Feral Cats and the People that Love Them

by Yulissa Garcia

 As students explore CSUN, they may notice all the different types of wildlife on campus, such as squirrels, turtles and ducks, but what they might not notice are the cats. 

CSUN is not only the home to thousands of Matadors looking to get their degrees, but it has also been the home to a handful of community cats for decades. 

Since 2000, a group of people have dedicated their time to feed and take care of the cats that live on campus. 

Cats around the San Fernando Valley have found their way onto CSUN in a number of ways. Some were abandoned by people who can no longer take care of them or don't want them. Others were left behind by students who broke the rules of the dorms and kept a cat with them during their stay.

Many people may not have noticed the cats on campus because cats are naturally crepuscular animals, and are the most active at dawn and dusk.

Two decades ago, there were dozens of cats on campus, but now there are only seven. Thanks to the efforts of a small group of people, 53 of the cats that lived on the campus have now been rehomed.  

The CSUN Cat People are responsible for feeding the cats, buying their food/water, cleaning their feeding stations and the areas surrounding them. 

 Louise Adams, 74, was a student at CSUN who graduated in 2006 and has been the main caretaker of the cats for 24 years. “I started in 2000, and at that time, there were 75 cats on campus,” Adams said.

In 2001, with the approval of then-CSUN President, Jolene Koester, Adams and a few others started a group called CSUN Cat People. A few agreements had to be made: they had to partner up with Physical Plant Management, designate areas for the cats to be fed and keep those areas clean. 

Adams, along with others, took the responsibility of feeding the cats but they felt they needed to take it a step further. 

“We decided to get really organized and make sure all the cats were spayed or neutered so they couldn't reproduce,” Adams said. “To get all the cats vaccinated and provide for their ongoing medical care, which we did.” 

Their process is called trap, neuter, return, or TNR.

After the cats have gone through the spay/neuter process and received their vaccinations, they are returned to their outdoor home sterilized and healthier. Some cats are rehomed along the way. This process helps lower the number of unowned community cats in Los Angeles.

“Currently there are seven cats, so the program is really working because we prevented any kittens or cats from being born on the campus in years,” Adams said. “The population is really stable now, and that's the way the program is supposed to work,” she continued. 

Two decades later, Adams still takes the time to feed the cats at CSUN twice a day.

Jim Lunsford is a staff member at CSUN and also an alumni. He found out about the campus cats through a cat food drive held by Adams in the campus library and for 10 years, Lunsford has helped Adams feed the cats. He began feeding them by the University Library and still does so every Thursday while also feeding Einstein every Friday.

Lunsford feels that the TNR program at CSUN is working effectively. 

“I think that's what the program is supposed to do. I work with other feral cat populations around the valley, and the idea always is that TNR, you trap them, you neuter them, and then you release them back into where you found them because they're feral most of the time. But the goal of that is to dwindle the population so they don't keep multiplying,” Lunsford said. 

Larry O’Connor is also a staff member at CSUN. He has known about the cats on campus since 2000 but began feeding the cats seven years ago. He also helps maintain the areas where the cats roam. 

“I'm one of the main feeders for Einstein, the one around Sierra Hall, the gray one. Then I'm a backup feeder for some of the other ones,” said O’Connor. “But I feed Einstein at least two days a week, and then depending on coverage, sometimes maybe three mornings and two nights,” 

“Every now and then, I just go through some of the bushes and clean up the pathways and just clean up some of the things. O’Connor continued.

A married couple, Denise Martin-Thomas and Ronael Thomas, were also introduced to Adams and the cats by the food drive she held for the cats in the campus library. Martin-Thomas is a CSUN staff member and alumni, her husband is neither but they both help feed Cole, a jet black cat, once a week.

“It's been 10 years now. I can't remember. It's been such a long time. So my husband does a lot of the feeding, too. It seems to me like the cats are dwindling down. It's not as many cats as there used to be, but definitely they won't come near you unless you're a regular. They take a long time to just even pet them,” said Martin-Thomas.

The cats living on campus are not domestic; they don't socialize with humans and are considered feral. Einstein is the only cat, ever, to be as friendly and social with students, staff and the people who feed him. 

With the help of all the CSUN Cat People, cats haven’t been born on campus, dozens of cats have found a home and many more have been well taken care of.