When real estate agents showed Kitty and Ed Zimmer the 24-acre farm on Textile Road in Lodi Township, they knew immediately that this was the place they needed to expand their work with TLC/for The Love of Cats, a program that Kitty had been developing for the Zimmer Foundation. The Foundation was started by Ed Zimmer twenty years ago. Originally its mission was to fund new entrepreneurs and inventors. In 2000 Ed gave Kitty the green light to refocus the Zimmer Foundation’s efforts to TLC, which she calls a "cat retirement program". She runs many programs within TLC, all of which have the complementary goal of reducing the Washtenaw county feline euthanasia rate through aggressive spay/neuter of outdoor cats and special adoption efforts on behalf of older, slow-to-adopt cats.

Kitty had started TLC in her home in Ann Arbor. Soon she needed more space for her cats and help with their care. She envisioned a larger facility with more room for volunteers and space for new programs. Zoning regulations require at least ten acres for the work that Kitty was proposing to do. After a year and a half of searching, the Zimmers located the Lodi township property that is now the home of TLC/for The Love of Cats. The property, once a farm operated by the Braun family, is situated high on a hillside. The 3,000 square foot farmhouse, 19th-century barn, sauna building, fields, streams and waterfalls all needed renovation and nurturing. The Foundation acquired the property in 2001 and Kitty and Ed began their project.

The larger renovations have been accomplished. The second floor of the farmhouse provides living quarters for the resident caretaker, Ashley Allemang. The front portion of the first floor provides space for meetings and orientation sessions for more than 40 volunteers. The entire rear section of the house including the kitchen and living area is entirely devoted to the shelter of a colony of 12-18 geriatric companion cats. These cats are the stars of the Older Cats for Older People Program. In this program senior residential communities are invited to come to this cage-free shelter for cat petting and visitation sessions. The farmhouse has a wheelchair friendly, barrier-free access with paved parking near the front door. Kitty believes that being in the presence of these cats, petting them and experiencing their unconditional love is beneficial therapy for the elderly.

To create the vast companion cat area, Kitty took advantage of the southern exposure and installed a 12 foot glass door which allows the sun to stream onto a variety of furniture for cats and humans. Cats freely wander the area and may drape themselves anywhere. Many cat trees are provided, as are a raised fireplace hearth, a futon, and assorted chairs. Classical music from a CD player washes over the room 12 hours a day. According to caretaker Ashley,

"We don’t really know, of course, if the cats like the music. We play it for half the day and they seem to enjoy it. We don’t play it the second half of the day, in case they don’t."

The sliding glass doors allow people to move out to the 400 square foot deck. The area is always available to the cats via cat doors, but the cats often prefer to slide out through the sliding door with the people. On the patio are a table, chairs and large sun umbrella. The garden off of the deck has recently been planted with cat friendly plants. Designed by Monica Milla of the Garden Faerie in Ann Arbor, the plantings include organic oat and wheat grass, catnip, cat mint, lamb’s ear, valerian, and a peat moss litter corner which is surrounded by fragrant thyme. Cat shaped stepping stones are arranged throughout the garden. The outdoor areas are securely cat-fenced for the cats’ protection.

Kitty restored the 19^th century barn and established a Feral Cat Colony and Feral and Un-owned Cat TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) Program. In this barn she maintains a small colony of feral cats for adoption as barn cats. Feral cats are simply stray or homeless domestic cats. This area has a three quarter acre corral which has been cat-fenced and serves as the outdoor area for these cats. Volunteer Bill Dergis of Ann Arbor built a play area inside the barn as well as beds filled with hay, miniature stairways and two portable kitty condos using wood and chicken wire.

Kitty explains,

"As important as cat adoption programs are, they can have little long-term effect without very aggressive spay/neuter programs to bring the birth rate in line with the adoption rate. The major cause of the overpopulation is the enormous number of ferals that reproduce up to four times each year. Being nocturnal, they are seldom seen except during ‘kitten’ seasons. Then, homeowners wake up to find a feral mother cat and kittens under their porch or in their garage. They take them to the animal shelters where the mother is put down and the kittens are put up for adoption. The insidious part of this process is that every kitten displaces an orphaned older cat that may have otherwise been adopted and thus we continue to have excess adult companion cats on ‘death row.’ Our TNR program funds the sterilization of the un-owned cat population in Washtenaw County. Once sterilized, the cats are returned to their colonies to live out their lives without further litters of kittens."

In addition to funding the spay/neuter of qualified feral cats, TLC also provides routine veterinary work such as rabies and distemper vaccinations and initial treatment for parasites.

During the summer of 2002, Saline residents Maury and Edna Robbins were thrilled to learn about the Zimmer Foundation, TLC and the Feral Cat Colony which Kitty was just beginning to populate. A feral cat had befriended the Robbins and was visiting them each day. Their own eleven year old cat would not accept the presence of the feral cat. Edna and Maury knew they had to find a home for Robin. Edna spent a month trying to find a home for him. A friend told her about a poster she had seen at her vet describing TLC. After a few phone calls, Maury brought the cat to TLC where, dubbed Robin, he is now a contented resident of the feral cat colony. Robin has established a close relationship with Emmy, another feral cat.

Maury and Edna, both octogenarians with a great love for cats, had become very attached to Robin. Maury now drives to TLC every morning to bring Robin and his friends the nourishment he knows they enjoy. Each morning Maury cooks a special porridge for the cats which contains melted butter and Pet milk. He also brings containers of Star-Kist tuna, the food of preference for some of the other cats. "You can see how much they love it and how they thrive on it," says Maury as he watches Robin and his friends devour his concoction. For the past year and a half, seven days a week, Maury arrives at 10:30 a.m. and stays until 11 o’clock. Social worker and part time staff member Cynthia Jones, meets him and together they feed and pet the cats in the barn. He has only missed one day in his cat visitation program; that particular snowy morning, staff members called Maury and told him the unplowed roads made travel unsafe.

The most recent addition to the Zimmer Foundation property is the conversion of the former detached sauna building into a chapel renovated and decorated by volunteers Larry and Barbara Wolfe of Tecumseh. They had found the Zimmer Foundation when they were looking for a support group after the loss of their own cat. Kitty, understanding the close bond that people have with their cats, felt the need for a special place to be established where one could grieve for the loss of a cat. The chapel, with a feline weathervane perched on its roof soon will be fitted for a stained glass window. People will be able to bring their cats’ ashes to the chapel where they may place some of the ashes while sprinkling the rest in the nature sanctuary in front of the chapel.