Trapping and fixing community cats: they’re ungrateful as heck, they’ll cuss you out through the cage bars, the kittens will hide or bite you on the thumb right through the nail and make it bleed, and the effort sometimes seems like bailing out Lake Superior with a sippy cup. And the effort’s entirely worth it, not that I’ll ever do this again.

A few weeks ago, I got a frantic message from a friend who has little experience with cats and none with community cats—you might know them as “stray” or “feral.” The plumber had removed the door to the crawlspace under the house and neglected to put it back, and a momcat decided to squat there with her 5-week-old kittens. The stench from beneath was more than my friend could stand, so she told me that the kitties had to go right away.

“Right away” and cat trapping aren’t acquainted. Cat trappers are dedicated volunteers, which means that they have lives when they can squeeze them in and also rightly insist on you having a plan in place for the cats before anything’s done. Ideally, they’d like you to join in, to some degree.

I’m not a cat trapper—I knew that for sure when I went out on a trapalong with The Cat Cove, a rescue that also maintains and traps from identified cat colonies. I can’t handle the hours and can’t remember how to set a humane trap from one minute to the next. Even though I did feel that rush when we got one, I got a lapful of what Cat Cove founder Theresa Fernandez meant when she told me that people “don’t realize just how much work is involved.” I knew that I couldn’t stay out for hours at any time of the day or night and wait for the kitties to take the bait.

I do have my own trap, but I didn’t have a plan for where the cats would go after they were in the trap. So I did what most people who know a ton of experts in the community do. Whistling “If I only had a plan,” I messaged a bunch of experienced cat trappers and asked them what the heck I should do.

A plan quickly took shape: we’d set the traps (somehow); I’d get the kitties fixed, vaccinated and SNAP tested for the bad cat diseases: feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus and feline heartworm. Then, the adults would be brought back to from whence they came, and I’d take the kittens home to socialize and ultimately adopt to forever homes where they’d never see the underbelly of a house again.

The plan tottered off down a crooked path like a wagon drawn by a team of fractious goats. Anna Wong from Stray Cat Alliance said she’d talk to my friend and asked me to assess the situation. I motored several exits north on the freeway and took a couple of doglegs (sorry, kitties) on the surface streets, trap in tow. We scanned the crawlspace—no cats anywhere. My right side was sore for days from lying on the pebbles and shining a flashlight into the hollows.

My friend had borrowed a trap from another friend, and I left her with mine. She’d already bought a number of community-cat-friendly delicacies that included fish and chicken Fancy Feast, known to many in the cat bubble as kitty crack, and some canned mackerel. Now, we had to set the traps, which my friend had no idea how to do, and of course, I couldn’t remember the detailed instructions that the Cat Cove volunteers had taught me. So there we were, all fished up and no way to trap.

My friend promised that she’d find someone to help set the traps, and I went back to social media. I was stunned when several members of Wrigley Kittens, a Long Beach neighborhood Facebook group that defines “community,” offered advice and to actually travel way outside city limits to trap.

Meanwhile, up north, my poor friend was also stunned because she’d had no idea that trapping a few cats would be such an involved process, like many people outside the cat-rescue bubble. The shelter in her city does not have a return-to-field (RTF) program—also called return-to-home, which specifies where the cats would go after being fixed and vaxxed—nor could she find a community of cat rescues and trapping volunteers (we are so blinking lucky here in Long Beach). The friend who’d lent her the other trap also didn’t know how to set it—she’d never used it. In desperation, my friend called her city’s animal control, and surprise! an officer came out and helped her set the trap. And sure enough, two kittens took the literal bait.

My friend’s partner donned a face mask to filter out whatever dander there was and took off for Fix Long Beach where I’d arranged to house and otherwise vet the two little hellions.

black kitten and calico kitten lie in a tan kennel bed.
They were pretty cranky at first.

 

two kittens in a large kennel being monitored by large black cat.
The kittens are now ensconced in a multilevel cat condo in my living room, setting the adult cats’ velvet noses out of joint and eating me out of house and home. I named them Ninki and Shax, after author Shirley Jackson’s family cats in the 1950s. They’re learning to be housecats.

