Their online “tour” of shelters is a chilling reminder of how publicly funded shelters can be deceiving us into thinking they are killing adoptable pets to make room for others. Yes, irresponsible members of the public who do not spay/neuter are part of the problem. But so is the attitude of county officials, jaded shelter workers, and the unwillingness of the many to change the rules for the few.

The challenge as the No Kill Advocacy sees it:

“…From entrenched bureaucrats who are content with the status quo, to uncaring shelter directors hostile to calls for reform; from agencies mired in the failed philosophies of the past to those who have internalized a culture of defeatism—the roadblocks to No Kill are substantial, but not insurmountable. We have a choice. We can fully, completely and without reservation embrace No Kill as our future. Or we can continue to legitimize the two-prong strategy of failure: adopt a few and kill the rest. It is a choice which history has thrown upon us. And a challenge that the No Kill Advocacy Center is ready to take on. The No Kill Advocacy Center is the nation’s first organization dedicated solely to the promotion of a No Kill nation. And it is the only national animal welfare agency that is staffed by people who have actually worked in and created a No Kill community.
The power to change the status quo is in our hands.“
If you want to become proactive in your community they offer numerous free .pdf files detailing every step to take to help change the status quo. They have a free enewsletter and listserv signup. They accept donations and offer a paying membership which includes a magazine.
Just to show you how detailed and well thought out their program is, with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, they created a “matrix” of injuries, illnesses and other conditions (like being an adult cat or dog versus a kitten or puppy, or having fleas) for shelters to use in order to determine adoptability of the pet. The ultimate goal being to stop the killing.

They have information for educators, students, shelter advocates, dog owners whose dog faces a “dangerous dog” hearing, grants, and how to start your own no kill shelter.

Go forth, learn and become proactive!

Purebred Cat Breed Rescue not all abandoned cats are mixed breeds.

Operation Nobel Foster every time reservists and others in the armed forces are called upon to serve overseas, the drop off rate at shelters sky rockets. This group was formed to help prevent such heart wrenching events. Volunteers foster the cats of military personnel so that when they come home, their cats are waiting for them. No matter what your political leanings may be, please consider helping this worthy cause.

Consider your Local Shelter or volunteer adoption groups. Not sure how to find them? See my blog entry on how to find them in your area. They can always use: money, cat food, litter, beds, blankets, paper towels, coupons to pet stores, pet food coupons. Call and ask what they need. then make a donation in someone’s honor. A gift that serves more than one!

My only complaint is that the grey text on black background is hard to read

A commercial site UKPets is a combination a business directory, ads, news articles, links to catteries, kennels, groomers and anything else pet related you might want to search for within the U.K.

this code gives us a news feed (use the Html view)

Felinerina has kitsch black cat oriented gifts.

Moggies: Home of the Online Cat Guide in the U.K. for those who don’t know, Moggies is a term that means mixed breed cat. Notepads, calendars, cards, jewelry, soft toys and more.

When I went to Pricegrabber.com I typed in “Cat Lovers” and found over 70 books, and some other things. I go there to find the lowest prices on various items, especially expensive ones. Searching under “cats” gave me over 8000 results Cat furniture, Feline Pharmaceuticals, gifts etc. Keep in mind that not all of products suppliers are listed by them.

Teezz sells beautifully embroidered cats images on shirts, caps, bags, etc. (U.K.)

Gifts that Keep on Giving — For buying human gifts that help cats:

The Animal Rescue Site has lots of clothing, jewelry, household goods many cat themed. Supports many shelters in the U.S. Great service, I have bought lots of gifts and things for myself from here.

Best Friends Gifts of Life and Love you can sponsor a cat, make a donation, or buy a gift membership in this animal rescue group.

Endangered Species Chocolate supports wild cats through donations

The Mountain Lion Foundation supports intelligent conservation and public education for those of us who live in mountain lion territory.

Purina’s Pet Hug Fund when you order a plush cat or dog toy, Purina donates $1.00 to the Pet Hug Fund which gives money to many animal therapy organizations. These groups help people (and pets) by bringing them together for the emotional and physical therapy they provide.

If you go to their Practice Guidelines page, you will find a few really large .pdf files detailing their suggestions to all veterinarians on many subjects including feline pain management, zoonoses and assisting aging cats. This group and the European Society of Feline Medicine which is linked with the Feline Advisory Bureau(UK), publish the bimonthly Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. While a large part of the site focuses on technical matters, the Feline Advisory Bureau web site also has practical information about catteries, boarding facilities, and useful information for those who are owned by their cats.

