Help New York City's Homeless Cats

Provide urgently needed medical care to a sick or injured homeless kitten or cat.

There are, at minimum, tens of thousands of cats struggling to survive in the streets and alleyways of New York City. Neighborhood Cats work with community members, teaching residents how to safely practice Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), to stop the cycle of overbreeding and give outdoor cats the best possible quality of life. But the problem is vast and for many caretakers with limited means, veterinary help is out of reach when a cat they look after is sick or injured and needs emergency care to survive.

When extra help is needed to spare suffering, save lives, and make positive change happen for cats and caretakers in need, Neighborhood Cats turn to Shady's Fund (named in memory of "Shady", a much-loved rescued cat). Shady's Fund underwrites veterinary treatment for sick or injured ferals with positive prognoses (such as suturing severe lacerations), and aids community members who wish to help feral cats in their neighborhoods but are unable to do so without assistance (for example, senior citizens who can put out food every morning but are themselves too frail to trap and transport cats to spay/neuter clinics). Shady's Fund makes medical care and lifesaving services possible for those who would otherwise have no way of finding help.

Update from the Field
March 2017 - Dorothy

"She probably won't make it through the night." The doctor said it as gently as he could but his words hung in the air as he and Neighborhood Cats' trapper looked at the kitten on the exam table between them. The kitten's tiny, battered body was motionless. Only the faintest rise and fall of her chest under pale, matted fur gave any hint she was still fighting to stay alive.

Jade, Neighborhood Cat's feral cat trapper, had found the kitten moments before, collapsed on a windswept sidewalk. The little animal was soaked from a steady drizzle that had been falling all day. She was icy to the touch. In the emergency clinic her temperature registered at a terrifying 90 degrees. She was emaciated, weighing less than a pound, and badly congested The prognosis was grim - but that didn't shake their team when the veterinarian asked what Neighborhood Cats wanted to do. "Her name is Dorothy", Jade told the doctor. "Do whatever you can to save her."

Twenty-four hours later the hospital's staff was already calling Dorothy a "miracle kitten". Sometime during that first night she opened her eyes. Then, with a mighty effort, she sat up. By morning she was swaying on unsteady feet. On Day 2, still hooked up to her IV lines, she took her first cautious steps. On Day 4 she started eating solid food. At the end of a week she'd gained five ounces and purred when you'd pick her up.

Dorothy left the hospital that day and never looked back. Today she's been adopted and is part of a family who can't imagine life without her. Dorothy has a long, happy life ahead because gifts to Shady's Fund, Neighborhood Cats' critical care fund, meant we could tell the doctor, "Save her" in her time of need. We thank you for making a lasting difference by giving generously to Shady's Fund through GreaterGood.org.

Neighborhood Cats believes Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is the most humane and effective method available to address the severe feral cat overpopulation crisis faced by this country. By making TNR fully understood, accepted and practiced in every community we aim to end widespread suffering and loss of life while making life better for free-roaming cats, wherever they may be.