The Community Cats Podcast

Stacy talks with Elizabeth Finch, a member of the board of directors and full-time marketing and communications volunteer at Good Mews Animal Foundation in Marietta, Georgia. Elizabeth comes from a varied professional background and began donating her time to Good Mews after early retirement. “It’s my full-time gig,” she tells Stacy, “and I love it more than anything I’ve ever done.” Stacy and Elizabeth discuss Good Mews’s five-year-old shelter, which is focused on cage-less space, as well as an appropriately separate kitten, intake, and isolation spaces for the 100+ cats that are housed there. The new shelter also has a state-of-the-art surgery suite. That, combined with the hiring of a high-volume spay/neuter veterinarian, put the organization in a great spot to take on expanding into helping community cats, and in the latter half of 2019, Good Mews took over the Cobb County Community Cat program from Best Friends. To learn more, visit the Good Mews Animal Foundation website, or follow them on Instagram or

In this episode, Stacy talks with Mary Howard, the community cat coordinator at McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga, TN. The program started in 2018 with a grant from Best Friends Animal Society and since inception, the organization’s return to habitat releases has gone up by 145%. Stacy and Mary discuss the many programs McKamey offers, including a barn cat program, kitten nursery, trapping services, a pet food bank, low-cost vaccine clinics, and an on-site feral colony for cats that cannot safely be released back to the areas in which they were trapped. McKamey is connected with the city’s animal control services, and Mary talks with Stacy about how she works with animal control, and how she maintains good relationships there. Mary also shares some trapping tips and tricks, and discuss how, from 2018 to 2019, the organization’s save rate increased by 12% to 90%. To learn more, visit McKamey’s website, where you can click on “Services” and then “Community Cats” for information about the Community Cats Progr

Stacy sits down with Mary Tan, owner and chief storyteller at Whisker Media, a boutique strategic communications agency that focuses on marketing and public relations for pet-related businesses and animal welfare nonprofits. Mary, who previously worked as a news reporter and in government communications, is also the public relations manager for Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, Minnesota, which is one of the country’s largest open-admission shelters. Mary and Stacy talk about why it’s important even for small organizations to capture and leverage stories, and why it’s important for all groups to have relationships with the media. Mary talks about the concept of “newsjacking,” and gives some advice on how to contact and start relationships with your local media. She also talks about press releases and when to use them, and tells groups that “You need public relations and marketing.” To learn more about Whisker Media and contact Mary, visit the Whisker Media website.

Karen Little, featured previously on CCP Episode 17 and Episode 112, joins Stacy to discuss the new things going on with the organization she and her husband founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1999, Alley Cat Advocates. In the 21 years since its inception, ACA has altered over 50,000 community cats and has worked to transform the culture of care provided to community cats in the region. Stacy and Karen talk a bit about how Karen and her husband came to the idea of TNR and starting ACA, and about how they accomplish their spay/neuter numbers. Karen tells Stacy about ACA’s new facility and their relationship with the city of Louisville, which includes a municipal contract with the city. Karen shares some advice for people thinking about how to change the culture for community cats in their area and reminds us all that sometimes, “We have to get outside of our comfort zone to help the cats.” For more information about Alley Cat Advocates and the work they do, visit their website. You can also feel free to email

In this episode, Marian Pekar, a software developer based in the Czech Republic, joins Stacy to talk about My Nine Lives, a game he is developing to raise money for cat-related charities. Marian became involved in cat charities after adopting Max, a stray kitten, and earlier this year, he decided to use his skills and passion to find a way to help support those charities. Marian and Stacy discuss My Nine Lives, in which the player takes on the role of a cat trying to survive by hunting prey and avoiding predators. He explains that it will be suitable for all ages, as there are no gory scenes. He also tells Stacy about how the game will generate revenue through a “pay as you wish” model, and how he will distribute the game. To learn more about My Nine Lives, visit the game’s website, where you can sign up to be notified when the game is released, and watch a trailer for the game. You can also follow Marian’s progress on Twitter.

