Results tagged “cats” from Petfinder Blog

Remember when we ran a cat-room-makeover contest in honor of Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month? The winner, Central Minnesota Animal Care & Control, received $1,300 worth of gorgeous cat furniture from The Refined Feline for their new colony-housing cat room.

Well the makeover is complete, and what a difference! According to the St. Cloud Times, shelter staffers designed the cat room to look like a living room, painting the walls tan and adding a viewing window, a faux fish tank and artwork on the walls.

The Refined Feline contributed two litter-box holders designed to resemble end tables, two cat shelves and three cat towers.

Shelter owner Lisa Tenter tells the paper: "[The cats] love it. They're laying around, stretched out, letting me scratch their bellies. They would never do that in a cage."

The new room's impact is more than cosmetic. Says Tenter: "The cats will be less stressed in here. Less-stressed cats mean healthier cats." (Read the full article here.)

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, and we'll let people who've done just that explain why seasoned companions are so special.

Read on for five senior-pet Happy Tails -- and if you can't adopt your own senior pet, you can help them find homes by adding our adoptable senior pet search widget (shown here) to your Web site.

Bunny
"We drove 800 miles to get her. It was love at first site. She happily hopped in the car and headed back to Alabama with us, where she immediately made herself at home and has stolen all of our hearts. She has filled much of the void left by my old pal Bud, and filled our home with the love of a senior dog. We tell her every day that she hit the Basset Hound lottery, but actually it was us who won."
>> Read Bunny's full Happy Tail.

With cold weather already upon us, it was no surprise to read about about a cat who survived a two-mile car ride while trapped in an engine. (Read the original story and the follow-up in the New York Daily News.)

Luckily, the cat made it through his ordeal unscathed and is now recuperating at Animal Care & Control of New York City. But every winter, many others aren't so fortunate.

When it gets cold, stray and outdoor cats keep warm however possible. According to the Massachusetts SPCA Web site, "Cats often climb under car hoods to get warm and then get caught in the radiator fan when the engine is started."

What can you do to prevent tragedy this winter? Find out after the jump.

Oct. 16 is National Feral Cat Day, and we know many of you come into contact with stray and feral cats in your everyday lives.

For example, when I recently wrote a blog post about what to do if you find an abandoned cat or kitten, reader Robyn asked this question in the comments:

I have five stray cats that I have fed for over a year. I can't bring them in since I have two dogs and a cat
of my own. The smallest cat ate this evening and proceeded to give birth
to at least three kittens (that I see). She went inside the house I have on my small back porch with little dog beds and blankets inside for the cats.

I never knew she was pregnant. I cannot afford to feed any more cats. I know mommy will feed them for a few months, but how do I protect them being outside? I know shelters are overcrowded and I cannot imagine them being put to sleep. These cats have been a part of my so-called family for a while now and I don't know what would be best for them. Any advice?

Petfinder's public receptionist, Kristen, and I e-mailed Robyn some advice, but I wanted to share it here in the hope that you'll find it helpful as well.

What you can do:

Even if your local shelter is too full to take the mom and kittens to re-home, it's a great place to call first. Staffers may be able to refer you to a foster group that can raise the kittens, or at least -- so you won't end up with even more unexpected litters in your yard -- low-cost spay/neuter options or a group near you with a trap, neuter and return program for feral cats (see our article, TNR - The Humane Alternative).

Also try calling your own veterinarian to see if he or she knows of anyone who may help. Your vet's office may already be working with local people who assist outdoor cats, or may offer a discount to good clients who are helping strays.

Lately there's been a lot of discussion about cat and dog vaccines -- when people should vaccinate, whether they should, and what kinds of vaccines are necessary to keep pets safe.

(Check out the comments on vet blogger Doolittler's recent post on the rabies vaccine.)

Vaccines protect pets from upper respiratory infections, distemper and parvo, in addition to rabies, which is transferable to humans. So why all the debate?

The issue is that some pets have adverse reactions to vaccines. In fact, the American Veterinary Medical Association's brochure on vaccinations warns of just that possibility:

The most common adverse responses [to vaccines] are mild and short-term, including fever, sluggishness, and reduced appetite. ...

Rarely, more serious adverse reactions can occur. Allergic reactions appear within minutes or hours of a vaccination and may include repeated vomiting or diarrhea, whole body itching, swelling of the face or legs, difficulty breathing or collapse. ... In very rare instances, death could occur from an allergic reaction.

As many pet parents know, keeping cats entertained and out of trouble can be a full-time job. House cats don't spend their days doing what they'd do in the wild -- hunting for food, searching for mates and protecting their territory -- and often end up bored and looking for trouble.

A great way to keep your cat from getting bored is to have her work for her food. Instructables.com has a cheap and easy DIY cat-powered automatic cat feeder that does just that. Here's a condensed version of the simple instructions from contributor LabelReader (get the full version, with pictures, here):

Supplies:

An 8-oz. round plastic tub, a cat-food dispenser with a circular, flexible pop top that snaps down over the tub, about one day's worth of cat food and a pair of scissors.