 

It was a rough start—Shax was a shrinking violet, and Ninki, a tortie with the accompanying attitude, was the one who bit my thumb after an attempted escape. I finished the regimen of amoxicillin last Saturday. Ninki escaped twice more since moving in—I was trying to swaddle her—and became invisible as only kittens can. I had my partner set the trap in the house both times since I still couldn’t figure it out, and Ninki fell for it both times.

Ninki will be spayed and Shax will be neutered as soon as they pack on enough pounds, and by the way they’re going through the kitten food, it won’t be long. Then, I’ll social them for adoption unless, of course, you’re interested. The fee will be a donation to Fix Long Beach—you can contact me at [email protected].

Bastet may have been watching over Ninki and Shax, but Momcat took her babies and went to parts unknown. I was pretty sure that my friend was stick-a-fork-in-it done with trapping until I found myself included in a direct-message group of cat rescuers that my friend had reached out to. She’s in there as well, supporting the rescuers without setting off her allergies. When those little claws get under your skin either literally or metaphorically, you’re, well, hooked. If this story needed the proper end punctuation, this is it.

A few afterthoughts: If you decide to help reduce the cat population in the streets and shelters, get a trap and get a plan. If there are cats in your yard and you want them gone, read about return-to-field, and offer to help the volunteers already doing it. We have quite a few in Long Beach and countywide as well. Stray Cat Alliance has a handy guide on their website.

Remember that cat trappers are volunteers. They do what they do because it’s in their DNA, but they’re still doing it on their own time. They want to help and teach but not do it for you, at least, not after your first rodeo. Join in to help them help you and the cats.

If you’re easily pressured, like me, you might leap before you look, for all the right reasons. I’ll probably get called out on the mistakes I made, but my friend and I both learned from it, and there are two kittens who are just learning to purr and play with toys—two more who won’t engender countless unwanted kittens. I also wasn’t going to say “Go figure it out” to an old friend who was understandably intimidated and frustrated by the details of cat trapping. And yes, I swore that I’ll never do this again, but I probably will, and now know a few things.

Thank you, Anna Wong and Stray Cat Alliance, the Wrigley Kittens neighbors (PayPal at [email protected]), Fix Long Beach and The Cat Cove for helping us out and for every cat they’ve ever saved and will save. The links on the organization names go right to their donation pages, except for Wrigley Kittens, which has a PayPal account. That’s a great way to help them keep doing what they do.

The following are cats you can take home from some of these places if you can’t wait for Ninki and Shax to be available.

Virtually Pets

Black cat with one arm down the table relaxed next to a bowl of white flowers. There's a light-color wood floor and a brown banquette in the background.
Winston, about 7 months old, is a super-sweet and affectionate Wrigley Kitten. He gets along fine with cats and dogs. He’s been neutered and is up to date with his vaccinations. Potential adopters can email his foster at [email protected].

 

two brown-tabby kittens lie butt to butt on a colorful pastel-pattern blankie
Warning—brown-tabby alert! Cannoli and Tiramisu are besties in every way! Cannoli is the most dashing and daring of kittens, with the floofiest fur. His favorite toys: feathers, play mice, crumpled-up pieces of paper. It doesn’t take much to make “Oli” happy, and his playfulness will evoke feelings of nostalgic childhood fun. He loves a good daily wrestling match with his sister and is a longstanding champion with excellent tumble skills. Tiramisu is a brave adventurer and can easily find any toy hidden in the house at a moment’s notice. She has all the good treasure spots memorized and knows exactly what toy is best for different times of the day. Tira plays hard and sleeps hard. Her nap game is on point, and she can be seen sprawled out on the carpet, couch or across the bed, belly up and ready for rubs and kisses. This bonded pair is double the love and fun and will be ready for adoption mid-July. They’re under the aegis of Long Beach Spay & Neuter Foundation; request an application to adopt from their foster, a tireless worker at Fix Long Beach, at [email protected]! You might want to ask to see her other furry charges.

