SAINT Cat Rescue helps find homes for homeless cats in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - 'For years I've been a magnet for homeless animals,” Nicki Brodersen said. 'It got to the point where it was impossible for me, time-wise and also financially, to do it on my own.”

Brodersen began taking in strays while living in Jones County and working as a landscaper.

'I would take them and have them vetted,” she said. 'Spayed, neutered, vaccinated and dewormed, and I would find homes for them.

'The word got out that I helped homeless animals, and it grew to it was more than I could handle on my own.”

So Brodersen consulted a lawyer and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation - 'they were really helpful” - to form Serving Animals in Need Today, or SAINT, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in October 2009.

For its first few years, SAINT housed its cats with volunteer foster households. But Brodersen knew a kennel would be a big help in placing them.

'Cats don't do well when you take them to adoption events,” she said. 'You take them outside their comfort zone, and they turned a totally different animal.”

The organization's first kennel in Anamosa was lost to a fire that started in an upstairs apartment, prompting a move to a rented space in southwest Cedar Rapids.

'We tried to create a space where an animal is comfortable and people can come in and see what the animal is like in a comfortable situation, which gives them a better idea as far as their personality,” Brodersen said.

'When people look to adopt a dog, oftentimes they're looking for a specific breed and size. With cats, most often they're looking for a personality.”

About 75 cats of all descriptions were living there this past week.

'That's pretty typical,” Brodersen said. 'It's more than we would hope to have.

'We advocate heavily for spay and neuter, and if it ever came to time when there was only one cat here, we would be fine with that.”

Brodersen said the group may take in a cat whose owner dies or moves to an assisted-living facility, but most are strays reported by neighborhood residents.

After an initial examination, the cats are sent to Cedar Rapids-based Iowa Humane Alliance, where two staff veterinarians vaccinate them for rabies and other diseases and spay or neuter them.

'They're the only high-volume, low-cost, high-quality spay-and-neuter clinic in the state of Iowa, and it's right here,” Brodersen said.

Returned to the kennel, the cats spend a week or 10 days in a cage before being placed in one of five rooms.

'We try to fit them in a room where they're going to acclimate well with the animals in that room,” Brodersen said. 'It's a better experience for all the animals that way.”

That cats are cared for by SAINT volunteers - six to eight for each morning-and-evening cleaning and feeding. One of the group's four board members also maintains a kennel on her property for cats requiring time to recover from injury.

'I just love this place,” said Emma Monroe, who became a volunteer after finding her own cat at SAINT last October. 'It's worth it.”

All strays are scanned for identification microchips, and all cats brought to the SAINT shelter are reported to Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control and the Cedar Valley Humane Society to ensure they're not already someone's pet.

The COVID-19 pandemic ended the kennel's usual Saturday open house.

'Anybody could walk in,” Brodersen recalled. 'Right now, everything is by appointment, which is actually working out quite well.

'People have been very understanding. We want animals to be adopted, but we want to keep all of our volunteers safe.”

The group's Facebook page proved especially helpful during the lockdown.

'You can say all kinds of good things and bad things about social media,” Brodersen said. 'In our situation, social media is very beneficial because it gets the pictures of the kitties out and it gets the word out about what we do.”

SAINT charges an adoption fee of $100, or $150 for two cats - vaccinated, treated for worms and fleas, and spayed or neutered. Brodersen and her staff try to pair owners with compatible cats.

'We ask them questions about their household,” she said. 'Do you have kids? Dogs? Stuff like that.

'That will kind of give us an idea of what they're looking for and we can make suggestions. A lot of times, an animal picks the person. They'll just come up and warm right up to them.”

Despite the pandemic precautions, SAINT placed 332 cats in 2020, an increase over the previous year. Brodersen said the lockdown may have prompted the increase.

'A lot of people were (business) travelers, and that was their excuse for not getting a cat,” she said. 'Maybe people that used to think they were travelers maybe have realized that spending time at home isn't as bad as they thought, and having a cat to snuggle with makes it even better.”

SAINT doesn't take in feral cats, although the group has facilitated the trap-neuter-return (TNR) process for some.

'If they've been feeding a cat that they can't get anywhere near, TNR is the solution for that, if (the cats) are thriving,” Brodersen said.

The pandemic also put an end to the bake sales at local retailers that are a big part of SAINT's fundraising. Brodersen looks forward to easing pandemic restrictions this year, but the group's mission will remain.

'Our goal is to continue to increase adoptions, help as many animals as we can and educate people on the importance of spay and neuter,” she said.

'It's doing what you can. It takes a village to rescue homeless animals.”

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At a glance

' Founder, director and president: Nicki Brodersen

' Business: SAINT Cat Rescue and Adoption Center

' Address: 1200 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids

' Phone: (319) 551-7537

' Website: www.saintiowa.org