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The Community Cats Podcast

The Community Cats Podcast

The Community Cats Podcast 688 episodes Nov 10, 2026

The Community Cats Podcast is a show dedicated to improving the lives of free-roaming and community cats. Each episode offers education, practical information and dialogue aimed at creating a supportive environment for people who care for cats in their neighborhoods. Guests typically include veterinarians, trappers, shelter workers and colony caretakers who share advice on TNR, cat health and advocacy. The goal is to empower listeners to take effective, humane action for cats where they live.

Episodes

Ep 690: Pay It Forward: The Simple Move That Turns Hesitant Vets Into TNR Partners, with Denise Bynum, Director or Homeless Animals Relief Project (HARP)
Ep 690: Pay It Forward: The Simple Move That Turns Hesitant Vets Into TNR Partners, with Denise Bynum, Director or Homeless Animals Relief Project (HARP) Nov 10, 2026 32:50 "We pay ahead. That gives them some confidence that they're not gonna lose out with a group they don't really know." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Little Guest House. Many TNR groups can't get a vet to say yes. Denise Bynum has nine vets working with her. Her approach is to pay ahead. When HARP starts with a new clinic, she puts $500 on account and tops it up
Ep 689: Breaking Down the Silos Between Vets and Cat Advocates, with Jamie Falzone, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and MVMA Charities
Ep 689: Breaking Down the Silos Between Vets and Cat Advocates, with Jamie Falzone, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and MVMA Charities Nov 3, 2026 27:56 "Sometimes it just takes one clinic in one area saying, 'I have this amazing relationship with my local community cat resource. You should all be doing this.'" This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Neighborhood Cats TNR Certification. Jamie Falzone calls the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) "the voice of veterinary medicine in Massachusetts," and in th
Ep 688: The Alien in Your Living Room: What Cats Really Need, with Dr. Katie Hankins, Veterinarian and Founder of Savvy Enrichment
Ep 688: The Alien in Your Living Room: What Cats Really Need, with Dr. Katie Hankins, Veterinarian and Founder of Savvy Enrichment Oct 27, 2026 25:37 "They're not actually trying to scratch your couch and cause disaster. They're just doing what cats do." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Dr. Katie Hankins has been a veterinarian for nearly 30 years, and much of that time she's spent on behavioral medicine, where the root issue usually turns out to be unmet needs rather than a "bad" animal
Ep 687: Trapping Colonies, Not Cats, with Julie Morriss Community and Outreach Associate for Animal Birth Control Clinic
Ep 687: Trapping Colonies, Not Cats, with Julie Morriss Community and Outreach Associate for Animal Birth Control Clinic Oct 20, 2026 26:36 "If you're not doing targeted trapping, you're working too hard. You're working way too hard." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Julie Morriss has 30 years in animal welfare behind her, but the Summerlee Sustainable Solutions Grant Program still changed how she works. After taking the Community Cat Program Managemen
Ep 686: The Free Helpline Keeping Cats in Their Homes, with Matt Wildman, Founder and Director of National Cat Behavior Helpline
Ep 686: The Free Helpline Keeping Cats in Their Homes, with Matt Wildman, Founder and Director of National Cat Behavior Helpline Oct 13, 2026 33:25 "In terms of surrender prevention, this is low-hanging fruit. It costs nothing." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Matt Wildman grew up with as many as nine rescue dogs and didn't have a real relationship with a cat until he was 26. That's when he met his girlfriend and her six cats. One of them, Shirley, licked him
Ep 685: Feeding Plans, Not Feeding Bans, with Danielle Bays, Senior Program Manager for Cat Protection and Policy at Humane World for Animals
