The Rise in Community Cats: Why It Takes a Village

Across the nation, the number of community cats has been rising. Several factors have contributed to this increase, including a halt in spay/neuter surgeries during COVID, a shortage of veterinarians, and financial pressures that make pet care more challenging for many people. Shelters and rescue groups are stretched thin, doing their best to help but often unable to keep up with the growing demand. That’s why every effort from community members is invaluable—and why stories like Blackie’s are so important.

Blackie Finds a Guardian Family

This story began when a local family spotted Blackie and her six kittens hiding in the bushes near their home. Although Blackie was a feral cat, they felt compelled to help her and her kittens. As they explained: “Although they are not our pets, we felt a moral obligation to care for them as responsible individuals who value animal welfare.”

The family’s first goal was to bring Blackie and her kittens somewhere safe, so they carefully guided the little family into their garage. They worked diligently to socialize the kittens, giving them the best chance for adoption, while also respecting Blackie’s preference to stay wild and free.

The Challenges of Community Cat Care

The family knew that Blackie would need to be spayed to prevent future litters, but she wasn’t an easy catch. When the time came to trap her, Blackie resisted—smartly avoiding the trap despite the tastiest treats. After missing her first spay appointment, the family kept trying. With our support, they were able to secure another spot at the clinic, and on October 8, Blackie finally went in for her spay surgery.

Following her procedure, the family kept her in their garage a bit longer to give her time to recover fully. When she was ready, they released Blackie back into their yard, where she now roams, ear-tipped and healthy, marking her as a spayed community cat.

A Happy Future for Blackie’s Kittens

But the family’s efforts didn’t stop there. They worked tirelessly to find homes for each of Blackie’s six kittens. Soon, all the kittens will be coming in for their spay/neuter appointments, ensuring this entire family has a bright, healthy future.

The Power of Community

Blackie’s story is a beautiful reminder that it truly takes a village to care for community cats. With shelters facing unprecedented challenges, community members like this family play an essential role in helping animals in need. By taking in Blackie and her kittens, finding homes, and making sure each cat is spayed or neutered, this family made a lasting impact.  A huge THANK YOU goes out to the family!

On this National Cat Day, let’s celebrate the community members who make a difference and encourage others to help however they can. Whether it’s adopting, fostering, or even helping to trap and transport a community cat for spay/neuter, every action counts.

Thank you to the compassionate individuals who step up for animals in need—and here’s to a future where every cat can live a healthy and happy life.

The post Blackie and Her Kittens—How One Family Stepped Up for Community Cats appeared first on Napa Humane.

Today, the Napa Humane Clinic is staffed by licensed veterinarians and skilled, professional veterinary support staff.  Between 2021 – 2023 we spayed/neutered over 13,000 pets, microchipped over 4,000 animals, and provided affordable vaccinations to over 11,000 companion animals in order to keep our pet population healthy and safe.

Napa Humane has been part of the community for over 50 years.  Below is a brief timeline of our history:

• • 1973 – Founded
  • 1990- Acquired Spay/Neuter Clinic
  • 2001 – Shelter razed, forcing a re-examination of our goals, programs, and strategies
  • 2002 – Shift to prevention-focused efforts, turning our focus to bigger-picture solutions that help keep pets out of shelters in the first place
  • 2023 – Celebrated 50 Years

Our belief

We believe that the answer to the problem of homeless, abandoned, and neglected companion animals lies in changing attitudes and practices that lead to irresponsible pet ownership. Our programs and services are designed to address the needs of companion animals – but also to provide support, education, and assistance for the people who care for and about them. Because the humane treatment of companion animals is such an important indicator of healthy communities, we’ve grown to consider Napa Humane a community service organization.

Our Impact

Since 2002, when we refocused our efforts on prevention, we have seen a steady decrease in the number of companion animals surrendered at the Napa County Animal Shelter.  We are confident that our strategic direction and mission will continue to drive those numbers even lower.

