Meet Erica And The Mission

0:30

My name's Erica. I'm here representing Allies for Community Cats as our director, Stacy couldn't be here with us today. So you have me, and we specialize in TNR, which means trap, uh, spay, neuter, and release. Awesome. And then could you tell us a little bit about how you got connected with Stacy and started with Allies for Community Cats? Yeah. I actually foster for a lot of different rescue organizations as well as a few of the local counties. W- when I see, uh, an animal in need, I have a unique skill set as a neonatal foster as well as I take in medical cases, and Stacy needed help, and we formed a relationship, and I've really enjoyed working with her. Uh, these days I'm exclusively fostering for Stacy and Allies for Community Cats. That's awesome. Okay.

Neonatal Kittens And Early Milestones

1:27

Could you tell me a little bit more about what a neonatal foster is? Yes. So neonatal is a term for kittens that are four weeks and under. So these kittens, you're gonna see some, they might have their eyes closed, which means they would be under two weeks. As the development progresses, at two weeks their eyes will open. At three weeks they're gonna kind of be more mobile, but you're gonna see that their movement is wobbly. And a four-week-old kitten is gonna start to get, um, their ears will be a little bit more pointy, and they'll be more steady on their feet. Awesome. And then was that something that when you started fostering, was that something you knew you wanted to do or was that something that progressed as you started fostering? So, um, yeah, when I started out I knew absolutely nothing. This is knowledge that I have gained over 10 years. Wow. Mm-hmm. What's it been like to have been a foster for or to have fostered cats for over 10 years? A lot. I have learned a lot. I'm still learning today. Th- there's a lot of things as far, since I take medical cases, illnesses, viruses that I try to take away knowledge from every case that I get in to make me a better foster. Mm. Awesome.

Community Cats And Why TNR Works

2:53

And for someone who might not be familiar with the term community cats, what does that mean and how is caring for community cats different from a traditional pet rescue? So community cats is gonna refer to our feral population. A feral cat is a cat that has had zero contacts with humans. So these cats are not going to come to you. Uh, they'll typically run away and they're going to be fearful. Interesting. And then so Allies for Community Cats does a lot of trap, spay, neuter, vaccinate, and return. How does that address or help address the larger issue of community cat populations? Yes. So one unaltered female cat could have up to three litters a year, and they could have anywhere from one to five cats. Within six months, those cats could have kittens. So the population could get out of control very quickly when animals aren't altered. So Allies for Community Cats helps keep that population and, also we'll address their medical needs too. And then how does like a bigger population of community cats affect the, like the environment around them when there's so many? I don't know that one. So you guys work with different cats in different situations from healthy outdoor community cats to kittens and, um, also cats that need medical attention. How do you determine what each animal needs? So the first thing if they're feral, would be to trap them. We wouldn't be able to physically handle them since they are feral, but really just observing them and their behavior out in the community, 'cause you can still watch them from a distance and if you see that one is limping or maybe one eye isn't fully open, things like that, watching their behavior, if they're really skinny, we know that we need to trap that animal and get it to the vet. And then how long does that process take from observing the cat to trapping them and then getting them what they need? That really depends. Yeah. Stacy, our director, that's her department. Mm. She's really good at that. She knows her community cats and where they live, the spots they like to hang out in. There's kind of tricks and things you can do maybe with holding a meal and then setting a meal in a trap to lure that animal so that we can get it medical attention. Awesome.

First Fosters And Hard Lessons

5:39

Well, what made you decide you want to become a foster or- Would that be the correct term? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um, and then what was your first experience like fostering? So I love animals. I'm a diehard cat lady. Uh, I wanted to help them. My first experience being a foster, I went in completely blind. I didn't know anything. I definitely learned a lot. I had a group of four kittens that ended up having coccidia, which is a parasite. Oh. Um, my bathroom had poop all over it. They were stepping in it. Ugh. There was poopy paw prints- Yeah. everywhere. But I learned a lot from that experience and what to look for, like the first signs of it, to get them treatment so that doesn't happen. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It takes a lot of love to care for poopy kittens. Yeah. I also learned a lot about having the correct setup for your fosters can make it a lot easier, especially when they are sick. Having a space that is easy to clean- puppy pads things like that can definitely make fostering easy. Yeah. Making it easy on both sides too. Yes. What does fostering a cat usually look like on a day-to-day basis? And then what do, what might people miss about what goes into it? Okay. Allies for Community Cats we have specialized medical fosters that handle the medical cases. So we will- they'll first go to those medical fosters to get them dewormed, make sure that they don't have any issues. We'll keep them for, you know, a few days. If they appear healthy, we will look for a foster who is maybe less experienced, who just wants to have fun with kittens, that quite, isn't quite comfortable with doing the daily medication. So on their end, if they're looking to get into fostering and they're new, we would definitely ease them into that. So it would really just look like scooping their litter box once a day and giving food in the morning and at night. And of course, you get to have fun playing with them. Yeah, exactly. And then how many cats does does a foster usually take care of at a time? So it depends. We try to keep the litters together. We don't want to separate them unless we have to. It could be anywhere from one to seven. Wow. Yeah. That would be a pretty big number. Yeah. I would say it's about an average of three to four. Okay. Cool. How many, or what's the most amount of cats that you fostered at a time? I've had 12. Wow. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Were they all from the same- No community? Okay. No. So because I had multiple groups of litters- it was important for me to keep them separated in different areas of my home- just in case, since I take the medical cases until I determine who's good to keep any risk down of, like, contagion or spreading illness. Yeah. And then do you have a particular cat or foster experience that stayed with you and reminded you of why you continue to open your home to foster cats? Yes. My cat Cleo was a foster fail. She came in and she didn't have teeth, she didn't have fur. Mm-hmm. She was in really poor shape. She even had botflies. And at the time, I wasn't super experienced, and she made me learn and grow as a foster, and she is, she's like my soul cat. Aw. I love her so much. How old was she when, um, when she came to you? She was four weeks old. Oh, she was a baby. Yeah. She was the only survivor, uh, out of her litter- Aw um, actually including her mother. So- Wow She... It was a learning experience- Yeah with her. Yeah. So you've worked with, um, animals who needed everything from basic care to more specialized medical attention. What is the most rewarding part of seeing an animal go from needing help to being ready for its next chapter? After we take care of the medical stuff, you'll start to see the animal's, like, personality come out, and this is always changing, especially in kittens. Sometimes we get kittens in that are hissing, spitting at you, that are just really fearful, and when you work with them and see them come out of their shell, they're just, like, a completely different cat. And, uh, one of my favorite things is, like, when they do finally get adopted, seeing the smile on the family's faces when they come to pick up, their forever family member it's a really rewarding experience. Yeah. And then what does, what does the adoption process look like?

Adoption Steps And Rescue Bottlenecks

10:46

So we do a foster to adopt. We s- uh, spay or neuter our animals at three pounds. Every rescue kind of does it differently, so we only adopt out to local because we use our vet, so we do need to have access to that animal. We do cover the adop- um, spay or neuter in the adoption fee, as long as, as lo- as well as all of their shots. Mm-hmm. Awesome. And then what are some of the biggest challenges animal rescues are facing right now, and how do those challenges affect the cats that you're trying to help? So the biggest thing that we really need is people to open up their homes and hearts to foster. Local shelters only have so many cages to put animals in. The overflow of those animals goes to the smaller local rescues, and we can't take in more animals unless we have fosters to open their homes and, and put them in. And then- So it, fostering, we have to turn them away if we don't have a foster home. Yeah. And then what- And sometimes it's just even... Sorry. It's okay. Opening your home up for one week- Yeah gives us time to move animals around, or we could have adoption pending. Mm-hmm. So even a one-week commitment would really help out a rescue. Yeah. And what does, what do you guys look for when you're looking for a foster? Just a kind person willing to help, being open to learning. They don't have to have a lot of time in rescue. We're all volunteer, so we all have families, kids, sports, nine to five jobs. It really just takes someone willing to do it. Yeah, so it's not a full-time, full-time thing. No. You don't have to be home with the cat all day. No. Yeah. Really just check on them in the morning, check on them at night, play with them a little bit. We appreciate any little bit of help that we can get. How important is it for rescues, veterinarians, fosters, and community members Sorry, let me ask that again. How important is it for rescues, veterinarians, fosters, and community members to work together rather than each person trying to solve the problem independently? When we all work together, we can pool resources from each other. I like to build relationships with the counties, other local rescues, so that when someone reaches out to me, I can send them in which direction to go with. It takes a village. Yeah. So you guys have a good network then- Yes working together. Awesome. What do you think are or is one of the biggest misconceptions that people have about what a rescue organization can realistically do when someone finds a cat or a kitten? I don't know that one. Okay. It's okay. We'll skip over it. Um, what would you say to someone who loves animals but thinks that they could never be a foster 'cause they would get too attached? I would tell that person, don't just foster one. I would get a larger litter because your attention is going to be divided, and you very may well get attached to one. But what I tell myself when I foster, if I kept every intake we had, I wouldn't be able to-- Eventually I'd have so many cats that I couldn't foster, so We actually want to keep our fosters. They do get priority if they do decide to fail and they want the animal, but yeah. Yeah. How often does that happen where you see, like, a foster fail and they keep the, the foster? It happens a lot. Yeah. I feel like I would be one of those people too. Yeah. Like, I can't let go of this cat. It definitely happens a lot. How do you think communities can become more proactive about preventing cat overpopulation rather than only responding once there's already a problem?

