SOKS volunteers are our heroes!

Volunteers at Save Our Kitties Stockton

Save Our Kitties Stockton (SOKS) is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization. The volunteers are invaluable to our success. They put in countless hours answering phone calls and emails, trapping feral and stray cats, and then caring for them. They are SOKS heroes!

Read on to learn more about our volunteers.

When you call or write SOKS, we take time to answer your questions, or we refer you to other resources. The person who responds is a volunteer. To get in touch with SOKS, visit our contact page.

If you need help with trap-neuter-return (TNR), a volunteer will meet with you to instruct and help you with setting up a trap. Sometimes they even trap a cat for you!

If necessary, our volunteer will take “your” trapped cat to their home where the animal gets food, water and clean bedding inside the trap. The volunteer may also take the cat to the clinic and pick it up after the neuter/spay procedure is complete.

Depending on the sex of the cat, it will spend one–two nights at the volunteer’s home to recover. That can get pretty intense! Feral cats are not used to sitting in a small trap for so long, so they make a huge mess … Bedding gets torn into pieces, poop may get stuck between the bars of the trap or sometimes ends up in the food dish. Everything will be turned upside down and water spilled everywhere. The volunteer cleans the cage multiple times because we want the cat to recover in a clean place. When the cat is finally ready to return to its original environment, the volunteer takes it there and ensures a safe return.

You might think that this is the end of volunteer work, but there is more. Now the blankets need to be washed; the trap needs to be cleaned, sanitized and dried out; and food bowls need to be washed. Everything will be ready for the next feline resident.

I hope I shed some light on how much work and effort it takes for a successful TNR. Although we raise funds to cover the cost of cat food, disinfectants or training pads, SOKS volunteers use their own cars and fuel, space in their own homes, but most of all, their time and energy. They are truly devoted to this service. All of us at Save Our Kitties Stockton hope that our work will one day make a big difference in Stockton's neighborhoods.

If you value SOKS services, please consider a donation. Visit our Support page to find out HOW YOU CAN HELP. Thank you ❤️

How SOKS rescued a feline family

Our organization’s goal is to return feral cats to their original location after they have been neutered or spayed (TNR). However, in special situations, we may resort to a rescue instead.

One such situation happened on University of the Pacific’s campus about one week before school started last August. From 6:00 am to 5:00 pm, SOKS’ volunteers set up traps to catch a cat mom, Bella, with her seven kittens. Once the whole family was together, they were taken from Stockton to Escalon and placed in a foster home.

I would like to share with you what happened during and after the rescue.

Why was it important to move Bella’s family from the campus?

SOKS usually cares for cats via TNR, but in the case of Bella and her kittens, we had to find a different solution. First of all, the kittens would have become a quick meal for foxes, raccoons, owls and hawks visiting the campus. Plus, because school was starting soon, it would not have been safe with so many people and cars around. Someone could have picked up a kitten separating it from its mom who was still nursing. So, we relocated them to provide a better future for all of them.

Why was it best to keep the family together?

Bella was still nursing so, with the combination of her milk for strong immunity and our canned and dry food for gaining weight, the kittens were getting the best possible care. To be ready for vaccines, Bella’s babies had to be more than two pounds. When we trapped them, the heaviest kitten was 1.6 lbs and the lightest one—1.1 lbs.

What happened once the family arrived in their foster home?

First, all the babies needed a bath because they were covered with dirt and fleas. Next, a topical flea treatment and dewormer were given to the entire family including Bella.

The foster caregiver monitors kittens’ weight daily, removes their poop and pee twice a day, and trims cats’ nails as needed. Once the kittens are at two pounds of weight, we administer vaccines for FVRCP every three weeks. We microchip them, too.

To care for Bella’s family, we also wanted to make them feel safe and comfortable. They got a cozy home in a spacious crate with soft blankets and toys—all that needs to be cleaned and washed quite often. Since the kittens were so young, they had to remain in quarantine for two-three weeks, so there was no contact with other cats. Their foster caregiver spends a lot of time with them helping them settle down, monitoring their health and getting them used to human presence.

What happens next?

Once they are ready to be adopted, kittens can remain with their foster for a few more months. It may take time to find a forever home!

SOKS take the cats to adoption events in Stockton, Tracy, Sacramento and Livermore. We upload their photos and descriptions online and introduce them on social media.

The whole process takes a lot of time, hard work, and expense! We would not be able to make it happen without our devoted volunteers and supporters. In a separate blog post, I will give you a detailed account of how much it has cost to save, neuter/spay, and foster Bella’s family.

Why do we do it?

We believe that everyone has a different gift and ability to help make the world around us better. Some help the homeless, some volunteer in hospice or hospital care or sponsor a child in need. SOKS and our volunteers care for feral and stray cats in Stockton.

We are blessed to meet people like the students and faculty at University of the Pacific. They cared for and fed Bella’s family even before SOKS got involved. Thank you!

I also want to thank everyone who came by and was kind to our volunteers when we were trapping Bella and her kittens all day long. Many of you asked questions and were curious about ways to help. Please visit Support Us page on our website and help SOKS make a difference in our community. Any monetary donations with “Bella” in the memo will go directly to the rescue.

Our donors make a difference!

It has been more than two years since I founded SOKS and started trap-neuter-return (TNR) in Stockton. During this time, our team of volunteers has accomplished a lot, but that work would not have been possible without our generous donors.

SOKS' very first and, even today, major donor is the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project. We are tremendously grateful for their continued support.

Most of our monetary donors are one-time contributors, but we do have a few very faithful donors who support SOKS regularly. When I asked one of them, Jane, why she decided to donate, she said:

"Because I want to see kitties thrive in our communities. For that to happen, we need to manage their population so there won't be unnecessary suffering, illnesses, and deaths."

We also have donors who prefer to support SOKS with supplies and resources. At the end of last year, we received a huge amount of canned cat food from Weruva, a family-owned pet food company. Just like us, they believe that pets are part of a human family. Thank you, David and Stacie!

I also want to mention Vickie, a wonderful donor who sends us dry and canned food every month. We are so grateful!

"I’m so happy to have found SOKS," said Vickie. "What a dedicated and caring group of people who devote their time, energy, and much love to help out so many kitties right here in our community. They are out in the summer sun and winter rains, each and every day making a real difference in stopping the terrible cycle of our growing feral cat population. Count me in!"

SOKS has many friends in the community who support us during our fundraisers. It is so heartwarming to see the familiar faces and meet new supporters at our events. Please, keep checking our website and social media for announcements about upcoming fundraisers.

I would also like to express my gratitude to anonymous donors. I do not know who you are, but your donations really make a difference! Thank you ❤️

Visit SOKS Support Us page to find out how you can help and donate.