Community Cat Alliance, Humane Treatment for Feral Cats and Kittens

by Lydia Mahan

A friend of mine once said, “They make the world go round.” He was talking about volunteers. In fact, they do a lot to pick up the slack, the extra pieces that often get
left behind.

I’m a volunteer and I can certainly attest to the fact that I pick up a lot of “extra pieces.” I volunteer with a charity organization called Community Cat Alliance (CCA). Our mission is Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR, in Frederick County, Virginia. It can be challenging work. Without question, it is rewarding work.

We are a small group of men and women who have a passionate calling to help those who cannot speak for themselves, namely feral and abandoned cats — and often, their kittens, many of whom are in desperate need of medical care. We go into the field and work with caretakers who are doing their best to feed and shelter colonies of cats, or one or two cats. The need is the same; all of these cats and kittens need to be spayed and neutered to stop the pervasive over-population of cats and kittens in our area.
We are in the midst of kitten season, and there is a tremendous need for foster homes. All you need is a bathroom or an unused guest room. Kittens are taken from the field and evaluated by our medical coordinator. If kittens need to see a vet, CCA arranges the visit with the foster parent’s schedule and we pay for the visit. We provide foster parents with what they may need: Food, toys, litter and litter boxes, medicine like Pyrantel (a broad spectrum wormer).

If you need to leave for vacation, we will provide respite for your kittens. In fact, we welcome homes that only want to do periodic respite! When kittens are two pounds (about 8 weeks), we arrange for them to go to a clinic to be vaccinated and spayed and neutered. We then return them to you. The next step is for one of our partners to take them and adopt them into their “forever homes.”

If having kittens in your home is not feasible, we have other needs that may be interesting. Social media your thing? We put out a periodic Mewsletter that we could use help with. Are you a Facebook expert? You could help us. Interested in going into schools to help educate the next generation about the importance of spaying and neutering all pets? How about attending local Chamber of Commerce events, or becoming an ambassador for CCA by becoming a Rotary member?

If you’re interested in trapping, we will train you and provide you with traps. Periodic transport? We need folks with cars large enough to accommodate several traps and carriers to transport cats and kittens to the vet clinic and back — not every week, but once a month. We need folks who are willing to drive to Staunton, Va., to pick up low-cost cat food we pay for, and then pass on to our caretakers. Fundraising? Lend us a hand. Make a gift basket, help with publicity, record a public service announcement for us, write an article.

CCA tends to attract folks who are retired. Makes sense, right? Retired people have flex schedules. But even if you work full time, and have children, if this is a cause you are passionate about, we can find one of those extra pieces that works for you and your family.

Look us up; check us out. We work hard, we do good work. The volunteers at Community Cat Alliance need your help. The abandoned and stray “community cats” out there who have been dumped, and born in the field need you even more. Think about it. Do it.

And if you can’t help us with any of the above a $20 donation will go further than you think. Go to www.communitycatalliance.org. Thank you