Workshops
Upcoming Workshops
Bottle Babies 101: The Whole Kitten Caboodle
Sunday, May 18, 2025
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS)
2228 South Shore Center
Alameda, CA 94501
Kitten season is here! The perfect time to join Full Circle Cats, Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter, and Katie Carney of Kitten 911 Rescue for this free, in-person workshop on how to care for neonatal kittens. This practical workshop will get you comfortable and prepared to foster bottle babies. You'll learn about feeding and care, supplies, techniques, and tips on when to step in, stand back, or seek urgent help with neonatal kittens. These youngsters are at high risk in shelter environments — by learning how to care for these kittens, you can be an invaluable resource and help save lives!
Beginning TNR
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Learn how to do trap-neuter-return (TNR) in this free, in-person workshop! This workshop is for beginners and will prepare you to start trapping in your backyard and neighborhood. You'll learn all the steps to get started doing TNR — why TNR is the most effective approach to community cat management, the necessary steps to prepare for a trapping project, how to use a humane trap, and how exactly the trapping, clinic, and recovery days work.
Beginning TNR
Thursday, November 6, 2025
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Learn how to do trap-neuter-return (TNR) in this free, in-person workshop! This workshop is for beginners and will prepare you to start trapping in your backyard and neighborhood. You'll learn all the steps to get started doing TNR — why TNR is the most effective approach to community cat management, the necessary steps to prepare for a trapping project, how to use a humane trap, and how exactly the trapping, clinic, and recovery days work.
All Workshops
Below are some of the various workshops we offer throughout the year. We are proud to teach workshops on a variety of topics related to community cats, cat care, and volunteering. Many are in-person, but some are offered virtually. A few of the workshops are offered once a year while others are in more regular rotation, such as Beginning TNR. For scheduled upcoming workshops, please see above.
Beginning TNR
Learn how to do trap-neuter-return (TNR) in this free, in-person workshop! This workshop is for beginners and will prepare you to start trapping in your backyard and neighborhood. You'll learn all the steps to get started doing TNR — why TNR is the most effective approach to community cat management, the necessary steps to prepare for a trapping project, how to use a humane trap, and how exactly the trapping, clinic, and recovery days work.
Advanced TNR
Already comfortable with the basics of TNR? Do you want to learn how to use a drop trap, selective trapping, and how to get the trap savvy cats at your colony?
Join the Full Circle Cats community cats team and learn the not-so-basics of trapping and TNR for community cats. This free hands-on workshop will cover advanced trapping techniques, unconventional trapping circumstances, and special traps. While prior experience is not required for this class, it is strongly recommended that participants have some knowledge of TNR basics and have successfully trapped cats before.
Tiny Tails: Fostering Bottle Babies
Learn the ins and outs of fostering bottle babies with Full Circle Cats! This orientation will help you determine whether neonatal kitten fostering is right for you and your family. We will talk about best practices and how we will support you and your foster kittens throughout their adorable development.
You'll have the opportunity to join our bottle baby crew, should you choose to accept this special and rewarding mission. As kitten season kicks off, you may be invited to take home your own foster babies in the weeks following the workshop.
Tame the Spice: Socializing Kittens 10 Weeks and Older
This free workshop will provide a basic socialization framework with tangible strategies and tips targeted for fosters working with older, undersocialized kittens. We'll help you prepare to think about what socialization progress looks like so you can better assess kittens and celebrate small wins. We will also cover some of our favorite tools to help build trust with these scared kitties.
In addition to handouts, each participant will leave with a puff ball wand to kickstart your socializing efforts! Light snacks provided.
Tax Deductions for Volunteers and Fosters: How does this work?
Do you know what volunteering and fostering expenses you can claim on your taxes? Wondering if you should be saving the receipts for your foster kitten's litter? Attend this free workshop and learn from tax professional Marjorie Jones of MarjTax, who has nearly 20 years of experience specializing in assisting small, nonprofit agencies, including animal rescue organizations. Marjorie will provide general guidance on what expenses can and cannot be deducted and discuss what documentation is needed to maximize your dollars.
Cat Photography 101: How to Take Purr-fect Portraits of Any Cat
Want to learn how to take cat photos that wow AND get your foster kitties adopted quicker? Of course you do! Join cat photographer Era Reverie as they share their expertise in capturing the emotion and personality of any cat!
This workshop is great for new and experienced photographers alike, as Era shares tips and tricks to bring your images to the next level, troubleshooting difficult lighting and compositions, and, most importantly, how to get a cat to pose for you like they're modeling for the cover of Vogue.
Plus, Era will be teaching you how to work with any cat - your own beloved pets, foster cats and kittens, and even critters in a rescue or shelter environment. Whether you dabble with a digital SLR or just love taking pics with your phone, you'll learn how to create portraits that truly pop!
Please note that due to the size of the class, this workshop will not include hands-on practice or visits with the cats before or after the presentation. Proceeds from this event benefit Full Circle Cats and Cat Town. Thank you for understanding that as small nonprofits, we cannot offer refunds for these events.
Our goal is to support our broader community through inclusive engagement and education. Please email education@fullcirclecats.org if the cost of this workshop would prevent you from attending. We hope to see you there!