Colony Cats of Birmingham TNR Team for Kitty Kat Haven & Rescue

04/24/2025

Do you see this sad little face right here? This little guy seems to be physically OKish (hungry and dehydrated). He was locked up in a shed since Monday as far as anyone knows. Rescued this afternoon. His foster says he seems so sad. Yeah we’re all guilty of giving human emotions to kitties, but can you feel how scared he had to have been? Crying for his mom? Crying for his siblings? Sitting alone in the dark? No sign of mom or siblings… They probably gave up on finding him and left. Left him hungry and thirsty and scared. This is what happens when cats are not fixed, when they’re dumped, when they’re just abandoned. Kitten season is not cute… it’s heartbreaking. Please spay and neuter. If you feed ferals, fix them. Be a part of the solution. There’s so much information that can be found just by doing a simple web search. And we are committed this season to updating our website to contain helpful information on spay and neuter options that are available to the general public.

04/23/2025

Fluffy and her friend Dumbo have an exciting opportunity! If we can get them vetted they can go to the Lotus Catfe instead of going back outside!

Also, our two girls from Sunday are coming in under our Scratch and Dent program. They also need to see the vet for general work ups.

If you’d like to help us get them seen please utilize our PayPal for donations.

TNR PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/colonycatsBHAM?locale.x=en_US

Thank you ❤️❤️

04/23/2025

I feel like all I do is moan and complain these days, but I’m just at a loss. This jumpy, nervous, sweet cat is number 14 or 15 that has been dumped like trash at our original colony in the last six months. Out of all those cats ONE was neutered. The rest were intact, INSIDE cats, trying to compete with colony/feral cats for resources. If you have ever added a new cat to your family when you have an existing cat think about how it went. You probably separated them for a couple of weeks and slowly made that introduction. They may have hissed and grumbled some, but overall accepted their new family member. It’s not like that outside. The feral/colony cats are territorial. They stand their ground and if you don’t belong? They’re going to resource guard and beat your butt. Especially if the new cat isn’t fixed! This crew does not do well with intact cats. So on top of that, these abandoned cats also have to deal with coyotes, other predators, unfriendly dogs, and cars. They’re confused and sad.

At this point we have filled very nook, cranny, foster home, temporary space with cats. We absolutely and simply do not have room. So, I get to be the bad guy who traps sweet Fluffy below (and her dumped friend! Because yes, there is another) and put them both right back outside after I make sure they can’t add to the population. I can empathize only so much with people. Dumping your animal like trash has to stop. There are other alternatives. I always get hit with “I don’t like the humane society. I don’t want them euthanized”. Well, guess what? Humane euthanasia versus a slow painful death outside is always the better option.

Anyway, that’s my rant. And I’m sorry, but I think we have built a platform where you guys can see the ugly, hard, human side of what we do. And I think it’s necessary. It’s rarely rainbows and sunshine.

04/21/2025

These two babies were left behind after a tragedy. Their dad was arrested for..something terrible we can’t post because I’m sure it would get the post taken down. They aren’t as outgoing as the other three cats in the home were so none of the family members could touch them or grab them. We found them hidden in the eves of an unsifished room upstairs. After a little persuasion (read cussing and squeezing into tight spaces while avoiding cat p**p, roaches, and spiders) one of our team members managed to grab them both. While neither were super outgoing, both were extremely calm in crates and didn’t show an ounce of aggression. We really believe given a stable environment they’ll flourish. Unfortunately, kitten season is here and adult fosters are far and few in between. So, their fate is currently unknown. If you have ever wanted to foster an adult kitty please reach out! Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue has several adults who need foster homes. Adults are more fun to foster than kittens, in my opinion, because they’re predictable. And once they trust you it is like Christmas morning!

*Disclaimer: We went for one cat and then found out there were two. We didn’t have another crate so the grey and white bobtail had to be put in one that was already there. All live bugs were cleaned off of the crate. And he was immediately moved to another one.

