one was coming in to adopt the animals. That's when Kay realized they had to do something different. She reached out to animal welfare contacts and soon had a transfer program set up with Dumb Friends Animal League in Colorado. Today, the group continues large transports of dogs, as well as occasional transport of cats, to Colorado, but it also serves as a local resource center. PAAS offers spay/neuter services to local cats, a TNR program, and is also helping many groups work toward 90%+ save rates through the Save Lives, Unite Oklahoma project. Kay and Stacy talk extensively about the history of PAAS, including Kay's successful early strategy of getting a handful of community leaders onboard with what she was doing. Having these people on her side made it easy for her to move her programs forward without encountering a lot of pushback. Kay feels strongly that folks in animal welfare need to do their best to find common ground with the people they are trying to work with. If that doesn't happen, she tells Stacy, progress stops, and may never start again—and that means that lives of cats and dogs waiting to be rescued may be lost. To learn more, you can visit the PAAS Vinita website. To learn more about Save Lives, Unite Oklahoma, contact Kay at [email protected].

Sandy Rees, the CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) at Get Fully Funded and Founder of Arf Club, joins us for her second visit to Community Cats Podcast. If you missed her first chat with Stacy, check it out here. Sandy's company shows passionate nonprofit leaders how to fully fund their big visions so they can spend their time saving lives instead of worrying about money. Based in Loudon, TN, Sandy teaches her students to focus on donor outreach, authentic messaging, and relationship building in their fundraising. In this episode, she talks with Stacy about some of the current trends she's seeing in fundraising for the small nonprofit (hint: think videos!). She also gives some great tips around what constitutes "authentic messaging," shares a simple ratio to follow to prevent donor fatigue, and reminds everyone that acknowledgment of donations is "a simple thing, but it is…a critically important thing." The Arf Club portion of Sandy's business is an animal welfare-specific fundraising training program, designed to teach rescues and other animal nonprofits how they can raise the money they need to fully fund their budgets. Arf Club shows you how to put the principles of donor-based fundraising in place. The program even includes follow-up, with specialized nudges about when you need to start thinking about or working on particular campaigns. Sandy has just opened up a way to sample what Arf Club has to offer for just $17 that you may want to check out! To learn more, visit the Arf Club website or the Get Fully Funded website.

Dr. Angie Kraus, a holistic house-call veterinarian in Boulder, CO, has known since the age of 3 that she wanted to be a vet. She was trained conventionally, but after graduation, she began to explore other, less traditional modalities of treatment, leading her to holistic veterinary medicine. For Dr. Kraus, being a holistic vet means doing anything that works for her patients. In this interview, she tells Stacy, "Not only do I use all modalities that I think can be helpful, I look at my patient as a whole." As a result of being a house-call vet, Dr. Kraus sees a lot of cats, since cats often tend to be particularly challenging to transport to traditional veterinary appointments. Dr. Kraus and her technician approach their patients slowly and gently, allowing the cat to evaluate them first before they try to proceed with an exam or treatment. Dr. Kraus feels that cats are underserved and that both owners and veterinarians can do better for cats in terms of proper feeding and stimulation, as well as developing close emotional connections. "Cats really have all the same potential as part of our families as dogs do," Dr. Kraus tells Stacy. Stacy & Dr. Kraus also have an in-depth discussion in this episode about the use of CBD in cats, including issues with which it tends to be particularly helpful. Dr. Kraus offers some tips on what's important to look for in a CBD supplement for your cat, and Stacy talks about the success she's had with CBD with one of her own cats. To learn more about Dr. Kraus, including some of the products she discusses in this episode, you can visit the Boulder Holistic Vet website.

Veronica Coit, a full-time hairdresser who is married with two children, calls herself a "cat lady for life." She spearheads the Asheville Cat Weirdos, a Facebook group that she started in 2016. That group has now grown to almost 9,000 members, all from the greater Asheville, North Carolina area. The group has also grown from simply being a place for cat lovers to converse to a full-fledged 501(c)3 organization with multiple programs to help local cat owners in need keep their beloved pets. Programs include an emergency fund to cover the cost of veterinary bills, the "Cat Pantry" (a cat food pantry that also carries litter and flea and worm treatments), and a spay/neuter incentive program. The group has a full board of directors, and a number of volunteers who make these programs happen. Veronica, who has some personal experience with what it's like to be working and yet still not be able to afford needed veterinary care, is thrilled at what the Asheville Cat Weirdos have accomplished in just a few short years. She tells Stacy that it is a community of people who truly care about each other, and who are working to help each other. To learn more, visit the Asheville Cat Weirdos website or, if you're in the Asheville area, join their Facebook page. You can also visit their Emergency Fund Facebook page, their Cat Pantry Facebook page, or you can follow @ashevillecatweirdoson Instagram.

Dana Andresen started as the first executive director of Feline Rescue, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based, no-kill companion cat rescue organization, in April 2016. Dana came to her current role after working with a pet food company and then as the first executive director of the Minnesota spay/neuter assistance program (MN SNAP). She got interested in animal welfare after running a fundraiser with the pet food company she worked for after Hurricane Katrina. Feline Rescue has three programs: shelter, foster, and outreach. The first two programs are adoption programs, while their outreach program is more geared to pet retention. That program includes subsidized spay/neuter, pet food, and strives to educate people and connect them to the resources they need to care for their cats. In Dana's nearly three years as executive director, she has worked with the board of directors and many volunteers on a strategic plan to help determine the organization's course for the future. One of the top priorities in that strategic plan was bringing vet care onsite to decrease costs and decrease stress on cats, and Feline Rescue is making great strides toward that goal. They now have a vet director on staff, as well as a CVT and a vet assistant, and they will begin doing dentals and basic surgeries soon. Stacy & Dana go on to discuss the future goals Feline Rescue hopes to work on, as well as the organization's governance structure—including the challenges of moving the organization's board from an operational one to a governing one. They also touch upon the kinds of cats that Feline Rescue takes in ("the cats no-one else will take"), and they talk about Dana's plan to focus more of her time in the coming year on fundraising and development. To learn more, visit Feline Rescue's website, or you can email Dana at [email protected].

Dr. Graham Brayshaw, a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M's veterinary school, is both the chief veterinarian and the director of animal services for the Animal Humane Society (AHS), an organization based in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Brayshaw's interest in animal welfare and community cats began when he did a rotation through local shelters in vet school, and in 2012, he accepted a role at AHS. AHS took in over 23,000 animals last year, including 11,000 cats (which includes some cats transported from partner agencies). The agency has a 96% placement rate and runs an active community cats program, along with a low-cost veterinary care program. Stacy and Dr. Brayshaw talk about how community cat management differs in a part of the country where frigid winter temperatures make life outside even more difficult for cats, and how this affects programs like return to field (RTF). They also discuss how AHS's community cat program got started, and how they learned that running a targeted TNR program is not always as easy as identifying an area with a large human population, or even an area where most of your shelter intakes come from. As AHS has moved on from the initial years of their community cat program, TNR has become less of a focus, and instead they are spending more time and energy on RTF and on building relationships with members of community who are already working with cats, like caretakers and rescuers. To learn more about their community cat and other programs, visit Animal Humane Society's website.