If you are reading this column, I can safely assume that it is due to your love of cats. Our purring four-legged family members bring so much love into our lives, wouldn’t it be nice to extend some of their good fortune of food and medical care to their brethren on the streets?

During the holiday season, we are all bombarded with requests for donations. Picking and choosing the non-profit that touches your heart is not always that easy. There are so many worthy organizations that are in desperate need these days, why not choose one that squeezes the most out of each dollar that comes in. I am speaking, of course, of Catalyst for Cats. Being a local group, it’s nice to know your money will be staying in Santa Barbara County.

We take direct donations of cat food (kibble: Purina Cat Chow Complete, Purina Kitten Chow, or Costco; wet: Friskies Mixed Grill), old sheets, and towels and, of course, we are always in need of volunteers to trap, schlep, and foster, especially in Santa Maria. Currently we are in desperate need of barns for ferals that must be relocated. We cannot trap until sites are found and we have two colonies of approximately six-eight cats each that must be moved asap. Please call us if you can help.

Not a single person on our all volunteer staff is paid; all the money goes for the cats. We stretch what monies do come in by searching online for the cheapest supplies and free shipping.

We are fortunate enough to have a veterinarian on board who gives us substantial discounts for services. Even so, surgery and medication costs pile up, especially when there are medical emergencies or chronic illness. We do whatever we can to heal what can be healed and to find good homes for all, even those which, though healthy, end up imperfect but still loveable.

Our dedicated fosters are very experienced in caring for kittens, many of which are ill or injured. Besides the daily basics, minor procedures such as worming, administering vaccinations and subcutaneous fluids are also required. Many of us have brought a kitten back from the brink of death, watching and waiting until it becomes healthy enough to be adopted out. We, too, love cats and respond to their suffering and needs with all we can give.

Those felines which must remain on the streets due to lack of social skills, are helped through our Trap-Neuter-Return-Maintain (TNRM) efforts. This program identifies colonies of feral cats, usually through tips from people such as you, and then we go to work. We trap the cats, take them in for surgery, vaccinate for diseases, worm them, treat for fleas, give a general once-over and release them back to their home territories. These colonies are then maintained with food and monitored for injury, illness and new faces until natural attrition gradually reduces their numbers to zero. This program also helps the human communities within which they live by reducing the number of unwanted kittens that appear each spring and summer, and the fighting and spray-marking of the toms during mating season.

Any young kittens found are removed and place into private homes for socializing, and then good forever families are found through our adoption process. Each kitten requires hours of hands-on loving and copious amounts of food and litter. They also need worming, flea treatments and vaccinations besides being spayed/neutered before we let them go. It is not unusual for kittens to require medical treatment, especially those that are born under very poor conditions with a momma who is, herself, often in poor shape from having too many litters and not enough food.

Years ago kitten season lasted about seven-eight months, spring through fall, giving us tired volunteers a much needed break. Nowadays with the climate changing, it is nearly year ‘round and this depletes our coffers along with our energy.

If you are fortunate enough to be in the position and of the mind to help Santa Barbara County’s feral cat/kitten population by donating to our cause, we have made it easy. Through our website we now take credit card and PayPal and you can even donate your car to us though Cars for Causes. Being a 501c3 non-profit, all donations are tax-deductible, including our adoption fees.

You will sleep well knowing that even a small amount will feed a hungry cat somewhere in our slice of Paradise.