About NYCW

NY Cat Warriors (NYCW) is an all-volunteer, community-driven 501(c)(3) rescue serving all five boroughs, with most activity concentrated in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx — where unmet need is greatest. We specialize in urgent and complex medical cases, ensuring that homeless and high-risk cats receive the veterinary care, foster support, and stability they need to recover and find permanent homes. As a partner in the Animal Care Centers of New York City (ACC) New Hope program, our organization assists in transferring at-risk cats from municipal shelters into foster care where they receive medical treatment and behavioral support. Many of the cats we help require extended veterinary care before they are ready for their forever home. Our work has been strengthened through collaboration with established organizations in the animal welfare community. We have received targeted grant support from the Animal Medical Center through its AMC To The Rescue program, as well as emergency medical grant support from the Petfinder Foundation. These partnerships have helped stabilize critically ill cats and maintain continuity of care.

We are committed to trap-neuter-return (TNR) to relieve overpopulation and suffering among feral cats in NYC. We facilitate spays and neuters through veterinary clinics, raise awareness and acceptance of TNR in local communities, and explain the benefits of neutering for both pets and feral colonies.

Our Mission

Our mission is simple and focused: To ensure that New York City’s homeless cats — including medically fragile and complex cases — receive appropriate care and meaningful opportunities for placement in permanent homes.
We fulfill this mission by:
-- Responding to community rescue requests
-- Coordinating emergency and specialty veterinary care
-- Providing foster-based recovery
-- Preparing cats for adoption when medically and behaviorally appropriate
In recent years, our work has increasingly centered on high-acuity cases requiring emergency stabilization, specialty diagnostics, surgery, skilled & experienced fosters, and extended recovery.

Our ongoing work illustrates the level of care required to fulfill our mission:
-- Gaeko continues follow-up treatment for complex conditions invluding FIV
-- Ggamang required emergency stabilization and ongoing medical management after he was hit by a car
-- Milk & Franny were rescued from a local glass factory with multiple medical challanges
These cases demonstrate both the unpredictability and financial intensity of emergency rescue.

NY State Rescue Registration #483

Our Financial Stewardship

We have operated as a tax-exempt nonprofit since 2022 and are funded by individual and corporate donations of funds, goods, and services. We operate with disciplined financial oversight and transparent accounting with more than 90% of expenditures directly supporting animal care. We take on a modest number of high-need medical cases annually as funding and foster space allow. We review medical and financial records quarterly to guide responsible intake decisions. Every dollar is leveraged to maximize impact and our administrative costs remain minimal as all leadership (and other) roles are unpaid.

Our model remains grounded in:
● Community engagement
● Financial discipline
● High standards for animal care
● Volunteer leadership
● Responsible growth

We have received repeated support from the Animal Medical Center’s AMC To the Rescue (AMCTTR) program in 2023, 2024, and 2025, including more than $11,500 in 2025 alone. This multi-year institutional support reflects third-party veterinary assessment of medical need and highlights our ability to responsibly manage high-cost cases.

Our New Chapter

One of our wonderful volunteers is a veteran rescuer with deep experience caring for cats with special needs. With her expertise, we've been able to launch our new “Vulnerable Cats Program,” focused on providing a safety net for cats with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FeLV+). Too often, these cats are left behind and have no placement options. While we've always helped FIV/FeLV+ cats, this new program allows us to formalize our efforts, focus our resources, provide specialized foster care, and secure funding.

To kick off this new initiative, we've welcomed three FIV/FeLV+ cats into our program: Cindy, Loretta, and Gaeko. Each of these cats has complex needs and will receive the specialized care they need in our program.

For now, the program will focus on these three cats. We hope to expand our efforts as we gain experience running the program and build up a war chest to fund it.