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The Community Cats Podcast

The Community Cats Podcast

By: The Community Cats Podcast
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Summary

 Our mission is to provide education, information and dialogue that will create a supportive environment empowering people to help cats in their community. *For transcripts of most shows, visit https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/podcast/.© 2023 The Community Cats Podcast, All Rights Reserved Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Ep 664: When the Uh-Oh Happens: Pet First Aid and CPR for Every Cat Caregiver with Arden Moore, America's Pet Health and Safety Coach

    Ep 664: When the Uh-Oh Happens: Pet First Aid and CPR for Every Cat Caregiver with Arden Moore, America's Pet Health and Safety Coach
    May 12 2026
    "If you wanna have a real superpower, learn cat first aid." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Strategies to Reunite Lost Cats with Families Certification Workshop and Increasing Your Impact With Targeted TNR Certification Workshop. Cats are both predator and prey — and that dual nature means they respond to emergencies unlike any other animal. They have five weapons of mass destruction, a flexible spine, and no apologies. When the uh-oh happens, are you ready? In this episode, Stacy sits down with Arden Moore, bestselling author, host of the longest-running pet podcast on the planet, and founder of Pet First Aid 4 U, to talk about what every cat caregiver — whether you're a TNR volunteer, a shelter worker, a foster, or a pet parent — needs to know when a cat is in crisis. Arden draws on 15 years as a master certified pet first aid and CPR instructor to break down how to safely approach an injured or unconscious cat, the right way to perform two-handed CPR (and yes, even kitten CPR), how to transport an injured cat without spiking their fear and stress, and what to keep in your car and home to be truly safety-ready. Stacy and Arden also talk about why community cats present a unique challenge — and how many of the same skills transfer directly to TNR work in the field. You'll also hear about the surprising void in veterinary education around pet first aid, why even vets have frozen during a pet emergency, and how Arden's famous sidekick, Pet Safety Cat Casey — a shelter alum from San Diego Humane Society who stole the show at the Virginia Cat Festival with over 350 people in the room — makes learning these life-saving skills both practical and fun. Stacy and Arden are proud partners through the Community Cats Central e-learning platform, where group packages allow organizations to get their entire teams certified together. If your group of 10 wants to watch, learn, and get individually certified, this is the course for you. Less than 5% of pet owners have ever taken a pet first aid class. That's a big void — and this episode is your invitation to fill it. Press Play Now For: Why cats in emergencies are nothing like small dogs — and how to adjust your approach for their unique physiology and stress responsesHow to perform one- and two-handed CPR on a cat, including two-finger CPR for neonatal kittensThe kitty Heimlich, safe towel-wrapping technique, and the right way to use a top-loading carrier for transportWhat to keep in your car and home for a pet first aid kit — and when to check it (hint: sync it with clock changes)Why TNR caregivers are uniquely positioned to respond to field emergencies, and why a transfer cage may be better than a carrierThe ASPCA Poison Control and Pet Poison Helpline as 24/7 resources for toxic ingestionsWhy you should always call ahead to the vet — and put your hazards on during transportHow Arden's "Arden's Army" of 500+ certified instructors is spreading life-saving skills across shelters, rescues, vet clinics, and beyondHow to become a certified pet first aid instructor yourself through the ProPet Hero instructor programHow the Community Cat Central / Pet First Aid 4 U partnership works, including group certification packages Resources & Links Pet First Aid 4 UArden Moore's WebsiteOh Behave! Podcast on Pet Life RadioProPet Hero Instructor TrainingArden Moore on YouTubeArden Moore on InstagramArden Moore on FacebookASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (888) 426-4435, available 24/7Pet Poison Helpline (855) 764-7661, available 24/7
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    27 mins
  • Ep 663: Kitten Season Is Coming: What the Data Says and What to Do About It with Tori Fugate, Director of SAC Communications for the ASPCA

