Adopt a River Cat

Adopt a River Cat Trap-Neuter-Return, cat rescue and cat welfare Founded in 1997, Adopt a River Cat (A.R.C.) Over the last two and a half decades, A.R.C.

is a no-kill organization based in the Fox Valley area that is dedicated to the spaying and neutering of feral cats and rescue of kittens born to feral cats. Born outdoors, these cats have adopted an extreme distrust or fear of humans, and as such cannot properly be rehabilitated as household pets. These homeless community cats tend to form colonies, where they interbreed and soon a population exp

losion occurs. The traditional reaction, or solution, to this problem has been to trap and kill the cats, but as it is a very costly method, it is only done in spurts, and as such, barely makes a dent in the population while opening new opportunities for colony growth. has been committed to providing a humane alternative to this method, by placing adoptable cats and kittens into no-kill shelters, or by following the standards of Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (TNVR). This approach mandates that feral cats be trapped, sterilized, and returned to a managed colony where food, shelter and medical care is provided.

I think I like this indoor thing.
11/27/2025

I think I like this indoor thing.

All in a day, a kitten returned from foster because of fighting with his crate mate and not being nice to the foster! We...
11/25/2025

All in a day, a kitten returned from foster because of fighting with his crate mate and not being nice to the foster! We felt that it was affecting the other kitten’s taming process and will need to find a separate foster for him. TNR kitties trapped and a previous TNR’d kitty (queen mom) pulled from animal control turned in due to an injury to her face. She has our microchip and was returned to us. She has a vet visit tomorrow at our wonderful vet Bristol Veterinary Clinic.

When we are out doing our work with the community feral cats and kittens pounding pavement and driving, which is the nat...
11/25/2025

When we are out doing our work with the community feral cats and kittens pounding pavement and driving, which is the nature of our work, we are outside all the time, and saw this fellow. Those of us in rescue have this thing where we can tell if an animal is cared for or if they need help. And we never turn a blind eye to an animal in need, or assume a roaming animal is being cared for. There were a few more clues that he was not being cared for after I stopped, including him trying to eat small rocks on the pavement under a bridge he was hanging out by. After gaining his trust I was able to secure him, and a called Aurora Animal Care and Control and confirmed I could bring him there, they have a contact that specializes in rescuing chickens and were able to help intake this fellow.

During the car ride over with this sweet rooster on my lap I started feeling things crawling on me. At a stop light I parted his feathers and could not believe what I saw, I have never seen so many moving things on an animal’s skin. I asked my son, who was in the car with me, to search the internet for light colored fleas. The results said mites. This poor fellow had a massive infestation of mites. We made it to Aurora Animal Care and Control and he is on his way to being rid of these parasites sucking the life out of his body.

Had I just assumed he knew where he was and wasn't lost he would not have gotten help and I do not believe he would have survived much longer without food and with the infestation he was dealing with. They truly find us, rescuers, and those of us who pay attention and care.

Happy Friday! Sharing some kitten love.😻
11/22/2025

Happy Friday! Sharing some kitten love.😻

Mika has graduated from the catio to free roaming in the house. She is a purr-monster, she loves to be held and loves pe...
11/16/2025

Mika has graduated from the catio to free roaming in the house. She is a purr-monster, she loves to be held and loves pets. Our shelter partners are full and we would love to get her into a loving home. We will be placing her on Petfinder and are sharing her here with our supporters if anyone is looking for a loving kitten to add to their family. She is not afraid of small or big dogs.

We finally got “Old Man” thanks to resident Jen who yrapped him tonight. He has a bad case of diarrhea, we are treating ...
11/16/2025

We finally got “Old Man” thanks to resident Jen who yrapped him tonight. He has a bad case of diarrhea, we are treating him for the two main parasites that cats typically have and he will have a vet visit this coming week and get all the care he needs. We will heal him up and do what we do best for the feral cats. And maybe he will just decide to become tame. If not, he has a wonderful caretaker in Jen and her mother if he has returned.

We have had 20+ surgeries in the last month and a half, it feels good to be up and running again! Thank you everyone for your continued support! Many kittens to still get to and we need fosters badly.

The shelter cats love the dogs crate 🤷‍♀️
11/13/2025

The shelter cats love the dogs crate 🤷‍♀️

11/10/2025

The things we say to shelter kitties…tonight I asked our nest maker ( = mess maker) kitten who she works for that I was going to talk to her boss. I have no idea where that came from I am not one to tell on others 😃

Last year it was black and white cats and kittens, this Fall it is black kittens! Mom is black too! Great job resident J...
11/06/2025

Last year it was black and white cats and kittens, this Fall it is black kittens! Mom is black too! Great job resident Jen who worked on trapping this baby and her mom. She is also trying to help find where the other kittens are locating. We are always thankful for residents help because it helps us be able to do so much more.

We are also looking for a foster home for these 3 4.5mo kittens. They need a space where their hiding behaviors can be c...
11/02/2025

We are also looking for a foster home for these 3 4.5mo kittens. They need a space where their hiding behaviors can be corrected (so they would not be crated and the room cannot have any hiding spots that they cannot be reached) - so they need lots of playing time with them to help build their confidence around people. They do well with holding but could also each benefit from more holding time. Can you find the third one in the pic 😄. Please message us if you can help!

11/01/2025

FOSTERS NEEDED: We have 8 black older (3.5mo) kittens (yes ALL black!) that need foster homes to make them ready to go to our shelter partners for adoption. They need holding, play time and to learn how to be out and about comfortably in a house with confidence (not doing hiding behavior that they learn outdoors for their safety). They will need to be crated (we provide crates and all supplies) with only supervised time outside of the crate for holding time and playing. We really do not want to have to put these kittens back out! The other option besides putting them back out in the colony is long term crating - well that’s just not fair to them (not to mention stressful for them) or the others we could rescue but wouldn’t have the space to (shelters do have only a certain amount of space, our space is not infinite, that is why foster homes are so vital to every rescue. So, for TNR groups it becomes is either finish their socialization process - which many times we need foster homes for like in this case of 8 kittens from one site, or return them back to their colony outdoors.

We have more kittens of this age coming in as well due to having to stop trapping for a period of time due to needing to isolate the garage shelter from having distemper cases in July. So we will have more pleas for foster volunteers in the near future as well!

Please message us if you can help. Thank you everyone for your continued support of our work.

Address

3900 Gabrielle Lane, # 6654
Aurora, IL
60598

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