For nearly eight years, Ramona Billot and Robert Sanders have been using their non-profit organization, PCats, to help control the feral cat population in Plaquemines Parish.

The couple, formerly of Braithwaite, lost their home in Hurricane Isaac, and recently have been working to help the surviving feral and domestic cats left behind in the area.

“There’s no one over there right now so these animals that had a steady food source now have nothing,” explained Billot. “So we’ve been going over there and leaving food, talking to the few people who are over there and giving them food to leave so they can survive.”

Using their experience with helping animals after Hurricane Katrina, the Sanders are expecting to be working in Braithwaite as well as the rest of the parish, for a long time.

“We started after Hurricane Katrina; we got involved doing rescue with animals in lower Plaquemines and worked with local and national groups,” said Billot. “Through working with those groups we learned more about how to control the animal population safely and humanely.”

Since proper veterinary care can be quite expensive, many are hesitant to take pets in for basic services, especially if those are feral cats roaming the neighborhood. But PCats works to help bridge that financial gap for cat owners and those with feral cats in the neighborhood.

“We have participating vets that help with low-cost spay and neuter, and we work closely with animal control…we can trap the cat humanely, bring it to a vet to get
spayed or neutered and get a rabies shot,” Billot said.

Buras resident and cat lover Janie Scarabin recently got the help of Billot and says her services are invaluable. Scarabin feeds several feral cats in her neighborhood, and says the population is growing and the food cost is getting expensive.

“She saw me outside and asked if I needed help, I couldn’t believe it!” said Scarabin. “They took about ten cats to get fix and vaccinated for free.”

For more information or to get involved with PCats, email Plaqueminescats@yahoo.com or call 504-606-3116