News

Alley Cat Advocates has received grants totaling $55,000 from the  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as part of their initiative to provide funds to those animal welfare organizations severely impacted by the COVD-19 crisis.  The funding received will fund low and no cost spay/neuter surgeries for community cats. The funds will also help provide medical care to those cats who come in for surgery who are sick or injured.  During these challenging times, is it especially gratifying to have the ASPCA's generous assistance. Relief &Recovery Grant Press Release - Alley Cat [...]

Lori Marshall enjoys serving her community through the great work we do at Alley Cat Advocates. As an Alley Cat Advocates volunteer, Lori has connected with community members and caretakers. Her upbeat personality is perfect for greeting visitors and answering questions or concerns. Lori finds real satisfaction in seeing all of the cats that we are able to help. Aside from loving cats, Lori’s hobbies include refurbishing furniture. We are thankful to have dedicated volunteers like Lori. 

In 2020 3,677 cats were spayed or neutered at the Community Cat Complex. That is definitely something to celebrate. We moved into the Community Cat Complex in February and did no spay or neuters in January 2020. Then a global pandemic caused shut downs, staff furloughs and an abbreviated surgery schedule. Through all of the challenges and growing pains Alley Cat Advocates continues to make a difference every day.

If you shop at Kroger please consider supporting Alley Cat Advocates through their community rewards program. All you have to do, is visit www.kroger.com/communityrewards, and select Alley Cat Advocates (QL501). Then every time you shop and use your card, Kroger donates to Alley Cat Advocates. The last quarter shows that we have 999 supporters and just under $5,000 in rewards. Will you be the 1,000th supporter and get us over $5,000 each quarter in rewards? It is an easy way to make a big difference! Sign up today!

Fancy Nancey's caretakers reported that his tail just hung behind him like he couldn't move or raise it. At first, it was difficult to find any injuries, but an x-ray revealed a fracture in his spine. The fracture is above the tail, but by amputating most of his tail, the pressure and weight have been removed and the fracture can heal. Fancy Nancey is now able to move his nub and seems to be pain free. Donations are needed to provide extra care like x-rays and additional surgery and hospital care. Please donate to provide [...]

The goal of the Petsmart Charities grant was to spay/neuter 2000 cats in a single targeted Louisville zip code, 40215. The intake of cats from this neighborhood was the highest in Jefferson County, a statistic attributed to both the socio-economic demographics of the area and to its proximity to the Metro Animal Services campus. After spaying/neutering only 800 cats in this zip code, the intake numbers at Metro Animal Services decreased by 51%! Metro Council member Marianne Butler, who represented 40215, also saw a decrease in the calls, complaints, and cat-related issues in her district. [...]

Meet Teresa Kruse. Teresa has been a volunteer at Alley Cat Advocates for several months. Teresa consistently volunteers every week and her help is especially valuable to the veterinary team. Teresa does an amazing job at helping prepare supplies, surgical packs and laundry. Teresa, along with several others, make sure that everything we need to do the surgeries each week is prepared. Teresa enjoys working alone with her earbuds in while she folds laundry just as much as she enjoys the team atmosphere of the office work crew. A retired Flight Attendant, Teresa considers herself [...]

   Luke Rollins joined the Alley Cat Advocates team of volunteers at the beginning of 2020. He was seeking a volunteer opportunity that would allow him to build his resume, but he has found a community of cat lovers and a mission that he supports. Luke has tried several areas of volunteer work, including recovery and check-in, but found he really enjoys discharge and transcribing. He is able to use his skills in coding to help him transcribe the many calls that Alley Cat Advocates receives. Luke also hopes to continue to learn and is [...]

Many volunteers learn about Alley Cat Advocates because they are caretakers. After they experience the program for themselves they are excited to join the team. Some, like Sandra Kunzler, Caretaker turned volunteer, Sandra Kunzler, knows all about what it takes to care for community cats. Sandra once managed multiple colonies consisting of over 30 cats total. She worked to trap, transport, feed and provide medical care for 13 years. She even picked up extra work at one time, just to make sure that the cats were all cared for. She is currently down to 7 [...]

When they brought him in for a neuter, Mr. Pink's caretakers didn't know why he seemed to squint and rub on his left eye. Upon examination, our team quickly diagnosed him with entropion. This condition is where the eyelid actually rolls inward allowing the hair around the eye to irritate the surface of the eye and over time it can cause infections, damage and even vision loss. It can also be very painful. Surgery is required to repair the eyelid and the cost can range from about $1,000 to $2,000 on average. Fortunately, our surgical [...]

Alley Cat Advocates is excited to announce that the Bernice Barbour Foundation has awarded the organization a grant of $15,000. These funds will go to support the spaying and neutering of cats in Jefferson County. “Recognizing the need to humanely reduce the community cat population through spay and neuter efforts and by supporting our efforts where the need is greatest, the Bernice Barbour Foundation once again demonstrates their ability, as their mission statement makes clear, to make the lives of animals happier and healthier,” says Executive Director Karen Little. Alley Cat Advocates extends their thanks [...]

Alley Cat Advocates was founded in 1999.  Karen and Hoyt spent a year creating a strong infrastructure for the organization and the first surgery was performed in October, 2000. During the first month of operation, the group performed twelve surgeries.  Karen and Hoyt managed the group from their home, fielding four or five phone calls each week. Slowly, the program began to expand. In 2005, they realized that many of the cats who had been spayed or neutered, ear-tipped and vaccinated through the Alley Cat Advocates program were being picked up and euthanized by Metro [...]