Stacy sits down with Lora O’Connor, Executive Director of The National Kitten Coalition (NKC), in this episode to talk about the organization, and about its partnership with Community Cats Podcast on the Online Kitten Conference. Lora has been working in animal welfare for 20 years and is an animal behaviorist. She talks about how things were for cats 20 years ago, and how she felt cats just weren’t getting the same resources dogs were. “We needed to elevate their status,” Lora says. Lora and Stacy discuss the upcoming Online Kitten Conference and the importance of continuing education in the animal welfare world. NKC offers many webinar training sessions, particularly around caring for neonatal kittens, and they are working to expand their resources for shelters, foster homes, and others. “We want The National Kitten Coalition to be the number one place that you go to when you have any questions kitten-related,” Lora tells Stacy. To learn more about The National Kitten Coalition and access their webinar arch

In this episode, Dean Killingbeck of Pets Strong CBD joins Stacy to discuss CBD and Pet Strong’s products. Born and raised on a farm, Dean developed a deep appreciation of nature and herbal medicine, and when his senior dog began to develop mobility issues, Dean decided to try CBD. The results were positive, but Dean was dismayed by the quality of products available for pets, and by the misinformation, he found online. So he decided to start his own company and write a book to help educate pet owners about how CBD can help pets. Dean explains to Stacy what CBD is, how the products you see on the market may differ from each other, and why some are better than others. Dean and Stacy talk about the issues that CBD tends to be the most helpful with, including pain/mobility issues, anxiety, skin and coat issues, and loss of appetite. Dean tells Stacy what you should look for in a CBD product, and they discuss some tips and tricks on how to give CBD to cats—plus Dean offers CCP listeners a discount code on their fi

The multi-talented Arden Moore joins Stacy in this episode to discuss all things C-A-T. Arden is a radio show host, author, professional speaker, editor, media consultant, dog/cat behavior consultant, and a master pet first aid instructor. She and Stacy discuss the details of her podcast, Oh Behave, hosted by PetLifeRadio and selected by Oprah as one of her top three favorite pet podcasts for the past two years. Arden was a reporter and editor at a major newspaper for 20 years before she got into the pet field, and when she did, she realized there was one big thing missing from many training programs: safety—so she set out to change that by becoming a master certified instructor in pet first aid. Arden and Stacy talk about Arden’s cat Casey, her “teaching partner,” who is also a certified therapy cat. Arden believes strongly that cats can learn to do amazing, fun things that are also great for enrichment. As she puts it, “You’ve got a really amazing being there in your house who purrs… let’s work his noodle!”

In this episode, Stacy sits down with Julie Posluns, the founder and owner of Cat School, an online training school for cats that uses clicker training to teach fun and practical behaviors and strengthen the bond between cats and their human in the process. Julie, who is a trained animal behaviorist, worked entirely with dogs until a small black kitten showed up at her back door. The cat, now called Jones, convinced the humans and the dogs in the family that he should stay—and he soon showed an interest in the training Julie was doing with her dogs. Julie began training Jones as well, and the rest is history! Stacy and Julie talk about what clicker training is, what its benefits are, and how this kind of enrichment differs from other types. (Hint: This kind is good for both of you!) Julie explains that clicker training is based on positive reinforcement, and she talks about what her program consists of, how the plan works, and how it can work in different situations (training for fun vs. training for behavior

Award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker Tina Traster, previously featured on CCP Episode 186, joins Stacy again to update us on her documentary, Catnip Nation. The film advocates for TNR through the stories of four Good Samaritans caring for community cats around the country. Since being on CCP a couple of years ago, Tina has taken Catnip Nation on the film festival circuit, where it won several awards and has successfully landed a distributor. The documentary is available on DVD, and Tina is in the process of getting distribution on streaming services. Tina and Stacy discuss the need for TNR to become a more widely recognized issue that is taken up by local officials, and how TNR advocates can best work with municipalities. “What we need in this country,” Tina says, “is a grassroots movement where it becomes imperative for politicians to recognize the role of a municipality in supporting TNR.” To learn more about Catnip Nation or to order a DVD of the film, visit the Catnip Nation website.

