Collaborative Cats: Keeping Strays Off the Streets, Finding Happy Homes for Kittens

Every morning before breakfast, Beverly Ditto walks to the two-bedroom cottage next door to check on the residents: 18 cats ranging in age from eight weeks to 11 years. The founder of Collaborative Cats, a foster-based rescue shelter in Ancramdale, Ditto spends up to six hours each day greeting new adult arrivals, feeding and watering expectant queens (female cats) and cuddling with kittens who boast their own bedroom/bathroom combo. Ditto cleans litter boxes as socialized toms wander past to the enclosed front porch, then looks in on the invalids in the quarantined area. 

With 100 felines rescued and 80 placed for adoption in 2023, Collaborative Cats is one of the busiest rescues serving parts of Columbia and Dutchess counties. (Others include Stray Cats Network of Red Hook and Stray H.E.L.P of Fishkill.) Dedicated to reducing the number of unwanted cats, Ditto and her volunteers trap and neuter strays and ferals. They also rehab the injured and rehome adoptable cats and kittens pulled from feral colonies.  

There are tens of thousands of feral felines in the two counties, scavenging for dumpster food or handouts from cat lovers. Often the victims of predators, disease or automobiles, they have an average life span of just two years. Ditto thinks the value of local foster/rescues can’t be underestimated. “We serve both feline and human communities,” she said. “We ease the burden of worry people have about neighborhood strays; we check in on the elderly who’ve adopted cats; we make folks happy when a kitten joins their family. It’s not the cats that ask us for help—people do.” 

Ditto uses tips from concerned citizens to trap skittish ferals and friendly strays. “We rescue the majority from town streets—most non-ferals were just dumped by their owners,” she said. Collaborative Cats volunteers have snared felines from Amenia to Copake and from Boston Corners to Milan. Calls from as far away as Pennsylvania are not unusual. “People can get desperate if they have to get rid of their cat right away,” said Ditto. “But we’re not a shelter. We can’t take animals that people don’t want anymore. That’s what the Dutchess County SPCA is for.” 

After fostering and trapping cats on her own for two decades, Ditto opened her rescue in 2016. “I was always a cat person,” she said. “When I grew up, spaying and neutering wasn’t a thing. People just got rid of cats if there were too many. I wanted to fix that so it would never happen again. My goal from childhood has been to rescue cats.”  

A no-kill facility, Collaborative Cats may harbor a feral for years. “That’s rarely necessary,” Ditto said. “We find barn homes for non-adoptables: they’re great mousers and most farmers are happy to take them. The only requirement is that they’re fed every day.” She remembered a local farmer who had 75 cats on his property. “It took us several years, but all the cats are now neutered and ear-tipped,” Ditto said. (To indicate sterilization, veterinarians clip off the end of one ear.) 

Ditto relies on a dedicated network of volunteers to manage the endless kitten supply. “I couldn’t do any of this without my 12 foster moms,” she said. “They each take a litter when they can, sometimes two—right now that’s 20 kittens in total.” Every mom pays for food and cat boxes; Collaborative Cats pays for the spay-neutering, medical care and vaccinations. Ditto fosters kittens in her home when she can: “I have 10 indoor cats that are part of my family, which makes things complicated.” 

Not all volunteers take in rescues. Some help with the adoption process; others assist in the trapping and transporting. “We’re working on catching a bunch of cats in downtown Pine Plains—three kittens, a friendly pregnant female and four other adults,” said Ditto. “The owners left with no plan for their care, and now the house is getting knocked down.” Ditto and volunteer Elizabeth White of Pine Plains set two traps on Tuesday of this week, then hid behind a nearby fence in the afternoon cold, listening for the cages to snap closed. They snared two feral calicos within 45 minutes. (“It sometimes takes hours,” said White.) The queens will be spayed, treated for fleas, vaccinated and then placed. “First we have to figure out if they’re pregnant,” said Ditto. 

Sterilization is a big expense. Ditto uses a variety of places, based on availability and cost. Upstate Spay & Neuter Services sends a mobile unit to the cat cottage and will sterilize up to 10 felines at a time, at $70 per cat. Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in Pleasant Valley charges $40 for toms, $55 for queens. “We also work with Pine Plains Veterinarians and Copake Veterinary Hospital. They’re wonderful, and give us discounts.” said Ditto. “That’s important, since I spend $300 every other week on cat food and kitty litter.” 

Collaborative Cats, not yet a nonprofit, is kept afloat with private donations. “Funding is a huge worry and burden,” Ditto said. “Contributions come in at the beginning of the year, but by year’s end, I’m strapped for funds. I am so lucky to have a few generous donors with deep pockets. I’d be lost without them.”  

Collaborative Cats will be participating in Willow Roots’ Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, Dec.16, in Pine Plains. Proceeds from the sale of cat toys, collectibles and pet supplies will raise funds for the rescue. To adopt, volunteer or make charitable donations, visit www.collaborativecats.com or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/collaborativecats