04/18/2025

Thanks to the amazing The Lotus Catfe for taking in Toad and his friend Goldie! Go visit them and their new friends 🥰

Toad is a super chill, friendly dude! He has already settled in fairly well and acting like he owns the place, much to the other cats’ displeasure. 😅 Visit him today between 2-7.

04/18/2025

Courtesy post:

Meet Velvet! This stunning girl started life out as a “feral” cat. She obviously has come a long way since then. She is looking for a forever home! Here’s some more information about her:

Velvet's info:
Approx DOB: 7/20/22
Black American Shorthair with stunning yellow eyes
Small adult: wt 8.4 lbs
Neutered, FVRCP and rabies vax at Hope on 3/4/25

She is good with other cats, mostly ignores dogs and interestingly, unphased by children. Uses litter box appropriately.

Contact us if you’d be interested in adding this sweetheart to your family 🥰

04/18/2025

Our sweet Willa Maude is finally on the hunt for that perfect forever family!

She has come so far from the skinny, sickly scared cat left behind in the Hotel Hell room of horrors. She deserves to live a full life being pampered and loved. For more adoption information check out the original post!

Y’all remember the incredible tale of Willa Maude’s survival, after being left alone in a hotel room for 10 weeks? Well, the time has come to find this miracle kitty a happy forever home. She has made an outstanding recovery and is so sweet. She’s a bit uncertain of other cats and may do best as an only cat. Can you help us find Willa Maude a loving home?

Because of some uncertainty about whether she dislikes other cats in general, Willa Maude is available for foster-to-adopt in a home with other cats or available to outright adopt as an only cat. Families within one hour of Hoover, AL, apply to adopt 1-year-old Willa Maude here: https://kittykathavenrescue.org/adoption/

04/17/2025

People never run out of stupid. I didn’t included my response to our awesome volunteer because it was filled with cussing 😅

Despite what some less informed people think YOUR CAT DOES NOT NEED A LITTER OF KITTENS. Especially when you leave those kittens outside next to one of the busiest roads I’ve ever seen. Also, I’ve seen those kittens and cats get run over. Don’t worry, we will still fix them. It’s just gonna look a little more creative.

In happier news the last male cat of the Raven Project was dropped at the vet today! He will no longer be in the baby making business. His wounds will be treated and his past life will soon be a memory.

Let those cats have kittens though. If they don’t become prey or get run over they’ll fight other cats and look like Tom and end up with FIV. I swear some days I just have to manually pick my jaw up off the floor.

04/15/2025

04/15/2025

This sweet little girl was a fighter. She did her best to survive after a traumatic birth. She is now at peace with the rest of her litter.

This is the grim reality of kitten season. It’s not cute. It’s not fun. It’s full of heartbreak and tears and it’s absolutely gut wrenching. We celebrate the wins when we can, but the losses loom over us. For the love of everything fix your cat, your community cats, your neighbors cat, that stray who is pregnant. And trust me when I say it is the most humane thing you can do for everyone involved.

Rest easy sweet Van. 🌈

04/15/2025

We are so excited to be finally posting this update!! Gurlfrand is the adult cat in the pictures below. She is apart of our Helena colony that we fixed 99% of last year. Gurlfrand got really smart really quick and moved to a different house to eat. We never could catch her or her last litter of kittens. Well, this year we were in a rush to get her before she popped again. We successfully trapped her kitten from last year, but no luck on her. And then she gave birth. We stepped back and watched her and the babies as they got bigger. The kittens started eating big kitty food this week so we decided to go ahead and move them into a foster home. But first, we used the kittens to bait their mama into a trap. And it worked!!! Gurlfrand is being spayed today and we can officially mark the Helena Project DONE 🎉

04/13/2025

First Roebuck trap day! These guys will be headed to our catio that was made possibly by all of YOU 🥰

04/12/2025

Our amazing team did their best, but our little boy Tai crossed the rainbow bridge tonight. He was safe and he was warm, but most importantly he was loved. Rest easy sweet boy ❤️

04/11/2025

One of our sweet momma kitties took in two of the Curt kittens yesterday!

