Saving Community Cats - Rescue Photographs

Saving cats in your community protects the feral, stray, or abandoned cat from living a life of hardship. 

 I have been saving cats for the last 10 years with the help of my husband and two of my neighbors.  We watch all cats to find out if they have a home, if we determine if they are feral or a stray and then we will bait a live animal trap. When the cats are trapped we will take them to the veterinarian.

Image credit:  Alley Cal Rescue

 All cats that have been trapped, are examined by the veterinarian.  They are also tested for Feline Leukemia and Feline immunology virus.  They receive all preventative shots, including a vaccination for the prevention of feline leukemia.  The cats are wormed, treated for pest infestation; with a dosage of revolution and then they are spayed or neutered. We also have all cats tagged with microchip and all ears are clipped to help us to identify the cats.

As feral cat colony caregivers we  try to rehabilitate all cats.  Feral cats that are willing to be socialized will start a socialization  program.  If the feral cats are unwilling to give up their wild ways then they will remain in the colony and will be watched daily by the colony cat caregivers.

Here are some photographs of the cats that have been spared a life of hardship. I saved these cats with the help of my husband and two neighbors that volunteer their services to watch for feral kittens in the community and to care for the cats in the colony in the forest on a daily basis.
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All photographs by Susan Golis© Please do not copy.

Abandoned Siamese Cate, rescued when he was skin and bones. We call him Sam he is a FeLV survivor

De-clawed cat was abandoned in the woods by my home.  She had been in a fight and could not defend herself because she had no claws.  We call her lucky Lucy as we were able to trap her and save her life.

Baby feral cat trapped at 7 months old, socialized and living with family

Daisy feral kitten trapped at 12 weeks old socialized. She lives with me

Bob adult male, knows his name will come if called, lives at the feral cat colony

Rescued when she was 8 weeks old, took her out of a tree

Black feral kitten born 6/2009 he was killed by neighbors dog on the day I set up the trap. Tabby kitten saved, socialized and adopted.

Adult Woodland feral cat comes to winter feeding station occasionally

Stray cat at winter feeding station

Gracie was rescued;  she was left on bitter cold day (9 degrees) Gracie was rehabilitated and adopted

Lucy, fought off wild animal to save her kitten.  Trapped and received medical care.  Lives in Colony

Rescued abandoned kitten and adopted into a forever home

5 month old kitten comforted after her miscarriage.  My husband rescued her.

Wounded feral kitten trapped for medical care

Feral cat and kitten at feeding station.  Both were trapped spayed or neutered and kitten socialized.

Lost Bengal mix cat reunited with master

Cat and Kittens Trapped for Medical Care

A queen cat with her kittens came to our shelter.  The  cat had the good sense to realize that she needed our help as she had been wounded from fighting off a wild animal that threatened her kittens.

We needed to trap the injured queen cat and her kittens but this was not an easy task because this feral cat knew how to enter the trap without setting off the lever that closed the trap door.

After several days of trying to trap the queen cat and her kittens the trap door closed and we rushed mother cat and kitten to the animal clinic.

The injuries were extensive and the infection was terrible.  The veterinarian recommended putting both cats down but I said no, I asked them to try to save their lives.


I asked my veterinarian if she would heal and he said yes, that it would take time. The vet-technician who cares for both cat and kitten remarked that both cats were calm and showed no aggression to humans which is uncanny for feral cats.

Both cat and kitten underwent medical care for 21 days.  Upon release I cared for them at home for an additional 10 days by administering their treatments and feeding the cats grain free quality cat food with antioxidants to aid in keeping immune system strong. 

The adult queen cat was approximately two years old was released to return to the colony after she had finished her home care treatments. Orange tabby kitten that I called Charlie was socialized and I adopted him.  



Photograph of Lucy the feral cat at woods colony: 

Lucy in Thicket Den

Lucy at Feeding Station winter 2011

Lucy survives summer heat wave 2011

Lucy Late winter 2012