Our Programs

Today, our programs have grown beyond being the only low cost spay/neuter clinic in Napa County.  Our work includes the following:

• • Weekly drop in affordable vaccination/microchip clinic

• • Spay/Neuter services for Community Cats (Learn More HERE)

• • Humane Education, including Napa County classrooms presentations, free subscriptions to Kind News and free community education events hosted at the Napa Humane Education Center.

• • Pet Education Center & Dog Training Classes, available in both English and Spanish.

• • Pet Behavior Help and Support

• • Community Wellness Clinics dedicated to assisting Napa County’s underserved populations, these clinics address critical barriers to accessing veterinary care, including socioeconomic constraints and language barriers.

• • The Napa County Animal Shelter Medicine program provides comprehensive medical care to animals in care of the Napa County Animal Shelter.  This program helps reduce animal stress, shorten shelter stays and assists NCAS in managing their cost of care.

• • The Services for Unhoused program plays a crucial role in promoting responsible pet care and strengthening the human-animal bond. By facilitating essential veterinary care, grooming, and training services to the pets of the unhoused, we help maintain the health and well-being of both animals and their owners.

Join us in advocating for a more humane and compassionate Napa County, strengthening human-animal bonds to enhance the quality of life for both our animals and our community.  Napa Humane is supported 100% by donations, grants, and fundraising events. We do not receive money from national animal organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA. We do not receive government funds. We could not do the life saving work we do without the generous support of our community.

The post Celebrating a Milestone in Napa Humane History! appeared first on Napa Humane.

Understanding Kitten Season

Kitten season typically spans from early spring through late fall. While kittens are undeniably adorable, this period poses significant challenges:

• Overpopulation: A sudden increase in the cat population can lead to overcrowded shelters/rescue groups/foster homes.
• Resource Demand: The need for food, medical care, and space skyrockets.
• Health Risks: Young kittens are highly susceptible to diseases and require intensive care.
• Adoption Urgency: There’s a pressing need to find loving homes for the influx of kittens.

The Power of Prevention: Spay and Neuter

At Napa Humane, we believe that prevention is the most effective strategy to manage and mitigate the challenges of kitten season.

Here is why Spay and Neuter Matters:

1. Reducing Overpopulation

By spaying and neutering community cats, we prevent the birth of countless kittens that would otherwise add to the seasonal surge. Each surgery performed means fewer kittens that will require shelter, food, and medical care.

2. Enhancing Community Health

Spaying and neutering not only helps control the population but also contributes to the overall health and well-being of community cats. These procedures reduce the risk of certain diseases and prevent behaviors associated with mating, such as fighting and roaming.

3. Building a Compassionate Community

Our efforts are not just about numbers; they’re about fostering a compassionate community. By reducing the number of homeless cats, we lessen the strain on our shelter and enhance the quality of life for both the animals and our neighbors.

How You Can Help

The work we do would not be possible without community support. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Donate: Your contributions help us continue providing these vital services and expand our reach.
• Advocate: Spread the word about the importance of spaying and neutering pets.
• Foster or Adopt: Open your home to a cat or kitten in need.  There are an abundance of cats and kittens in need of a foster or forever home.  Be sure to reach out to one of our local rescue partners if you are interested in fostering or adopting!

Click here for more information on our spay and neuter service.  If you would like to learn how you can support our mission, click here.  You can help us continue to make a difference, one spay or neuter at a time.

The post Making a Difference This Kitten Season appeared first on Napa Humane.

Our PAWS program is a partnership with Napa County Health and Human Services, Abode (The South Napa Shelter) and Napa Humane to provide services for the pets of the unhoused. Napa Humane’s Case Manager works with Abode clients to connect them with necessary pet-related services – such as veterinary care, grooming, and Napa Humane’s own spay/neuter, vaccination and training programs. We refer pets with non-preventative medical needs to another vet in town. Napa Humane’s Friday Vaccine Clinic has helped resident pets caught up on vaccines and microchipped.

