Photograph by Allison Carter, Georgia Institute of Technology
Squatting in a landscaping plot near the Georgia Tech Green, Caroline Hatcher pops open a can of tuna pâté and scoops it onto a paper plate.
“Shelter over there, and the feeding station,” she says, pointing out Sterilite containers and other equipment hidden in the shrubs. “This is the life.”
Hatcher knows that about six cats regularly visit this spot. It’s one of 14 stations that she and 280 members of the Georgia Tech Campus Cats club maintain, servicing about 50 community cats. With an app created by computer science students to record and share observations, they track the cats’ whereabouts and coordinate veterinary care and daily feedings. The curious can also see photos of some of the cats and submit cat observations on the website.
Hatcher, a fourth-year architecture major and the club president, had cats in her home growing up.
Photograph by Allison Carter, Georgia Institute of Technology
“That’s why a lot of people join,” she says. “They’re like, ‘I miss my cats so much, but I can’t see them because they’re far away. So this is the perfect way for me to see more cats.’”
But it’s not just about seeing cats—there’s a bigger goal. Through a partnership with the Atlanta Humane Society, the students TNR (trap, neuter, return) as many of the cats as they can, which also involves administering vaccines and microchips. About 40 of the cats have gone through TNR, including 15 in the past year.
It’s not always possible to transition feral cats to an indoor lifestyle. But the club has been able to coordinate adoptions for 8 of the most sociable adult cats and another 10 kittens, and 5 cats are now in foster care with students and faculty. When the students find kittens, the goal is to trap them, get them to a vet, find a short-term foster caretaker, and then place them in a permanent home.
Scientific studies have shown that well-fed community cats still hunt, but less than unfed feral cats do. So far, Hatcher’s trail cam footage hasn’t revealed any interspecies conflicts besides the occasional territorial tiff between a cat and a raccoon. She has seen other animals taking advantage of the cats’ resources, though, such as birds bathing in the water bowls and a fox crunching on some kibble.
“The cats have unlimited access to food, so they’re like, I’d rather eat the nice cat food than a prey animal,” Hatcher says.
This article appears in our October 2025 issue.