Chrissie Lowe has been a faithful volunteer at Alley Cat Advocates since July 2019. Chrissie loves meeting the caretakers at check-in and discharge. It makes her really happy to see that the cats have homes with loving caretakers. It also means that she isn’t tempted to adopt too many cats! Chrissie came to Alley Cat Advocates because she loves cats and wanted to volunteer. She has found that she loves helping the cats and their caretakers. Chrissie currently has two awesome cats. She works full time as a plant controller (accountant) for a printing company. [...]

Kathy Hall and Henry C. Hall, the rescue kitty Kathy Hall has been volunteering with Alley Cat Advocates for about 10 years. In that time, she has helped at the Big Fix and she currently helps with “office work,” which consist of anything and everything that needs to be done around the Community Cat Complex. It all started when Kathy herself had a couple of community cats that needed to be fixed. She enjoys meeting people like herself who want to do whatever they can to help cats. Kathy still feeds one of [...]

Thank you so much to every one that came out and picked up a winter shelter to keep the community cats you feed warm this winter. We gave away 76 shelters stuffed with straw, and ready for community cats to enjoy. If you missed out we have some step by step instructions available to build your own shelter. Try this simple plan to build a winter shelter for your outdoor cats. It is simple, inexpensive, and your kitty will purr with delight. Visit our community cat center for easy ideas and instructions

It's been a challenging year for everyone, but we’re proud of the work our staff, supporters, caretakers, donors and others have done to keep us moving forward. To commemorate all that hard work, we’ve designated Nov. 15-21 Alley Cat Advocates Week! Usually, we would include an in-person gathering but of course, due to the pandemic, we won’t be able to do this year. Instead, we’re going to spend this week across social media letting you know about the supplies we need to continue our work. Consider it a “supplies drive” – and it’s an easy way to [...]

Alley Cat Advocates' online store offers several options for gifts that will delight the recipient while providing support for Alley Cat Advocates' work. Like it or not, masks are a part of our every day lives for now. So, you might as well wear one that shows off your love of cats. With a donation of $45, you can receive your choice of one of these adorable hand-made masks. Shop our apparel store for a variety of logo wear options that show the world that you love cats! Tees, tanks and sweatshirts are all available. [...]

The cats at the Community Cat Complex love to see Betty Overstreet. Over the years, Betty has helped with the Big Fix, trap distribution and return, surgical recovery and surgery pack preparation. Her current volunteer jobs include lots of clean up – trap washing and breakfast with the kitties. The morning after surgery the cats are awake and ready for breakfast and lately Betty has been helping to get them fed. Betty learned about Alley Cat Advocates from a good friend and saw the need for trap-neuter-return in our community. She loves that she can [...]

Alley Cat Advocates was founded by Karen and Hoyt Little.  In the 1990s, Karen and her husband Hoyt lived in Old Louisville.  Karen was employed at the nearby University of Louisville, and she enjoyed walking to and from work.  During these walks, she noticed several stray cats and, because they were thought to be homeless, she began bringing those stray cats home with her.  After filling their house, and also filling the homes of their friends and family, Karen and Hoyt realized that adoption was not the solution to the stray cat problem.  They also [...]

Alley Cat Advocates (ACA) has received an emergency grant from the Kentucky Colonels. The funds will be used to purchase a surgery light to be used in the surgical suite of the Community Cat Complex. Additional funds will also provide for 150 spay/neuter surgeries for cats in the community. The funds will help ACA reduce the number of cats euthanized in local shelters by providing spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, and veterinary care.

The little tortie girl came in for a spay over a month ago, but was unable to have surgery. Her abdomen was full of fluid and our veterinary team was very concerned. Ginger was sent to an emergency hospital for further evaluation. Doctors there saw problems with her kidneys and heart and the outlook was bleak. We were devastated that there was so little hope for such a young cat. But the hospital team continued to try and to the amazement of everyone she pulled through! While she recovered, the mystery remained - what was [...]

Cathy Miller is relatively new to the Alley Cat Advocates Board of Directors. Having just joined the organization this year, she is excited to bring her skills to the board knowing that she can help steer the organization and support fundraising efforts to continue the great work of helping community cats lead better, healthier lives. She is a full time Realtor with Coldwell Banker McMahan and a proud wife to Capt. Andrew Sasse of the St. Matthews Fire Department. They are now empty-nesters, except for three horses (Domino, Chaos, & Earring), a cat (Meow), and [...]

For the last 6 months Rosie Scott has been faithfully helping keeping fresh laundry on the shelves at the Community Cat Complex. Rosie is a cat lover, that believes in the great work that Alley Cat Advocates does in the community. All of the volunteers at Alley Cat Advocates are a vital part of the team that makes the work of spaying/neutering and providing care for community cats happen. This includes doing mountains of laundry every day! Rose is the oldest of seven children in a close-nit family. She is retired after 24 years at [...]

The Alley Cat Advocates 2021 Calendar has arrived. Pre-orders are being shipped, but there are still a few calendars left in stock. These beautiful, cat-filled, full-color, wall calendars make the perfect gift or stocking-stuffer for friends, family and co­-workers. Remember, supplies are limited. So order your copies today. All proceeds from the sale of the 2021 wall calendar will be used to provide spay or neuter services, vaccinations and medical care for community cats in our region.  Order yours here!

HAPPY ENDING UPDATE: Hope is doing great!  She is scheduled for her spay surgery next week and her caretaker is looking forward to having her home!   A few weeks ago Alley Cat Advocates was faced with a difficult decision.  A young cat came in for TNR services that was clearly struggling to breathe.  When the veterinary staff further examined her, they found that she had pyothorax, an accumulation of bacteria filled fluid around her heart and lungs.   The treatment for this involves intensive care in a hospital setting with strong antibiotics, a chest tube [...]