Learn to care for community cats without costing Hawaiʻi its wildlife.

Hawaiʻi is the most isolated archipelago on earth. Its plants and animals evolved for millions of years with no cats, no rats, no mongoose and no land predators of any kind — so native birds nest on the ground, in burrows, and on open cliffs, with none of the instincts that mainland species developed to survive a hunter. That is why a small number of predators can do outsized damage here, and why the state carries more endangered species per square mile than any other.

Feeding changes a colony's shape, not just its diet. A fed group of cats lives at a density the landscape could never support on its own, stays in one place year-round, and raises more kittens that survive. Managed correctly — sterilized, counted, fed on a schedule, waste removed — that density shrinks year over year and stays contained. Managed carelessly, it becomes a permanent, concentrated pressure on whatever lives nearby.

Everything in the rest of this class comes from that one fact: the way you feed and keep records is what decides whether a colony is a solution in progress or a problem that grows.

You do not need to be a biologist. You do need to recognize what is native — because native species are legally protected, and their habitat is where colonies and feeding stations must not go.

• Nēnē (Hawaiian goose) — the state bird, endangered, grazes and nests on the ground in pastures, lava fields, golf courses and park edges.
• ʻUaʻu (Hawaiian petrel), ʻaʻo (Newell's shearwater) and ʻakeʻakē (band-rumped storm petrel) — seabirds that nest in burrows and rock crevices, often at high elevation, and come and go after dark.
• ʻUaʻu kani (wedge-tailed shearwater) — burrow-nesting colonies on coastal slopes and dunes.
• ʻAlae ʻula and ʻalae keʻokeʻo — native waterbirds in wetlands, taro loʻi, ponds and drainage areas.
• Honu (green sea turtle) nesting beaches, and ʻīlio holo i ka uaua (Hawaiian monk seal), which hauls out to rest on open shoreline.
• ʻŌpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat) — the only native land mammal, roosting in trees.

Everything else you will see around a feeding station arrived with people: mongoose, rats, mynas, feral chickens, cattle egrets, feral pigs. Those are the animals unattended cat food reliably attracts, and several of them eat the same native eggs and chicks the cats do. Tidy feeding protects native wildlife from more than one direction.

Scheduled feeding is the core skill of this program. The goal is cats that arrive at a known time, eat, and leave nothing behind.

• Same time, every day. Cats learn a schedule within about a week. A predictable window also means you can count who shows up — which is the data the Alliance plans clinics from.
• Measured portions. Enough for the cats you know, not a mound for whoever may wander by.
• Pick everything up in 30–45 minutes. Food, wet leftovers, dishes, all of it. Never leave food out overnight. This is the rule neighbors notice, wildlife exploits and the Alliance is strictest about.
• Feed on a tray or station, not on bare ground. Easier to clean, easier to see what is left, and it keeps food out of soil and runoff.
• Fresh water daily, in a shaded, clean dish.
• Clean the station every visit and store food in sealed containers — never an open bag left on site.
• Keep it discreet and tidy. Match the number of stations to the size of the colony, and keep the site looking cared for.
• Watch who else arrives. If native birds, mongoose or pigs start visiting, change the timing or move the station and tell your Data Lead.

Siting is the decision with the largest environmental consequence, and the one caretakers most often make by habit rather than on purpose.

Keep stations well away from: coastal and upland seabird nesting areas; wetlands, ponds and waterbird habitat; turtle nesting beaches and monk seal haul-out shoreline; anchialine pools; wildlife sanctuaries and refuges; watershed forest reserves. Airports and harbors have their own rules, and feeding is prohibited outright in many state and national parks and in conservation-district lands.

County property is the line that matters most right now. Hawaiʻi County Ordinance No. 25-63 — Bill 51 — took effect on 1 January 2026. It prohibits feeding, or attempting to feed, feral and stray animals on any property the county owns, leases, rents, manages or operates: county parks, county beach parks, county facilities. The ban covers feral cats, pigs, goats and chickens alike, and fines run up to $50 for a first offense and up to $500 for each one after that.