We are particularly grateful to have met one of the Abode dogs when we did. When she came in for her spay and we began operating, we discovered she had a pyometra – a serious and life-threatening infection of the uterus, for which the only cure is a spay. This spay surgery allowed us to save this sweet dog’s life. Through our PAWS program, we have scheduled 10 more dogs and cats for spays/neuters at our Clinic over the next month.

The savings for our clients using our preventative services, instead of a full-service veterinarian, are immense. For example, the partner vet that we have negotiated a discount with still charged $80 for a vaccine we offer for $15. We are glad that your donations and support help individuals save money, and redirect their funds in ways that address the other significant financial challenges one may be facing.

While Napa Humane staff spends most of our time with clients at Abode, we also recently added office hours at the North Napa Shelter (The Motel 6) and the Valley Lodge Apartments, where permanent housing has been made available to formerly unhoused people. Providing permanent housing at these two locations has allowed people with families and pets to come in off the streets together – and stay together. Demand is high for veterinary services at these two new locations and our staff is working hard to connect residents with the services their pets need.

Meanwhile, Napa Humane’s Shelter Medicine program continues to improve life for our local animals by providing veterinary rounds at the Napa County Animal Shelter (NCAS). Dr. Vance has already completed 138 rounds this year, conducting countless labs and bloodwork, setting up a ringworm quarantine, dispensing prescriptions, performing necropsies, and working on protocols and directives.

Dr. Vance will be making more frequent visits to NCAS once kitten season begins, as there will be a huge spike in feline residents. We’ll continue to neuter male cats on these days, to help shorten their length of stay in the shelter. Keeping stays short is critically important for NCAS. The longer the stay per animal, the higher the costs to the shelter. The longer an animal is confined, the greater the demand for sufficient space, interaction and environmental enrichment to prevent confinement-related stress and behavioral disorders. Quicker access to veterinary care also reduces a pet’s length of stay; the faster we can clear them from medical concerns, the faster they can head out with their adoptive family.

We’ll end with this photo of Napa Humane’s Dr. Vance and an NCAS assistant, examining a cat that was brought in with a huge abscess on his head. Dr. Vance was able to treat the abscess, neuter the cat, and get him out of the shelter to start living his best life.

Thank you for supporting Napa Humane, and empowering us to do this important work!

And thank you, Dr. Vance for being an amazing Veterinarian! 

If you’d like to make a donation to help with our Shelter Medicine or PAWS programs, please click here.

The post Saving Lives and Opening Doors appeared first on Napa Humane.

Clinic Staffing

We have hired a new Clinic Assistant Manager, Hayley, who comes to us with management and animal welfare experience. I am beyond excited to add this depth to the Clinic team, and have been busy re-arranging the Clinic office furniture and loading her computer so we will be all set to welcome her on Tuesday the 27th. 

We also have a new Vet Assistant/Client Services Coordinator starting Monday. Esai will be filling the shoes of Hilda, who is starting Registered Veterinary Technician school in March. We wish her well and hope that she re-joins us once she is certified! One of our former full-time RVTs is helping out while we continue our RVT search. Happily, we are in talks with a great RVT candidate and hope to offer her a position soon.

Internships

Two new interns from New Tech High School joined us this month, spending 4-5 hours each week working and learning with our staff. We have also laid all the plans needed to welcome a new intern in March, in partnership with Moving Forward Towards Independence. We have worked with Moving Forward quite a bit in the past to provide Paid Internship Programs, which allows them to pay adults with developmental disabilities in order for them to gain work experience. Our Moving Forward intern will be joining us for 16 hours a week for 6 months. She comes to us with a passion for animal welfare and some experience in the field already. 

