Community Concern For Cats

I hate seing a group that is trying to do so much good by saving lives get a bum rap. It’s a tough job, especially if you are passionate and want to save as many kitties as possilble. Although my experience with CC4C was in 1996, it gave me the 2 best friends that I ever had. My Missy crossed over in 2012, she was 16. I just lost my Yogi in Sept. 2015. He was 19. I could not imagine the past 2 decades without them, and had it not been for Community Concern for Cats volunteers who rescued Yogi from a storm drain where he had been trapped for over a week I would not have been able to share my life and home with him or his best friend, Missy. And yes, I adopted 2 at the same time because, as most cat people know, very rarely does a person only end up having one cat!
There are many agencies doing good work and the most important thing is that you adopt a rescured animal. Period.

My wife and I adopted the best little guy (not so little anymore) from Petco in walnut creek. We were not necessary planning on adopting that day but thought about it for some time to make sure we were ready to care for a pet since we are both working professionals.
6 months later we couldn’t be happier. Gizmo is 9 months old, beautiful, loving, very playful and very clean. He never scratched furniture not pooped anywhere outside of the litter box.
Gemma was very helpful in all of our visits to this location. She advised us on many things that have to do with having a cat, including having a second one for him to play with.
Well now we have 2 and they couldn’t be happier. We adopted Princes from the Martinez animal shelter only because it is not a «no kill shelter «.
Thank you all.

I called this organization for help with a pregnant, non-​feral abandoned cat at my home. She was left by previous tenants. Jemma or Emma returned my call. She was extremely rude. She basically wouldn’t let me speak and when I tried to she told me she «was getting very irritable.» She tried to convince me to bring the cat in to get spayed and therefor abort her babies and spoke in a very condescending manner. She also seemed only interested in whether the cat was «highly adoptable» and such. She said there was a local vet who spays and I asked for his contact information. She said «I can’t give YOU that information, then anyone could walk in there and put it on my tab.» Like I was some shady person looking to get over on her! When I asked for the number, I just wanted to speak with the vet for advice and I knew nothing of her account there. She also suggested I just fix the cat and treat it like a feral. I explained to her it seemed sweet and was abandoned and my neighbor yells at it so it’s skittish. She said «you don’t really know if it’s a good cat, it runs from you»
I gained the impression she was only willing to help animals in need if she could adopt them out easily and therefore make herself and her organization look good. The seriously needy cat I had she really had no interest in helping. She gave advice but was VERY pushy and spoke t me like I was an idiot and was generally speaking a know it all uppity b*tch.
She is a very rude woman with a serious attitude problem and I would not recommend this organization

