I first became aware of Olalla through her beautiful photos on Instagram. When I reached out to her about a potential photography profile, I learned more about what she does in Granada and discovered that Olalla cares for a colony of about 30 cats. While I will be featuring Olalla’s stray and feral cat photography in a later post, today we look at La Troupe and the colony of cats that Olalla cares for.
A Conversation with Olalla
How did you get into rescuing and caring for cats?
My first rescue was a few months after I moved to Granada seven years ago: two abandoned kittens for whom I found an adopter. Three years later, I rescued my cat from a pet store. Someone brought her there because she and her litter mates were stoned; she was the only survivor. My awareness of stray cats’ difficulties has progressively increased and I started to feed a colony, first occasionally and then every day. By the end of last year, I decided to start a TNR project and that is how La Troupe arose.
Does anyone else in the community help you?
When I decided to carry out a TNR project in the colony, I emailed some animal organizations in the area. Only two answered. One helped me at the beginning of the project and the other one is still helping me. In the latter, there is a very lovely person (Maya) who fell in love with the cats of La Troupe and we became a team. She takes care of the colony when I am not in the city and we have been trapping together (she has even trapped alone) since January. She also was Blanqui’s (one of the cats of La Troupe) angel when she had an accident in January. She managed to catch her in very difficult circumstances so we could take her to the vet.
Do you have a personal mission statement?
I try to be active in my commitment with the environment and society, and I think that animals are also an important part. A key point is to raise awareness about stray cats in order to respect and protect them.
Can you describe what you do for the colony?
We try to do our best to improve their lives. We feed them every day, we provide them veterinary treatment when needed, and we are currently carrying out a TNR project. We started this project at the end of January and we have spayed/neutered 22 cats so far. We estimate that there are between 10 and 12 cats left, but it is difficult to precisely estimate it due to abandonment and the unspayed females. We have also found homes for two cats that were abandoned at the colony this year: Leo and Naranjito.
Trap-Neuter-Return
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Have you run into any critics in the community?
I am aware that many people in the neighborhood don’t like cats, but I haven’t run into any critics to date. I try to be discreet when I go to feed them and I am very careful to keep the area clean.
How do you cover the expenses?
At the beginning, we tried to get donations from family and friends, but obviously this wasn’t enough. Some of them decided to support us via “teaming,” which is an online tool to raise funds for helping social causes with micro donations of 1€ a month. But we are only 14 teamers and this means that we needed to look for other ways to raise money. Social media helped us to gain visibility and some followers made a contribution. We are also raising funds with the selling of products (for example, we are currently selling magnets with our logo) and we organized a raffle last month. We are going to sell a wall calendar with the pictures getting the most likes on our Instagram account by the end of the year, and we will also design new products to sell. At the moment, we pay more than 50% of the expenses out of our own pocket.
Is there a special cat that stands out in your mind?
I have to think it is Estampada. She and her sister Blanqui were the reason why I have increased my awareness about strays. I met them last summer when they were kittens beginning the weaning process. They were extremely sweet and they started to wait for me to feed them. When I went there, they always showed up to greet me. They let me know that they trusted me and this means a lot for a feral cat. We had a special bond. Unfortunately Estampada died two months ago. It was the saddest and the hardest moment as a colony caretaker so far. It still hurts when I go to feed them and she is not there. I am still trying to deal with her loss.
Beautiful Angel Estampada
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Is there anything else we should know about what you do for the colony?
We are using social media to gain visibility not only for our colony, but also for all the strays around the world. Let’s make a more stray-friendly world!
Olalla was kind enough to send us two magnets to give away to two lucky readers! Please leave a comment below by Wednesday, August 10th noon Pacific. The two readers will be selected by Random.org and will each receive one magnet. Giveaway open worldwide!
You can follow Olalla and La Troupe on Instagram (@la_troupe_pts). Be sure to “like” the pictures you love the most – and they just may be selected for the wall calendar! You can also follow La Troupe on Facebook. If you would like to donate to La Troupe, you can do so via their Donate button on Facebook (via PayPal).
Do you know someone who cares for a colony of cats? Contact us to let us know!
Follow Three Chatty Cats on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
It is so wonderful to see other countries helping cats. I wish the people in Greece would follow suit!!! Christine Michaels (who I am sure you know) takes care of cat colonies in Miami. Her blog is Riverfront Cats Miami (I think that is the name). She does so much good for cats! catchatwithcarenandcody
I got to meet the lovely and amazing Christine at BlogPaws! :-)
Wonderful people all over the world. ❤️❤️❤️
That is wonderful what they are doing to help that feral colony! TNR is great!
