My name is Cindy, and I love cats. Never in a million years did I think I would do something so “awful” like trapping a cat. This is my origin story.

At the end of 2010, my partner and I moved into a neighborhood and three weeks later we were invited to a neighbor's for Thanksgiving dinner. As we walked up the driveway with flowers and wine, we spotted not just one, two or three cats but SEVEN. As the evening progressed, I asked about them. An elderly neighbor across the street from my neighbor had been given a kitten. When he was moved into a care home, the kitten was left to fend for herself. 

With a heart full of compassion, my neighbors did what any kind person would do - they began feeding the little cat, and one became seven. I didn’t know at the time what the reproduction cycle was for cats, but I knew I needed to do something. The dilemma was my neighbors couldn’t touch the cats. That evening, I went home and googled something like… how do you fix cats you can’t touch?

I learned about the humane method of TNVR (Trap. Neuter/spay, Vaccinate, Return), and I signed up to take a class in the Spring of 2011. What an education! 

Multiple tragedies occurred in my life that year, and I navigated my grief by helping my nextdoor neighbors with the seven cats they were feeding. I then started helping another neighbor and eventually the entire neighborhood. I would come home from work and take care of my cats and dog and then go out armed with a plan and traps. In the early hours of the morning, I would load up the cats and take them to one of many clinics. After dropping them off, I would rush home to shower and head to work. 

By the time I worked my way through the neighborhood, almost 100 cats had been fixed. I then offered to help people in my zip code. I did the majority of the work because most of my neighbors were elderly. Many donated sheets to be used as trap covers, others donated newspapers and other supplies to be used in transport and recovery. If I couldn’t get off work, some helped with transport. It was a community effort.

Since moving to Charlotte, numerous times I have heard and read, “contact Friends of Feral Felines ‘they’ can help” when someone mentions a freeroaming cat. I am one of “those” people. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, an accountant, a neighbor. I love cats and never imagined I would trap them. I have wanted to stop trapping because I don’t enjoy it. I keep going because I volunteer with some amazing people here in Charlotte, NC. We celebrate our successes, console one another on the days when the heartbreak is real, and we support each other in our shared journey to save lives through prevention to alleviate suffering. We need help; we need YOU! 

I’m inviting you, this Giving Tuesday - December 2nd, to sign up to volunteer with Friends of Feral Felines, sponsor a caretaker by buying food from one of our wish lists, or support our work through a tax deductible financial contribution. If you are on social media, follow us on FB or IG and tag your family, friends, and colleagues who are fellow cat lovers. We need everyone in our community to help us help our neighbors help cats in their backyards and beyond.

This Giving Tuesday, December 2nd, let’s Love Local, Give Local, and SPAY LOCAL.