10/17/2026
Sue has helped Christa with getting adult community cats near her home trapped, neutered/spayed, and released (TNR). We have vetted and adopted out the kittens.
If you are able to help Community Cats (Sue) any way, please contact her.
❤️ 42 YEARS OF RESCUE — A DIFFICULT DECISION FROM MY HEART 🐾
After many hours of thinking, struggling with my emotions, and having some very difficult conversations with myself, I have come to a realization that is not easy for me to accept.
I am only one person, and I simply cannot continue doing everything at the pace I have maintained for so many years.
I have dedicated 42 years of my life to rescuing animals. I will be 70 years old in January, and although my heart and determination have not changed, my body is telling me something I have been trying very hard not to hear.
I am dealing with significant physical challenges, including deteriorating discs in my lower back. I have one more opportunity to try another ablation procedure. If that is unsuccessful, I may be facing back surgery that could leave me unable to do rescue work for five to six months.
For those who know me, you know that rescue is not just something I do. It is who I am. It has been my life's purpose.
Every phone call, every text message, every email asking for help weighs heavily on my heart. When I cannot respond or cannot help, I struggle with feeling as though I have failed another cat.
Because to me, every single one of their lives matters.
But the reality is that I am trying to do the work of several people.
Between caring for my own shelter, maintaining two large barns, trapping cats, transporting them to clinics, providing their recovery care, and feeding 18 colonies every single day, there are simply not enough hours in the day.
Rescue has become a 24/7 responsibility, with very little time to rest or take care of myself.
This past Monday evening, I became extremely ill and was confined to bed for three days. I was physically unable to care for the cats as I normally would, and some went without their regular food and water during that time. That realization has been absolutely heartbreaking.
Yesterday, despite still being weak and dizzy, I pushed myself out of bed to take care of everyone. Today, I am back in bed again.
That was my wake-up call.
As difficult as this is for me to say, I have made the decision that I must begin scaling back my trapping and TNR work to approximately 10 to 12 cats per week.
Even writing those words brings tears to my eyes.
For 42 years, I have pushed through exhaustion, illness, pain, and countless obstacles because the cats needed me. I have always believed that if there was one more cat I could save, I needed to keep going.
But I am finally realizing that I cannot save them all, no matter how desperately I want to.
This does not mean I am giving up on the cats. It means I am trying to find a way to continue helping them without completely sacrificing my own health.
I am sharing this because I want everyone to understand why I may not be able to answer every call, respond to every message, or take on every trapping request.
Please understand that saying no is one of the hardest things I have ever had to learn.
I still care. I still worry. And I will always advocate for the forgotten cats that so many others overlook.
But I need help, understanding, and compassion, too.
If our community wants this lifesaving work to continue, we need more people willing to step forward, whether that means trapping, transporting, feeding colonies, helping at the shelter, or simply giving a few hours of their time.
One person cannot carry the responsibility of an entire community's unwanted cats.
To everyone who has supported me and our mission over the years, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My love for these cats will never change. I just have to accept that my limitations have.
I am not giving up. I am simply learning that in order to keep saving lives, I have to take care of my own. ❤️🐾
Community Cats Coalition
Every cat matters. Every life matters.
