Alley Cat Allies’ Keeping Families Together™ collaboration with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa this fall has provided incredible, no-cost resources to cats throughout the Des Moines area!
In just three cat food distribution events in October and November, the latest being November 8, we handed out cans of cat food to more than 540 households to help more than 1,800 cats and kittens!
Alley Cat Allies covered the costs of more than 26,000 pounds of cat food to be distributed over time. Right now, when many residents of Des Moines—and people across the country—are facing financial challenges, our work is critical to ensure people can continue to care for their indoor and community cats.
Alley Cat Allies’ 11-8-2023 food distribution with Animal Rescue League of Iowa
To that end, our Keeping Families Together program doesn’t just encompass food, but also veterinary services and other needed resources. That’s why we held a vaccine and wellness clinic with ARL on November 7, which provided 64 cats and kittens with care that may have otherwise been inaccessible to their families.
All clinic fees were waived thanks to an Alley Cat Allies grant! It was an honor to meet families and learn their cats’ stories. A beautiful and outgoing 6-month-old black kitten named Sheba, we learned, was heading back home vaccinated and healthy to her sister—her favorite playmate.
As the food distribution and clinic were underway, Alley Cat Allies also covered the costs of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) for Des Moines community cats, as well as 14 brand new humane traps.
Through TNR, cats are humanely trapped, brought to a veterinarian to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, eartipped, and microchipped, and then are returned to the outdoor home in which they thrive. With communities nationwide experiencing a shortage in both veterinarians and veterinary appointments—and with veterinary costs rising—no-cost and low-cost spay and neuter and TNR are invaluable.
We had the chance to watch community cat One Star return to his outdoor home, vaccinated and eartipped. His first order of business after his homecoming: a hearty meal!
Alley Cat Allies’ Keeping Families Together program provides food security, veterinary care, and other needed resources for cats during a time when economic uncertainty can make access to these necessities more challenging. Cats are family, too, and Alley Cat Allies’ goal is to ensure no one feels pressured to relinquish their cats to animal shelters or to stop caring for community cats.
Through Keeping Families Together, we’ve teamed up with organizations in states across the country to distribute cat food and other necessities and provide veterinary care for cats and kittens since the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Alley Cat Allies’ grants fund it all.
This lifesaving work is powered by our compassionate donors and supporters. Every gift has an impact. Give today at alleycat.org/Donate.