Queen b. Walnut Cr
5 months ago
Hi, I think I know who you are. The woman who had to move and had cats etc, son, and more disabled than when we first talked. I’m sorry for your troubles. I wanted to help you but there’s nothing I can do. I lend financial aid but i can’t come pick up cats or take them etc. I’m really so sorry not to be of more help but I’m way over my head in my own cats and trying to do what i can do. Too much happening in my days. Please call me again and tell me again your situation. what do you have (cats, number) and what is it you need. I had someone who wanted to help you in your old location but she can’t come to you now since you’ve moved. 925– xxx-​xxxx Queen b.
Person that begged 4 help over 1 year ago
I just realized you have written back after however long ago this was written (i was not notified) what you are saying to me is 100 percent bull. I called you several times, over a 4 – 5 year span everytime I did you were rude to me, talked down to me like I was a child in need of discipline. I did not ask for any of the cats that were dropped off at the horse ranch I tried my best to take care of the ones that were dropped off WITHOUT MY CONSENT. After several weeks when i realized they were not going to leave no matter what I did, yes I felt sorry for them and fed them as any animal person would do! I called you the 1^st through 4^th time all I was looking for was someone to come pick the cats up and have them fixed and drop them back off so that the population wouldn’t keep growing as rapidly as it did, (i went from around 8 – 10 cats the first time we spoke to over one hundred by the time I moved because of you! Every time I spoke to you you acted like it was my fault the cats were there I should have never taken so many cats if I couldn’t take care for them was your exact words and your exact words was that you couldn’t do anything to help me because you were too busy to take care of your own animals you wouldn’t even listen to me all you did was complain about your own situation, you did not offer me any help financially, advice or otherwise now I’m reading on here that you had somebody that was going to help me? that’s kind of odd since I’m just now hearing this over two years later. You were rude to me you kept trying to get me off of the phone because you didn’t even have time to speak to me and you never once offered any suggestions or help so please do not get on Unilocal and act like you are a caring individual or non-​profit organization because out of the several times we spoke you absolutely did not give a rats behind about my situation and ended up getting well over 100 cats killed! The person that was going to continue to live on that property was going to continue to keep feeding all of those animals (all of the over one hundred but on two conditions, if I would have arranged for the food which I did his problem was he wasn’t going to continue to keep having them breeding and being overrun by cats I expressly told you that he would end up having to kill them which I did tell you on more than one occasion and he did! Oh you told me to tell him it was illegal which I did tell him but serriously did I have proof to take to the authorities, do you have the proof? I hope it makes you feel better about yourself and not look like an uncaring human being and now you are trying to redeem yourself on Unilocal but you and only you ended up getting numerous cats killed in the process of your unwillingness to help just a few cats at first. I sincerely hope that you realize the significance of your actions however small they may seem to you at the time, you now have the blood of hundreds of cats on your hands and I myself want to tell the world what an awful human being you are and that you are full of it if you even considered trying to help me or that you had someone who was going to help me? you never once told me anything about that, and this is the first time I’m hearing anything of the sort two years later. You should be banned from having any animals for this, and most certainly should not be running a non-​profit organization!
Person begging for help over 1 year ago
6÷6÷15
And just so there is no confusion this all happened over a several year period of time, is why the population kept growing so much. I know you may be a very busy person, or have too much on your plate but that does not excuse you from the way you treated me! And if you are in way over your head as you have led me to believe every time we have spoke then maybe you need to step down and have some that is more in tune with people than you seem to be and has more empathy than you have and is not too frazzled to help people or at least get help so something like this doesn’t happen in the future when someone tells you that many cats are going to be killed because of something that you had not done that’s when you need to start taking a look at yourself and your situation. Just my opinion.

I have now read several bad reviews re: CC4C. I also am very disgusted with them. I had sent an email to Paula last Friday, who was the contact person for the Maddie’s adoptions at PH Pet Food Express this last weekend. I sent her two telling her I was interesting in two siblings that were Burmese, my dream kitty. Her response was to fill out an application ahead of time. I sent another asking what time I should show up. No response. I called Pet Food Express & asked. They said they were separate but CC4C were coming at 9:00 to set up. I should’ve been there at 9:00, but it was advertised that they would show the kitties from 11 – 5. I showed up at 10:00 and the kitties were gone. I was told we would be given numbers so I thought they would begin at 11:00. Anyway, I blamed myself for not getting there earlier.
I went to ARF, adopted a year old cat. Went back to Pet Food Express Sunday around three & believe it or not, more Burmese kitties. I adopted an 8 wk old male. At first the older cat didn’t like the kitty, but now they’re buddies. Only problem is the kitty went poop outside the box twice by my dining table! I emailed Paula & she sent me a brochure to read, which I did. Then she called yesterday to set up the time to fix the new kitty. I didn’t realize I would have to got to Richmond at 7:30 a.m. But what bothered me the most was how RUDE Paula was on the phone. I asked for suggestions re: the poop problem & she was so condescending, I hung up on her! I asked for her supervisor in an email because I’m going to talk to someone about this! Don’t want to talk to her! After reading reviews, I realize I am not the only one that has had a bad experience with this organization! They are supposed to be nice to us. We are doing a good thing by adopting their kitties!

Great organization. We adopted our three calico kittens (Mudge, Fudge and Lori — now 4 years old) through CC4C about 4 years ago from the Lafayette Petco site. The CC4C «Cat Ladies» were all wonderful during the entire process, and well after. They really care about cats, and go out of their way to find good, and loving, homes for them.

