Operation Catnip Of Gainesville Inc

I moved into a house that had a neighbor next door that was overrun with cats. Finally they started coming to my house and then she passed away and they all came to my house. Cats come and go I got so many fixed as much as I could and help them with through the vet that I have but it got so expensive. Finally because of my health I couldn't do much anymore so I got a hold of the organization in Gainesville and a woman named Stephanie came to help me and got probably 28 cats fix them for me and brought them back she is a lifesaver. Thank you so much for all your help Stephanie you are a beautiful person and I love the way you love cats thank you so much for all your help I hope y'all continue to do as much help with everybody you come across cuz I think you will and really make a difference in this world thank you.

I had a mama cat show up pregnant to my house, She eventually had some kittens. Well when I called Operation Catnip they were booked up for about a month. However while I was on the phone they had a cancelation and they gave it to me. They were able to get me in and take care of these kittens. When I ask the young volunteer how many cats they took in that day she told me about "50" wow! Think about how this helps this community. They do this for donations only. Thanks to all the employees and volunteers of Operation Catnip.

The director is rude , unprofessional and refuses to listen .The program is great but they need a professional director who cares about others beside herself.

I care deeply about community cats, and I have volunteered several times at Operation Catnip. I'm always totally impressed by the wonderful, loving care they give each cat. Operation Catnip spay/neuter clinics run like clockwork, with expert medical care and kindness provided to each and every cat.

In my job in animal welfare I provide volunteer opportunities, and always strive to make them well run and organized. It is so dispiriting when you try and volunteer and the operation is disjointed, confused, or not well-focused. It is such a treat to step into another organization's operation and see it well-planned, organized, and effective at every step.

Operation Catnip is a model for spay/neuter clinics across the country, and they take this mission literally--putting their protocols online, acting as a resource for other groups working to help community cats, and training vet students to understand how to humanely help community cats.

Beth Gammie

We are getting our TNR operation off the ground in Lake City Florida. We had attended the Cat Symposium and the tour of operation Catnip that was just astounding. To top that off, we were invited to participate in the training week. We were able to spay/neuter 57 cats that had never had veterinary care and in all probability never would. Some of these cats had medical issues and needed extra attention and help. Thanks to Operation Catnip they got the care they needed. Every single of the staff and volunteers we met goes the extra mile.

I just want to thank Operation Catnip of Gainesville for their amazing work!! I had some kittens and an adult cat that had been dropped at my house and while we didnt mind feeding them, we definately didnt want them to have kittens and we called Operation Catnip and they spayed and neutered them and took such amazing care fo them!! The male was a older Tom cat that had been fighting with other cats and had cuts and scratches on him and they fixed him up nice and he is such a beautiful cat now that he doesnt feel the need to fight anymore. Thank you again for your amazing work!!!!

Operation Catnip was instrumental in reducing the feral cat population at the apartment complex where I live. We only have one cat left out of the dozen or so that once resided on the property. She is being cared for by the office staff. Many of the other cats were adopted after they went through the TNR process. I was lucky enough to take in one of those cats. He has been with me for over eight years.

I moved into a new house only to find a feral momma cat and three babies living under one of the out buildings. I found operation catnip online and they were super helpful on the phone. They gave me helpful hints on how to trap the kitties. I picked up 4 beautiful brand new humane traps and followed the instructions. I was very nervous but followed the directions I was given and it was super easy. The staff on the day of the program were very courteous and helpful and the whole event was super organized and easy. The kitties are back safe and sound and I cannot thank everyone involved enough. I am on a fixed income and would not have been able to do this by myself. THANK YOU!

Operation Catnip is by far the most professional, efficient and effective nonprofit groups I have ever encountered. They make a huge impact on the feral cat population and I am so grateful for their service. I recently bought 7 acres and soon found myself surrounded by stray cats! I contacted the organization to set up 5 cats to be spayed/ neutered, and will take 3 more when they are old enough. The staff was very friendly, prompt responding to my email request and helpful coming up with hints to help trap and keep the cats as calm as possible through the process. They were so organized for the drop off and pick up of the cats. I cannot thank them enough for all their hard work!

What a great resource for feral cats! I was so glad to get to bring 3 of the strays I care for to get snipped, and vaccinated. Without this valuable and free service we would surely have many many kittens and cats by now. We are very lucky in Alachua County to have this opportunity to get one step closer to a kill free community and doubly blessed for all the great volunteers and workers of this amazing organization. Thank you Catnip!

This is an amazing & dedicated organization. My daughter and I first got involved when we saw a volunteer come and place traps in the spaces under our apartment building in Gainesville, FL in 2006. We volunteered to call in when a kitty was trapped and to provide water if necessary. From there we've personally helped trap at least 50 cats from multiple colonies to be fixed, ear tipped, vaccinated, and released back into their home colonies. I have had nothing but support, advice, caring and assistance any time I've contacted this agency. Our cat colony provides a valuable service as barn kitties and we live in a high dump off area. We are extremely fortunate to have Operation Catnip to keep the high number of feral cats in the Alachua County area down. We have volunteered during surgical events, trap cleaning, trapping cats directly and community outreach whenever we can as a family.

