By Janet Vormittag
WKTV Contributing Writer
Most retirees enjoy traveling, grandkids and sunny days in southern states during the winter months. Not Maureen Herendeen. When the Grand Rapids woman retired from nursing in 2020, she decided to advocate for community cats in Kent County.
“I like the challenge of it,” she said.
Herendeen has a passion for cats, especially outside cats. She believes in trap-neuter-return (TNR) and in July 2022 she turned her passion into Feral Cat Solutions, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
The importance of getting feral cats fixed
“Community cats” is a term used to describe outdoor, unowned free-roaming cats who may or may not have a caretaker. Caretakers, who provide food and shelter, are not the legal owners of the cats.
Often Herendeen finds people willing to feed community cats and even provide them shelter, but they don’t get the cats fixed.
“Spay/neuter costs money,” she said.
In TNR, the cats are live-trapped, spayed or neutered, ear tipped and returned to where they were caught. A tipped ear is the universal sign of a spayed/neutered cat. One centimeter is removed from the tip of the left ear while the cat is anesthetized for spay/neuter surgery. Ear tips are readily visible from a distance, making it easy for caretakers, trappers and animal control personnel to immediately identify a cat as spayed or neutered.
Herendeen’s goal is to get community cats spayed/neutered to prevent unwanted litters from being born. The mortality rate of kittens born outside can be as high as 75 percent. Survival often depends on the mother’s access to food and shelter. Feral kittens can starve to death or fall victim to diseases. If they are born when it’s cold, hypothermia can take their lives. Raccoons and other predators also kill kittens.
Herendeen’s also wants to get friendly cats off the streets.
The elaborate dance
Over the years, Herendeen has volunteered for numerous cat rescues including Carol’s Ferals. When Carol’s closed, she continued TNR on her own. She approached staff at the Kent County Animal Shelter and asked if they could help with the spay/neuter surgeries of cats she trapped.
“I couldn’t ask for more cooperation from them,” she said. The shelter has a staff veterinarian and a grant to help cover surgery costs. They’re able to give Feral Cat Solutions 16 surgical appointments each week.
People with outside cats who need to be fixed contact Herendeen. She loans traps and expects people to do their own trapping. She will help trap for seniors and disabled people.
Trapping is scheduled for five days each week. When the cats are caught, they’re taken to Herendeen’s home in northeast Grand Rapid and she transports them for surgery. She has ten cages in her garage where cats stay before and after surgery.
“It’s an elaborate dance of a schedule,” she said.
Utilizing community resources
When there is a need, Herendeen also uses local veterinarians who offer discounted spay/neuter services.
If there are kittens who can be socialized and adopted, Herendeen finds them a foster home. The same goes for adult cats who appear to be friendly.
In 2022, Herendeen had 534 cats and kittens spayed/neutered. Of those, 329 were placed in local adoption programs including those at Second Chance Cats, Crash’s Landing, Kent County Animal Shelter and the Humane Society of West Michigan.
A co-hort in rescuing
Herendeen gets a lot of help from fellow cat advocate Lynnette Wieck who has also volunteered for numerous rescues over the years.
The women’s personalities complement one another. Herendeen is an action person. “I move at warped speed,” she said. “I do all the interacting with trappers, planning, collecting the cats, caring for the cats and transporting.”
Wieck is laid-back, detail oriented and spends a ton of time doing behind-the-scenes work. She also feeds feral cat colonies several days a week.
The rescue community
Herendeen has a network of rescues and fosters who help as needed. “I love all the people I meet in animal welfare. There are so many awesome generous people. It’s so satisfying.”
When she can’t find fosters for adult cats, Herendeen puts the cat in her Socialization Boot Camp, which means she lets the cats loose in her house and gives them time to become friendly. “It can take a long time, but it’s so rewarding. I feel like I won the lottery when they let me pet them.”
Besides being a lot of work, helping the cats is a big expense. There are intake fees for cats accepted into adoption programs, veterinarian expenses, and the cost of supplies including live traps. Occasionally, Herendeen will do a fundraiser on Facebook, but when donations don’t cover the expenses she opens her own wallet.
Feral Cat Solutions has a waitlist of people needing help.
A choice to help
“It’s astonishing how many starving cats there are—in parking lots, abandoned buildings, yards,” Herendeen said, adding she’s more than willing to help but no longer has the heart to hear depressing stories involving cats.“
“It hurts my soul,” she said. Some of things she has witnessed haunt her.
“Hearing a tragic story doesn’t compel me anymore,” she said.
Wieck agreed. “It’s not fun. It’s a need. It’s our choice to help animals.”
As much as Herendeen, Wieck and other rescues have done, the calls for help doesn’t slow down.
“It’s discouraging not to see an end in sight,” Herendeen said.
If you need help with outside cats contact Feral Cats Solutions through their Facebook page or you can text your first name, address and a brief description to 951-852-7063 to get scheduled or to ask questions. Feral Cat Solutions is a TNR organization. They do not rescue and do not have an adoption program.
Janet Vormittag started Cats and Dogs, a Magazine Devoted to Companion Animals in 2006 as a monthly publication. It’s geared towards West Michigan readers and features pet-related advertisers, animals available for adoption, and articles about animal rescues and pets. In 2018, Cats and Dogs transitioned to a quarterly publication. The print edition is free and can be found at local libraries and businesses.
