CatsnCare is all about local support for local cats and kittens. Based on the Hibiscus Coast, CatsnCare was founded early in 2011 and its aims are twofold, namely:

• to rehabilitate and re-home stray, abandoned and abused cats and kittens.
• to manage and support cat colonies.

The activities of this fledgling non-profit organisation are coordinated by a committee who share a belief in the critical need for the desexing of all cats and kittens other than those owned by registered breeders, and the microchipping of all companion animals including cats and kittens.

Prior to joining their new families, all cats and kittens are vet and behaviour checked, desexed, defleaed, wormed, fully vaccinated and microchipped. Normally such procedures would cost around $270 however with support from the SPCA Auckland and local vets, CatsnCare is able to request a donation of only $150 for a kitten and $75 for a cat.

All donations go towards supporting the fostered cats and kittens as well as helping to pay the costs associated with caring for the many colony cats which CatsnCare manages. Colony cats are former companion cats which have been abandoned and which have chosen to live in a group – usually in an area adjacent to but not directly in contact with humans.

Once identified, the cats are trapped, neutered and returned (TNR) to the area they came from and a roster of volunteer feeders set up to ensure they are looked after for the rest of their lives. For each colony, a feeding station is set up so colony members can eat in an environment where they are protected from predators and bad weather.

Most of the committee members still do a full time job and although always pressed for time, they volunteer their time and effort based on Helen Keller's philosophy: