The Community Cats Podcast

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic.
Corinne Bourgoin returns to the podcast five years after her first appearance, and the numbers show what's changed: the MSPCA Boston Adoption Center's return-to-home rate for cats hit 33% in 2025, more than six times the roughly 5% national average. She draws a careful distinction between "return to owner" and "return to home" — sometimes a cat goes back to one caretaker, sometimes to a neighborhood that's been caring for it collectively — and traces the results back to a mindset shift: assume every stray has someone looking for it, and treat reunification as the shelter's job, not just the owner's.
From there, Corinne gets practical. A dedicated, well-followed Facebook page puts stray photos in front of the neighborhoods cats actually came from. For microchipped cats, she doesn't stop at the manufacturer's registry — she cross-checks petmicrochiplookup.com for the most current database, then follows up with whoever implanted the chip. She also shares how anyone can do this detective work before a cat ever reaches a shelter: neighbor conversations, Nextdoor and community Facebook posts, flyers, and "paper collars" — a strip of paper taped around a friendly cat's neck asking, "Is this your cat?" Technology like AirTags helps, but she's clear it's only half the equation; the other half is neighbors staying present in their own communities.
The conversation turns to ear tips and how "community cat" has shifted from a behavioral judgment call to a population-risk one — any unaltered outdoor cat, tipped or not. Corinne's years at Maui Humane Society gave that shift real stakes: during the Maui wildfires, more than 600 cats survived the burn zone, many already sterilized and ear-tipped, which meant no kitten boom compounding the recovery. She closes with Tiger, a geriatric cat who arrived at the shelter after five years missing — his microchip led her to an owner who'd long given up hope, and he walked straight to the cabinet where his food bowl used to sit.
Press Play Now For:
Why "return to home" is a more accurate goal than "return to owner" — and how MSPCA hit a 33% reunification rate for cats
A step-by-step walkthrough of tracking down an owner through microchip databases, including why the manufacturer's registry often isn't the most current one
Low-tech tools anyone can use to reunite a found cat with its family, from paper collars to Nextdoor posts
How the definition of "community cat" has evolved from a behavioral call to a population-management one
How more than 600 ear-tipped, sterilized cats survived the Maui wildfires without a kitten population boom
The story of Tiger, reunited with his family five years after going missing
Resources & Links
MSPCA-Angell
Pet Microchip Lookup
Return-to-Home Certification Workshop (Community Cats Central)
Contact Corinne: lostpet@mspca.org

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic.
Sandra Cagan spent decades in property management before a milestone birthday and a brief human-interest news story about a New York cat cafe sent her in a new direction. She cold-emailed her county commissioner in Lake County, Florida — "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but this is what I want to do" — and had his support within the hour. The Orlando Cat Cafe opened in September 2016 as Florida's first cat cafe, and this year marks its 10th anniversary alongside the Community Cats Podcast's own.
Sandra built it as a business first: a full-service cafe rather than packaged snacks, separate AC and filtration systems to keep the cafe and cat areas from cross-contaminating, and a "sweet spot" of about 28 cats at a time in a 1,000-square-foot play area, refreshed weekly by exclusive shelter partner SPCA Florida. All 489 adoptions facilitated last year sent 100% of the fee straight to SPCA Florida — a public-private model she credits partly to a public administration master's she earned during the pandemic. That same pandemic tested her resolve: Florida ordered the cafe closed, and she kept it shut into late July rather than reopen too soon, paying her staff the whole time. Her advice to other cat cafe owners: keep six months of reserves and treat the business like any other, rather than publicly asking for help with basics like a broken AC unit.
Ten years in, Sandra has turned that playbook into the country's first cat cafe franchise: 18 months of groundwork, a 500-plus-page operations manual, a $42,750 initial fee, and total investment of roughly $450,000–$650,000 depending on location. She and her team vet franchisees closely and personally scout a shelter partner in every new market, favoring slow, strategic growth — currently focused on the Southeast — over rapid expansion.
Press Play Now For:
How a milestone birthday, a chance news story, and one bold email led to Florida's first cat cafe
Why Sandra runs the cat side and the cafe side as two separate legal entities, with 100% of adoption fees going to her shelter partner
The financial cushion and mindset that got the Orlando Cat Cafe through a months-long pandemic shutdown without laying off staff
What it actually takes to become an Orlando Cat Cafe franchisee — from a 500-page operations manual to the investment range
Why the cats do the matchmaking at the cafe, and how that changes the adoption experience
Resources & Links
Orlando Cat Cafe: https://www.orlandocatcafe.com
Orlando Cat Cafe Franchise: https://www.orlandocatcafefranchise.com
SPCA Florida: https://www.spcaflorida.org

"People have to feel like they are making a difference, not earning a buck."
This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Neighborhood Cats' TNR Certification Workshop.
Debra Magaldi never set out to run a nonprofit. What began as feeding a neighborhood stray in her alley turned into a chance encounter with Helen Sanders herself, and after Helen's passing in 2005, a small fund to feed her jetty cats grew into CatPAWS, a Long Beach and Orange County organization now operating with an all-volunteer board, paid veterinary contractors, and a growing spay/neuter program. Sixteen years in, Debra brings her business background and MBA to a mission she says still runs on a fundamentally different fuel than any company she's worked for.
Debra and host Stacy LeBaron dig into what it actually takes to build a volunteer-run organization that lasts. Debra pushes back on the advice to "run your nonprofit like a business," arguing that while structure and strategy matter, people show up because they believe in the cause, not because of a bonus or a quota. She's candid about the cost of starting a new program: it takes far more money than founders expect, and grant and donor funding won't arrive until there's a track record to earn it. She also talks through the hard boundary-setting that comes with leadership, including learning to say no to well-meaning ideas that don't fit the organization's priorities.
On the ground, CatPAWS has scaled its spay/neuter access dramatically, moving from a mobile trailer serving only community cats in 2023 to a full surgical suite that opened in 2025 and now serves owned cats as well, with almost 700 cats served since the start of the year and typical wait times of only one to two weeks. Debra also walks through CatPAWS's approach to the question every community cat organization fields constantly: what to do when someone finds a litter of kittens. Her answer starts with checking whether mom is coming back, since kittens who stay with mom have far better survival odds, and points to the organization's "Help, I Found a Cat" guide and DIY kitten kit program as tools that keep vulnerable kittens out of shelters that aren't equipped to bottle-feed around the clock.[/one_second]
[one_second]Press Play Now For:
How CatPAWS grew from a single alley cat colony into a 16-year-old nonprofit
Why Debra treats volunteer time as equivalent to a financial donation
The real difference between running a nonprofit and running a business, and where the "run it like a business" advice breaks down
What it actually costs to launch a new program, and why grants and donors won't be there on day one
CatPAWS's mobile trailer-to-surgical-suite spay/neuter expansion and current wait times
What to actually do when you find a litter of kittens — and why waiting for mom matters
Resources & Links
Helen Sanders CatPAWS
CatPAWS Spay/Neuter Assistance
CatPAWS Who We Are & What We Do

