This is the Hissing Feline Podcast, a weekly program that is about everything cats. The Hissing Feline features experts and other cat aficionados who share their knowledge and perspectives about dealing with felines. From strays and ferrels to adoption, health, and cat psychology. We hope the topics give you helpful and interesting insight into the world of cats. Now, here is the host of the Hissing Feline, Clark Greer.
SPEAKER_00Community cats are a big concern of neighborhoods across the United States. There are many cat-related organizations in towns and cities that are dedicated to dealing with populations of feral and stray cats. Their efforts not only focus on trap neuter and release programs, but also on the importance of educating the public about community cats. My guest today is Cindy Campbell, board member and volunteer at Friends of Feral Felines in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cindy, welcome to the Hissing Feline.
SPEAKER_03Hi, Clark. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00And I appreciate you joining me today on the podcast to talk not just about Friends of Feral Felines, but how the organization serves the community and some very important things when we we talk about community cats. Could we start this uh episode by talking about the history of the organization?
SPEAKER_03Sure. Friends of Feral Felines, and for short, FFF, it started in 1998 by three women who witnessed the suffering of felines without families. Cats that couldn't be touched, but were constantly reproducing. And so, in an effort to stop the breeding cycle, to alleviate suffering, they founded Friends of Carol Felines.
SPEAKER_00What is really your goal or your mission of the organization?
SPEAKER_03Our mission is to improve the lives of community cats in and around Charlotte, North Carolina, through something called TNVR, or what is better known as Trap Neuter Vaccinate Return.
SPEAKER_00Now, FFF is not a shelter or a rescue organization. How does all that work?
SPEAKER_03That's correct. We we don't have an actual facility, a building. We are an organization that is run by all volunteers. Most of us work full-time, and we are funded through individual donations. And our primary area of focus is Mecklenburg County.
SPEAKER_00Now, uh one of the things that we had talked about uh recently when we first chatted was to look at cats differently and to have have individuals and let's say government entities think of cats a little differently than just another animal.
SPEAKER_03Right. Our focus is to elevate cats because when someone refers to them and I say that a word, and I'll whisper it, um, it relegates cats to a position that is less than. And so our goal is to improve their value. And you do that by changing words. Words matter. We've learned, especially in the past six years, how that has changed. So we're doing our best to drive the value, improve their position perception among the general public. And I think of it this way most women carry a handbag or a purse, right?
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_03The most expensive handbag in the world is a Birkin. And it literally sold for $10.1 million at auction in July of 2020.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And so, but if I look at this handbag, it literally looks like a black purse with some decorative like metal on it. And so if you use the A word, it tends to denigrate the life of the cats. And we want to improve their perception. So we're not dealing with Birkenbags, but in my opinion, we're dealing with lives that have value, lives that are beautiful, sentient souls, and they're worthy of our time and elevating their position in society.
SPEAKER_00And I'm sure people uh who hear that are thinking, wow, that makes a lot of sense. Do you get some response from that when you when you talk to people about cats from that perspective?
SPEAKER_03Yes, I do. And I can tell you, this is not my idea. I learned it from Mike Arms with Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego when I heard him speak, and I thought that makes a lot of sense to me. And so it took some time for me to make sure I don't use the A-word. And as a result, there have been many people who've said, you sound like you're talking about a person. And to me, that is goal achieved because when we elevate the value, they're going to see them as a being that is worthy of help.
SPEAKER_00My wife and I do the same thing with our two cats. We've got a calico and a tabby, and we refer to them as the girls. It really does, it makes us feel like they're family members and not just cats in the household. In fact, we have friends that'll say, How are the girls? So I I guess they've kind of adopted that idea too. It's it's really true. And how you think about anything is going to uh result in how you treat and react to certain types of things. And I I th I think that that's a really good point. Our tabby right now, as we're talking, decided that she wanted to play with some things, and so hopefully that won't be too distracting in the background.
SPEAKER_03If you think about it, what is the difference between the cat on your couch and the cat on the street? It's a person like you and your wife. You care. So just getting the entire community to care about these cats that are on the street to provide them the care that they need so they can live their best lives, that's what it's all about.
SPEAKER_00FFF works with just strays and feral cats. How does that work with the organization? They're all community cats, but those are the types of cats that you're looking to work with, not necessarily a cat that might be part of somebody's household then.
SPEAKER_03Right. We are focused more on those unhoused community cats, those that the pipeline to community cats, that's a broad umbrella term. It can be a cat that exists primarily in the shadows, because oftentimes people misuse the term feral. They consider that any unsocial cat. Well, sometimes the cat is unsocial because they've been abandoned or they've been unfortunately dumped, which is a, you know, that is punishment. That's a that's illegal to do that. Um, and so they become fearful of people. So the term community cat is more of a broad umbrella. So those are unowned and free roaming cats. And so those are the cats that are our focus.
SPEAKER_00You mentioned TNVR. Uh, could you talk about the different components of that? There's obviously a process because you have to obtain the cats before that can happen.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes. So TNVR stands for trap neuter vaccinate return, and trapping is just what it is, but there's a process to trapping. You have to have a plan. You can't just trap a cat without having a plan. Here in Charlotte, North Carolina, we are challenged with finding appointments. So you never trap a cat without having an appointment. Leading up to that, you want to trap train the cat that is coming to your house to feed. You want to put the cat on a schedule, you want to talk to your neighbors. So once you've talked to your neighbors, you've got everybody on board, you've got the cats on a feeding schedule, and you have made a positive association with the trap, and you know you have your appointment, then the evening before, then you're going to set the trap. You're going to, once you have the cat, they're always covered. They're held in a climate-controlled location inside and secure. And the reason for that is wild animals that are coming through the property, raccoons, they've been known to de-glove cats. So it's important to keep them secure. They're vulnerable when they're in a trap. And then, of course, the next day you take them in for their appointment and they are spayed or neutered. They receive their rabies vaccine, their feline vaccine, and we provide, make sure that they are provided with flea treatment. And then they are recovered in a climate-controlled area, and that depends on male or female. And with females, there can be many different scenarios that you find that the vet finds once they are under anesthesia. And once they're recovered, again, in that climate-controlled temperature, because cats under anesthesia cannot regulate their body temperatures. And on the day of return, we call it freedom day, they are returned back to the backyard, the neighborhood where they live, so that they are no longer reproducing.
SPEAKER_00And they're probably pretty happy to get back into their natural environment.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yes, yes. I actually got a video of somebody who returned the other day. And I you usually set them out just for a couple minutes so they can re-acclimate to their home territory because you know it's been very disorienting for them. And so you keep them covered and just let them, you know, take in their environment. And one of the gals who did a recovery, she had, you know, I always recommend putting some food nearby the trap. And literally the cat walked out of the trap and went right to eating.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay. All right.
SPEAKER_03So he's like, I'm home.
SPEAKER_00I know that there are states and municipalities that have different rules about TNR and trapping cats and those types of things. I'm guessing the the uh Charlotte area, North Carolina, probably has something like that. So if somebody wants to get involved in that type of activity, would they need to go through some specific training that will give them all the background on those things for their specific area?
SPEAKER_03So we focus on Mecklenburg County, which is Charlotte, and there are some outlying towns. And so if somebody wanted in our area to help community cats, they would go to our website, which is friends of feralfelines.org. On the landing page, there is a space where they can fill out they need assistance. The first time I trapped, this was something I never thought I would do. We want to mentor people through the process because it can be very disconcerting to see a cat in a trap. And so we I'm working with a woman now, and it's the first time she's ever done this. Cats ended up in our property. So we want to guide them through the way. Community Cat Central has a fantastic online course that someone can take. And it's, I believe it's about three hours, and for $10, you get an amazing certification.
SPEAKER_00Good. So that's that's a good uh resource for people. Maybe they could find uh organization in their area, but Community Cat Central really is kind of like a clearinghouse for information about community cats and how to deal with them and the the right way to do that. So that's really a uh good resource uh for people to know about if they're if they're interested in in getting involved in uh community cat issues. Again, you don't have a shelter, but I've seen on your website uh some information about adopting cats. Can people do that?