So So disappointed with this group. I had inquired about a kitten that i saw online. They resounded very quickly and advised me to go to a certain location for the adoption process. They told me i was the first to ask about this cat and later on emailed me that there were several others also looking into him but if i get their early there is a good chance would get him. Cool right? I get there about an hour before they show up with the cats and patiently wait. Soon after the cats arrive and as soon as i see him i fall in love all over again. He looks even better then his pictures. I go through the «interview» the women proceeds to tell me about him and begins to put him in my crate but right before she goes «Now i need to to commit to buying a second kitten preferably tomorrow «
Im like WHAT? umm i did not sign up to buy to cats, but apparently the girl who fostered this cat did not like the idea of my not already having at cat at my home. It BROKE my heart. i wish i would have lied and said that i already had a cat. OR i wish they would have told me that he would not have been given to a home without another cat in all the back and fourth emails and pictures.
Honestly with SO many cats looking for homes and cat dying you would think it would have been ok that i did not have another freaking cat already. I guess instead of adopting which i thought would have been the «right thing» to do ill be buying a cat from a legit pet store.

This is a great group.
I have read the other reviews, and sure, the staff (VOLUNTEERS!) are a little overwhelmed with hoards of people, and everyone wants to touch the kittens, and there are foster people standing all over — but step back and see that the whole thing is actually a demonstration of how much these people care about the welfare of the cats and what a lot of community support there is around these animals.
If you have ever dealt with the general public, you know that you develop a healthy skepticism for how great people think they are — you as adopter have to be PATIENT and let the CC4C people see that you really do want a cat and are committed to the adoption.
They HELP you go through the store and get the supplies you need. people have listed this as a complaint. this is a feature, not a bug! … the adoption ladies are trying to get you to spend a few extra bucks on a bigger litter box in order to make sure that your cat — which you will theoretically have for the next DECADE (at least) — has a healthy, appropriate place to do it’s bizness. They give tips on where to get better deals for cat food, what litter scoop works the best — you think that people who volunteer for CC4C are likely to know the best litter scoop, right?
Yes, you pay a lot to upfront to adopt the cats… but that covers all their worming (just bring them in to Gemma), their shots (bring them in to Gemma — she will check for mites, she will check anything you ask and will answer all of your questions) and their neutering. They CALL AND EMAIL you to set up the neutering. They have a doctor, or they can work with your vet. It’s AWESOME.
So — take a deep breath — and trust these people when you go adopt a cat. They are terrific. They are trying to help you, and they are trying to make sure the cats are well taken care of. And that makes all the difference.

When my fiancé and I began the discussion of adopting a pet we did some research in the Bay Area for adoption organizations. We noticed that CC4C was having one of their adoption days at the Walnut Creek PetCo and we decided to stop by.
As fate would have it, we ended up coming home with two adorably talkative orange tabby brothers, who we named Fred and George. Plus, enough litter, food, and toys for the rest of the decade.
CC4C and those who work with the organization are compassionate individuals who really do want to help pets find proper owners. The application process was very thorough as they want to ensure that the homes that pets end up in are suitable and loving. They were also very frank about the expectations as owners and answered all of our questions professionally. Since we adopted young kittens, they still needed to be neutered and receive an additional vaccination. CC4C not only helped to coordinate these appointments, but they also reimbursed us for the procedures.
Needless to say, our kittens are the loves of our life and we are so very happy to have had them for almost a year.
There are still so many pets out there who need good homes. So, please consider adoption, folks — you will be so happy you did!

I have nothing but positive things to say about CC4C.
After a suitable period of mourning for the loss of my very elderly cat, I had been contacting cat rescue groups for several weeks, looking to adopt a kitten into my household with a friendly dog. All the organizations had lengthy, intrusive forms to fill out, and all of them except the SPCA insisted that I adopt two. I had people quizzing me on the layout of my house!
That is not what I experienced at CC4C. While they, too, had a lengthy questionnaire, they did not insist on calling my vet or my references. They said they just wanted to be sure I had a vet, and they trusted me. One point in their favor.
Since I was adopting a kitten that had been fostered in a home with dogs, they were fine with me adopting just the one. Two points in their favor.
Since our little gal was too small to spay, they said we could bring her back to one of their vets for free spaying, or use our vet here and they would pay us the amount of their fee. We live an hour away, but our vet was very expensive, so Dana offered to let us drop the kitten at her house overnight so we could avoid rush hour. That is above and beyond. They get many extra points for that!
They were responsive to questions when I was emailing them about various kittens, too, and not all the other organizations were.
Furthermore, I think they did a superb job of socializing this litter of kittens in a busy household with dogs. Our kitty has required almost no time to adjust.
Finally, I think all the people from all the organizations really care about cats, but some of them go overboard, whereas everyone I met from this group seemed like a reasonable human being.
I was sorry to read the other reviews where people did not have the same positive experience I did.