In this episode, HSUS Senior Analyst for Cat Protection & Policy Danielle Bays joins Stacy to talk about what’s going on in the world of cat policy issues. Danielle, who has chatted with Stacy in CCP Episode 55, Episode 261, and Episode 293, also shares details about the upcoming HSUS Expo conference. The conference will be held in San Antonio May 6–9 and will feature a whole track devoted specifically to cats. Stacy & Danielle goes on to talk about the major focus lately in the U.S. on concerns about cat declawing. They also discuss the HSUS’s upcoming publication of a revised guide to community cats for municipal officials. Danielle also talks about ways listeners can get involved in advocacy, including attending the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington D.C., which will be held July 25–26, 2020. To learn more about current advocacy issues around cats, or about HSUS Expo and other educational opportunities, visit Animal Sheltering, the HSUS website focused on the shelter and rescue com

In this episode, Stacy is joined by Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization. Camille also hosts the Animal Justice’s Paw & Order podcast, which was reviewed in the CCP blog back in February. Stacy and Camille discuss what’s going on in Canada with regard to cats, including the fact that, as Camille puts it, “People are really waking up to the idea that cat declawing shouldn’t be a practice that we allow any more in society.” Stacy and Camille also chat about community cats in Canada, how Camille would like to see the government give more support to community cat-related issues, and about the relatively new legal concept of putting an animal at risk. To learn more, visit the Animal Justice website, where you can also link to the Paw & Order podcast. You can find out more about Animal Justice’s conferences, which are open to everyone—not just lawyers—at the Canadian Animal Law Conference website.

In this episode, Stacy chats with Elaine Spencer and Melanie Gardner from T-Town TNR, an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to resolving the feline overpopulation crisis in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since 2015, the organization has spay/neutered over 3,700 cats. Elaine is the group’s lead support for grant writing, and together, she and Melanie serves as the group’s IT consultants. Elaine and Melanie talk with Stacy about how they became involved with TNR, and with T-Town in particular, and they discuss the importance of data as it relates to getting grant funding and running an efficient organization. T-Town utilizes a free software program called AirTable to coordinate their spay/neuter appointments, track colonies, microchips, and equipment, and to track requests for assistance. The software updates in real-time and can be accessed in the field via cell phone, as well as by veterinary offices with which T-Town is connected. T-Town has seen an incredible improvement in efficiency and data collection now that they uti

In this episode, Stacy speaks with Alisse Russell, founder and executive director of Puff (Paws Up for Felines) Cat Rescue, Inc., a recently launched grassroots group with an ambition to grow into a nationwide rescue network. Puff Cat is dedicated to helping solve community cat overpopulation, and Alisse, who currently works in the human mental health field, is working toward becoming a humane education specialist. Alisse and Stacy discuss what Puff Cat hopes to do, which is to reach smaller, independently run rescues so that those groups can expand their reach and get the support they need. The aim is to create a whole new social network for people in this field so they can communicate directly with each other. A dedicated CCP listener, Alisse is currently working with CCP Episode 330 guest Lizz Whitacre of Pawlytics on a software platform. To learn more about Puff Cat Rescue, visit their website, Instagram, or Facebook pages. You can also visit Alisse’s Instagram page.

In this episode, Stacy talks with Lori Behrman, who runs the day-to-day operations of the Toby Project, including the mobile spay/neuter clinic. Lori has been with the Toby Project since Day One, and she considers her work not just a job, but a mission. She tells Stacy about how Dr. Andy Kaplan, founder of the Toby Project (CCP Episode 339) inspired her to get involved eleven years ago, and about how much she has learned since then about the concepts of spay/neuter, no-kill, and pet overpopulation. Stacy and Lori discuss the specifics of how the mobile clinic operates, the work it’s currently doing in Yonkers (in addition to its normal work in New York City), and the clinic’s staffing model. They talk about the challenges of running a mobile clinic, including winter weather and equipment issues. Lori notes that “it is an expensive endeavor to run a mobile unit,” and suggests that anyone thinking of starting one takes the time to talk with others who have already done so to learn all they can. To learn more ab

