The Colony Cat Advocates

08/03/2025

A HUGE shout out to Sandi Paws Rescue Inc. for once again stepping up and stepping in to help end the crisis of homeless cats and kittens in our streets.
With limited space and the sheer volume of strays, TNR, and SpayNeuter transport we are tackling at Critter Junction Pet Rescue... now, there is another option for the maternity moms.
Let's face it. Oops happens! With a lack of (owner) time to get scheduled spay appointments, in time; with the available appointments filling so fast or booking out too far; with a lack of financial resources to pay for those appointments; with a lack of knowledge on how soon (less than 4 months old) a cat will get pregnant; and with a lack of understanding about how badly an intact cat will insist on getting pregnant... these cats should not have to become homeless because an "oops" happened!
With the rescues, it's not about charging fees to get them in and fees to get them out. It's not about cherry-picking the highly adoptable. It is about who needs the rescue and the help. It's about what we can do to make the biggest difference.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if the only pets in the homeless system were the ones who truly need to be there.
Making a difference, one life, one litter, one kitten, and one mom at at a time.

05/03/2025

Still waiting!

In our small local kitty group, there's an INCREDIBLE couple who has opened their hearts to foster cats in need of homes! They have dedicated their time to ensure these cats receive the veterinary care they desperately needed after being discovered struggling to survive on the streets of Menominee, enduring harsh weather conditions. We need your help to find these deserving felines their forever homes, so they will never be let down by humans again 💔

Meet Bella, a fluffy long-haired female tabby who was living under a deck in Menominee for months where our group has already trapped and fixed over 40 cats! 🤯

Now that she is inside, she is a true cuddle bug! Although she has a shy side and tends to hide in noisy environments, she thrives best in a calm and quiet home.

She's an excellent companion for anyone seeking a sweet and gentle feline friend who appreciates the simple comforts of home. With patience and love, Bella's shy nature blossoms into a loyal and affectionate bond.

Unfortunately Bella was declawed by her previous owner 😞. Declawing changes the mechanics of the paw, altering the cat's gait and causes chronic pain.

https://littlebigcat.com/physical-consequences-of-declawing

04/03/2025

Do you have neighbors feeding cats that are unfixed/without ear tips? ...

Sometimes, even those who love community cats (and are feeding them) don't know about TNR or understand why TNR is so important. Educating them about TNR benefits the cats & caregivers! As the saying goes – If you feed them, fix them.

If you need information or brochures to give to caregivers with unfixed cats about the importance of TNR, please reach out to us or tell them to follow us on Instagram or Facebook!

03/03/2025

02/03/2025

Two of our friends had a very bad day yesterday.

Mackenzie’s apartment complex caught on fire with 2 cats inside. They are MIA 💔

Roshelle’s duplex exploded and 1 cat jumped out of a broken window and is MIA 💔

Please share!

Hunter & Sly: Manitowoc
Annie: De Pere

27/02/2025

What kind of rescuer are you?

Quality or quantity- which rescue style is best?

Janelle got involved in rescue after finding three feral kittens. She couldn't catch them, so she called her veterinarian for advice. He recommended buying a trap at the feed store and taming the babies so they could be adopted into homes. Janelle didn't know anyone who did trapping, so she Googled how to do it. It was definitely a newbie trapping, with two going into the trap and the third one snatched by hand as he was eating next to his mom. She earned a nasty bite from that rookie move, but that didn't stop her from being bitten by the trapping bug. Soon she was the proud owner of 3 traps and she was actively looking for sites to trap.

Karen's journey started as a foster parent for a shelter. Her family would take one cat or one litter at a time and take care of them until the shelter was ready to put them up for adoption. When she started sharing the cute pictures on Facebook, people began contacting her to see if she would foster kittens that they found. With a little work, they would be adoptable. She wanted to help, so she reached out to a rescue for help with trapping. Soon, they were calling her with sites to trap. "We can loan you traps if you take on this colony." She enjoyed helping, but it was taking a toll on her family. There were fosters in every spare room and sometimes she would be finishing up a trapping instead of going to her daughter's soccer game. Or cancelling a date night with her husband because she was searching for the kittens. After a late evening trying to do homework in the car while his mom monitored traps, Karen's son accused her of caring more about the cats than her family.