Consistently professional, polite, helpful, and wonderful. The care shows. The service is a HUGE benefit to the citizens of this county, and I can't say enough good about all the work and thought that goes into this project. From the beginning to the end, we have had NO bad experiences and have been involved in the TNR of many cats. We hope this operation will continue to be funded for years to come, as this problem is nowhere near being solved, but thanks to the outstanding efforts of this organization, progress is being made.

Me and my wife started volunteering a few months ago and we are so much happy to serve as volunteers....we feel we lived better by helping these innocent animals...........actually our volunteering began with neutering of a stray community cat which one day came to our home at night during the winter, cold and shivering asking for food........and as we didnt have any kind of cat food as we were not having any pets, we gave it some warm milk to drink and it happily drank the milk as i think it was starving over a few days.......then we were amazed when it came the next day for the food...we bought the cat food and started to feed it.....then it came regularly to our home, started to spend more time at our home and then one fine day it decided to stay with us at our home.....this is when we decided to get it neutered and we searched on the web and got to know about operation catnip...........we took it there and got vaccinated and neutered and now it is our darling pet of our home.....it is now a full time home bound cat and has totally adopted us as its care takers.......we decided to volunteer at operation catnip and this is how our journey with operation catnip began....it is a wonderful experience being here and working for these wonderful innocent living beings....i love it........

I have been with Operation Catnip (OC) since the beginning here in Gainesville, FL. Dr Julie Levy came looking for a few "cat people" to help get the program started, then to keep it growing over the years. OC is a Feel-Good thing to do. I am the person who maintains the database of information for each and every cat who has come through the program. Its fascinating to look back over time and see how things have changed. More cats, more volunteers, more involvement by veterinary students, more acceptance by people and others for TNR. Even the county shelter now does their version, called SNR (shelter, neuter, return) for many feral cats. OC is a national model for non-profit community cat care. The past few years OC has been part of a Community Cat Course attracting people from around the nation to come learn now to run a TNR group and do high volume spay/neuter. And it all started with 68 cats at the first clinic in July 1998.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in Operation Catnip. I couldn't help but be impressed with the not only the idea behind the program, but the efficiency with which they made things happen.

As far as I'm concerned, every county should have an Operation Catnip with all their good work!

Operation Catnip is an excellent program available to residents of Alachua County, Florida. It is a fantastic way to keep the cat population down, prevent unwanted pregnancies, curtail the spread of disease, minimize cat aggression and fighting, retard reproductive system cancers, help keep cats from starving to death and worse. I am so grateful to be living in an area which has such an outstanding program for the cats and its residents. This program should be in every county in every state. I have been using this program to spay and neuter feral cats for 10 years. It is outstandingly great.

I had the opportunity to volunteer at the October 2104 cat clinic at Gainesville's Operation Catnip. What an amazing organization! Throughout the day, 155 feral cats were brought in, and carefully, gently were spayed or neutered by the UF Veterinary students, and tended by many more volunteers. What an incredible day! The program overall has proven to be extremely effective in reducing the feral cat population and is now a national model for how to manage this problem. I was really impressed and am now proud to support the organization! Rosemary B

We are so very fortunate to have Operation Catnip in our county. Over the years I have brought many feral and community cats to be spayed and neutered through this program. It is reassuring to know that all cats receive their vaccinations and flea treatment at the same time. The day after the clinic when the cats are released back to their location I tell each one that their life is much improved thanks to the good work done by Operation Catnip. I can't imagine life without Operation Catnip!!

We became involved with Operation Catnip when we discovered two cats and four small kittens living in the woods behind our house. They loaned us traps to trap them and we took them in to be spayed or neutered and given vaccinations. They returned to living in the woods, and continued coming onto the porch for food and water. They were all beautiful cats, but extremely wary of humans. It was so amazing to watch the mama cat and the kittens together in the back yard and on the porch, and to watch the kittens grow up. So we ended up with 8 cats - our 2 inside cats and our new outside cats. Without Operation Catnip, I believe that these gorgeous cats would have been picked up and taken to the animal shelter - ultimately to be put to sleep since none of them could have been socialized to become pets. Operation Catnip gave them the opportunity to live healthier lives together.

Operation Catnip is tackling a truly compassionate cause, helping improve the lives of thousands of homeless companion animals. A stray cat is no less deserving of veterinary care and quality of life than a pet cat. I am endlessly grateful for the work Operation Catnip does, and the resources they offer for forgotten animals that would have been pets in a better world. Truly "Idealism In Action".