By Faith Montalvo
The early evening sun shines on the bricks of Plant Hall and the bright green grass and trees. Behind Smiley Hall, under the Old School House, three cats emerge after hearing the sound of a student shaking a plastic container of cat treats. One is a male Siamese cat named Alfredo, another is a tiny male tabby named Rigatoni, and the third is a female tabby known to the UT Campus Cats club as Mama Fettuccine. A breeze gently cools the humid air as students from the club pamper the cats with treats, food, and affection.
These three cats are just a few of the strays at The University of Tampa. While the cats are called different names by different people, they are loved across the university as groups of students, faculty, and staff care for them daily.
UTampa’s Cats
According to Brooke Ferris and Olivia Dargatz, the president and vice president of the UT Campus Cats club, Rigatoni and Alfredo were found as kittens near the construction site in front of the Jenkins Health and Technology Building during the Fall 2022 semester.
When it comes to feeding and socializing with the cats, Dargatz said, “It just became a routine every day after class. Me and my roommate, we would stop by that one spot.”
According to Ferris, these two cats are also bonded, meaning that they find comfort in each other and thrive best when they are together.
Alfredo, the male Siamese cat on campus with bright blue eyes, laying down by the bushes near Smiley Hall. His approximate age is 2 years old. Photo courtesy of Faith Montalvo.
Rigatoni, a male tabby cat. Friendly and extroverted, he is usually around Smiley Hall and McKay Hall. His approximate age is 2 years old. Photo courtesy of Brooke Ferris.
Mama Fettuccine is a female tabby and the mother of two litters on campus. Her approximate age is 2 years old, and she’s often seen behind Smiley Hall. Unlike Rigatoni and Alfredo, who are comfortable around gentle students, Fettuccine is skittish and shy. Photo courtesy of Faith Montalvo.
King (left) is a male gray American longhair, with a skittish and protective personality, according to Ferris and Dargatz. Queen (right) is a female tabby, who is also skittish and shy. These bonded cats are the oldest on campus, and their ages are approximately 8 and 9 years old. They thrive together near and under Plant Hall. Photo courtesy of Brooke Ferris.
Nemo (above) and Dory are another pair of bonded cats. Nemo is a male orange tabby who reminded students and faculty of the Disney clownfish, according to Dargatz and Ferris. Photo courtesy of Katie Pimentel.
Dory is a female tabby. Ferris described Dory as being “in charge” because Nemo follows her lead and depends on her. Dory and Nemo usually stay around and inside the Rick Thomas Parking Garage. Photo courtesy of Katie Pimentel.
“Mama” Fettuccine was found with one of her litters of kittens on campus. The Campus Cats club took care of her kittens, getting most of them neutered, vaccinated, and adopted. According to Ferris and Dargatz, Fettuccine had a second litter the following semester before she was also spayed and vaccinated.
Hannah Van Hise, a transfer student who recently joined the UT Campus Cats club, said her boyfriend would send her pictures of the cats before she came to UTampa. They both went to the first club meeting to learn more about the cats.
“Since I knew about them before I even got on campus, they’re like little mini-celebrities. And it’s super exciting because I actually got to meet them,” Van Hise said, referring to when she met the cats after learning their names at the club meeting.
Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release
One of the efforts that groups like the UT Campus Cats club aim to accomplish is Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release (TNVR). TNVR allows feral cats to receive vaccinations and get spayed or neutered, which prevents cats from having litters and getting diseases.
Corey George, the faculty adviser for the UT Campus Cats club, said that TNVR is a humane method of managing and maintaining feral cat colonies that cannot be domesticated.
“It’s hard. It’s taxing sometimes to do this kind of work, but these cats are, in a lot of ways, they are members of our community,” George said. “They are living among us, and I think we have the basic responsibility to maintain these things.”
Ferris said that TNVR involves understanding where the cat spends most of its time, setting an overnight trap, and getting “lucky.” While some younger cats have found homes after TNVR, attempting to domesticate most of the cats would be too stressful for them.
“Mabel, we didn’t release because she was so young,” Ferris said, referring to a kitten between one to two months old. “I wanted to give her a chance of being able to live in a home, so we kept her and fostered her [until she was adopted].”
“But a lot of the other cats were just rereleased on campus in the same area we trapped them in,” Ferris said.
Approaching the Cats
When approaching the cats, Van Hise said it is important to give them personal space and not to force unwanted affection on them.
“They are still wild animals. They’re not domesticated; they’re feral cats,” she said. “So, it’s important to remember how you’d treat any wild animal, which is to give it space.”
Van Hise also said that sometimes it can be overwhelming for the cats when many students are traveling between classes during the day.
While taking a few students to see Alfredo and Rigatoni, Dargatz advised them to approach the cats slowly and “make yourself small.”
To learn more about the cats, the UT Campus Cats club, and their cat-related events, join the group on InvolveUT or contact UTCampusCats@ut.edu.