Darcy Albert has been training dogs for 36 years, but these days it’s her work with abandoned and stray cats that’s keeping her busy.

Since she began rescuing cats five years ago, Albert has cared for and adopted out more than 200 cats and kittens. In their spacious Kalispell home, she and her husband Bob have a dedicated room for their foster cats — “Darcy & Bob’s Kitty Corner” — that currently houses the three remaining strays of a group of 11 cats found on a street in Bigfork.

The trio should go to good homes by the weekend; then Albert is headed to the county animal shelter to pick up a mother cat and four kittens that need her recuperative nurturing.

This revolving door of care began when Albert got a call from the Humane Society, asking if she could care for a litter of four abandoned 2-week-old kittens.

“I’d take them to work in a little basket and put them on top of my computer to keep them warm,” she recalled. “My co-workers and I would use our coffee breaks to bottle-feed them every two hours. That got me started. I love this, watching them grow and finding good homes for them.

“Once you start something like this, word gets around,” she added.

When Albert retired from her job at CenturyTel two years ago, it was full speed ahead for her cat rescue mission.

“I had the time to spend on it, and I realized what a problem the valley has with stray cats,” she said.

Albert has taken in cats found in abandoned cars, at the landfill, in Dumpsters, under porches. Some are injured, run over by cars or otherwise maimed. Many are in poor health.

This spring Kalispell “had its own Octomom,” she said, when a mother cat and six kittens found at the county landfill came to stay at the Alberts’ home.

“We gave her two more kittens and she didn’t blink an eye,” she said.

Albert is quick to point out that she couldn’t do the rescue work without the support and discounted prices from the Flathead Spay & Neuter Task Force. She pays for the spaying and neutering, shots, food and litter and recoups an adoption fee of $35 per cat.

“We pretty much break even,” she said.

Albert volunteers for the task force every Friday and spends that time at Petco trying to adopt out the cats she has rehabilitated. This fall she organized two adoption events at The Aquarium Shop in Kalispell and had “smashing success,” finding homes for 19 kittens, four cats and three puppies.

“We screen very carefully when we adopt out, and we always take them back if there’s a problem,” she stressed. “My message is: all fluffy kittens are cute, but don’t adopt on a whim. And call someone if you have a behavioral issue.”

The Flathead Spay & Neuter Task Force, Humane Society of Northwest Montana and Montana Animal Rescue League are on the front lines of care and can help answer questions.

Albert’s latest rescue is “Landfill LeRoy,” found by her grandson Taylor at the landfill.

“He called and said, ‘Grandma, there’s a black and white cat here. I can’t leave him ... he’s cold and hungry,’” she said.

Albert accommodated the 13-pound male cat by finding him a foster home and getting him on antibiotics to restore his health.

It’s all in a day’s work for the Flathead’s feline angel of mercy. Albert still trains dogs and gives obedience classes every summer at Lawrence Park. But more and more, her attention has been focused on rescuing cats. She’s averaging about 50 cats a year.

“There are not a lot of people who have the time or extra space,” she said. “I have the room and I have the time.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com