From their Business Wire Press Release:

Celebrate the 500,000 Adoptions Milestone for Morris’ Million Cat Rescue campaign

A shocking 3 out of every 4 cats that enter shelters do not leave alive. The reality is that 5.5 million cats are euthanized each year, representing 71% of all cats that enter animal shelters. Many don’t know that there are tremendous advantages for the entire family in owning a pet — for adults, pet ownership can decrease the risk of having a heart attack by up to 6%. Pet ownership can teach children about responsibility, compassion and loyalty — in addition, positive self-esteem is enhanced in children with pets. And pet ownership has been shown anecdotally to help children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to focus and concentrate.

About Morris the Cat

In 1968, a street-wise orange tabby from a Hinsdale, Illinois shelter was languishing for a loving home after being abandoned by his owner when the shelter staff noticed something special about the cat – a certain star quality. They quickly contacted Bob Martwick, a professional animal handler who quickly adopted him on the spot, and — 20 minutes from death — Morris the Cat got a second chance. Recognizing his charisma, 9Lives cat food quickly signed him up, and the entire nation took notice of this new star of their television commercials.“

“Morris’ Million Cat Rescue mobile adoption bus will visit Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Street from 12:00 p.m. – 5 p.m. PDT to mark the momentous occasion and to promote pet adoption. The 500,000^th cat will be officially adopted by Audrina Patridge of MTV’s “The Hills,” who will also participate in an exclusive check-donation ceremony. A grand total of $10,000 will be donated in her name to a local area shelter, Feline and Friends, to help them continue in their mission of finding loving homes for homeless cats.

According to Thomas, the Morris’ Million Cat Rescue tour will be making additional stops this year in San Francisco (9/27), Sacramento (10/03), Portland (10/11), Seattle (10/18), and Denver (10/27) before going on winter hiatus. For more information about Morris’ Million Cat Rescue Campaign, bus or van stops, visit www.9Lives.com.”

While I love Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest cats, the daily brushing they require would be problematic for those of us with full-time jobs and other responsibilities.

At a nearby adoption center I have seen what appear to be purebreds (OK, they are not papered), Maine coons, Russian blues, and various Siamese mixes. There’s even an online resource center for people who want to adopt a cat of a specific breed.

My point is, if you want a certain “look” but don’t necessarily want the pedigree papers, and are not interested in showing your cat at highly competitive cat shows, consider going to your local shelters and finding your new friend there. You won’t regret it!

There are three main types of organizations to look for in your area when finding your new pet. Find them using your local phone directory/yellow pages or the Internet. The best place online to find adoption groups from anywhere in the U.S. is Petfinder.com. As they say about themselves:

“You can:
Search 213,653 adoptable pets…
Locate shelters and rescue groups in your area.
Browse our resource library to learn more about pet care.
Post classified ads for lost or found pets, pets wanted, and pets needing homes.
Sign up to be a volunteer to help your local shelter or rescue group.”

City or County shelters take in any and all animals turned in to them as lost, unwanted or “nuisance animals”. You can usually find their listing in the phone book under County Government. They will euthanize ill or unadoptable pets, or those that stay in the facility “too long”.

Humane societies are run by both salaried and volunteer workers and supported by donations. They may be selective in which animals they accept.

Local area fostering groups are often “no-kill” volunteer groups who don’t have a physical location. They make arrangements with pet stores to have “adoption days” each week or even have permanent facilities in larger stores to which the adoptable pets are brought. If they are a big enough group, they may have other programs, such as bringing specially chosen calm pets to nursing homes. These groups will have people that catch strays. The strays are evaluated for health issues, vaccinated, neutered or spayed, fostered, and then put up for adoption. Whatever fees a group charges to finally adopt a pet does not come close to covering the costs they incur in this pre-adoption care.

cat adoptions adopting a cat animal shelters

A very basic checklist before you adopt a pet, no matter where the cat is from.

Know thyself and thy family!

