Just looking

Mom & Dad visited the local animal shelter today to look at this kitty.

He was described as being approximately 16 years old and “gentle, affectionate, loving”. He needs medication for high blood pressure and has limited vision. He was being housed in a multi-cat room, so he’s proven to get along with other cats.

Lucky for me, they decided he wasn’t a good match for our family. Ambivalent is the best way they could describe him. After 5 minutes of petting him in his bed – to which he showed no interest other than some mild tail twitching, he stood up to stretch and Mom gently put him on her lap. He didn’t settle in and didn’t seem particularly interested in being with a person. They stayed with him for about 15 minutes while he got up for a snack, visited the litter box, and wandered around the room before going back to his bed. He never showed any interest in Mom or Dad.

Maybe he was  having a lackadaisical afternoon, or maybe he didn’t take a liking to Mom & Dad the way Sammi and I did when we were choosing them as our new family. In any case, they decided he wasn’t a good fit for us. We hope he meets his match soon and can settle in to a permanent home.

This boy isn’t at risk of being euthanized (at least for now). He’s one of the luckiest cats at the shelter because he’s housed in the “catfe”, a large area dedicated to promoting the adoption of adult cats. This area houses up to 5 adult cats, and potential adopters can hang out enjoy a free cup of coffee. Here’s a photo of the room. Behind the camera, there’s an adjoining area with a big window & window seat and the litter boxes.  

It’s unfortunate that there are so many animals who need homes, but I’m glad our community has several large shelters that do their best to provide care for many animals who are waiting to be adopted.

Helping cats who are waiting to be adopted

In the spirit of Thankful Thursday we’re taking some supplies to a local cat rescue. We were well cared for while we were in a shelter, so we thought it would be nice to give some beds and toys to cats who are waiting for their forever home. It’s always nice to get a gentle brushing to help stay looking your best so we took some brushes too. At the shelter we saw a cat who had only one eye. Mom asked that he be given one of the spongy footballs to play with. We like spongy balls and thought he might like one too. The ladies volunteering at the shelter said they’d be sure to give him one. We hope lots of kitties enjoy the snuggly beds and have fun playing with the toys.

 

 

Finn in his forever home

In February, I wrote how happy I was that Alberto was adopted  from our local shelter and that his new name is Finn. His mom let the shelter know that after a month of living with them Finn has settled in with his new family. At first one of the resident cats named Theo wasn’t sure about the newcomer, but now Finn and Theo are buddies who groom each other and sleep on the same bed.  In the shelter Alberto didn’t really enjoy being held and he wanted to sit next to you to be petted. He wasn’t comfortable sitting on a lap. But with his new family, Finn snuggles on his mom’s lap! I think he was saving his deepest love & affection for his forever family.

Finn looks very content and comfortable in one of the cat perches in his forever home.

Posted with permission of Finn’s forever mom.

Perches for the Shelter Cats

We know we’re so fortunate to have lots of perches to climb or sleep on and we thought it would be nice to indulge our kitty friends who are living at the animal shelter. They have really nice habitat rooms, but they have only beds and some well-used perches that are donated by animal lovers like us. It’s very stressful living in a shelter, and having a perch where the cats can get up off the ground and climb & scratch helps relieve their boredom and stress.

When we saw that perches were on sale at the local Pet Club Food and Supplies store, we thought we could purchase a few perches for the shelter cats. I usually don’t mention stores by name, but this time I have to – you’ll see why below.

I had a budget of about $250 and we were able to buy 3 good-quality, medium-sized perches. As I was checking out, our checker happened to be the manager. He asked what I was purchasing all the cat perches for and I said I volunteer at the local animal shelter and the kitties need some perches. He commented how nice I was to do that and we chatted a bit more. Then he said that he would be willing to donate 2 more perches to the shelter! I was so happy that more kitties would be able to enjoy a perch! I picked out 2 other medium-sized perches and the store staff helped us load everything into my car.

Here’s Indigo enjoying the sun.

Jesse’s brother James liked the “top spot”. Abigail was happy to be on the second level.
Romo posed for a photo, then curled up on top of the perch for a nap.

Mama took an immediate liking to the cubby hole in her new perch.

As these cats are adopted, other cats will be moved from cages into the habitat room where they will be able to enjoy a perch. Many, many cats will be very happy over the next year or so. That’s about the life-span of a perch in the shelter because it gets so much use by so many cats and the perches have to be cleaned regularly to help prevent the spread of any diseases.

If you are able to donate a perch to your local animal shelter, I’m sure they would be grateful and the cats would love it. It doesn’t have to be a new or fancy perch.  If you have a perch that is gently used, that will be good too.  Or maybe you can donate a pet bed or an old blanket. Contact your local shelter and see what they need or can use, and help the animals in your local shelter stay happy and healthy while they are waiting for their forever home.

And again, a big Thank You to Pet Club Food and Supplies for generously donating to our local animal shelter.

p.s. Jesse and James (brothers) were adopted together. Romo and Abigail were also adopted.