While bottle feeders are amazing and do the best possible job they can, it is always best for kittens this vulnerable to be with a mom cat. We are so lucky to have a network of fosters willing to do the tough jobs!

Harmony took on two extra kittens like a boss. This little one took a hot minute to figure out the buffet situation but now he seems to understand how lucky he is.

04/11/2025

Half-Mustache looking regal this morning!

This gorgeous tuxedo gal is from our original colony that started it all. It’s hard to believe these babies are all approaching double digits rapidly. If you can zoom in you’ll notice Half-Mustache is losing a good bit of her fur. We are almost positive it’s a flea/nature allergy. This is the first year it’s happened so I’m not completely sure. What I am sure of is I won’t be touching her to find out (as long as she has something to say about it 😅).

04/10/2025

This week has been incredibly busy. And heartbreaking. I’m going to share some graphic information in this post. If you don’t want to read it, I understand, but encourage you to think about what animal rescuers deal with on a daily during kitten season.

We have told you about Ms. June and her large colony (last count 21) of cats. Curt has been working his butt off to fix this crew. And he has been doing a phenomenal job! But, there have been some new developments. At the beginning of this week he counted 10 kittens under a week old in the colony. Flash forward a couple of days and he messaged me with some awful news. A tomcat had been going around and killing the kittens. He was finding their bodies in different places, some with trauma and some seemingly clean and peaceful. Six out of the ten kittens were gone. After some hard conversations we decided the best course of action was to pull the remaining four kittens. They were all absolutely covered in fleas. Their foster mom is currently tube feeding them and trying her best to get them to hang on.

Second story. We have been trying to trap a very smart female cat named Butters. She had her last litter back near the beginning of winter. We caught all of her babies and her boyfriend! But, not before she got pregnant again. We tried all tips, tricks, and methods, but she just wouldn’t cooperate. So, here we are again. She had four almost three week old kittens. As of two days ago only two have been seen. We think a raccoon may have gotten the other two. But, we really want to believe mom just moved two before she eventually moved the remaining two. Only time will tell unfortunately.

Last story. Our team has been trapping at the OG Roebuck Colony. We have a torti named Pumpkin who has been very trap savvy (drop and regular). She was pregnant, but we thought we had a little more time to get her. Yesterday while trying to trap her their caretaker was doing a routine check on the warming houses. Pumpkin was in one giving birth, got freaked out, and ran off. She laid down not too far away and gave birth to another kitten. Two male cats started harassing her and chased her off. The caretaker placed both kittens in the warming house she gave birth in hoping she would come back for the kittens. After several hours Pumpkin hadn’t returned. The sun was starting to set and we had another tough call to make. We went out to check the kittens and they felt cool to the touch. One also had a very long umbilical cord still attached. So our TNR coordinators scooped them up and took them one. One of the coordinators took care of them overnight and they’re doing fantastic. We are also happy to report Pumpkin came back around and brought two more kittens.

So, what’s the point in sharing these stories? Being a feral cat is hard. There are already other dangers, but add having kittens and more problems than you can imagine crop up. Our takeaway is this: kittens born outside are born to suffer. Sure, some make it. Some stay safe. Some get rescued and everything turns out great. But, the majority of the time there is no sunshine and rainbows. There is unending worry, heartbreak, lack of sleep, tears and regret that we couldn’t do more to save them. Bottle babies fade and nothing we try can oull them through. Surrogate moms are either not available or won’t take to orphans. These stories and the suffering they describe stick with us no matter how many we save. And this is why our group is pro- spay/abort. Kittens shouldn’t be have to be born to suffer. They shouldn’t have to know pain and loss in the very brief existence some are granted. It is truly heartless. So, if you can catch that pregnant cat- spay her. Quit using your heart and think logically about that kitty. Because if she has her babies and they die, are taken away, or she’s forced to abandon them she will grieve. But, if you spay her she will NEVER know what happened and won’t have to grieve. And the little kittens everyone claims to care so much about will never know pain. That is how you save cats. And that is what rescue is.