MEOW Now, a Program of Friends of Strays

08/25/2026

🤔 Why the ear tip? 🤔
Have you ever seen a cat outside with its left ear tipped? An ear tip is the universal signaler that a cat has been spayed or neutered – and that someone cared enough to help a community cat humanely stop reproducing and get vaccinated! This lets people who may see any outdoor cats know that they have already been fixed and cared for. The ear tip is a crucial part of TNVR (trap, neuter, vaccinate, return).
If you have cats in your Pinellas County neighborhood, you can help them go through a TNVR program! Learn more here: https://www.friendsofstrays.org/meow-now

08/22/2026

💙💚 Ear-tipped Adoptable Alert! 💚💙

This handsome hunk is Gumbo! This 3-year-old came to us from another shelter with his ear already tipped. His is an affectionate, social guy who loves to insist that you are not done petting him! Gumbo has a few manageable chronic conditions and is positive for FeLV (feline leukemia virus), so he needs to be the only cat or live with other FeLV+ cats. To learn more and fall in love, visit him at The Cat Box! Adoptions are open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 3015 46th Ave. N., St. Petersburg.

08/20/2026

Cool Cat Tip! 😼
An easy way to help a community cat have a place to cool down in the heat is a frozen water bottle. By wrapping a frozen water bottle in a towel and placing it under straw or other bedding, it helps create a cooler surface for them to lay on. Make sure to swap them out after they melt!

08/05/2026

MEOW Now self-trapping will remain closed for intake this weekend, Aug. 9 and 10. We appreciate your patience as we focus on the kittens in our care.
Here are a few other veterinary clinics in the area who provide spay/neuter and vaccines for community cats:
Harmony Vet Care: https://harmonyvetcare.org/tnr/
LivWell Vet Clinic: https://livwellpetcare.vet/spay-neuter/
Operation Snip: https://operationsnip.com/services/community-cats-tnvr/

07/29/2026

TNVR intake will be closed this weekend, Aug. 2 & 3. Thank you for your patience!

Friends of Strays Shelter Update:

As of Wednesday, July 29, 2026, the Cat Box Adoption Center is closed for adoptions, as well as cat and kitten intake and TNVR intake. Dog adoptions will remain open at this time.

Like many shelters across the state and country, we are experiencing an increase in cats and kittens testing positive for panleukopenia (panleuk), a highly contagious disease spread between cats. Dogs are unaffected by this illness.

Pictured here is Star, who received IV fluids and has been improving thanks to the diligent care of our medical staff. We’re providing immediate treatment for cats and kittens who have tested positive and doing everything we can to help them. We are closing cat adoptions, intake, and TNVR, to help prevent further spread.

Vaccinated cats and kittens are at a lower risk of contracting panleuk than unvaccinated felines. All cats and kittens adopted from Friends of Strays have received their age-appropriate vaccinations, but out of an abundance of caution, our staff will be reaching out to check on every cat or kitten adopted in the past 7 days, so please be on the lookout for our call!

Potential signs of panleuk are vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and lack of appetite. While these symptoms can be caused by a variety of illnesses, if your cat is experiencing them—whether you adopted from Friends of Strays or elsewhere—we encourage you to contact your veterinarian.

This year has been particularly harsh for this feline disease. Vaccination is key to preventing panleuk and other transmittable diseases. If your cat is not vaccinated, talk to your vet about getting them up to date, or here is a list to affordable resources in the Tampa Bay Area: https://www.friendsofstrays.org/resources,affordable-services

We appreciate your patience and empathy. We will let you know as soon as we can safely reopen cat and kitten adoptions!

07/16/2026

🌞 Hot Weather Trapping Tip! 🌞
With the heat, it is important to make sure that you are setting a trap on a cooler surface. Traps absorb heat, so leaving a trap on a concrete or asphalt surface will cause the trap the get warm and could possibly hurt the trapped cat's paws. Setting a trap on dirt or grass surfaces will help keep the trap cool in the heat. In addition, do not set traps in full sun. Not only is that dangerous for the cat, but they are much more likely to go into a trap when it's in a more shaded and secluded area. Make sure always monitor a set trap!

06/24/2026

Purrr-Fect Wine Pairing Night is almost here, so don't miss your chance to get tickets!
6:30-9 p.m. Saturday, July 11, 2026 at the Cat Box!
🍷🍾😻
Enjoy a shelter-after-dark experience while seasoned sommeliers guide you through the world of wine with nine tastings and perfectly-paired bites to match. Graze a beautiful charcuterie table while you enjoy a complementary glass of your favorite pour and enter to win our chance drawing prizes. But most of all, you’ll know every glass raised helps Friends of Strays Animal Shelter provide refuge, medical care, and love for animals who need it the most.
This event sold out last year, so don’t wait – get your tickets today! https://www.friendsofstrays.org/wine-pairing-night

06/13/2026

Have you ever heard of the vacuum effect? This is something that occurs when an animal population is taken away from their home range. While it temporarily stops the animal population, it opens up a new space for more animals to come in. This is why TNVR is so effective for outdoor community cats as it allows them to live in the area they are from without reproducing. For more information check out the alley cats article about the vacuum effect!
https://www.alleycat.org/resources/the-vacuum-effect-why-catch-and-kill-doesnt-work/

06/11/2026

💙💚Seeking: Community Cats! 💚💙

Do you or someone you know have a good working relationship with the neighborhood cats?

Help these cats live better lives, one where they're not on the lookout to create more cats! Our trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) program, MEOW Now, helps these cats stop reproducing humanely. You trap them, bring them to us on Sundays and Mondays, and return them back to where they live once they've been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and ear-tipped!

Learn more here: https://www.friendsofstrays.org/meow-now

06/09/2026

It is heating up out there. If you'd like to help your community cats stay cool, you can make them a fun frozen treat, like Churu or wet food! Just plop some of the wet food onto a paper plate or in a silicone cupcake mold and stick in the freezer.
For some fun recipe ideas, check out this post: https://www.petco.com/content/content-hub/home/articlePages/food-nutrition/frozen-cat-treats.html