Lucy learned about trapping when some volunteers came out to TNR her mobile home park community. She offered to help monitor traps and soon she was fostering and trapping independently. Disabled and on a fixed income, she had to use a local community cat clinic that altered cats free with an ear tip. The cost of food and litter stretched her budget so far that she started racking up credit card debt. A single emergency vet bill would mean that she couldn't pay the rent on her trailer space, so she had to limit her involvement to food, litter and gas to drive them to the free spay neuter clinic. Still, she couldn't say no to the hungry cats on her porch.

Fast forward ten years and only two were still actively trapping and fostering.

Janelle began doing high volume TNR. After work she would do sites with 15, 50 or even 75 cats. They would be fixed and returned to their colony. She would often keep a litter of kittens to socialize, but her small condo had only one bathroom and that was her only space to foster. At first, she would contact shelters and other rescues to see if they could take some, but the answer was always no. So, she had to make the difficult decision to TNR kittens and tame cats if her bathroom foster space was occupied. At least they were fixed! She didn't like it, but she simply didn't have room to take in dozens of cats at a time.

Karen also continued trapping, but only a few times a year and she rarely took in fosters. She realized that she had crossed over from prioritizing her family to prioritizing cats. But the kittens that were in her care won the foster care lottery. She could easily cover vet bills for emergencies and every kitten left her home healthy and well socialized.

Lucy had to step away from trapping and rescue entirely. She wanted to continue helping but found that just feeding the strays was a financial burden. She was still paying down her maxed-out credit card and praying her trailer didn't need an emergency repair. She fed the strays, but that is all. It was time to take care of herself.

All trappers are limited by three finite resources: time, space and money. Janelle lacked space, Karen lacked time and Lucy lacked money. Emotional resources are impossible to quantify, but they are just as important. Logically, we all understand this but that doesn't stop the judgment. If you are part of a rescue community, these comments won't surprise you.

"I think it is just HORRIBLE that Janelle TNR's (Trap-Neuter-Return) cats or kittens that could potentially be socialized and placed in homes. Those adorable orange kittens didn't need to be ear tipped and returned. She doesn't care about the individual cats!"

"Karen can't be bothered to trap any more. I asked her to trap that colony in her town but she said she couldn't do it. How much trouble is it to trap cats that are just 10 minutes from home? She just doesn't care."

"Lucy is feeding a cat with a huge abscess. She needs to step up and take that cat into a vet! She obviously doesn't care."

Which rescue style is best? The style that works with your resources! Identifying your limits is impossible when you are looking at a starving stray or a kitten with goopy eyes so choose a time and place without any emotional triggers.

-How many hours can you reasonably devote to rescue? Consider the time you need for family, friends, work and your own pets.

-What space in your home can you commit to fostering or holding for recovery? If you run out of foster space and start holding foster cats in additional parts of your home, how will that affect the quality of life of your family, your pets and YOU!

-How much can reasonably spend on rescues? Nobody should guilt you into paying for a $3000 dental if you don't have the spare cash to pay for it. And that "nobody" includes you!

Once you identify your limits, make clear boundaries and stick to them. Share your new boundaries with the people who are close to you so they can help you stick with it.

Nothing kills the joy of rescue more than criticism, so be kind to your fellow rescuers. Some people prioritize quantity because they are focusing on preventing as many kittens as possible. Others prioritize quality and do a fantastic job with fewer cats. Instead of criticizing, support your fellow rescuers as they create the boundaries needed to make rescue work with their limited resources. You may not approve of another rescuer's style, but you don't know their limits. And if your criticism causes them to leave rescue, the cats are the ones who will suffer.

26/02/2025