‘Z Nation’ zombie TV show crew raises cash to rescue kittens

Not all zombies want to eat your brains. Some of them want to rescue stray kittens.

The crew of season four of the Syfy TV series “Z Nation” started a successful GoFundMe campaign late Tuesday, raising $700 in just two days to help rescue four kittens and their mama cat – as well as maybe a few more neighborhood strays.

By Friday, there was a waiting list for the kittens, said Rebecca Cook, an assistant accountant for “Z Nation,” which is filming in and around Spokane this summer. The historic Browne’s Addition neighborhood just west of downtown is featured as a “Zona,” a zombie-free enclave for billionaires.

“This has been just a heartwarming experience,” Cook said. “People have come out of the woodwork. We’re in pretty good shape, I think, to do some good work.”

Twenty-five people made donations in amounts from $10 to $55, in all raising $200 more than the crew’s $500 goal.

Cook created the GoFundMe page, but she’s just one of three “Z Nation” employees leading the effort to save the kittens who are living in an abandoned building near their office on West Broadway Avenue just north of downtown. Editor Andrew Drazek and Alixandra Saucier, an assistant production office coordinator, are also helping to raise money, feed, photograph and eventually trap the stray animals.

Cook estimates the kittens are close to 8 weeks old. Besides “Mama Cat,” there’s another the crew calls “Papa Cat,” plus one more.

“They come outside to play,” Cook said.

While the kittens have been claimed, the cats haven’t. “We haven’t tried to find a home for (Mama Cat) yet,” Cook said. “We’re kind of waiting to see how this goes. She needs to be like on a farm or warehouse. She’s not going to do well in a home. She’s been feral for so long.”

This isn’t the first time “Z Nation” staffers have saved Mama Cat’s kittens. They first discovered the adult female feline and her previous litter during the filming of season two.

“A few of us got together and attempted to rescue and find permanent homes for them all. We succeeded in capturing three of the kittens. We raised money to have them fixed, chipped and get a full set of vaccines, plus any other care they needed. We found homes for all of them and we are so happy all three are living safe, loving lives,” Cook wrote on the GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/z-kitten-rescue.

During season three, Cook said, crew members feared Mama Cat had been hit by a car or had met some other misfortune. “We didn’t see her at all last season,” she said.

But now, “she’s miraculously back” – with more babies.

This time, the crew is also hoping to catch Mama Cat and have her spayed. “We’re really motivated to get this done,” Cook said. “It helps to have the financial support. The generosity is overwhelming.”

Additional live traps are slated to arrive Tuesday.

Meantime, Cook said, “we’ve been out there feeding them. We’re trying to make them a little more comfortable around us so when we go to trap them hopefully it will go smoothly.”

The plan is to get them all trapped, vaccinated and adopted. After that, “we’ll see how many others in the neighborhood we can rescue,” Cook said. “We’ll just keep trapping all summer. And, then, if there’s any money left over, we’ll donate it to one of the local shelters. It’ll all stay locally.”