In this episode, Stacy chats with community cat caretaker Debbie Chatenever, who walks several miles each day to feed the community cats in her area. Debbie gets the cats the medical care they need at her own expense, and she shares with Stacy the story of how she got involved with caring for her local community cats. Stacy and Debbie also discuss how beneficial a support network could be for Debbie and others like her, and they talk about Debbie’s strong belief that there needs to be accountability around abandoning cats. Debbie tells Stacy about how she talks with the children she meets in her neighborhood as she feeds, and how she shares information with them about community cats, spay/neuter, and how we can help. To learn more about Debbie and the work she does, or to reach out to her, please email Stacy.

Jill Tucker, CAWA and CEO of the California Animal Welfare Association (CalAnimals), joins Stacy in this episode to talk about her career in animal welfare, which stretches back to 2002. They talk about how Jill ended up in animal welfare after being in the software industry for many years. Jill & Stacy also discuss CalAnimals—how it came to be, the role it plays in the state, and how Jill came to be in a leadership role there. They talk about the diversity of resources in California and the challenges that presents, as well as about community cats and how Jill facilitates work between groups with different approaches to the issue. To learn more, visit the CalAnimals website. You can also email Jill directly with questions—she’s always glad to connect with others in animal welfare!

Britney Fox Hover, the shelter director at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS) in Salisbury, Massachusetts, began at MRFRS as a volunteer in 2009. In addition to now running the group’s shelter and medical programs, Brit also oversees the adoption program, including a very successful Feline Leukemia (FeLV+) adoption program. Brit and Stacy talk a bit about how Brit came to love cats and get involved at MRFRS, and about MRFRS’s history and programs and what makes the organization unique. As Brit puts it, MRFRS “took in animals that other shelters maybe just didn’t know a lot about or didn’t have resources to care for,” including FeLV+, chronically ill, and behaviorally challenges cats. Brit and Stacy also discuss the MRFRS’s FARS program, a financial assistance program for lower-income owners of injured or ill pet cats, and how that program helps keeps cats in the loving homes they already have. “You see the stress and the heartbreak that goes along with surrendering a pet … for the people and fo

In this episode, Stacy speaks with Dr. Andrew Kaplan, the veterinarian behind New York City’s The Toby Project. Andrew has been an animal advocate since he was a child. Stacy & Andrew discuss Andrew’s journey to becoming a vet and how he came to learn about and become involved in pet overpopulation—including the touching story of Toby, the dog who put a face on the overpopulation issue for Andrew. The Toby Project has a mobile spay/neuter clinic that splits its time between doing surgeries for low-income pet owners and for feral cats (through TNR-certified rescuers). Andrew would like to devote more of the clinic’s time to feral cats, as he feels like those are the animals who truly have no other option. He and Stacy discuss the challenging aspects of running a mobile clinic, feedback from other veterinarians, and the struggle of expanding the model, as well as the other animal-related advocacy work Andrew does. “I’m into advocating for any animal in any circumstance,” he tells Stacy. “I happen to be medi

Mario Abore, the founder and owner of Square Paws, a cat furniture design company, sits down with Stacy to talk about how Square Paws came to be. Mario, an architect by trade, designs all the furniture as art that your cat can inhabit, and it is all hand-crafted in the United States. Square Paws donates 10% of their proceeds to animal welfare. Stacy and Mario discuss the free-roaming cat rooms that Square Paws designed for the North Shore Animal League America in partnership with Beth Stern, in honor of Billy Joel. Square Paws has designed several other shelter facilities, and Mario talks about the process of learning what kinds of materials do and don’t work in a shelter environment, as well as how much he’d like to do more shelter projects. To learn more, visit the Square Paws website, check out their Instagram and Twitter feeds, or call them at 844-577-7297. You can also email Mario directly. To see the cat rooms at the North Shore Animal League America, check out the Square Paws blog post about the projec