SPEAKER_03So we do have some adoptable cats at our website that are listed on Pet Finder and Adopt a Pet. So our primary goal is trap neuter vaccinate return. And oftentimes when you go out to these areas, there are people that they have kittens that can be socialized. And when you're dealing with 12 cats or 25 cats, is very common. We want to give those who we feel that there's a chance to socialize and have families of their own. We want to do that. That totally depends on our volunteers. If, for example, I am fostering a kitty, she's a snowshoe Siamese, um, she's about seven months old on our um petfinder site. And she was living in a backyard with 12 cats and she was a runt. And so I had space in my home. So it totally depends on space and resource availability.
SPEAKER_00And we talked also about a kind of a back to basics approach to looking at uh helping with the issue of community cats. How does that how does that work for you?
SPEAKER_03So I see back to basics as implementing spaying and neutering conversation as part of every rescue organization. We are not going to adopt our way out of overpopulation. Think of how long a person must live before they are on their own and adulting to the point where they can adopt. Well, if the realization is kittens can get pregnant at four months of age, have their first babies at six months, and the cycle repeats every nine weeks, human beings are not producing at a rate to where we're adulting soon enough to be able to take on that number of kittens and cats. So every rescue, anybody who's involved with helping cats or dogs, spaying and neutering must become front and center as the conversation. So that's how we get back to basics.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I I understand that because our uh our tabby Maddie, we've had her about a little over three years. She was she was astray and they found her. She had kittens. So I'm guessing she was probably nine months old at the time, nine months to a year old, and she already had babies. She was a good mother, but but that's that's a lot of responsibility. And it's I would guess it's pretty hard when when a cat has kittens to keep track of all of them to do your TNVR.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And when kittens are getting pregnant, they start going into heat or ovulating at three and a half months. And I know this for a fact because I'm very involved in this process. And we've taken kittens in and they're like, they're they're in heat, they're ovulating. And I'm like, oh my goodness, and they can't fend off 13-pound male cats. So it's it's not a consensual process for these kittens. So, yes, spaying and neutering is absolutely the only way out of this tragedy of suffering.
SPEAKER_00I'm Claude Greer, and you're listening to the Hissing Feline podcast. Joining me on today's episode is Cindy Campbell, board member and volunteer with Friends of Feral Felines in Charlotte, North Carolina. After the break, Cindy will talk about issues communities face regarding community cats and how communities can deal with feral and stray cats. Please stay with us.
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SPEAKER_00Welcome back to the Hissing Feline Podcast. I'm your host, Clark Greer, with today's guest, Cindy Campbell. She's a board member and volunteer at Friends of Feral Felines in Charlotte, North Carolina. Community cats is our topic. How important is community involvement in this process?
SPEAKER_03It's actually critical to us making a difference and saving lives through prevention to alleviate suffering. I always say if you see something, do something. Don't wait. I would love for people to feel empowered and know that they can be a part of the solution. For example, if you're feeding one cat and you don't know if they are fixed, and oftentimes people can tell, not oftentimes, you can tell if a community cat has been fixed by their left ear tip. If you see a left ear tip, it's slightly gone, that means somebody has cared enough and that cat has been spayed or neutered and vaccinated. And it's much more cost efficient and more humane to fix one or two cats versus 10 or 20.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Then you've got the whole trapping issue is how do you how do you get them all, and especially feral cats that don't want anything to do with people and they might be suspicious of looking at a trap. I would think that's a that's a lot of effort to try to get multiples of cats instead of a few cats uh at the beginning of this issue.
SPEAKER_03As an example, I just helped somebody, I started the very end of March, and it took three and a half months. And it was a very, it's it's exhausting because they were they were a very sweet couple. They they this was not something that they do. They were elderly. So we really tried to be hands-on with anybody who you know may have um physical challenges and you know, getting appointments and 12 cats. So and you know, some of them, the initial trapping of that many cats, it can go pretty quickly, but as you're working towards the end, you have to bring in things called drop traps or a setover trap. So you have to resort to other methods to get them.