No one may feed cats on county property. There are no current exceptions. This applies to certified caretakers, AAA partners and volunteers alike. Certification, a badge, good intentions, cleanup or a claimed pilot managed-cat program does not authorize feeding there. Certification teaches responsible care where it is lawful; it does not grant permission to feed on county land.

So before you feed anywhere new, settle one question first: who owns this land, and is feeding lawful here? If it is county property, do not feed. Contact AAA for help with cats there without leaving food or bait, including for trapping or emergency care.

On private property, get the owner's or property manager's permission before you feed or trap — in writing where you can. Feeding or trapping without it is trespassing, and it is the fastest way to get a colony removed instead of managed.

Good sites are sheltered, out of public sightlines, away from roads and dog traffic, on land where someone has said yes, and reachable at the same time every day.

When you are unsure whether a specific parcel is off limits, ask before you set up. Email alohakitty@alohaanimals.org — we would much rather answer a siting question than relocate a station later.

Toxoplasmosis first, because it is the clearest documented link between outdoor cats and Hawaiʻi's endangered wildlife. Cat feces can carry Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite travels in runoff to the ocean, and it has killed Hawaiian monk seals and native birds. So: scoop waste you find at the station, bag it, and put it in the trash. Never leave it in soil, never near a stream or storm drain, never in green waste or compost.

Other health realities. Hawaiʻi is rabies-free, but any bite or deep scratch still needs prompt medical attention. Feline leukemia, FIV, upper respiratory infections, ringworm and leptospirosis all circulate in outdoor cat populations.

• Never handle an unfamiliar cat with bare hands — use a trap or a carrier.
• Wash your hands after every visit, and keep station gear separate from household items.
• If you are pregnant or immunocompromised, do not handle cat waste; hand that task to someone else.
• Never medicate a colony cat on your own. No leftover antibiotics, no dewormer from another pet, no dosing "just in case."

Report illness and injury to the Alliance so the medical team can arrange care. For an emergency — bleeding, collapse, trouble breathing, suspected poisoning, obvious trauma — get veterinary help immediately and tell us afterward.

A managed colony has a direction: down. Every standard below exists to keep it heading that way.

• 100% sterilization is the target. An ear tip — the tip of one ear removed in a straight line — is the universal sign that a cat has been trapped, sterilized, vaccinated and returned.
• Report every new, un-tipped cat promptly and arrange TNR. Do not simply add it to the feeding routine; one unsterilized cat can undo years of work.
• Kittens young enough to socialize belong in homes. Contact the Alliance to have them pulled for adoption, and get the mother sterilized in the same round.
• Never abandon or dump a cat, and never add cats to a colony.
• Do not relocate cats between colonies. Relocation is a last resort the Alliance coordinates, not a caretaker decision.
• Do not take over or feed a colony someone else manages without coordinating first — two caretakers feeding on different schedules undoes both schedules.
• Borrow a trap rather than improvising. The Alliance loans traps for TNR and for getting a cat to veterinary care, with pickup in Kona or Pāhoa.

Once you wear the badge, you are the Alliance to everyone who meets you. Most colonies that get shut down are not shut down over biology — they are shut down over a neighbor who felt ignored.

• Keep permissions current, and re-ask when a property changes hands.
• Leave every site cleaner than you found it, every visit.
• Listen first when someone complains. Take the concern seriously even when the facts are wrong.
• Route disputes, threats and repeat complaints to the Alliance instead of handling them yourself — and never argue about a colony on social media.
• Keep feeding, conduct and communication consistent with the conduct agreement you signed. Consistency across colonies is what makes the program credible to landowners, agencies and funders.

Every managed colony has at least one designated Colony Data Lead who enters and maintains its records in the Alliance's approved data tool. Caretakers are the eyes: you observe, you report, the Data Lead records, and the Alliance plans clinics, trap loans and transfers from numbers it can trust. That loop is the Chain of Care.

What gets tracked: how many cats, how many are sterilized and ear-tipped, feeding schedule and location, kittens, new arrivals, disappearances, and veterinary needs.

What you report, and quickly: a new cat, a pregnancy, kittens, an injury or illness, a cat that stops showing up, a neighbor problem, a change to your feeding time or site, or anything you are unsure about. Small changes reported this week are worth more than a perfect count next year.