It is wonderful that she is helping those beautiful cats.
I love to read how other people got started in TNR or rescue.
It’s very inspiring, isn’t it!?
Momma Kat, congrats you are one of the winners of the magnet giveaway! I have sent you an email. :-)
Thank you for your dedication, Olalla, for the cats and the environment. I can see why you adored Estampada so much, she was a beautiful cat!
Such bootyful kitties. Loss is always so sad, and she was gawjus. Fanks fur sharin’.
PeeEss: We got our treats yesfurday. OMC
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
We furgot to tell you dat we nominated you fur an award on our Furiday posty, here: https://dezizworld.com/2016/08/05/brotherhood-of-the-world/
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
Thank you, ladies. I’m going to read your post right now to learn more about it!
Olalla <3 We should all treat animals with kindness, it is inspiring and uplifting to see amazing people take good action.
Lovely post.
What a billiant post, this ladyis a real wonder and deserves our support and encouragement.. We will share!
What a great story about a very compassionate and caring person and the help she gives these kitties. Thanks for sharing. We are now following on Instagram. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Whoa! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat with the markings and color of Angel Estampada. She was gorgeous. Kudos of Olalla for making a different. Do you know Brian’s Dad Terry? He does a lot for the cats his way.
I certainly know of Brian, but I have yet to meet the cat dad behind Brian. I would definitely be interested in learning more about what he does!
Such beautiful kitties, I am happy to see they are well cared for. This sounds like an amazing group of caring people.Thank you for making us aware of them.
It’s cool to know that TNR is being done in other countries too. Paws up to Olalla for helping these kitties.
What a wonderful lady. I’m following them on Instagram!
They sure do look super happy and the photos are terrific. Bravo for such good work. My work is pretty boring, we have 16 in our feral colony but lots know about what I do. Gotta raise some money though, we have a hording disaster going on with approximately 70, mostly dogs, but lots of cats and the rescue helping out is overwhelmed and underfunded now. That’s all part of our life. Love your blog!
This lady is a true angel!! Luckily there is someone out there who cares about those poor animals :(
What a wonderful story. Thank you for telling us about Olalla and all that she does for these beautiful cats!
This is terrific. Thank you for sharing such an amazing talent.
What a great woman! The photos are also amazing!
Some people are so kind and dedicated. Glad the cats are getting help but it has to be hard to be doing the work and the fundraising.
That first picture took my breath away. I love the blue behind that cat – really striking! I’m sorry Estampada passed away …that must be so hard not to see her anymore. Their work sounds amazing and I hope they are able to TNR the remaining cats.
What an incredible story and when I read these, I remember that there are still good in this world, thank you for helping the feral cats.
What a wonderful woman and project- great they are doing TNR. So cool when people use social media to help animals in need. Following them on Insta. Thanks for sharing
Amazing post Chatty Cats, we loved it!
Purrs
Basil & Co xox
I know members of my community that work with the colonies. It is very physical and emotional work and I admire them so. Thank you for sharing this feature.
There are awesome people anywhere in the world.
We liked them on Instagram and Facebook! We’re so glad to know these kitties are in good hands. What a wonderful person.
It breaks my heart that homeless pets are a worldwide epidemic and then I see fantastic interviews like this and my heart swells.
Olalla seems to be doing an amazing job taking care of that cat colony! Her photos are beautiful and it seems like her soul must be too!
Incredible. Thank you for sharing this and the photos are stunning! xx SoPurrfect Team
What an amazing person and such a wonderful thing she does for feral cats.
So awesome! I am loving these photos and will have to follow on Instagram.
Kia, congrats you are one of the winners of the magnet giveaway! I have sent you an email. :-)
Such beautiful kitties! Her photos are wonderful. I love seeing what people with big hearts can do to make this world a better place. I have followed her and I will definitely be sharing. :)
A beautiful and heartwarming story!! I have done TNR for 20 years-primarily helping others-but I do have 1 pretty spoiled colony of my own ;-) And yet, I never tire of reading lovely stories like this one!
Jeanne, I would be interested in learning more about your experiences and your spoiled colony!
So many caring people all over the world. I wish I could help everyone of them financially. I was in rescue for a long time and know how hard fundraising is. Love to read these stories.
Thank you very much Three Chatty Cats for giving La Troupe this opportunity and thank you for all the lovely comments. I really appreciate your words.
What a great cat !