Instructions:

1. Cut loopholes in the tub: Cut the bottom corner of the tub to create a slit. A second cut should be made about two cat food pellets' length away from the first one. Insert the point of the scissors and expand each slit until it's about four times as long as your cat food pellets. Each cut should be equally long on the bottom and side of the tub.

All better now: Read Grace's story in her adoptive mom's own words.

The tiny kitten had been abandoned by his mother and hand fed until he was seven weeks old. Now he was getting a second chance.

Lisa Driscoll had seen the kitten on Petfinder and contacted the rescue group, Pet Guardian, in Virginia Beach, VA, which had listed him on the site. She arranged to meet the kitty at his foster home.

"There were several kittens in foster care, but we still loved the one that we had seen online," Lisa says. "We took him home with us that night."

All the events in this kitten's short life had thus far been traumatic, but now everything seemed rosy. He had a new home and loving pet parents. Two days into his new life, however, Lisa noticed that something wasn't right. Her new kitten was sick.

Almost every summer, Carol goes out on the porch of her remote rural home and discovers an unfamiliar feline face. Another cat or kitten has been thoughtlessly abandoned during the night.

Carol is a senior citizen, and all of her own cats are fixed. Her income is fixed as well, and she has no money for vet visits for new cats.

Yet the abandonment continues.

I volunteer with a feral-cat trap/neuter/return group in addition to my job with Petfinder. We helped neuter Carol's outdoor cats in 2002 (all of them were offspring of cats abandoned on her property), so luckily we are there to help when new cats appear in her life. When my phone rang this Sunday, the news was particularly bad: Two female cats and three tiny kittens (pictured) had been left at Carol's door.

Abandonment of domestic animals is illegal. In New York State it is punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or a year in prison. However, it's hard to catch someone who merely slows down and tosses a cat alongside a country road or leaves a box of kittens at a campground.

If you wander outside one day with your morning coffee and are greeted by the forlorn mews of an abandoned cat or kittens, you might be tempted to hope they will just "go away." However, ignoring them will only make the situation worse. A dumped pregnant cat may shortly have kittens beneath your porch. Healthy kittens, abandoned without their mother, will soon starve or become ill or injured.

On Aug. 12, Petfinder and shelters and rescue groups across the country celebrated Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day, a day we designated to give all those pets who are often overlooked a chance to shine.

Here are just a few ways adoption groups put their extra-special pets in the spotlight -- and found new homes for some of them as well:

Three New Jersey rescue groups, Friends of Homeless Animals in Hawthorne, Here Kitty Kitty! in Paterson and Angels of Animals in Clifton teamed up to do a joint ALAP Day adoption weekend at the PETCO in Clifton. Senior cat Izzy, who'd been waiting for her forever home for way too long, found that home thanks to ALAP Day!

Our friends at The Grey Muzzle Organization, which helps at-risk senior dogs by providing funding and resources to animal shelters, rescue groups, sanctuaries and other non-profits nationwide, added our senior-pet search widget to their Web site, GreyMuzzle.org.

Washington's Seattle Animal Shelter got the story of Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day out to local media and bloggers. As a result, five "less adoptable" pets found new homes, including two Pit Bulls with special needs!

Just wanted to share the good news: The winner of our Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month cat room makeover contest is Central Minnesota Animal Care & Control!

The shelter will receive $1,300 worth of gorgeous cat furniture from The Refined Feline for their new colony-housing cat room.

The Refined Feline makes some of the best-looking and best-performing cat
furniture out there -- with removable carpet panels perfect for sheltering situations. 

You can see a photo of CMACC's "before" cat room above. This was their letter:

Central Minnesota Animal Care & Control, CMACC, heard about Petfinder.com's feline furniture giveaway. We would like you to consider our shelter.

We are sending you a current photo of the room that we will be making into a communal cat room, but we have no funding for cat furniture or any idea what type of furniture to place in the space.

We fell in love with the Refined Feline line of cat furniture and would love to have it as the main focal point of the room.

Please consider helping us outfit our cat room.

Lisa Tenter
Central Minnesota Animal Care & Control

Stay tuned for "after" pictures once CMACC's furniture has been delivered and set up!

For four days, Samantha the cat sat by the door through which her friend, Roosevelt, had departed with his new pet parent, and she cried.

The two domestic shorthairs had been nursed through an upper respiratory illness in the arms of their foster mom and had thoroughly bonded as they recovered. Now Roosevelt was gone.

Laurel Esken of Forest Hills, N.Y., had been looking for a companion for her Persian kitten, Sugar, who was overgrooming from lack of feline company, and saw Roosevelt listed on Petfinder by Posh Pets Rescue of New York City. She adopted him, but as it turned out, the now-recovered Roosevelt was too frisky for the placid Sugar, so Laurel checked back with Roosevelt's foster mom about adopting another cat.

