CAT TALES.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

When it comes to putting their money where their mouths are, Tamara Barnes and Kirk Bissell do it way better than most. In fact, the couple put their money where about 70 mouths are - they feed and house that many cats and kittens in their own personal animal shelter, which they call The Cat's Pajamas Rescue.

They're so committed to the concept that they bought a house earlier this year specifically to be able to do a better job of taking in unwanted felines, ministering to their ills, getting them spayed and neutered and - they fervently hope - finding loving, permanent homes for as many as they can.

"But don't tell anyone where we are," Barnes says, and she's really not kidding. "We get as many cats as we can handle; we don't need people dropping them off at the door."

Their nearly two-year marriage has been built around the cattery, and both say they wouldn't have it any other way. Well, maybe.

"It would be lovely if someday there isn't a need for small, private rescues like The Cat's Pajamas," Barnes says a bit wistfully. "Then Kirk and I could actually take a vacation."

So far, their holidays have been mostly solo, with Bissell going back to visit his native Scotland while Barnes stays behind to mind the cats.

The couple met over the Internet, "and we started a long-distance romance," she says. "He came over here 13 or 14 times, and I went there. We got married on Dec. 28, 2006."

With that much visiting back and forth, her passion for animal welfare was front and center, and Bissell joined in the cause enthusiastically.

"It would be impossible if Kirk didn't feel the same way about it," Barnes says, "but fortunately, he does."

Her commitment goes back to childhood. "As a little girl, I was always worried about all the animals," she says - and the trait obviously didn't diminish with adulthood.

Seeing the inability of formal organizations, both public and private, to cope with the thousands of unwanted cats discarded in Lane County alone each year spurred her - and now her husband - to try to take up the slack.

Barnes started out fostering cats for the Greenhill Humane Society until spaces opened up in its cattery to take them.

Then she started rescuing unwanted cats in her own neighborhood, making sure they had food and shelter, getting them spayed or neutered if they weren't already and trying to find new homes for them.

"It sort of evolved into what we're doing now," she says.

At the same time, she deplores the fact that solving the pet overpopulation problem has such a simple solution, but one that seems to elude nearly every community.

"Really, I can't say it enough: Spaying and neutering is the only way we're ever going to solve this problem, and I wish we could get people to realize that and then do it," Barnes says.

"I would like to get the community involved in solving the cat problem. It will take money, food and litter and helping to fund low-cost spaying and neutering. It's the only way."

She calls the Willamette Animal Guild - WAG, for short - the "cornerstone for solving the overpopulation crisis we're having now."

WAG's low-cost spay/neuter clinic recently went full time, offering services not only to cat and dog owners but also to those coping with colonies of feral cats, Barnes says.

"With those services available, we should be seeing an improvement in the numbers, but some days their slots aren't full, so we need to work harder to get the word out."

In the meantime, Barnes and Bissell spend all their spare time working on their cattery. The property they bought nearly a year ago has a main house with a large, attached sunporch on the back, as well as a good-sized freestanding building toward the back of the lot that will be the main cattery.

"We're building an isolation room so we can separate the intakes until we know about any illnesses they might have," Barnes says.

"We also can isolate mothers and babies until they're ready to join the general population," she adds.

A large open room in the cattery building already had shelves built along several walls, and Barnes and Bissell have cut holes here and there through the shelves so that the cats can climb up, down and through, making their way around the room without ever having to jump to the floor.

"It's nice out right now, so there aren't as many cats inside, but in winter these shelves are full," Barnes says.

Outside, the yard is fully fenced with wood topped by wire fencing that slopes inward, preventing the cats - all but one who has been nicknamed "Commando Kitty" for her ability to climb paw over paw along the wire and then swing her body up and over to freedom - from leaving the property.

Cats lounge everywhere, in the sun, under the trees, in the grass and alongside a huge above-ground fish pond that Bissell installed and covered with a heavy mesh to prevent fall-ins.

"Probably 20 of these cats really are ours permanently," Barnes says. "That includes the ones we've taken in who are never going to be adoptable."

Living in their new situation "is heaven," she says. "Before, we had 45 cats in a double-wide (mobile home) with no yard, so this is wonderful."

Fortunately, she has a good day job that helps support the family's cat habit. Bissell's ability to work is hampered by his noncitizen status, so he takes care of most of the cattery's day-to-day needs.

It's an expensive proposition to put food on the plates of two people, 70 cats and four dogs; the bill for pet food alone comes to about $350 per month.

"Every time we think we're going to get a little money ahead, somebody has to go to the vet," Barnes says wryly.

The cattery welcomes donations and volunteers interested in playing with cats and helping them to become better socialized.

The Cat's Pajamas has been registered with the state as a nonprofit organization and is working on securing its 501(c)(3) status, Barnes says.

"It's kind of all coming together," she says.

"It seems like all of the groups, both government and volunteer, are getting more coordinated with each other on handling the problem. But there's so much to do."

THE CAT'S PAJAMAS RESCUE

Telephone: [phone]

Online: thecatspjs.homestead.com

E-mail: [e-mail]