The Community Cats Podcast

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 33 minNew

Ep 686: The Free Helpline Keeping Cats in Their Homes, with Matt Wildman, Founder and Director of National Cat Behavior Helpline

"In terms of surrender prevention, this is low-hanging fruit. It costs nothing." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator . Matt Wildman grew up with as many as nine rescue dogs and didn't have a real relationship with a cat until he was 26. That's when he met his girlfriend and her six cats. One of them, Shirley, licked him on the head while he was resting, and he was smitten. Matt went from teaching high school history in Brooklyn to humane education at Animal Care Centers of NYC. Later, at a Humane World for…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

1. 

   E685 · 6 Oct 2026 · 29 min

   Ep 685: Feeding Plans, Not Feeding Plans, with Danielle Bays, Senior Program Manager for Cat Protection and Policy at Humane World for Animals

   "We're not hiding in back alleys in the dark at night. We're out there on the streets, on the front lines, and we're in city hall." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator . Danielle Bays planned to be a veterinarian until a cat with his leg caught in a leghold trap was left in the parking lot of the clinic where she worked. He recovered, but the question stayed with her: how does this happen in the first place? That question led her into animal policy, and years later a family of feral cats in her new backyard…

2. 

   E684 · 29 Sep 2026 · 36 min

   Ep 684: Building TNR That Lasts: A Data-Driven Model From Penang, with Daniel Leung, Co-Founder and CEO of Catsoterra

   "In truth, we prove statistically how little funding is needed to create a real impact." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , T NR Training Workshop Presented by Neighborhood Cats , and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator . Daniel Leung got into TNR the way many of us do. He worked on a farm in college, ignored his manager's warning never to feed the stray cats, and soon had dozens of them. A local TNR group came in to help, Daniel started volunteering with them, and he kept doing the work, first in Maryland and later with a large colony at a New Jersey hotel…

3. 

   E683 · 22 Sep 2026 · 28 min

   Ep 683: They're Not Spicy, They're Scared - Handling Fearful and Aggressive Shelter Cats, with Berlin Waters, Founder of The Spicy Cat Project

   "Cats aren't spicy. They're not mean. They're just scared." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator . Berlin Waters grew up in a house full of cats, with a mom who handled TNR for the neighborhood, and she's been a cat lover ever since. That lifelong interest led her to a master's in shelter medicine, where her research focused on handling and socializing fearful and aggressive cats. The result is The Spicy Cat Project, a resource for shelters and caregivers who want a more humane, effective approach to cats with…

4. 

   E682 · 15 Sep 2026 · 22 min

   Ep 682: Too Small Is Not a Diagnosis, with Jordyn Purpura Feline Director, Yolo County SPCA; Strategic Advisor, Orphan Kitten Club; Clinical Researcher, Vernau Laboratory at UC Davis

   "When we say age is not a disease, we also mean it for the youngest." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and Jessica Dolce, Compassion Fatigue + Grief Educator . Jordyn Purpura started out smuggling orphaned raccoons into his childhood bedroom. Twelve years of neonatal fostering later, he's in his final year of veterinary school, chasing a gap he kept running into from both sides of the exam table: almost nothing in veterinary education begins before eight weeks of age. As a foster parent, that gap sounded like a doctor saying there wasn't much anyone could do. As…

5. 

   E681 · 8 Sep 2026 · 28 min

   Ep 681: Making the Case for TNR Without County Buy-In, with Eve Salimbene, President of Street Cat Project of Polk County

   "Today's inside cat is tomorrow's outside cat." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and The Community Cat Clinic . Eve Salimbene spent her career in the legal field before moving into animal welfare 26 years ago — and by her own admission, she was a dog person until she landed in Polk County, Florida. There she found a county with groups working on dogs and essentially nothing for cats: a high shelter kill rate, no low-cost spay/neuter anywhere in the county, and a year-round breeding season with none of the winter respite she'd known up north. She posted a…

6. 

   E680 · 1 Sep 2026 · 36 min

   Ep 680: Small and Mighty: Inside Jersey City's Feral Fixers TNR Club, with Robyn Alcock & Jen Scott, Co-Founders of Feral Fixers TNR Club (Jersey City, NJ)

   "It's okay to be small and grassroots." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund , OcuTrap , and The Community Cat Clinic . Robyn Alcock and Jen Scott joined host Stacy LeBaron to talk about Feral Fixers TNR Club, the Jersey City nonprofit they co-founded in 2024 alongside Kathryn Parker after years of trapping independently. In just two years, the all-volunteer group — who all keep full-time jobs — has helped more than 375 cats through TNR, rescue, and medical care. Much of the conversation centered on the realities of running a small "operational board" nonprofit: the governance…

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