A community cat is any unowned cat that lives outdoors. A community cat can be well-socialized (friendly) or fearful of humans (feral). Most fall somewhere along the spectrum. All community cats need to eat.

A colony is anywhere two or more cats congregate. If you only feed one community cat and have serious financial need, please don’t hesitate to reach out for help.

Nashville is the largest metropolitan area in Tennessee and home to as many as 100,000 community cats. We need to grow where we’re planted for now. However, we’re happy to chat with folks in other counties who would like to start pantries of their own. We will learn a lot from you, too!

No. The Cat Colony Food Pantry only serves stray and feral cats that are unowned. We recommend you check in with Metro Animal Care and Control and Nashville Humane Association. Both of these organizations have pet food pantries but do not serve community cats.

Colony visits allow us to see the cats, discuss the needs of a caretaker and find out if the cats have been spayed and neutered. We believe that all outdoor cats must be sterilized. Doing so stops the overpopulation of cats, strengthens communities, helps cats live longer and healthier lives, and prevents kittens from being born outdoors where they often suffer and die.

We are advocates and practitioners of trap-neuter-return (TNR). There are several low-cost spay/neuter clinics in and around Nashville, including the Pet Community Center (serving Davidson County), The JOY Clinic (located in Lebanon) and the Sumner Spay Neuter Alliance (serving Sumner county). Please learn about TNR here and contact us if you have questions.

We may assist our clients with TNR as our schedules allow. We would much rather empower you to trap yourselves! You may find it is addictive. We’ll also show you how to make appointments and connect you with resources. We can also answer questions to the best of our ability, but may refer you to a clinic for additional education if needed.

No. We are not a rescue and will not take cats from you. We are 100% focused on providing food to caretakers in need, and we do not respond to inquiries about rescue. We recommend that you look on PetFinder.com and explore the shelters and rescues in our area.

Yes! Here’s our Candid profile.