News

Snow White suffered a terrible wound to her eye that left it non-visual and likely painful. Dr. Gagnon was able to remove the affected eye at the same time as her spay surgery, so she only had to be sedated for surgery once. We don't think having just one eye will affect her beauty at all. Do you? This darling will be heading home soon, healthy and happy. Your donation today will ensure that we are able to continue to provide care like this for the next little princess (or the next 7 dwarves) that [...]

The Community Cat Complex features a lovely memorial garden that has plenty of room for expansion! With a gift of $1000, you can reserve a commemorative brick. Bricks are 4" x 8" with up to 3 lines of text, and are incorporated into the landscaping at the entrance to the complex. You can honor a loved one (two or four-legged!) and make a lasting difference for animals in our community.  Contact us to purchase.

Dental problems cause more than just bad breath in cats. When the mouth and teeth are painful cats can stop eating and grooming. Cats can become malnourished and dehydrated, as well as being very dirty with matted fur. Howie came in a couple of weeks ago for a neuter and was found to be in exactly this situation. Now, we are so happy to share photos of Howie, the very first recipient of dental cleaning, extractions and x-rays at the community cat complex. Your donations keep the dental cart stocked and help us continue to [...]

 Thanks to our quick acting team, Callie is doing great. During the sedation process, the veterinary assistant found that there was a problem and reacted quickly. X-rays revealed a diaphragmatic hernia, which is basically a tear that allows the abdominal organs to move into the chest, causing a life threatening situation. In this emergency situation, she was rushed to an emergency hospital for surgery. We expect her to recover to 100% and be able to return to her caretakers soon. Her life is priceless to us AND her caretaker and saving her life was not [...]

Alley Cat Advocates wants our caretakers and supports to know that we are following or exceeding all government recommendations to keep our staff, volunteers, and caretakers safe in the current environment of uncertainty and concern. Check-in and discharge of cats is being done in the parking lot with no need for caretakers to enter the building. The return of traps on Saturdays is also being done in the parking lot with no need for caretakers to enter the building. For Trap Distribution on Saturdays, caretakers are to remain in their cars to complete paperwork and [...]

As a retiree from the Louisville Zoo, Sharon Rickert had little problem finding plenty to fill her spare time after Alley Cat Advocates helped a family member. It has been four and a half years and Sharon has become an important part of the team. She started volunteering with the Big Fix. She now does transcription and returns hotline calls with great care and professionalism. In addition, she helps caretakers at trap distribution, cat check in and discharge. She is also a member of the Education and Outreach Team. Sharon’s favorite job is kitten day [...]

Marcia Baker is an active retiree who LOVES cats.  So it only makes sense that she would find herself volunteering with Alley Cat Advocates.  After trying out a couple of volunteer positions in other organizations, Marcia did her research and decided that she would give Alley Cat Advocates a try.  She says it is the best decision she has ever made.  She loves the cats and has a real soft spot for Frank (seriously, who doesn’t love Frank?).  Marcia was born almost 80 years ago in San Diego, CA.  She was just 18 years old [...]

Tierney is still new at Alley Cat Advocates. She has only been volunteering since November 2019, but she has quickly become a familiar face around the Community Cat Complex. She started doing phone call transcription from home, but since new opportunities have opened she has jumped in to learn and help as much as possible. In addition to transcription, she is on the Education and Outreach Team and does tabling at events.  She also does laundry, helps monitor cats after surgery and recently she has been learning to return calls. Tierney says that Alley Cat [...]

Louisville Business First recently recognized Alley Cat Advocates for the organization's contributions to the community.  The recent article highlights the new Community Cat Complex and the important work that goes on under that roof.  Read more here.

Barbara Ray has been volunteering is Alley Cat Advocates since 2012, when she brought cats in that she took over feeding when a neighbor moved. She started helping at the Big Fix. More recently, she volunteers most Saturdays during trap distribution as a trapping trainer. She gives caretakers instructions to properly trap with safety for the cats as her top priority. She also comes in to return calls every week. Caretakers enjoy talking with her about their cats when scheduling for TNR. She lives with 8 house cats and is a caretaker to 6 community [...]

2019 was an amazing year for Alley Cat Advocates. Our amazing team of staff and volunteers returned 7,766 calls in 2019. A total of 4,088 cats were helped by Alley Cat Advocates last year. Thank you to all of the caretakers, supporters and concerned community members that have made Louisville truly the safest place to be a community cat! See the breakdown of the data here.

The most common extra care procedure we perform on cats is dental care. Cats with dental problems usually require at least one if not more extractions of broken, painful teeth. This puts the costs of dental care from as much as $500 to over $1,000 depending on how extensive the procedure. Fortunately, most cats do very well after a dental, even if they loose multiple teeth. Your donation today means that cats like this one will continue to receive this care. This big male had just one broken tooth and is already back home with [...]

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 with a focus on those cats who make their home in the West End of the community. "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 [...]

