Black or tabby, orange or gray, as soon as the golf cart arrives, they all emerge from the shadow of one of Southern California's most distinctive landmarks. Aptly named, First Bite doesn't wait for dinner to be served, but jumps in the food bucket and starts eating. Others wait their turn, the shy ones watching from the hillside or seashore, the bold ones circling the cart or pacing on its seats. Diane Stone calls them all. "Here kids, come on kids."

Nearly every day for the last 10 years, Stone has been feeding feral cats near Catalina Island's historic Casino Building. Whether under the heat of the sun and surrounded by curious Island visitors or alone and lashed by harsh winter winds, she feeds about 75 cats at three locations along the crescent-shaped bay.

Cats have been a part of life on Catalina since at least the mid-19th century. By the 1880s, this small Island off the coast of Southern California was becoming a popular vacation destination, and today it continues to attract visitors from around the world. Located just 26 miles from Los Angeles, visitors come for a day, a week or the entire season to spend time in Avalon, Catalina's only town. Those long-term visitors, as well as Avalon residents, have brought their pets from the mainland for generations--leading to a burgeoning population of feral Island cats. For decades, the way to deal with their numbers was to periodically round up as many as possible and kill them. Now, thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers both on and off the Island, Avalon has a successful trap, neuter and return program that has helped hundreds of feral cats live healthier lives without successive generations of homeless kittens.

Life as a feral cat is difficult no matter where you are, but even domestics face a special set of challenges in this charming seaside community. Avalon's year-round population is less than 4,000, and it has no full-time veterinarian, no groomer and no full-service pet store. Cat food and other pet supplies, like nearly everything else on the Island, must arrive by barge. Pet owners on Catalina gladly contend with these obstacles to pamper their four-legged friends; for the ferals, however, it's another story. While there are few predators, no harsh, freezing winters and very few fast-moving cars to contend with, the Island's terrain is rugged, punctuated by steep hillsides and slippery shale. And then there's the competition.

Although Catalina Island is nearly 76 square miles, Avalon is only about one. And since Avalon is where most of the humans live, that's where most of the cats live as well. Stone, who owns a successful hamburger stand on the Island, and several other volunteers feed colonies of dozens of animals around town. In 1999, nearly 80 feral kittens were living in a converted trailer that served as one of the Catalina Island Humane Society's shelters. Those kittens had been trapped by volunteers in hopes of finding homes, but there were too many kittens and not enough homes. Feeding, cleaning litter boxes and treating the kitties was a project that consumed the Humane Society's limited number of volunteers for months. Now known as the Summer of the Kittens, that was when the need for an ongoing sterilization program became obvious.

Like everything else on Catalina, the solution first arrived from the mainland. Outraged by the living conditions of many Island animals, resident Jeanne Butland approached the Pasadena Humane Society for help. CEO Steve McNall was quick to step up to the plate. After spending an initial hour consulting with Butland about the Island's animal control issues, he offered to assist in any way he could.

Feral cat caretakers and other pet lovers initially tried trapping cats and taking them to the mainland for sterilization, but an hour boat-ride doesn't help the state of mind of an angry, frightened feral. The sheer numbers of animals needing sterilization also made that solution unfeasible. Realizing they would have to bring the vets to the Island, the volunteers turned to the Pasadena Humane Society for help, which responded by organizing vets and veterinarian technicians willing to volunteer their time. Combined with the tireless help of vet tech Julie Hartley, who was then living on the Island, the first spay day was organized, and about two dozen cats were altered.

Since then, Pasadena continues to provide equipment, volunteers and on-going advice and guidance. "They're our guardian angels," Stone said. One spay day, however, was not nearly enough to control the Island's burgeoning population of ferals. Cat lovers knew they would have to do more.

Catalina's Humane Society volunteers have one major benefit that helps them in their vet-less quest to control the Island's feral cat numbers. As a resort destination, the Island attracts more than 1 million visitors a year. Those tourists come from all walks of life--and some of them are veterinarians on vacation. Once apprised of the situation on the Island, many of them were eager to help out in any way they could.

What they needed, however, was an appropriate place and equipment with which to operate. For months, the society's budget was consumed by equipping its tiny clinic as a surgical center. Spay packs, autoclaves and anesthesia were just some of the many things volunteers became familiar with and responsible for. All of that hard work has paid off with about a half dozen volunteer vets from as far as Texas, who regularly visit the Island and spend a day--or more--volunteering their services, including Dr. Richard Denny, Dr. Paul Lynch, Dr. Darrell Guelette and Dr. John Norberg. Many of those vets are offered guest rooms in volunteers' homes when they stay over. Their transportation, mainland parking and Island meals are paid for through the Catalina Island Humane Society's donations.

One of the Island's most dedicated volunteer vets wasn't attracted by the Island's resort destination charms, but simply by its need. Dr. Orben Pratt had received a faxed flyer at his successful Long Beach veterinary practice. That flyer, which had been sent to mainland vets with the help of a woman who had seen Diane Stone feeding cats and asked how she could help, inspired him to offer his services. Since 2001, Pratt has been visiting the Island once a month. He arrives on the first boat and leaves in the late afternoon, and other than a brief lunch break, spends his entire day taking care of Island animals. Semi-retired, Pratt volunteers all of his time while on the Island, whether he is treating a pampered pet or spaying a half-wild feral. "When I first started, we were doing 15 to 20 cats every time I came," Pratt said. "That number has dropped off to less than 10. So we feel we're making a dent in the population."

Many of the ferals that Pratt treats have been brought in by volunteer trapper Sharon McIlroy. Whenever a call comes in from an Island resident about wild cats living near a home, McIlroy sets out in the evening with her collection of traps and treats. Later that evening, she returns to check her spoils for the night. "Now half the cats that we catch have their ears trimmed," she said. "They're already done so we don't have to bring them in."

Cats that are brought in get more than just a little operation. Before each animal is sterilized, it is tested for FIV and FLV. Those that test positive are euthanized to avoid infecting the rest of the population. Each cat is also vaccinated, given a dose of Revolution and has its ear notched for future recognition.

After a day resting in the clinic for the males or two days for the females, the animals are returned to where they were captured. If that's not possible, the cats are taken to a second shelter in a small relatively industrial area of Avalon known as Falls Canyon. Each day, Jeanne Butland, who's severely allergic to cats, feeds them and makes sure they have plenty of water until they've learned they're in a place with reliable sustenance. Once they know, Butland releases them into the area, confident that they will remain with the large colony of released animals that are fed just outside the shelter every morning.

Butland, McIlroy, Stone and the other volunteers are confident that the time and money they spend are bettering the lives of the Island's animals, but they can't yet see a future without ferals. Catalina Island, after all, shares many traits with the mainland. "I don't know how long it would take to have a community that's responsible enough to have their animals fixed and not abandon them," Stone said. "But we can always improve the odds and the numbers--and we are."

Sherri Walker Cline