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.

Crisis Crossroads

Great Plains SPCA has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Between opening a second location in Independence, Missouri, and increasing the number of pets served by 250%, their resources have become stretched rather thin.

Right now, GPSPCA is at a "Crisis Crossroads"

Without urgent financial support, local Kansas City pets will not receive the medical care and protection from abuse and neglect that they deserve. It's the last thing we want, but demand for our unique services is exceeding our financial resources.

From providing sliding-scale vet care to the public to outreach programs aimed at improving the lives of area seniors, students, and pets, Great Plains is a real asset to the Kansas City community. Not to mention the thousands of animals that come through the shelter and find new homes.

All donations through October 15, 2015, will be fully matched. This is an excellent time to make your money stretch twice as far and do twice as much to help pets in the Kansas City area. Please consider making a donation today.

THANK YOU
My most heartfelt thanks to those who have so generously contributed to my campaign:

The Gies Family

Camera Magic

The company I work for took on a new project this summer that quickly ate all of my time, so I went from churning out 8-12 cat videos/week to one or two per month...then to none. As things slowed down at the office, I found that my duties at the shelter had shifted enough that I wasn't able to get as much footage as I used to. With the increased demands of homeschooling a 5th grader, I honestly don't know that I'll ever be as prolific as I was last spring.

However, I was finally able to edit and upload some of the vids I had taken earlier this summer. I put up Samuel L. Catson's and he was adopted within a day or two. Last night I got Wade's uploaded and he found his forever home today. (I'd like to believe my work has magic powers, but I'm sure this was a coincidence.)

While I'm beyond thrilled that these cats found homes (seriously, over the moon), the timing makes me grit my teeth about the time spent editing their videos. I enjoy the work, but it does take a not-insignificant chunk of my day, and there are always other projects clamoring for those resources. We'll see, though...if Kali is adopted in the next few days, I may go with the magic claim. (update 9/21: Kali is still there...but I put up River's video last night and he went today. So maybe it's selective magic)

The real point of this post, however, is to celebrate a couple of things:

1) the breakage of the video drought. It's nice to be putting those little "Watch My Video!" bars on the bottom of photos again, and

2) that Wade's adopter, upon finding out his adoption fee was sponsored, paid it forward and sponsored the adoption fee of one of our September SCotM, Felix Thunder Paws!

Thanks, awesome adopter! You rock!

Compassion Fatigue

I have a habit of throwing myself 100% into any project I take on. This sounds great in theory, but it's not a healthy or sustainable practice. So when we started volunteering at Great Plains last fall, I had to set some hard limits for myself. Without them, I would have found myself fostering animals while volunteering multiple days per week and attending every possible event. And my life would be in shambles and I would quickly burn out.

So...I've already pushed against my limits by spending hours at home editing video footage, but what we do right now is manageable. As long as I keep my urge to DO MORE in check.

All of this is to explain why I am only at the shelter once per week. And why I barely touch on the world of animal rescue in my physical space. And even with that pretty minor time commitment and the few actual hours I spend in the shelter itself, I have brushed against the edges of what this article discusses.

I can only imagine what it's like to be fully immersed in it. How hard it must be and the toll it takes.

“Animal care professionals are some of the most pain-saturated people I have ever worked with. The very thing that makes them great at their work, their empathy and dedication and love for animals, makes them vulnerable.”

Many animal shelters operate on a shoestring budget. They rely on volunteers to get much of the day-to-day animal care work done because there just aren't enough hands. They are desperately in need of fosters to care for kittens and puppies or adult animals that are experiencing shelter stress, are in need of behavioral work, or just need a place to wait/recover before and after surgery.

Please consider supporting your local animal shelter by donating, fostering, or volunteering. Just a few dollars a month or a few hours a week can make a big difference in the lives of the animals and their human caregivers.

And adopt, don't shop!

National Hug A Cat Day

My little tortie isn't so fond of hugs...

but she obliged me for a picture anyway.

This guy is getting hugs in his new home tonight.

Happy Birthday, Mike Wazowski!

On an uncharacteristically warm day in the winter of 2006, I was playing with my 18-month-old in the little grassy space in the middle of our cul-de-sac. This area held a wooden gazebo thing that had some ornamental grasses growing along one side. On this day, our little hangout also held a cat.

We couldn't see this cat. But oh, could we hear him! "Meow...meOW...MEEOW...murrROWWW!"

Finally managing to catch a glimpse of the purveyor of this fine feline vocal artistry, we discovered that it was an orange tabby that appeared to be blind in one eye. He was clearly wary of humans, so we gave him his space, but he continued to serenade us over the next few afternoons.