"It is not a lack of care or love. They love, love, love their cats. They would do anything to give their cat a longer life."
This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Feline Infectious Disease Summit 2026.
Host Stacy LeBaron talks with Gina Fortunato, Executive Director of CATalyst Council, and Kristin Wuhrman, the organization's Chair and co-founder/Chief Experience Officer of CatsOnly Veterinary Services, about a stark gap in feline care: cats now make up nearly half of U.S. household pets, yet get only a fraction of the veterinary visits dogs do. CATalyst Council, founded in 2008, exists to close that gap with data.
Gina explains how a decade-old feline usage study first exposed the problem, while years of "veterinary visits are declining" headlines actually masked cat visits quietly climbing as dog visits fell. She also flags a number that matters to TNR advocates directly: over half of cats are acquired through informal channels rather than shelters, meaning they may never enter a system connected to routine care.
Kristin breaks down the real barriers between cat parents and the vet — affordability, carrier stress, and the myth that adult cats need less care — and the data behind them: 93% of cat parents call wellness visits important, but only 51% follow through. She and Gina talk through what's actually working: reframing reminders around a longer life rather than a routine shot, flexible visit schedules, and mobile vet care reaching cats who'd otherwise go without.
The conversation closes on Kristin's own work building CatsOnly Veterinary Services, a feline-only hospital model minimizing stress from car to exam room, and a lighter note: the "crazy cat lady" stereotype no longer holds up, with cat ownership now split evenly by gender and a rising share of millennial cat dads.
Press Play Now For:
Why cats now outnumber dogs in growth rate, yet get only a fraction of the veterinary visits
How CATalyst Council uses data to separate the "dog visits are down" headlines from what's actually happening with cats
The surprising stat that over half of cats are acquired through informal channels rather than shelters or breeders
The four biggest barriers standing between cat parents and the vet — and which one might surprise you
Why 93% of cat parents say wellness visits matter, but only 51% actually follow through
How reframing a vet reminder around a cat's longer life can change a cat parent's behavior
The growing role of mobile veterinary care in closing the access gap
An inside look at CatsOnly Veterinary Services, a new feline-only hospital model built to minimize stress from car to exam room
Why the "crazy cat lady" stereotype no longer matches the data — and the rise of the cat dad
How the broader animal health and welfare ecosystem can better collaborate to serve every cat, from community colonies to household companions
Resources & Links
CATalyst Council
CatsOnly Veterinary Services
Mission Meow

"The more I work in this field, the more there is to learn — and there's multiple strategies that you have to implement."
This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Feline Infectious Disease Summit 2026.
Pallavi Kamath grew up fostering kittens in Mumbai, studied animal science at UC Davis, earned a master's in animal public policy, and returned home to lead The Feline Foundation — an NGO she describes as the first in Maharashtra to systematically address the needs of community cats. With an estimated one million cats on Mumbai's streets and no existing population data to work from, the Foundation built its entire approach around a Logical Framework Matrix: a structured problem tree that mapped every welfare challenge and converted each into a program goal, giving the organization three focused pillars — population management, healthcare, and community involvement.
On the ground, that means zone-by-zone sterilization across Andheri West, Mumbai's largest suburb. The Foundation divides the area into zones, conducts exhaustive street-by-street cat censuses, organizes local feeders into "carer collectives," and sets monthly TNR targets before returning to repeat the census. Once a zone hits 80% sterilized, it moves into maintenance mode — with community members taking the lead. Six of their 12 zones have crossed that threshold.
Pallavi and Stacy also dig into the logistical realities most programs never face: nearly zero access to commercial traps, a handful of expert cat catchers who learned entirely on the job, and a city so geographically dense that sterilizing one neighborhood means immediately contending with cats flowing in from the next. The conversation closes on scalability — how a cat cafe can seed community buy-in, why Mumbai's municipal government is a rare progressive funding partner, and what it would take to open additional centers across a city that still has nowhere near enough sterilization resources.
Press Play Now For:
How a Logical Framework Matrix turns a problem tree into an organizational blueprint
The zone-by-zone census methodology: every street, every building, every shopkeeper — before TNR begins
What a "carer collective" is and why organizing local feeders before you start trapping changes everything
The 80% threshold: how the Foundation defines population stability and transitions to maintenance mode
The reality of trap access in India — and how a visit from an international colleague transformed the team's efficiency
Why Mumbai's dog sterilization history may have contributed to a massive cat population explosion
How a cat cafe can function as an adoption engine and community awareness hub
Why Mumbai's municipal government is one of the few in India providing grants for cat sterilization — and why it's still not enough
Resources & Links
The Feline Foundation
The Feline Foundation on Instagram
The Feline Foundation on Facebook
The Feline Foundation on YouTube
The Feline Foundation on LinkedIn
CCC TNR Certification Workshops