SPEAKER_00What are the biggest issues that communities face regarding community cats?
SPEAKER_03I would say the lack of awareness at how quickly kittens can get pregnant, how often they can get pregnant, and appointment availability. So anybody in Charlotte definitely go to friendsofheralfelines.org, our website. And we we have a lot of resources that are listed. And then again, if somebody is not in Charlotte, go to Community Cap Central. 10 out of 10 recommend that organization, and they have the workshop certifications.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. You also do education, and there are several different types of education that are listed on your website. I think it would be helpful for people to know what you do because it's not just the trapping, but there's other things involved in having people understand the issue of a community cat.
SPEAKER_03Yes. So we actually host TNVR workshops. So they're in-person workshops. We actually just had one a couple weeks ago, and we had about 20 people show up. So they went away certified. But our goal is if somebody's never done this before, we want to be able to work with them and mentor them. And so one of the ladies who attended, she's like, I'm ready to hit the ground running. So two weeks ago, we started working together. We we started trap training the cats, and a week ago, you know, finding appointments at different locations. I think they ended up going to three different clinics on different days. We've done seven of the cats at her at her property. So education, um, awareness. We on our website, we have low-cost clinics that offer spay and neuter services for community cats. So there's an abundance of resources. We do provide financial subsidies for community cats and injured or ill community cats in the Charlotte area specifically. We do loan traps and show them how to use them safely. And then, of course, when though when we're helping people and we loan traps, we mentor them throughout the TNBR process. Again, we are all volunteers who work full-time. So, and and the volume of requests that we have coming in is just astronomical for people who need help.
SPEAKER_00And you also have a mobile clinic. Uh, a vet with a clinic is is able to go out to a specific location in your area.
SPEAKER_03Yes, we are thrilled about that. Dr. Welch with Community Pets Cats, Community Pets Mobile Clinic, she's phenomenal. She two years ago, we were just scrambling for appointments. We were bleeding out, so to speak. And so Dr. Welch bought this mobile spay neuter truck, and so we're able to coordinate with her. So we actually have a clinic. Um, we have two clinics coming up, one with animal care and control, and then the community mobile clinic on the 23rd and 27th. So people just need to, if they're in Mecklenburg County, go to our Facebook page and it will be announced when those uh clinics are coming up because we do have to register because the doctor, her sweet spot for spaying and neutering is 35 cats in a day.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's a lot of cats.
SPEAKER_03She's incredible. Yeah, she's she's very familiar with what we call HQHV, which is high quality, high-volume spaying and neutering. It's a very efficient process. She's amazing.
SPEAKER_00What should someone do in their area if there are astray or feral cats in their neighborhood?
SPEAKER_03If they're outside of Mecklenburg County or the surrounding counties in Mecklenburg County, I would definitely recommend Community Cat Central. That that website has a wealth of information to help somebody get going on their own. Also, a national organization is Alley Cat Allies. There, they have an incredible wealth of information for community cats.
SPEAKER_00Very good. Uh we talked uh in the first segment about adoption. Uh, how about fostering? Uh, do you also uh are you also involved in that in your area?
SPEAKER_03So, our focus, you know, every organization nonprofit has its niche. And so our focus is on trapmate or vaccinate return. But again, like I said, if we go out to an area and We're like, oh my goodness, it's there's so many cats and kittens. And we know that some of these can use, you know, they are social, they can be social. Um, it depends on our volunteer capacity. And right now we are in desperate need of volunteers who are willing to take our workshop to learn how to do this and be a part of the process because it can be very intensive when you're doing it alone. But if we have, you know, many hands make light work, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, they do.
SPEAKER_03So, you know, somebody can trap. We definitely need a holding location where we can hold a large number of cats overnight. Um, and then also recovering them as well and transporting to and from those are those are all components where we need help. And if we can split it up into segments, we're working on right now doing something differently with our organization, and it's building teams so that, you know, say we're breaking Charlotte up into five or six different quadrants so that people can be zip code focused, because we're going to be more effective if we can target a specific zip code.
SPEAKER_00And that's the importance of community involvement. Everybody needs to get involved in their particular area because they know their neighborhood and they see the cats out there. And I would think that those are the best people to get involved in those types of efforts.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Absolutely, Clark.
SPEAKER_00You have uh some events. You not only do TNVR, but you have some events coming up. Uh and and for the area, uh, you have some clinics later in July. And you also, if people, even if they're outside the area and they want to help, is that you have some wish lists on Amazon and Chewy. Would you talk about those two things?
SPEAKER_03Yes. So you have to remember community cats are not owned cats, right? And they have to be trapped. So when people bring the cats to our clinic, specifically our mobile clinic, we like to be able to send them home with a bag of dry cat food. We want to send them home with wet food, with puppy pads, with uh various supplies that will help them because they've taken time out of their day just like we as volunteers to help these cats because they deserve love and they deserve care and they love help. Just because you can't touch them doesn't mean they don't deserve any of those things. So, yes, we have some on our website on the if you click on the donate button, Amazon and Chewy wish lists are there. And it's just a really nice way to reward these people not only for caring for these cats, to bring them in to be spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and receive flea treatment, but to send them home with some dry, some supplies.
SPEAKER_00Now you do you do a fundraiser, you've got a big fundraiser, and it's actually going on right now. So by the time the show ends, uh, I don't know if that if you're still doing some things in relationship to that. And obviously, you're a donation-based organization, and anytime somebody wants to help, I'm sure those are really welcomed.
SPEAKER_03Yes, I would definitely recommend people check out. I would invite people to follow us on social media. It's Friends of Peral Felines in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jordan's Way is hosting our biggest fundraiser ever. It's gonna be in person July 12th at Birdsong Brewery from 10 to 1, or you can follow along virtually on social media. It's gonna be super fun, and our goal is to raise $15,000, which will provide for the Spay Neuter vaccination and flea treatment for 150 community cats.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's good, that would be a really big help. So if you want more information, again, go to the Friends of Feral Felines website. They're located in uh Charlotte, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. And uh, if you're in that area, becoming involved is a really important thing. And if you're somewhere else in the United States, is to see how you might be able to get involved in uh community cat issues and uh shelters and other things types of things in your area and really help with this uh these issues associated with community cats. Uh many thanks to today's guest, Cindy Campbell, for joining me on the Hissing Feline to talk about community cats and the efforts of Friends of Feral Felines in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cindy, uh work again. Can listeners get more information about your organization's work?
SPEAKER_03Friendsofferalfeelines.org. We have a wonderful website and also Friends of Feral Felines. We have some amazing people. They're volunteers who work full-time managing our social media, both Facebook and Instagram. And we would love people. It's full of educational tips that will help anybody wherever they are in the world with uh information on how to help community cats.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I I gotta say that uh after we visited, I I follow Friends of Feral Felines on uh Facebook, and it really has a lot of very good information and some very intriguing things and whatever you're doing out uh in uh North Carolina. Please tell your friends about the Hissing Feline podcast and leave a review where you listen to the show. Also, let me know about topics you want to hear on the podcast and questions you have about cat topics. The podcast's email address is the Hissingfeline at DurachoCatmedia.com. Duracho is spelled D-E-R-E-C-H-O. Join me next week for another episode of the Hissing Feline. Until then, remember to keep purring.
SPEAKER_02Content on the Hissing Feline Podcast is for information and entertainment purposes only, and is not intended to provide medical, veterinary, or legal advice. Please consult your veterinarian and local and state authorities before dealing with feral and stray cats. Opinions expressed are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily those of Doratio Cat Media LLC. References to products or services do not imply an endorsement. The Hissing Feline Podcast is a production of Doratio Cat Media LLC and has been blessed by our rescue cats, Bridget and Maddie. All content is used with permission or under fair use.