I can see people giving 5 stars for this nonprofit for the fostering of animals and taking strays in but I would not even give them 1 star for the way they handle their adoptions. We had a very upsetting experience trying to adopt a kitten during the Maddy’s Fund weekend. We went to Petco in Walnut Creek where there were cages of cats. I was surprised since it was later on Sunday and most places we had called had adopted most of thier animals. We were very specific about what we were looking for. A female kitten. Not male, not older and definetely not more than one cat. We filled out the appropriate paperwork and started holding and looking at the kittens. We found one that we fell in love with. An adorable little black kitten who immediately bonded with my boyfriend. He held her for over a half hour while I was given the 3^rd degree. I was interviewed by at least 3 different people with some very personal questions. I answered everything truthfully, although I felt it was a bit odd. We found out that the kittens were not spayed yet even though it is a requirement through Maddy’s Fund that only spayed /​neutered animals could be adopted out. They said she had to be over 3 pounds before they could spay or micro chip her. She was clearly old enough to be spayed.
So, it was not going to be up to us to figure out timing, scheduling recovery etc… Not something we planned but we so wanted this little girl.
After close to an hour we were approved! We were very excited to be able to give this adorable kitten a loving home. We went shopping through the store packing up all the necessities. I found it a bit strange that some of the people from this orginization were following us around. They were trying to be helpful in telling us what we needed to get but I have had cats/​kittens before and knew the basics. The size of my litterbox became an issue for some reason and the pushing of some sort of pellet type of litter was suggested more than once. We survived the shopping only to be called over by one of the group members and told that the «foster mom», a Dr. Brenner who is a vet somewhere did not want that kitten adopted without the other kitten that was in the cage. The other kitten in the cage was smaller, younger and a male and not related to «our» kitty. We told them we did not want 2 cats and did not want a male, especially since they didn’t fix either one of them. They said they were sorry but that was the only way we could get t his kitten. SERIOUSLY??? After going through all the questions, paperwork, shopping… you NOW tell us we can’t have our kitty without taking on the responsibility of another animal??? We were dumbfounded and heartbroken. We asked why that wasn’t put on the paperwork on the cage? No one would answer us. They just kept saying sorry. Oh… and then they tried to get us to take one of the older cats and males to boot! I’m sorry, didn’t I make it clear from the beginning that I wanted a young female? Needless to say, we didn’t get a kitten because I was not going to be bullied into getting 2 cats when we only wanted one. And that’s what this was… call it bullying or blackmail, but they would not adopt a kitten to us without taking 2. This is not the first time this orginization has pulled this either. I had been looking at an older cat on petfinder… a female main coon. I talked to 2 different people, went through phone interviews and when I was setting up the appointment to meet the cat, I was told that this particular cat needed to go with the other cat it had been with since they bonded. Again with the 2 cat adoption requirement. I don’t think these people want to adopt out their cats, either that or they force you into taking 2 cats to get the one you want. I seriously wonder if this isn’t some sort of scam. They get money for adopting cats out but how many of those «2^nd» cats get put right back at the pound or given to someone else since they weren’t wanted in the first place? I will never recommend this group to anyone. We missed out on Maddy’s Fund but we will find a kitty somewhere else. I would rather pay the full adoption fee than get a cat from anyone associated with this group. If they don’t want to adopt their kittens or cats individually, then just state that up front. What they did to us yesterday was mean. Just plain mean.