Ep 685: Feeding Plans, Not Feeding Bans, with Danielle Bays, Senior Program Manager for Cat Protection and Policy at Humane World for Animals Oct 6, 2026 29:26 "We're not hiding in back alleys in the dark at night. We're out there on the streets, on the front lines, and we're in city hall." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Danielle Bays planned to be a veterinarian until a cat with his leg caught in a leghold trap was left in the parking lot of the clinic where she worked
Ep 684: Building TNR That Lasts: A Data-Driven Model From Penang, with Daniel Leung, Co-Founder and CEO of Catsoterra
Ep 684: Building TNR That Lasts: A Data-Driven Model From Penang, with Daniel Leung, Co-Founder and CEO of Catsoterra Sep 29, 2026 36:20 "In truth, we prove statistically how little funding is needed to create a real impact." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, TNR Training Workshop Presented by Neighborhood Cats, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Daniel Leung got into TNR the way many of us do. He worked on a farm in college, ignored his manager's warning never to feed the stray cats, and soon
Ep 683: They're Not Spicy, They're Scared - Handling Fearful and Aggressive Shelter Cats, with Berlin Waters, Founder of The Spicy Cat Project
Ep 683: They're Not Spicy, They're Scared - Handling Fearful and Aggressive Shelter Cats, with Berlin Waters, Founder of The Spicy Cat Project Sep 22, 2026 28:08 "Cats aren't spicy. They're not mean. They're just scared." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Berlin Waters grew up in a house full of cats, with a mom who handled TNR for the neighborhood, and she's been a cat lover ever since. That lifelong interest led her to a master's in shelter medicine, where her research foc
Ep 682: Too Small Is Not a Diagnosis, with Jordyn Purpura Feline Director, Yolo County SPCA; Strategic Advisor, Orphan Kitten Club; Clinical Researcher, Vernau Laboratory at UC Davis
Ep 682: Too Small Is Not a Diagnosis, with Jordyn Purpura Feline Director, Yolo County SPCA; Strategic Advisor, Orphan Kitten Club; Clinical Researcher, Vernau Laboratory at UC Davis Sep 15, 2026 22:22 "When we say age is not a disease, we also mean it for the youngest." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator. Jordyn Purpura started out smuggling orphaned raccoons into his childhood bedroom. Twelve years of neonatal fostering later, he's in his final year of veterinary school, chasing a gap he kept running into from bot
Ep 681: Making the Case for TNR Without County Buy-In, with Eve Salimbene, President of Street Cat Project of Polk County
Ep 681: Making the Case for TNR Without County Buy-In, with Eve Salimbene, President of Street Cat Project of Polk County Sep 8, 2026 28:07 "Today's inside cat is tomorrow's outside cat." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Eve Salimbene spent her career in the legal field before moving into animal welfare 26 years ago — and by her own admission, she was a dog person until she landed in Polk County, Florida. There she found a county with groups working on dogs and essentially noth
Ep 680: Small and Mighty: Inside Jersey City's Feral Fixers TNR Club, with Robyn Alcock & Jen Scott, Co-Founders of Feral Fixers TNR Club (Jersey City, NJ)
Ep 680: Small and Mighty: Inside Jersey City's Feral Fixers TNR Club, with Robyn Alcock & Jen Scott, Co-Founders of Feral Fixers TNR Club (Jersey City, NJ) Sep 1, 2026 35:56 "It's okay to be small and grassroots." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Robyn Alcock and Jen Scott joined host Stacy LeBaron to talk about Feral Fixers TNR Club, the Jersey City nonprofit they co-founded in 2024 alongside Kathryn Parker after years of trapping independently. In just two years, the all-volunteer group — who all keep full-ti
Ep 679: Running on Empty: Compassion Fatigue and Grief in TNR, with Jen Blough, LPC Licensed Professional Counselor & Author
Ep 679: Running on Empty: Compassion Fatigue and Grief in TNR, with Jen Blough, LPC Licensed Professional Counselor & Author Aug 25, 2026 32:41 "It's about knowing your limits, knowing where you are energy-wise, time-wise, resource-wise, and just doing what you can — and knowing that is enough, and that is making a difference." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Neighborhood Cats TNR Certification Workshop. Jen Blough returns to the podcast after nearly a decade away — she was featured in the show's first fif

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