Scaredy-Cats

The world can be a pretty scary place for shelter cats. And for those who have more shy or fearful personalities, each day brings fresh horrors. There are new people in and out all the time and you never know which hand is going to decide to grab you. There are all kinds of noises you can't identify and the smells are constantly changing so you never have the chance to get comfortable with anything.

It's much safer to hide all of the time, or to hiss and swat to keep people at a distance. But those behaviors don't really make for a very adoptable kitty.

This is where GPSPCA's KIT Kat program comes in. KIT Kats - or Kitties In Training - are these very shy and fearful animals who need special handling before they are ready for the adoption floor. KIT Kat volunteers have gone through extra training to learn how to best help socialize these cats. I personally don't have the patience for it, but I greatly admire those who work with our under-socialized felines. The results of this program are amazing.

Scratch that

So we've talked about introducing a new cat to the family, about how important it is to spay or neuter your cat, and about FIV. There seems to be one obvious cat issue we haven't touched on. Hmm....I can't quite put my finger on it...

Oh right! Declawing.

Meet the Family!

It's very important to introduce a new animal into your home in such a way as to cause the least stress and disruption for the new pet as well as your existing fur family. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You'd be surprised how often people don't follow the instructions given by their adoption counselor. And then we see the animal returned because it "couldn't get along" with their other pets.







**disclaimer: this is my opinion/based on personal experience. I'm in no way speaking for or on behalf of the shelter**

Home Sweet Home...or not

I volunteer at an animal shelter and sad faces abound when one of our animals is returned. While we want all of the animals to find homes, we especially want them to find the *right* homes; even though it gives us a sad when the critters come back, sometimes it's for the best. But other times it's because people's expectations when adopting don't match the reality of introducing a shelter animal into their homes.

**disclaimer: this is my opinion/based on personal experience. I'm in no way speaking for or on behalf of the shelter**

The first and most important fact to keep in mind is that your new pet is seriously stressed. 

No matter how well we treat the animals at the shelter, the shelter itself is a stressful environment. There are new sounds and smells all over the place and the animals are prevented from doing many of their natural behaviors in response. Cats often want to hide while they adjust and figure things out, but there's really nowhere for them to go in a kennel. Dogs like to thoroughly smell things to gather information, but they are separated from everything by doors.