How can you help cats this month?

by Nancy E. Hassel, ThisFurryLife.com

June is Adopt-a-Shelter Cat Month and it could not be more appropriate, considering it is Kitten Season.  Shelters across the country get inundated with kittens and cats in June and summer months.  Many feral cats have kittens and many wind up in local animal shelters, or pet owners who didn’t spay suddenly find themselves with kittens they weren’t expecting.

So what can you do to help?

If you are thinking of adopting a cat or kitten, adopt 2!  This will free up room for 2 more cats to be rescued and put up for adoption.  And they will immediately have a playmate and buddy.  Some shelters like Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation (in NY) even match up cats that get along so that potential adopters can adopt 2 knowing they are already buddies.

Consider adopting an older cat.  Sadly many older cats get overlooked and live out their lives in small cages or if they are ‘lucky’ a cat sanctuary or cat room at an animal shelter.  It is no place for a cat. Older cats are past the kitten stage and make wonderful pets.

Consider adopting a cat that may have special needs or need a little extra care – these also get overlooked and not adopted very quickly.

Can’t adopt?

  • Volunteer at an animal shelter to help with the cats housed there.
  • Volunteer to help with their social media campaigns of cats/kittens up for adoption.
  • Put together a donation drive to collect cat toys, litter, and food.  Toys are important to help give the cat something to play with and stay as active as possible while waiting for adoption.
  • Learn more about TNR, Trap, Spay/Neuter and Release – not everyone realizes how important it is to keep feral cat colonies from reproducing and over-populating becoming a nuisance for towns and businesses.  See if your local town or animal shelter has a program and see if it is a right fit for you to get involved in helping.
  • Consider being a foster – if you absolutely cannot adopt (another cat!), fostering is a great option especially if the cat has special needs or just is not doing well in a shelter environment, fostering will help the cat adjust and decompress from shelter life, and get ready to be adopted.
  • Get your kids involved in learning about how they can help, how their class could possibly get involved.  This will help them learn more about cats in need and teach them how to give back too.
  • Share cats and kittens for adoption on your social media platforms, be an advocate for 1 cat to see if you can help get them noticed and hopefully adopted this month.
  • Find out from your local animal shelters and cat rescue organizations what they need help with the most and see how you can get our company/employers/coworkers involved to help.

What have you done to help homeless cats find homes? We would love to hear your comments or suggestions below.  Meow!

 

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