Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Keeping track

    Posted 01-20-2023 11:22 AM
    Does anyone keep track of the community cats they assist?  If so what all information do you collect and how do you store it?  Do you work with a local shelters to make sure the cats are returned to their home?  And is this verbal contract or a legal contract? Do  caregivers of the cats approve of your attempt to keep this information?   

    #CommunityCatManagement

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    Kathie Stafford
    Director
    Curious Cats 4 TNR INC
    Rockport IN
    812-489-3185
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  • 2.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-20-2023 01:12 PM
    Look at Catstats its a great program and has wonderful resources.  Catstats.org

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    Geri Wheelis
    Co-Founder
    Animal Advocates For Change
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  • 3.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-20-2023 07:53 PM
    Geri - thank you so much I will definitely look into this database as I start my rescue nonprofit this year.  I've been in the Kansas and Kansas City rescue community for 10 years, so I'm finally making it official!!  Thx.

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    Cindy Weber
    Founder & CEO
    Purrecious Nine Lives Rescue & Sanctuary
    Shawnee KS
    8168038988
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  • 4.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-21-2023 03:10 AM
    Just to add- Catstats was designed by Neighborhood Cats and there is a very minimal fee to use the program.  If you go to this link: https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/community-cat-care-training-education/  
    and scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a link to a recording that walks you through cat stats so you can check it out.

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    Stacy LeBaron
    Head Cat
    The Community Cats Podcast
    Warren VT
    978-239-2090
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  • 5.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-21-2023 12:35 PM
    Hmmn. We have never been charged for using CatStats. Is that a new thing? Tx!

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    Geri Wheelis
    Co-Founder
    Animal Advocates For Change
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  • 6.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-20-2023 04:10 PM
    I'm a TNR group and save information about all cats we help, anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 each year. I also maintain a map of this information using Google Maps which allows us to see where folks are feeding in case there's situations in the future where we need to find out who is feeding nearby, folks who can keep an eye out for a lost cat, etc. The larger groups will call us for the map information as well if someone say brings in a feral cat that they can't adopt to see if anyone near that area recognizes the cat so they can release it on their property safely, other similar situations. It's incredibly helpful to have. In the data I collect I keep track of male/female, if they were s/n, if they were PTS due to disease (extremely helpful for monitoring colony health), which cats were friendly enough for adoption, rough age of cats (below 6 months, over 6 months, and senior over 10 years) as well as exactly which cats went back to the community.

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    Jacqueline Betty
    Charles River Alleycats
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  • 7.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-20-2023 07:53 PM
    Hi Jacqueline - I'm curious what database you are using?  You're doing an amazing job at keeping track of all that information, not to mention how many cats you are helping in your community.  I'm finally officially starting my nonprofit this year and definitely need to learn more about available databases.  Thanks so much!!!

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    Cindy Weber
    Founder & CEO
    Purrecious Nine Lives Rescue & Sanctuary
    Shawnee KS
    8168038988
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  • 8.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-21-2023 01:27 PM
      |   view attached
    I just use Google Sheets, we don't have a budget for an actual program or anything. I've included a little snapshot of what it looks like, I've hidden a few of the columns but in general this is how it looks. I then take this information and maintain the google maps in just a few clicks. I don't specifically include it when I'm speaking to anyone about it but I've been doing this for 6 years now and our group has maintained a more rough version of this for at least 5 years before I came along and nobody has ever had a problem. Anytime I've ever had to explain to someone why I'm reaching out there's never been a problem and they've been happy to help cats in need since they're often the ones who called us to help cats in the first place. There is no waiver I have them sign or anything.

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    Jacqueline Betty
    Charles River Alleycats
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  • 9.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-24-2023 05:52 AM
    I also use Google sheets - and we use Google My Map - to track our cat colonies. Both are free. Google sheets has each cat's details (male/female, location from, etc) and Google My Map has colony locations/# TNR'ed/Status. 

    Highly recommend Google My Map - makes it VERY easy to plug in new locations that come up and see if (1) we've already been there, (2) we have contacts in that area, and (3) if we can work on multiple locations at once since they are close together!

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    Erin Dams
    Roanoke Valley SPCA
    Roanoke VA
    5403396550
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  • 10.  RE: Keeping track

    Posted 01-23-2023 07:36 AM
    Hi! Our Pets for Life mentorship partners all track the community cats they work with. They collect the same information as for owned pets and it's stored in our PFL custom database.  We have a checkbox to mark which cats are community cats. They can track basic demographic info about each cat plus any supplies/services/meds given.

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    M Saucedo
    GIS Analyst
    Pets for Life
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