Shelter Support with Napa County Animal Shelter

In addition to the general veterinary rounds, disease control, feline neuters and education that we provide to the Animal Shelter staff at each visit, we have been able to jump to the rescue in some interesting cases this month. The Shelter recently rescued 38 chihuahuas from a single home. When the vet that the Shelter usually contracts with said that they do not provide health certificates for animals, we were able to step in and quickly provide exams and health certificates for 20 of the dogs, so they could be transported to an out-of-state shelter. 

Believe it or not, there are some parts of the country where chihuahuas are rare, and enterprising California shelters like ours will often transport these dogs to the states where they are coveted and very quickly adopted. We also were able to see a few of these dogs for their neuter surgeries, so they could be put up for adoption locally. I am happy to report that besides needing some serious socialization, they were in fairly decent shape.

Additional Shelter Support

Our Humane Education Manager, Alyssa, provided an hour-long training for employees of Abode (the shelter for unhoused humans), the County and some of the team at the Animal Shelter. She spoke about behavior, the use of muzzles, general safety and addressed the staff’s questions about safety and how to handle the frequently recurring situations that arise with some of the larger canine residents at Abode. Alyssa has also provided a few one-on-one sessions with a couple of the Adobe residents, who needed assistance with their dogs’ behavior so they could fit in and co-exist peacefully with the other shelter residents.

Through our new PAWS Program for the Pets of the Unhoused, we have provided 3 spay/neuter surgeries for this population in the past week. Our case manager holds office hours at Abode each week so we can meet with the residents and discuss their needs. Most of the visits are for food, warm pet clothing and general veterinary care. The County has already asked us to expand this program to include serving the residents at the new Motel 6 shelter, and another Abode-related housing complex on Coombs. We are excited to make this work.

Dog Training

Napa Humane’s dog training courses and workshops are in full swing, with Alyssa teaching 5 classes on Sundays, and 2 per night Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We held three special one-time workshops in February, and finished our first “Tricks ‘n’ Treats” and “Intro to Dog Sports” classes this month – and the dogs did awesome! Clients have requested that these be offered regularly, and we hope to be able to oblige.  Check out all of our dog training classes here!

Other Clinic Updates

In beautification news, we have added new gravel to the Clinic parking lot, as the non-asphalt portion was quite bare and incredibly muddy during times of rain. Van Winden’s Landscaping was kind enough to discount and deliver the product. We also owe a special shoutout to Salvador from Taqueria el Rey (a delicious food truck parked near the Clinic), who saw the pile of gravel, recruited a friend to help, and came to our rescue – spreading the truckload out for us. Our Clinic Manager’s husband generously pressure washed the outside of the Clinic, and everything is looking so much better. Next up: a few beautification projects on the inside of the Clinic, including some caulking and a painting refresh.

2024 Wellness Clinics

Our Wellness Clinic program aims to remove the language and financial barriers that can often stand in the way of pets receiving care. Due to a lack of veterinary volunteers and a few other extenuating circumstances, we unfortunately had to cancel our planned February wellness clinic. Even so, we were able to provide significant essential services to the targeted population. So far, we have seen 22 pets for spay/neuter at our clinic and have provided free microchips, vaccines, flea meds and nail trims to those clients. We have an additional 23 pets scheduled for surgery next week. Being able to reach 45 pets for spay/neuter and other life saving services is huge, and has made a real difference in supporting this pet population.

Spay/Neuter and Vaccination/Microchip Clinic

In addition to all of the above, we are methodically working our way through a fully booked spay/neuter calendar. The Clinic has performed 288 spay/neuter surgeries in just 17 surgery days so far this month (at the time this was written) – an average of 17 surgeries EACH DAY. At the four Friday microchipping and vaccination clinics this month, we also treated 259 pets – more than 64 animals per day, on average. Our incredible Clinic team is running like a well-oiled machine, saving lives and improving others every day.

I leave you with this photo of Harry, a community cat who was neutered yesterday under our Feral Cat Package, and who is already well on the way to living his best life.

Lisa Alexander

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