Making a 'paw'-sitive impact: Student group at Georgia Tech cares for stray cats on campus

Caption

Momo is one of the many cats being fed and cared for on the Georgia Tech campus.

Credit: Campus Cats / Instagram

This spring, students at Georgia Institute of Technology restarted an organization that cares for the university’s population of stray cats.

Campus Cats is a club that provides food, water and medical services to the homeless cats living on campus at Georgia Tech. The club went dormant during the pandemic but has returned with support and positive reception from students and faculty.

Club treasurer Kandi Henry said the cold weather is what pushed students to reregister the club this semester.

“Everybody was so worried about how these cats were going to stay warm,” she said. “We actually ended up coming together as a group and building cat shelters and buying these self-heating pads to put in them to keep the cats warm over the winter.”

Campus Cats has an online catalogue of 30 feral cats, including names, pictures and information about their personalities.

Henry said one of the most popular campus cats is named Momo.

“He's a little black and white cat,” she said. “He loves to just run up to people on the sidewalk and beg them for attention, and people really say it's the highlight of their day. It makes them happy to be able to see and interact with these cats on the way to class.”

The group is currently working on a trap neuter and release program to prevent the campus feline population from getting out of control.