Spotting Feral Cats And Ear Tips

15:01

Be on the lookout. If you see a cat and you notice that it has its testicles intact and it's feral, that's also a key sign to tell. If it's running away from you and it's fearful, it's likely a feral cat. So at that point, you're gonna wanna look and see if it has, um, a little ear tip, and that is an indication that that animal has been altered. If it doesn't have an ear tip you should notify your local shelter or reach out to a TNR rescue. And do TNR rescues usually ha- Are th- or are most rescues TNR rescues, or does it- No, not all. Each rescue kind of has its own mission. Mm-hmm. Allies for Community Cats is mainly a TNR rescue. Okay. But there are rescues that are local, but maybe they just deal with neonatals. There are rescues that like to pull animals from Puerto Rico or countries that don't have as much funding, or rural Virginia. Mm-hmm. So whatever rescue kind of aligns with your goals and that you want to support, I would recommend reaching out to that rescue for fostering. Awesome. And then what has working with these animals taught you about patience, compassion, and/or the way you look at animals differently? It teaches you a lot of patience. It has definitely grown me as a person, and it has really opened my eyes to the problem. Animals die every day due to human neglect and it, it really just all cycles back to animals that aren't TNR'd, they're not altered, and they're reproducing, and unfortunately, there's just not... Every home would have to have eight cats for every cat to have a home. Wow.

Donations Supplies And Found Kittens

17:01

And for someone who wants to help but isn't ready to foster, what are some other ways that they can support Allies for Community Cats? So we are always accepting donations. We need funding for our veterinary. We always need supplies. Even if you don't donate or donate supplies, even if it's just, like, your used towels that you have laying around or maybe some old pet beds, things like that, we appreciate anything to do for the animals. Awesome. What, um... Or if someone finds a kitten and isn't sure what to do next, what are some steps that they should take? So the first thing would be, is the kitten in a safe space? If it's safe, at that point, you should wait for the mom. Wait and see, 'cause the mother is likely close by. If the kitten looks... Don't touch it. If the kitten looks healthy and the kitten's quiet, that is a content, happy, healthy kitten. So leave it be. The mom is likely close by. She could be out hunting, getting food. She will be back for those babies. After that, I would contact a local rescue or the shelter. They will come get those animals and they will make sure that they are vetted. They will get the mom and the babies together and when it's time, they will spay her and she'll be returned if she's feral- to where she was found because that is their territory, that's their home. So it's very important once you if you are in TNR, that cat is put back where it was found. Mm-hmm. And then does that process look different if someone finds a cat versus a kitten? No. So if you do find a feral cat and it is unaltered, it is same. You wanna put it back where it was found once it's, uh, been spayed or neutered. Okay. Awesome. And if some- You don't wanna remove them from their territory. Yeah, 'cause then they'd have to get used to a new, new environment. And then if someone wants to become a foster or a volunteer, where can they connect with Allies for Community Cats? So we have a Facebook page. All of our links are on there. There is a foster application. We are always accepting them. We are always in need. So I would start with filling that out. You don't have to be super knowledgeable. There's always people like me that they could reach out to anytime that would be willing to help or assist, give guidance how to set up their foster area. We are here to help. Awesome. And then as we wrap up, is there anything you'd like to add that we haven't touched on today?

Luna’s Adoption Plug And Next Steps

20:01

So I do have a friend here with me. This is Luna. She is one of our adoptable cats. She's about eight, nine weeks old. She's very content in here. She is my current foster. She's very tiny. She said hi. Aw. But she is up for adoption, so, it is local adoption only to Northern Virginia. Um, but she is available and ready. She's an awesome girl. She's actually... She would do very well in a home with dogs, other cats. She's outgoing, playful. She loves to climb, so she would really enjoy a cat tree- Mm-hmm a tall cat tree. But she's a good girl. Aw. And then if someone wanted to potentially adopt a cat or a kitten- Mm-hmm would they go to the Facebook page or the website? Yeah, so our Facebook page, or they can just Google Allies for Community Cats. We have a website with our foster application and our adoption application. Okay, awesome. Yep. Well, hopefully someone reaches out and- and is interested in adopting Luna. Yes. Thank you so much, Erica, for joining me on "The Alimond Show" today. I wish you the very best in all that comes your way in the future. Thank you so much.