 

All of the following kitties were rescued by The Cat Cove. Fill out an application at this link to adopt any of them or the others in their rescue.

light-calico-patch cat sprawls on a beige floor surrounded by countless cat toys.
Milo, 3 years old, is a sweet, high-spirited boy. He loves to play with lots of toys and scratch on the cat scratcher. He loves to sit in your lap. He also cuddles up next to his foster mom for a good nap and to watch TV, too. Milo likes to perch on the windowsill and watch the birds and anything else that is happening outside. He’d do great as an only cat in an adults-only  home, where he can get all of your love and attention. He would take some time to warm up to another cat or dog. He plays very rough and gets overstimulated. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it—he just wants all of your attention to himself!

 

large orange fluffy cat stands on a light-color quilt
Clementine is a sweet girl. She’s about 2 years old. When you first meet Clementine, she can be shy, but she becomes a silly little girl who likes to look out the window, and when it’s quiet, likes to jump up on the bed with her foster mama, talk to her, and give her lots of love and attention. She would be happiest as an only kitty in her new home.

 

cat with white body, a black saddle tail and mask plays with a person's shoelaces.
Winter is 2 years old.  She was rescued as kitten from the streets. One night, she was attacked by two coyotes and barely escaped. Cat Cove took her in, and she has become a very sweet kitty.  She was pregnant when she came to the rescue and a home was found for one of her kitties, but there are two  left. Winter loves to play, is very protective, loves to rub on your legs, and isn’t shy to tell you how her day is going.  She’d love to remain a family unit with Puffy and Spotty but if not she would make a great kitty for a one-pet household.
Torie-cat sits on blankets in a box, in a kennel. The cat's right eye is cloudy.
Penny is an adorable 1-year-old girl who appeared in Cat Cove’s managed feral colony. We have no idea how she got there. As you can see, Penny has one bad eye. She has been seen by our vet, who said that it’s either a birth defect or an old injury. There is nothing more that needs to be done with her eye. Penny is a sweet and loving girl who loves to petting and will climb into your lap for cuddles.

 

Help wanted, help given

Free microchip clinic; 3 months of flea meds free with vaccination/deworming: 4-7 p.m. Friday, July 2, and 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, July 3, Fix Long Beach, 1749 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, no fee.

Fourth of July comes with its own fun for humans, but some of that fun doesn’t make your pets happy. Animals terrified by fireworks explosions fill shelters during this time and sadly get hit by cars and injured as well. Please keep your pets safe—for an extra layer of protection, take advantage of the free microchip offer and the vaccination/flea med deal, which will protect your best friend in other ways!

Fetch the paper for Long Beach Animal Care Services

If you still get the paper the old-school way instead of online, the shelter can use anything you have stacked up to line the kennels with. No slick-paper ads, because they’re nonabsorbent. Drop it off in front of Animal Admissions at 7700 E. Spring St. in Long Beach, at the El Dorado Park entrance. No parking fee for shelter guests.

Foster2Furever needs foster homes for large-breed dogs

If you love big doggies and want to help socialize one for a forever home, fill out the application here, and Foster2Furever will contact a respected rescue who’ll match you to a king-size lovebug. Big homes and big yards aren’t required—just big hearts and a big desire to learn. Contact Foster2Furever here with any questions.

Volunteer walkers needed for senior citizens’ dogs

Ida’s Walkers is a program of The Heart of Ida, a 501c3 nonprofit organization serving the older-adult population in and around Long Beach. Ida’s Walkers offers dog-walking services to low-to-moderate-income seniors who are hospitalized, have limited mobility, or are at risk of falling. If you want to help senior citizens keep their beloved pets as long as they are able to live at home, call the number on the graphic.

Fosters needed at Long Beach Animal Care Services

If you’ve always wanted a pet but aren’t sure if you’re ready for a lifetime (the animal’s) commitment, or if you’re past the pet-roommate days for any reason, fostering might be a great way to go, especially with one or more of the kittens popping up during kitten season. Long Beach Animal Care Services now has a foster program aimed at saving some little lives and socializing them. Who knows—maybe one of those lives will change your mind about the not-ready-for-roommate thing.