My husband and I caved to our 14 year old daughter to go look at the cats @ the Walnut Creek Petco. My 14 year old took off to look at the cats at one end while my husband and I were looking at the others. One of the volunteers had apparently asked my daughter if we had a cat. She told the woman that we used to have one but that it had gotten out and we hadn’t seen it since. A few minutes later I called my daughter over to look at the kittens in one of the cages. My daughter asked the volunteer if she could hold the kitten. The volunteer promptly told my daughter that the kittens were very skittish and «It is really not a good idea for you to get a cat, you might let it out and kill another cat.» This woman just made assumptions based on what a 14 yo told her… she didn’t even talk to us first to try to find out more info! (Side note… my husband was the one who let the cat out!!) I don’t even know if my cat is was killed or not. I was completely disgusted with the way they talked to my child! While this organization does good things for cats, I WILL not be going to them to look for another cat. They are just plain RUDE!!! If I could give them 0 stars I would.

Adoption process went fine and they took care of the neutering. What really disappointed me was knowing that I was a first time cat owner, they really didn’t alert me to any problems the cat might be having. He had really smelly farts and soft poo from Day 1 but the lady kept insisting it was stress and all I needed to do was give him vitamins. It got bad enough that I had to take him to the vet and discovered that he had a bad case giardia AND ear mites.
REALLY? I chose him for his personality and its not like I wouldn’t have adopted him if I had to spend some extra $$ on the vet! And for that he had to suffer all that extra time?

I have adopted 2 kitties from CC4C — one in 1991 who passed away in 2006. And another adopted in 2006 who is alive and well.
This organization is filled with people that care about animals and take them into their homes until a good home is found. I just love them and give them support every year. If you are in the market for a cat, call this organization — they’ve been around forever and are as good today as they were 20 years ago.

The abandoned kitty we found was adopted to a very nice home through CC4C.
It takes a bit of a commitment on your part to foster and take the cat to the adoption events, but it’s worth it. And, doesn’t a poor cat who found himself homeless through no fault of his own deserve that?
Many thanks to Dana for helping with the screening and adoption process.

I have adopted three beautiful kitties from this organization. I love them to death. We adopted KitKat and Momo first. Then we adopted Charlie.
Gemma can seem harsh at first, but she loves her cats. She tells me stories on how she spends almost every night going out to help catch some feral cats and give them a nice loving home or have them spayed/​neutered and re-​released. That is some real dedication. She spends so much time making sure that these cats go to good homes. She even gives out great advice.
I love this organization so much I even foster kitties for them. I have had over five kittens and all of them have been adopted.
This is a great organization because of instead of sitting in a cold metal cage they are at loving homes, receiving lots of love and attention and being trained to be good at the same time.

Now that our kittens are fully fixed and adopted, despite some glitches and unpleasant interactions, I can recommend this organization because they let you handle the neutering. This approach is a terrific amount of trouble for the women who raise the cats and facilitate the adoptions, but enables the new owners to subject their kittens to a difficult experience within a loving context and at an age which is healthier for them than the usual schedule most shelters need to follow.
I would especially recommend visiting the Walnut Creek and the Lafayette adoption sites.

I adopted Ari from CC4C in December and couldn’t be happier. Who would have thought that I’d be adopting a cat… I’m a dog person. After talking to the foster mom, we made sure Ari (formerly Simba) was a good fit for me. Thank you CC4C for all the work you do.

I’m writing this update after some thought, and I must say that we are very happy both with the work that CC4C performs for our feline friends, and also with the adorable and happy cat we adopted. Jill with CC4C was wonderful on the loving follow-​up to our adoption, and we simply adore our cat Bailey. Bailey has become best friends with our other kitty, and it is a joy to us to see such healthy and happy cats together. Bailey (aka Bugaboo) is sweet, talkative, playful, happy, beautiful (check out the photos) and we simply adore him. Please do check out CC4C if you are considering adopting a kitty, they provide a wonderful service.

We adopted our sweet, beautiful dilute Tortie from CC4C at PETCO in Walnut Creek in Dec. ’07. We mainly worked with Kelly & Gemma, and both women were very helpful and thorough. Minus one star because our kitten was sneezing a lot and got our other older cat VERY sick (icky vet bill), but there’s only so much they can do. Both kitties are healthy & doing great now!