• How much time and attention can you give a new pet? This includes not only basic needs, but play time and purring time. Be truthful!
• Decide in advance the best places in your home for her to sleep, eat, drink, and the equally important (but far less entertaining) needs to urinate and defecate? Don’t carve this in stone; things may be different than what you expect in the beginning while the cat and you get to know one another.
• Who will take care of these basic physical needs every single day? Can several people share the responsibilities on a rotating basis?
• What kind of temperament will fit in with your family? A cuddly quiet lap cat? A high energy talker? One who runs to greet you and demands attention? A cat who likes to run and play and chase invisible things (these are known as greeblings and live in a dimension that only cats can see)? A kitten that will grow up and require lots of attention and training along the way? An older cat that may have some fears or habits that will require you to work with her calmly and consistently to abate them? Even young cats may have become afraid like our Jennifur, who was tormented as a kitten by some vicious school boys. She avoided our older son until he grew taller, seeming to associate a certain height with those bullies.
• Can your cat live indoors with you? It will lengthen his lifespan, keep him healthier, less prone to ticks, fleas, disease and uninjured. There is a myth that cats must live outside to express their wild natures. Baloney. Outside cats get lost, run over by cars, killed by wildlife, badly trained dogs and vicious people. They can unknowingly eat rats or mice that were poisoned by your neighbors. In suburban areas, they can drink antifreeze in someone’s garage and die. In more rural areas cats make great coyote food, and can be killed by rattlesnakes and black widow spiders.Cats can hunt, hide, run, jump, chase, stalk, “sharpen” claws (a misnomer), sleep, eat, and eliminate waste all in the comforts of your home. Or do you want an indoor/outdoor cat? Be clear on how this will benefit all concerned.
• Don’t like litter boxes? There are self-cleaning ones now, both electronic and manual (you roll the container and dump the contents of the tray into the trash). We have two of the latter type; they’re inexpensive, save litter, and turn a 5-minute task into 30 seconds.
• Some cats have been trained to use the (human) toilet. There are books about potty training cats. Jennifur used to do this on her own, except she never did manage to flush the toilet
• Do you want a “barn cat” for killing the mice that eat the grain you need for your horses? Some cats are better for this than others, and a good local animal shelter will know which ones will suit you.
• How will your cat be cared for when you go on vacation? Some cats actually travel well; many do not. Not all vacation spots are suitable for a cat (or dog). There are “pet hotels” or boarding places of various quality. Check with your vet and the phone book.

Adopting from a shelter can be an incredible experience in both sadness and joy. Sad that so many animals are unwanted, even purposefully discarded when they become "inconvenient". Joy when you and your new cat (or dog!) find each other and agree to become family.

There are county maintained shelters and private shelters and even traveling "adopt a pet" groups. In some places, large pet stores will invite shelter organizations to bring adoptable animals on weekends and advertise this as a regular service to the public, shelter and the animals.

Finding these organizations can be done with your local newspaper, phone directory or the Internet. One nationwide US source is PetFinder . There, many shelter and animal adoption organizations maintain current lists of adoptable pets.

Some shelter groups specialize in saving and rehabilitating specific breeds. They can be found through the Internet, cat or dog magazine classified ads, phone books, and some veterinarians.

"No-kill" shelters are those that do not kill unplaced animals, and they have many volunteers who socialize and care for the animals in their homes. Sometimes the volunteer must apply for and be granted an exemption from local pet ownership laws and special license.

A Basic Checklist At the Shelter

Shelters have a pre-written contract and adoption fee you must pay. Read the contract and feel free to ask any and all questions. Be sure you find out what brand of food they give the cat you are adopting (and how often the cats are fed) and buy some right away. By keeping to the same diet, you avoid possible stomach distress caused by switching foods abruptly.

• Health issues: Has the cat had her shots and been spayed (or if male, neutered?) If not, will the shelter take care of any of this prior to adoption? Or can they recommend a veterinarian?
• By law shelters must quarantine strays for rabies and often they check for lethal feline diseases such as FeLV or FIV before any animals are offered for adoption. Make sure it is in the contract that the cat has been tested (or not) and is considered healthy. It should also be in the contract that the cat can be returned to the shelter and another selected if your vet finds the cat has FeLV or FIV.
• Are the eyes clear? Ears and nose clean? If runny, there may be a respiratory infection.
• Is the cat alert and attentive?
• Does he have any lumps or injuries? What has the shelter done about them? If you are considering adopting an injured or special needs cat (amputated leg, deaf or other physical or emotional difficulty) are you experienced enough to handle the long term needs of such a cat?

Behavior Of the Cat

How does the cat respond to you when you put your fingers near the bars? A good sign is acting in a friendly manner such as rubbing your fingers, paws (without claws extended far) through the bars to try to touch you.

Behavior Of the Shelter Staff

• Can they tell you any history of the cat?
• Are they forthcoming with information?
• Will they allow you to hold the cat?
• Do they seem to care about the animals as individuals, or simply as "livestock"?

At one shelter we visited, the staff seemed more interested in the thrift store they were running than in the cats. The litter boxes were filthy and all the cats had runny noses and eyes, and other signs of ill health. A caretaker would rub her fingers on one cat’s eye to "clean it" and then immediately do the same to another cat (no hand washing there!) This was unusual, as other shelters we visited were clean, well organized, and any apparently ill animals were quarantined from the others.

See our Jennifur and Panther stories about our first two shelter cats. For more detailed information on adopting cats from shelters, we list a few useful books in our Cat Books section.