A Plea From Cat Fosterers And Rescuers

To add to Paw Paw's comments, we are fortunate to adopt out a lot of cats due to high exposure.

Every weekend, we've got a couple volunteers who take the neediest cats (2 or 3) with them to the local PetCo where they've set up an area for adoptions and donations.

The dog people also hold obedience classes at the same PetCo and they usually take a Pit mix dog to show people that it is not the breed, but how they are trained.

Hi Michael, To answer your question, our shelter is very well managed. We do not accept more cats and dogs than we have room for, except in an emergency. Some cats are sociable enough that we can double up in the larger cages, especially if they lived together before surrender. We've even occasionally taken over a couple of the large dog cages with a few cats when they're empty. (We usually don't have more than 5 or 6 dogs at any given time. Dog cages we use are next to the cat section, as far away from the dogs as possible.)

There is a wait list for people wanting to surrender cats. Previous adopters get preferential treatment, as they wouldn't surrender the cats without a good reason since our application process is so stringent.

With kittens, we have a network of people who are willing to foster, including the mother cat if the kittens haven't been weaned. We don't bring kittens into the shelter, except on adoption days; otherwise, mom/kittens stay in the home to learn socialization skills. We try not to stress them out. (We have cages on wheels for adoption days for kittens and we cover the cages with sheets so the dogs don't see them and get all excited.) We also attempt to socialize feral kittens in a foster situation. Sometimes we even get lucky with adult ferals, which just tells us that they probably were a domestic before someone dumped them.

We have cross agreements with 4 different vets that have been pre-screened for their services. We also have rotating medical staff that volunteer for every shift to administer meds; some volunteers have been trained to do the same for the basic meds. All volunteers are also trained to watch for behavioral/health changes and we log them into either the daily log or the medical log which is also checked daily.

We have strong media presence and volunteer staff that keep our name in the news. The police station is next door and they also support us with charitable events, as do the school children throughout the year. We've go a couple great events happening soon that everyone is looking forward to, namely: Red Sox raffle - 2 tickets to see a Red Sox game (baseball) in September. We've got a wine/cheese tasting coming up soon and this month, I think, is the Parrot Head event which is when we take over a local pub on the beach for the night and charge admission, have drawings, prizes, dancing...all proceeds to all events go to the shelter.

Finally, we are fortunate enough to have regular volunteer meetings in person or instructions given to us via email through our shelter's group mail set up on Yahoo. It's great! The med staff gives us a weekly recap of what's going on with our guests. We have the weekly "Ins and Outs" list that tells us for both dog and cat, who's new and who's found their furrever home. Each animal is given a brief story and it's very informative as well as entertaining.

It's a very special place and I am so humbled to be a part of it.

Hi Elisa, I wanted to mention that your situation is experienced by nearly every cat rescuer. We are limited on how many cats we can safely take in, and adoptions are very difficult to secure. So, we have to stop rescuing until our number of animals goes down. In the meantime, cats die in shelters because no one can take them.

This highlights the need for a cat sanctuary in every county. Think about it this way: Rescuers are like lifeboats going out to pick up shipwreck survivors out of the water. Now, if the survivors all have to stay in the boats, the boats have to stop rescuing. It is the only way to save some, even though others will die. But, if the lifeboats had a safe place to unload the survivors, they could go back for more!

A cat sanctuary fulfills the purpose of providing a safe place for the cats so rescuers can keep rescuing. The sanctuary would show the cats, adopt the cats, care for the cats, and be a place where they could live out their lives if they never get adopted. Rescuers and the county could support the sanctuary, which could also use its space to sell merchandise or provide services to help it become self-sustaining. A cat sanctuary that is supported by businesses, the county, and rescuers could be a viable alternative to the private sanctuaries that often struggle and fail.

Perhaps your readers would consider forming a committee to look into forming such a sanctuary. Granted, this is a longer-term fix to the adoption problem, but wouldn't it be great to have a place where you could take your cats and know that they will be cared for, and that you helped get it started. A sanctuary could be our legacy, and it could continue to save cats long after we have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Elisa, you are not alone. As I mentioned before, you have hit the "rescue wall" - that point where you can't get cats adopted fast enough to keep rescuing, so you have to stop taking cats in. It happens to all of us.