    Ep 663: Kitten Season Is Coming: What the Data Says and What to Do About It with Tori Fugate, Director of SAC Communications for the ASPCA
    May 5 2026
    "If we all came together to solve the problem, to solve the issue, and work together — those are the areas that we would see the most improvement." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Strategies to Reunite Lost Cats with Families Certification Workshop and Increasing Your Impact With Targeted TNR Certification Workshop. The kittens are coming. We know it every spring, but this year, Shelter Animals Count has the data to prove exactly how big the wave will be — and which organizations will feel it hardest. If your shelter or rescue isn't already ramping up fosters, supplies, and community outreach, this episode is your signal to start today. Tori Fugate is the Director of Communications for Shelter Animals Count — now a program of the ASPCA — and she has spent more than a decade at the intersection of animal welfare and strategic communications. Before joining SAC, she was Chief Communications Officer at KC Pet Project, where she helped transform one of the country's most visible municipal shelters into a national model for innovative, lifesaving work. Tori joins host Stacy LeBaron to unpack the latest findings from SAC's 2025 Annual Data Report — including the striking reality that 59% of all cats entering shelters in 2025 were kittens under five months of age. They dig into how to use zip-code-level intake data to target foster recruitment and community outreach before the floodgates open, and why creative thinking — think paper collars with QR codes to crowdfund spay/neuter costs — may be just as important as resources and policy. They also tackle one of the industry's most alarming trends: only 23% of cats entering shelters in 2025 arrived already spayed or neutered, nearly 3% below pre-pandemic levels. Tori explains how SAC's groundbreaking Altered Status at Intake Report is helping organizations understand where access-to-care gaps are widest — and what shelter communicators can do right now to start closing them. Press Play Now For: Why cats and kittens are just as marketable as dogs — and why the most ridiculous cat names often drive the most adoptionsThe significance of 59% of all 2025 cat shelter intake being kittens under five months of ageHow government shelters and contract shelters are seeing disproportionately higher intake of kittens under eight weeksWhy only 23% of cats entering shelters in 2025 were already spayed or neutered — and what that means for resource allocationSAC's Altered Status at Intake Report: five years of data showing a nearly 3% decline from 2019 pre-pandemic levelsCreative approaches to community spay/neuter funding, including paper collar QR codes to crowdfund costsHow shelters can use zip-code-level intake data to target outreach, neighborhood meetings, and foster recruitmentPractical kitten season communication strategies: media outreach, foster spotlights, and targeted Amazon wishlistsThe importance of flexible, dynamic thinking when managing kitten surges — and how to support community members who can't bring kittens in right awaySAC's publicly available dashboards including the National Animal Welfare Statistics Dashboard (10 years of data!) and state-level breakdowns Resources & Links Shelter Animals CountSAC 2025 Annual Data ReportSAC Data ReportsSAC Altered Status at Intake ReportKC Pet ProjectPetHelpFinder.orgPets.FindHelp.comUnited Spay AllianceUnited Spay Alliance Spay/Neuter LocatorCommunity Cats Central
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    33 mins
  • Ep 662: Scaling Spay/Neuter, Systems Thinking, and the Future of Urban Animal Welfare with Will Zweigart, Executive Director of Flatbush Cats

    Ep 662: Scaling Spay/Neuter, Systems Thinking, and the Future of Urban Animal Welfare with Will Zweigart, Executive Director of Flatbush Cats
    Apr 28 2026

    "Rescue and adoption actually don't scale. It doesn't matter how many you do—you're not preventing more from showing up."

    This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic.

    In this compelling episode of the Community Cats Podcast, host Stacey LeBaron sits down with Will Zweigart, the visionary behind Flatbush Cats and creator of the investigative podcast Underfoot. Together, they unpack the "hidden cat crisis" affecting urban communities—particularly in New York City—and explore why traditional approaches to rescue and adoption fall short of creating lasting change.

    Will shares how his background in strategy and communications shaped a systems-level approach to animal welfare, leading to a bold realization: rescue alone doesn't scale. Instead, sustainable impact lies in increasing access to affordable veterinary care, particularly high-volume spay/neuter services. The conversation dives into the evolution from grassroots rescue work to launching a full-scale clinic, Flatbush Vet, which performed over 7,000 surgeries in a single year.

    This episode goes beyond storytelling—it's a blueprint for change. From addressing volunteer burnout to building scalable teams, advocating for municipal accountability, and reimagining the role of cities in animal welfare, Will outlines a transformative vision for 2035. Listeners will gain insight into how policy, funding, and public awareness intersect—and why nonprofits must often lead the charge in both service delivery and media storytelling.

    Whether you're a seasoned rescuer, nonprofit leader, or passionate advocate, this episode challenges you to think bigger, act strategically, and embrace solutions that create lasting impact for cats and communities alike.

    Press Play Now For:

    • Why rescue and adoption alone cannot solve cat overpopulation
    • The concept of the "hidden cat crisis" and why it lacks media coverage
    • How scaling spay/neuter services creates measurable, long-term impact
    • The transition from volunteer rescue work to building a veterinary clinic
    • Practical strategies to prevent volunteer burnout through delegation and systems
    • The role of municipalities—and why policy inaction is a key barrier
    • A bold 2035 vision for animal welfare infrastructure in major cities
    • How storytelling and media can drive awareness and systemic change

    Resources & Links

    • Flatbush Cats
    • Flatbush on Instagram
    • Flatbush on Facebook
    • Flatbush on TikTok
    • Flatbush on YouTube
    • Underfoot
    • Flatbush Vet
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
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