Livingston Community Cat Project

Hidden behind a truck stop in Livingston, dozens of cats were struggling to survive.

For years, the colony continued to grow as unspayed cats produced litter after litter, leaving more kittens vulnerable to illness, injury, starvation, and the many dangers faced by outdoor cats. While a dedicated local caretaker did everything he could to help, the situation had grown beyond what any one person could manage alone.

Mission Meow became involved after volunteer Maria was made aware of the colony while assisting with an unrelated rescue nearby. What began as a single conversation quickly revealed the urgent need for a large-scale Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) effort.

Working alongside local partners and the City of Livingston, Mission Meow is helping provide a long-term, humane solution for this colony and others through spay and neuter services, rabies and FVRCP vaccinations, medical care, and ongoing colony management.

This work doesn't just improve the lives of community cats. It also helps protect the health and safety of the entire community. By vaccinating and sterilizing outdoor cats, we help reduce the spread of preventable diseases among community cats, owned pets, and people while decreasing nuisance behaviors associated with unaltered cats.

To make a meaningful impact, our initial goal is to sterilize and vaccinate 100 cats:

50 female cats — Spay, rabies vaccine, and FVRCP vaccine: $200 each = $10,000
50 male cats — Neuter, rabies vaccine, and FVRCP vaccine: $160 each = $8,000
Sustainability - Cost of food to feed colonies for a year: $2000

Total Project Goal: $20,000

This project represents more than helping a single colony. It addresses the root cause of cat overpopulation by preventing future litters from being born into a cycle of suffering while improving the lives of the cats already there.

Trap-Neuter-Return is one of the most effective and compassionate tools available to reduce suffering, stabilize community cat populations, improve public health, and create lasting change. But it requires funding, coordination, dedicated volunteers, and community support.

You may not be able to trap, foster, or adopt but you can still save lives.

Your donation provides spay and neuter surgery, lifesaving vaccinations, and medical care that protect both cats and the Livingston community. Together, we can end the cycle of suffering and create a healthier future for animals and people alike.

Here are just a few happy endings your donations made possible:

Meet Momma Brioche

For nearly six years, Momma Brioche survived in a patch of bushes hidden behind a busy area filled with businesses and constant activity. While people came and went each day, she quietly raised litter after litter, eventually becoming the matriarch of a colony of nearly 70 cats.

For years, she endured the challenges of motherhood, giving birth time and time again while struggling to survive outdoors. Then one night, everything changed. A Mission Meow volunteer successfully trapped Momma Brioche and brought her in to be spayed.

For those involved in TNR, trapping the main momma cat is a moment of celebration. It means breaking the cycle of endless litters and giving a cat the chance to live a healthier, more peaceful life. After years of producing kittens, Momma Brioche would never have to experience another pregnancy.

Today, Momma Brioche spends her days peacefully in the colony she helped build. She can relax in the bushes she knows so well, surrounded by many of her offspring, waiting for her scheduled meals and enjoying the life she deserves.

But our work doesn't end with spay and neuter. Sustainability is a critical part of TNR. Mission Meow is committed to the long-term care of this colony by providing regular food, monitoring the cats' health and well-being, and ensuring any new cats that arrive are sterilized. Through ongoing care and management, we can keep the colony healthy while preventing future population growth.

Your support makes stories like Momma Brioche's possible. Every donation helps us trap, spay, neuter, vaccinate, feed, and care for community cats, creating healthier lives for cats and a better future for our communities.

Meet Olive - One Eyed Wonder

Olive is one of the daughters of Momma Brioche and was born in the Bush Baby Colony. When Mission Meow volunteer Maria trapped Olive for her spay appointment, it was immediately clear that something was wrong with her eye.

Olive was taken to the veterinarian and started on medication in hopes of saving the eye. Despite treatment, her condition did not improve. Determined to give Olive the best chance possible, she was transported to our volunteer Amber, who specializes in caring for cats with complex eye conditions.

After a thorough evaluation, the difficult decision was made to remove Olive's eye to relieve her pain and prevent further complications. Following surgery, Olive returned to Maria's care to complete her recovery.

Once fully healed, we faced another difficult decision. Although Olive had become a beloved part of our rescue family, she was happiest in the only home she had ever known. Olive was returned to her outdoor colony, where dedicated caregivers continue to watch over her every day.

Today, Olive is thriving. She spends her days exploring the bushes with her mom and siblings, soaking up the sunshine, and greeting her caregivers from a safe distance. Her journey is a reminder that community cats deserve compassionate care, even when their path doesn't lead indoors.

Your support helps provide lifesaving medical care, spay/neuter services, transportation, and ongoing support for cats like Olive. Together, we can ensure every cat in the Truck Stop Colony has the opportunity to live a healthier, safer life.

This is where Olive's journey began

From Fighters to Friends - Trenta and Takis Story

Most people think female cats are the key to preventing kittens, but tomcats play an equally important role.

An unneutered male cat can mate with multiple females, resulting in dozens—even hundreds—of kittens over his lifetime. But the impact goes far beyond overpopulation.

Tomcats often roam long distances searching for mates, fighting other cats over territory, and suffering painful injuries such as abscesses, torn ears, and infected bite wounds. They also spread diseases like FIV through fighting, creating health risks for entire colonies.

At Mission Meow, we've seen this firsthand. Trenta and Takis were two community tomcats in our Truck Stop Colony who were constantly fighting over territory. Their lives revolved around defending their space and competing for mates, putting them at risk of serious injuries every day.

Our volunteers worked tirelessly to safely trap both cats through our Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program. They were neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped, and returned to the place they call home. Today, Trenta and Takis both live peacefully in the Truck Stop Colony. Instead of fighting, they coexist as calmer, healthier cats—a powerful reminder of how TNR changes lives.

After neutering, many male cats roam less, fight less, and become calmer, healthier members of their colony. Communities also experience less spraying, yowling, and territorial behavior.

TNR isn't just about preventing more kittens—it's about improving the lives of the cats already here while creating healthier, more peaceful neighborhoods.

Every dollar raised through your donations help give a tomcat the chance to live a safer, healthier life while preventing countless future litters.

This is where Trenta and Takis story began:

Joseph - Cries for rescue

Joseph is one of our Truck Stop colony kittens. His colony caretaker heard a tiny kitten crying from the bushes and went looking. There, he found Joseph with a painful wound on his neck.

Knowing he needed help, he brought him to Mission Meow volunteer, Maria, who made sure Joseph received the medical care he desperately needed. But Joseph's story could have ended very differently. Without treatment, his wound could have become severely infected. Countless kittens like Joseph are born outdoors every day, facing hunger, illness, injury, and predators. Despite our best efforts, we can't reach every kitten in time.

That's why Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is so important.

Your donation helps us with TNR efforts that help prevent kittens from being born into lives of suffering before that suffering ever begins. Every cat that is spayed or neutered means fewer kittens struggling to survive outside and fewer heartbreaking stories that end in tragedy.

Kittens - Too old to socialize, but old enough to reproduce

One of our dedicated volunteers has discovered another community cat colony near a park in Livingston. So far, she has trapped two kittens that were too old to be safely socialized, but old enough to begin reproducing.

Without intervention, this colony will continue to grow. Your donations help us provide spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, and the care needed to stop the cycle before more kittens are born into a life of hardship.

Mission Meow Merced Michis

A community-wide Trap-Neuter-Return initiative improving the health, safety, and well-being of both community cats and the people who live alongside them.