We're celebrating Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month by partnering with LOLcats site Icanhascheezburger.com to bring adoptable cats to a whole new audience.

If you check out any adoptable cat on Petfinder, you will see a button under his or her photo that says ADD TO ICANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM.

When you click, you have the chance to write a creative LOL-worthy caption. You know the pictures ... the ones that when you look at them, you can't help but put words in the cat's mouth?! Well, here's your chance.

Once you submit a captioned adoptable kitteh (that is LOL-speak for cat!), she will go into the gallery and Icanhascheezburger visitors will vote on their favorites.

The top vote-getters make it to the home page with a link back to the cat's Petfinder profile. It's fun -- and it will also, we hope, get more people to check out the adorable, adoptable cats on Petfinder.

I love my cat. My cat loves her (huge, carpeted, gray, well-scratched) cat tower. But I have to admit, I do not love the cat tower.

How to decorate a stylish home that's also fun and stimulating for cats is a perennial dilemma. Luckily, The Refined Feline has a solution in its assortment of high-end cat towers, litterbox cabinets, and cat beds.

And in honor of June, Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month, The Refined Feline is partnering with The Petfinder.com Foundation to help pets in need.

By clicking this link, 10% of purchases will donated to the Petfinder Foundation.

The Refined Feline is also helping our shelter and rescue-group members in two ways (if you are a Petfinder member, visit the admin page for more info):

1) One lucky Petfinder member will receive a cat-room makeover with Refined Feline cat furniture worth more than $1300. We'll share the before-and-after pictures here on the blog!

2) The Refined Feline is also offering members an affiliate program, in which groups can sign up to receive 10% on all orders placed through their Web site.

Happy Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month, everyone!

While some of the 12,500+ shelters and rescue groups that list their adoptable pets with us will only adopt locally, not all of them have that policy, and we often get Happy Tails from people who traveled huge distances to adopt the perfect pet they found on Petfinder.

But this story about British couple Rose and Chris Rasmussen takes the cake. The pair spotted Sparky on Petfinder and fell in love, despite the fact that they live in suburban London and Sparky was at the Clare County Animal Shelter in Harrison, Michigan.

(Read the full story at Central Michigan's TheMorningSun.com.)

With help from Clare County Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske, who completed piles of paperwork and made
sure Sparky was microchipped, vaccinated, quarantined and vetted, the Rasmussens were finally able to travel to Harrison to collect their new family member.

A major cable network that happens to be very Petfinder- and pet-adoption-friendly is filming a series about cat breeds, and for an episode about the Selkirk Rex breed, they're looking for someone interested in adopting one of these exotic felines.

The producers are in touch with two rescue groups in particular about a pair of purebred Selkirks with star potential. If you're interested in adopting either of these cutie pies, contact their respective adoption organizations.

If you're the right fit for one of these great
cats, not only will you have a chance to be on TV, but you'll add a wonderful companion to your life.

According to our Cat Breed Directory, Selkirk Rexes are fun-loving, mellow and people-oriented. They're known for their distinctive soft, curly coat, which can be either long or short.

There are currently 15 Selkirk Rexes or Selkirk mixes available for adoption on Petfinder. Learn more about the breed.

It didn't take long for Robin Cappelletti of Issaquah, Wash., to know what her new house was missing: a cat. And she knew just where to go to find one to adopt: Petfinder.com.

With more than 144,000 adoptable cats listed on Petfinder at any one time, it took Robin only 10 minutes to find the perfect one, even though she was specifically wanting a Torbie. (There are more than 800 Torbies listed on the site.)

The Torbie Robin chose was designated #5701 and had been abandoned in the winter, when "snow was all you could see," says Robin. The kitten, dirty and cold and not more than eight months old, was picked up by Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service.

When you think of malls in December, you probably think of presents, crowds and traffic. But at one mall in New York State, shoppers will also be thinking about pet adoption.

The SPCA Serving Erie County in Buffalo, NY, has a mall storefront at Buffalo's Walden Galleria Mall though the end of 2008. (Read more about the storefront here.)

Strictly for felines, the mall adoption center is the result of a collaboration between mall management, the SPCA and generous donors who made it possible for the center to stay open through Dec. 31 (it was originally scheduled to close on Sept. 30).

The adoption center opened in August, thanks in large part to funding from TalkingPhoneBook.com president and CEO Richard Lewis and his wife Lisa. The couple were deeply impacted by an August 8 column by Buffalo News writer Donn Esmonde about the sad realities of cat overpopulation in Erie County, and decided to fund a program to encourage end-of-summer cat adoptions.

Since its inception, the storefront location has helped almost 400 cats find new homes.

Visit the SPCA Serving Erie County on Petfinder.