Fix Long Beach low-cost pet-services clinics: 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, 1749 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, services available by appointment at www.fixlongbeachpets.com.

Fix Long Beach has reopened and is taking appointments for low-cost spay/neuter, dental, vaccines and other vet needs for cats and dogs. Vaccination clinics take place on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Visit their webpage or Facebook page for details.

DIY Kitten Care Kits available free at Long Beach Animal Care Services

Kitten season is here, and shelters and rescues are scrambling to save their lives, get them fixed, get them adopted. It isn’t unusual to find nests of young, seemingly abandoned kittens during kitten season. It is a natural reaction to want to help, to save them. If you are interested in obtaining a Kitten Care Kit made possible by Helen Sanders CatPAWS, please email [email protected].

Spay/neuter vouchers available at shelter

Long Beach Animal Care Services has spay/neuter vouchers available. They’ll take a healthy nip out of the cost of a procedure. Residents of any of the five cities served by the shelter—(see above)—can telephone the general number at 562-570–7387 to request a voucher.

 Spay/neuter appointments available at SNP/LA

The Spay/Neuter Project of Los Angeles (SNP/LA) is back in business for free and low-cost spay/neuter services, and they’re extending the hours of their vaccination clinics. The San Pedro clinic will give shots between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. every third Thursday at 957 N. Gaffey St. Call 310-574–5555 to see if you qualify for services.

If you can see the bottom of the kibble bag

Pets of the Homeless’s home page gives a self-description as the only organization focusing only on providing food and care for pets belonging to homeless people. Businesses and other organizations across the country receive in-kind donations of food and other needs that the dogs and cats’ human families can pick up at outreach locations. The following Long Beach businesses will accept your donations:

Trendi Pawz, 3726 E. Seventh St., Long Beach.

Belmont Heights Animal Hospital, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach.

Paw Shoppe Pet Center, Inc., 6416 E. Spring St., Long Beach.

Food and supplies are available Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m at Beacon for Him Ministries, 1535 Gundry Ave. Long Beach; and Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. at Christian Outreach in Action, 515 E. Third St., Long Beach. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

Adopt, adopt, adopt

Feline Fine in the Summertime adoption event: 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday, June 26, and 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Sunday, June 27, Pet Food Express, 9220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, adoption fees apply.

Masks off, kitty-cats! Join The Little Lion Foundation for the first big cat-and-kitten adoption event since before the pandemic. Find your perfect companion, whether it’s a kitten, two kittens, an adult or a sweet senior. Then, you can run around Pet Food Express and spoil them rotten!

Long Beach Animal Care Services Pick of the Litter month

Don’t miss your chance to adopt a kitten, or an adult cat, or a sweet, sweet senior! Many cats and kittens are available for adoption, and they are going to new homes fast! Email Long Beach Animal Care Services at [email protected] to make an appointment to bring home your new, pointy-eared best friend. Adoption fees are waived; all other procedures are still in place.

 Pet Food Express Cat Adoption Center: 10 a.m.–8 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m.–7 p.m .Sundays. Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, adoption fees apply.

This adoption center is a much-needed satellite operation of Long Beach Animal Care Services. Julie and her team pull adoptable cats—”adoptable,” to these guys, means any cat in a shelter kennel! The team socializes the kitties until they’re adopted, which takes less time than you could imagine!

 Helen Sanders CatPAWS adoption center: viewable daily during store hours, PetSmart, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, adoption fees apply.

Window-shopping’s a neat pastime and likely has become more common during the pandemic. Helen Sanders CatPAWS has applied window-shopping to cat adoption; you can peer at several of the fine felines through the windows of the PetSmart adoption center in Seal Beach. Sadly, no ear scratching or chin rubs at this time, but volunteers can answer questions and provide you with adoption information! You can find adoption applications and all the kitties here.

Links to lovables

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions. As as of now, adoptions are mainly by appointment. Fosters are needed for kittens as well. Click on the links for each rescue in case of updates or changes. These organizations operate through donations and grants, and anything you can give would be welcome. Please suggest any Long Beach-area rescues to add to the list.