“I’m not giving you my blood until you water your plants,” Judith Currin said.
Currin walked into her doctor’s office and scanned the dull, tight room. The space felt sterile and impersonal. There was only a chair for her on the left and a few pictures on the desk.
She looked straight ahead at the dried-up potted plants sitting on the windowsill. They bothered her immediately. As if he could sense her patience dwindling away, the doctor stepped into the room.
He took her comment as a joke and asked routine questions. Currin interrupted him about watering the plants.
“This is somebody else’s office, not mine,” he said.
Eventually, he realized he wouldn’t get anywhere until he handed her a cup of water.
Three months later, Currin returned. This time, the plants were blooming.
A Life Rooted in Compassion
This isn’t the first time Currin has stood up for something that can’t speak for itself.
When she noticed that her neighbor was abusing a cat, she stepped in by taking it to the veterinarian and standing her ground against the owner.
“I can’t stand to see any living thing suffering,” she said.
She recalled another moment:
A homeless couple with a big German Shepherd needed a ride to Nashville
She kept seeing them week after week after she first stopped to offer water and dog food
“Finally, I just loaded them and all their stuff into my car and drove them to Nashville,” she said. “I have a small hatchback, so their dog was literally licking my ear the whole way!”
At home, Currin cares for a small community of rescued cats, including a black one named Jet, a kitten named Triscuit and a tabby named R.C. (short for Random Cat), just to name a few. She recently lost a beloved 17-year-old cat named Sunny shortly before Christmas.
“I miss her so much,” Currin said. “She was the best friend I ever had.”
The Reality of Stray Cats in Memphis
“Local animal shelters give so many animals a second chance, and they save a lot of lives,” Currin said. “Sadly, Memphis has way more strays than the system can support, and our animal welfare laws and enforcement are terrible, so shelters are put in impossible situations.”
Currin works closely with Jim and Ginger Lord, who started helping strays over 35 years ago after finding abandoned kittens behind a Mexican restaurant.
Through Mewtopia Cat Rescue, a local shelter and adoption agency, they learned a process called trap-neuter-return (TNR), a human way to control stray cat populations.
Here’s why that matters:
- Cats can reproduce as early as 5 months old
- One pair can turn into 22 cats in two years
- Without intervention, the cycle continues rapidly
- It becomes harder for these cats to adjust to life in a home
The Lords have helped spay or neuter over 43 cats in just one of their many trapping locations. Still, some are harder to catch, like one stray they call “Mama.”
“She keeps having litters,” Currin said. “The last time she had kittens, we put them under a drop trap, and she wouldn’t even go under there to get her babies. She’s too smart.”
How the Trapping Community Works
“Everything is volunteer,” Jim said. “There are lots of little jobs people can do.”
Ways people can help include:
- Feeding cats
- Monitoring colonies (groups of stray cats)
- Transporting animals
- Helping overnight
- Fostering/socializing kittens so they can be adopted
“It’s like the book ‘The Little Prince,’” Jim said. “The cats get used to coming out at the same time every day, and then you can start trapping them consistently to get them fixed.”
A Trip at the Feeding Site
One Sunday evening, I went with Currin to the Lowe’s parking lot on North Perkins Road to feed a colony.
When she pulled into the parking lot, Melody Person was already there with a trap.
After retiring from a 30-year career in IT at FedEx, Person now runs her own business and continues her work with animals.
“Since this is not my trapping location, it’s courtesy to each other to reach out to who’s here,” Person said. “Someone reached out to Ginger about me coming, so we don’t get into each other’s areas.”
She showed Currin a recently trapped cat and explained the next steps for getting it spayed. Person purchased the magnetic trap that retails for $69.99 at Germantown Hardware out of her own pocket. But there are places like Spay Memphis or local shelters where you can borrow a trap by leaving a small deposit.
“Cats like cave-like spaces,” Person explained, covering the trap with a towel to keep the trapped cat calm.
There are different trappers working all over Memphis. They trap on days before they know the clinic will have a vet doing surgeries the next day. The trapped kitties get fixed and then recuperate before being released back into their colony. That gets the population under control.
What It Takes to Care for a Colony
Currin’s routine is simple but consistent.
From her car, she unloads six large bottles of water and cat food (both wet and dry).
She refills the water, cleans the area and sets out food.
She also invested in a custom-built shelter and roofed feeding station for the cats. She had a friend build it for her and she has also purchased a great feeding station that keeps the food dry from Feralvilla.
“Personally, I think I made an impact,” she said.
Why She Does It
“The real answer is that I’ve suffered a lot in my life. I know what it’s like to feel completely alone,” Currin said.
She connects her compassion to her own life experiences.
“I don’t want any person, animal, or even a plant to suffer like that if I can help it, so yeah, I’m insane about it.”
More Than a Label
To some, Currin may be known as a “crazy cat lady.” To others, she may be known as the woman who feeds the stray cats at Lowe’s. After spending a Sunday evening with Judith as she fed the stray cats, I realized that she’s not crazy at all. The only thing that’s crazy about her is her compassion.
“If someone isn’t compassionate toward animals,” Currin said, “I will question if I really want to get too close to that person. How can you not have compassion for a suffering animal? How can you just walk past something that’s suffering?”
The main thing Judith wants people to know about the work she does is that if you want to own a cat, take care of it. Or else, she’ll have to.
“Sometimes I think that’s why God put me here,” Currin said. “I’m here because they need me.”
How You Can Help
Want to support efforts like this in Memphis?
The Pet Compassion Centers has:
- Provided over 14,000 spay and neuter procedures
- Performed hundreds of specialty surgeries
You can support their work here: https://www.thepetcompassioncenters.org/how-to-help/donate.html
This blog was written by Sophia Aiello
Sophia Aiello is a writer, aspiring media professional and chronic overthinker with a love for storytelling and finding meaning in everyday moments. She writes about culture, identity and the people who shape the places we call home.