Many rescuers assume that people will be readily available to take their cats. Sadly, you see it is not so. There are two primary reasons for this I think. The first is that the majority of Americans are either ignorant of the plight of cats or simply do not care. The second reason is that cats are a visual and sensory commodity. By this I mean that people need to see the cat in person, watch it, pet it, and make a connection to it. My best adoptions came from having my cats out in the public where they could be seen.

So, how does one overcome the rescue wall? They must get the cats into a high-traffic area where the cats can be seen. We did it by having a thrift store to collect donations for the cats and a place in the shop where we showed the cats. Whenever we had cats to show, adoptions and donations went up! If there were no cats being shown, adoptions and donations went down! So what I am saying is that there is a direct link between having cats where they can be seen and an increase in adoptions and donations.

What I would love to see is small joint ventures between rescuers where they can get the cats out in public, perhaps rent space in a store, or hold weekend events. I can tell you that the ideal situation would be renting a store in a high traffic area where the cats could have their own special living area built and be able to live there. This is helpful with adult cats, who do not show well in public unless they are very comfortable with people . Of course, the cats would be there on a rotating basis. Plus, your store could sell arts and crafts, pet stuff, or be a thrift store to help bring in cash as well.

However you do it, here is the objective: To get your cats in front of as many people as possible. This will increase adoptions and donations.

I wish you and your kitties well.

I feel your pain and am in the same boat. All of mine are fosters for the shelter, so I can't even find them homes on my own. But at the same time, the shelter doesn't have room to put them up for adoption and I feel like I've been left out in the cold. I want to help more, but I'm pretty close to tapped out with no help in site.

I think spaying & neutering is THE only answer... there are just too many kitties out there. I'm fostering 17 kittens and can't even give them away!! I can't help anymore either because I'm overwhelmed... I hate telling ppl 'No' but that's what I'm having to tell others when asked to foster more. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is any answer for us foster moms but to tell anyone who will listen to spay/neuter, adopt, don't shop, and love the ones we have saved and know we've done the best we can...

How does your shelter manage to be genuinely no kill (or nearly no kill) while some are very much not no kill? The one Elisa uses seem to kill a lot of cats.

Is it down to how the shelter is managed or down to the area they serve?

I just think it is very sad. You can only draw one conclusion. There are too many domestic cats in the USA or at least in the area where you are.

By too many I mean there are not enough people who wish to care for each domestic cat that is available.

Is there some other way you can connect with a section of the public who might not be aware of what you are doing and who might adopt a cat?

I don't know. You are doing a great job and if you can't find homes it seems that no one can.

Elisa, My heart aches for you. I so wish you were in Quincy, MA since that is a requirement for bringing in cats to our 100% no-kill shelter, ESPECIALLY the kittens. Our kittens fly out the door since that is what people want most in the summertime.

Our adult cats languish in cages for a time, then get rotated eventually into our "adult room" which is a large room with shelves and kitty jungle gym, cubicles, lots of toys and a large sliding (screened) window that we open in the good weather.

We've had a declawed adult cat now for a few months and she's very moody and doesn't really interact with the other cats in the adult room, but she is not aggressive in any way so we leave her in there. We thought it best to give her every opportunity to grow. She's very shy and we attribute that behavior to the declaw.

I think it's difficult with today's economy, all anyone thinks about is how they're going to care for their family. Animals are the last thing on people's mind. Unfortunately, some people don't see cats as we do. They're seen as a luxury item, a thing to own or disgard. So sad.

I wish I could take in more cats. I always get them from a rescue or in one case a woman in my church who was getting old and forgetting to get her cats fixed.

I can't bear to think of them being euthanized although it's better than them starving. Neither is very pallatable. I wish people would get their animals neutered. I have a horse and the homeless horses are even worse!!

I am glad you have helped some kittens anyway. I am waiting for a new adoptee but he has ringworm so we have to wait for it to clear up.

Just know you are doing a great job & those babies love you & appreciate you!