Dixon Couple Saves 730+ Cats From Their Living Room

While most people were baking sourdough during lockdown, Mike and Tracy Traum were bottle-feeding premature kittens every two hours. The Dixon couple has rescued more than 730 cats through their organization, SOCKs (Save Our Cats and Kittens), all while juggling full-time jobs.

Mike works as a public information officer for California's Office of Emergency Services. Tracy designs costumes for local theaters. Yet somehow, they've made room in their lives (and home) for hundreds of abandoned felines.

"It's opposite extremes of me writing words for the governor during the day and crawling on my hands and knees in a Walmart parking lot at 3 a.m.," Mike jokes.

The rescue runs entirely from their home, with adoptions happening on their front lawn. Inside, supplies have taken over: food, litter, toys, and medical equipment for the steady stream of cats needing help.

Many come from UC Davis, where people surrender strays to the veterinary ER. Others arrive from overcrowded shelters in Stanislaus County, where kittens are often the first to be euthanized due to lack of space.

Davis has its own problem. College students abandon cats when they leave for summer, creating colonies of strays in apartment complexes. "They put them outside, they continue making babies and the cycle continues," Tracy explains.

Some rescues become family. Popeye, a one-eyed orange tabby, now acts as a father figure to incoming kittens. Mike even earned the nickname "Cat Daddy" after an adopter called him to coax a hiding kitten out, and it worked.

The work isn't easy. Mike has nearly developed sepsis twice from cat bites. In late August, they received preemie kittens weighing just 40 grams, requiring round-the-clock bottle feeding. At three weeks old, those babies now weigh 160 grams.

Sunny's Take

SOCKs runs on donations, volunteers, and the Traums' relentless dedication. Davis High's track team makes blankets for the cats. Donors contribute through Chewy and Amazon wishlists. The couple handles the rest, including Mike sleeping with 15 kittens at night (until they get the 3 a.m. zoomies).

Here's a surprise: black cats aren't actually the hardest to adopt. "People think black cats are the last to be adopted, so they adopt them," Tracy says. "Tabbies are unfortunately looked at as the most plain looking."

Every cat deserves a second chance, and the Traums are making sure they get one, two hours of sleep at a time.

#