Alley Cat Advocates, a Louisville-based, nationally recognized non-profit organization, held a ceremony today to celebrate its move to a new state-of-the-art facility. The new location will allow the group to expand and improve services as they help stabilize and lower Louisville’s stray cat population. The 21-year-old organization utilizes the accepted and proven method of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Alley Cat Advocates joins numerous animal welfare organizations in taking a humane and efficient approach to managing the challenging number of outdoor cats living in Louisville. The new facility will be named The Karen and Hoyt Little Community Cat [...]

The winter 2020 edition of the Humane News, news for the friends and supporters of Alley Cat Advocates, is now available.  Click below to read up on all the exciting news! Humane News - Winter 2020

This cat came in with some dental issues and pillow pads on all four feet. Feline plasma cell pododermatitis, commonly called pillow pad or pillow foot, is a fairly uncommon disease that affects the foot pads. The cause is unknown and the disease is non-painful unless the pad is actually ulcerated or opened. The pads swell and are doughy or spongy in texture. Unfortunately, this cat has one paw that is ulcerated and will need treatment. Meanwhile, he is resting on soft, clean bedding and will be able to recover comfortably. Your continued donations make [...]

Executive Director, Karen Little, will present "Saving the lives of Community Cats: Return to Field and Trap Neuter-Return" at an upcoming Making a Difference Now (MADN) workshop. Community members, media and animal welfare professionals are encouraged to network and learn at this one-day event. The event will take place on Friday, November 15, 2019 in Elizabethtown, KY. Animal welfare professionals will present about shelter cleaning, shelter animal enrichment and building community support in addition to community cats and return to field.  The Making a Difference Now organization is based in Lexington, KY.  The On the [...]

 When a nursing mom checks in for surgery, her kittens get to come to kitten daycare. At kitten daycare staff or volunteers care for the babies while mom is in surgery and provide early interventions, like flea preventative, vaccines and dewormer. Sometimes we also find issues that require more extensive treatment in the kittens. When this boy came in with his family, he was completely unable to see. All three 4 week old kittens suffered from an upper respiratory infection, but in addition, this little guy was dealing with damage to his eyes. The whole [...]

After 20 years of hard work and helping to effectively manage Louisville’s community cat population, this week is a chance for everyone to commemorate the milestone with Alley Cat Advocates Week.  As many of you know, through the proven and humane method of trap-neuter-return (TNR), Alley Cat Advocates has not only improved the lives of thousands of community cats, but we have also improved the overall quality of life in this city.  In doing so, we have become an example for other communities, many of whom wish to duplicate our successful cat population management efforts. [...]

Pictured are Susan Sweeney-Crum (Alley Cat Advocates board member) and Tad Myre from Kentucky Colonels Louisville, KY – Alley Cat Advocates is proud to announce it has received a grant from the Honorable Order Kentucky Colonels (HOKC) in the amount of $7,000 to purchase a commercial washer or dryer for use in their new Community Cat Complex.  The Alley Cat Advocates serves Louisville and surrounding communities by working to stabilize and reduce Louisville’s community cat population and improve the lives of community cats, through the tested, proven and humane method of trap-neuter-return. HOKC [...]

Alley Cat Advocates joined over 500 local non-profits participating in Give for Good Louisville on September 12. This annual day of giving, hosted by the Community Foundation of Louisville, invites everyone to be a force for good in our community. Give for Good Louisville showed how much Louisville cares for community cats. Alley Cat Advocates received just over $22,000 in donations. Support like this allows us to save more lives and help more cats!

Paul, named for a saint, came in for a neuter in early August. The sweet senior was emaciated, likely due to severe dental disease that made him cry out in pain when he ate. He also had entropion of the left lower eyelid. This is a very painful condition that required a surgical repair. A complicated dental surgery resulted in him having a full mouth extraction (all his teeth removed). He also had to have a feeding tube in order to allow his mouth a few days to heal. Tough as nails, Paul hated that [...]

The 2020 Alley Cat Advocates Calendar is in the hands of the designer and will be heading to the printer soon. Pre-order your copy now. Quantities are limited, so don't delay. Alley Cat Advocates Calendars make great gifts for friends and family.

Alley Cat Advocates has been awarded a $15,000 grant by the Petco Foundation to support their Trap-Neuter-Return program. Alley Cat Advocates has altered over 45,000 stray cats in the region since their founding in 1999.  Since 2011 alone, these efforts have contributed to a reduction in intake of cats at local shelters, dramatically reducing taxpayer cost, overcrowded shelters, and animal euthanasia. The Petco Foundation investment will help Alley Cat Advocates reach more cat caretakers, those wonderful men and women who provide food and shelter for outside stray cats in local neighborhoods.  Working with these caretakers, [...]

"Fuzzy" came in for TNR services in late July. He also was in need of additional medical care. After being neutered, he went to visit our full service vet where he had a large wound on his left leg cleaned and closed. Now that he is healing we are enjoying his spunky personality. But the person that is looking forward to seeing that spunk the most is his caretaker, who has been checking up on him almost daily. Thank you so much to our veterinary partners and donors who make this work possible. No cat [...]