Making a Difference!!

The first weeks of November have been VERY busy here at Catkins!!  Armani's article came out in Nov 17 issue of Woman's World and everyone that knows him was super proud to see him recognized for his heroism!

Catkins and Helping Paws also have been very busy in a joint effort to help an estimated 120 cats that have all been living at one location.  So far over 100 cats have come into our rescues and been tested for FeLV.  All negative kitties will be held in quarantine for 3 months before being re-tested.  The city of Washburn has been exceptionally generous in allowing our rescues the use of the old Washburn pound for many of our quarantine kitties.   We're very hopeful that after the 3 month quarantine is up we can find all of these great kitties loving homes- but even if it takes awhile they're always welcome here!  Which brings me to my third piece of news... Mowgli's was finished this week and some of the residents are in!

We finished painting and laying the vinyl last week and moved in some of our kitties on Thursday.  Everything looks great and the cats are really beginning to enjoy themselves!  We are planning on adding lots of structure for the cats to play and climb on, but for now they are moved in, safe and sound!  I hope you all like the pictures!

The walls are painted and the vinyl is ready to go!

The vinyl is in and once the mopboard is up the kitties get to move in!

The toys are in and The Bungalow is ready for its residents!  I'll have pictures of playing kitties soon!

Progress

Well, the insulation is all in, the wiring is complete and the roof is on!  The volunteers are coming back on on Sunday 11/2/08 to put up the walls and the ceiling- then it's up to me to paint, paint, paint!!  Once the paint is on, the vinyl will go down and the cats will go in!!  We're hoping the Mowgli's Bungalow will be welcoming residents by the end of this week!!  

The insulation is up and the lights are on!

The floor is insulated and the panelling is in!

The metal roof will be ready to take on the winter snow!!

Mowgli's Bungalow

Mowgli's Bungalow

The new cattery is becoming more of a reality everyday!  I was inspired this summer by a tiny kitten with a genetic defect that made him impossible to adopt out.   This little kitty lived with my family for about 3 months before suddenly and swiftly leaving us.  Despite being six months old, Mowgli never grew any bigger than a 12 week old kitten.  Mowgli's tiny size didn't stop him from getting into all kinds of trouble and ruling the roost while he was here.  Mowgli was the official greeter at my house- whenever we had a new arrival, he would run and greet them (even if they hissed).  When it was dinner time Mowgli would crawl up my leg until I set him on my shoulder so he could help make the food.  Even though Mowgli was physically the smallest member of our household, but he more than compensated for his size with his personality and heart.  While thinking of what to call this new cattery, Mowgli's memory kept coming back to me.  Since so many of the kittens that will be living in the Bungalow grew up with Mowgli- I thought it would be fitting for Mowgli to move there with them!

Day 1

Two great volunteers (Billy and Leon) came over for a few hours to level the skids that Mowgli's Bungalow will rest on.

Day 2

Billy and Leon returned with Frank, an experienced builder who is also volunteering his expertise.  Within a few hours the floor of Mowli's Bungalow was constructed.

Day 3

Leon, Billy and Frank put in almost twelve hours today to get the shell of Mowgli's Bungalow erected.  The walls are up, the windows are in and the roof is on!

Day 4

The volunteers are back and this morning they papered the roof, ran the electrical wiring for the outlets and switches and put in the door!  Now it's my turn to do some insulating and when the metal for the roof arrives, building will resume!

October at Catkins

Simba

Well I am excited to announce that our second cattery is about to become a reality!  Three generous and talented Price County residents are donating their carpentry skills to the project and we are finalizing the plans and the budgeting!!  This second cattery is not coming a moment too soon!  We are currently working to help some local residents with an overwhelming cat problem (population estimates are at about 85 cats).  Obviously one small building will not house all of these cats, but it's a start. 

Our vet is coming down to vaccinate all of our cats for rabies in just a few days.  She will be accompanying me to assess the health of this particular stray cat population and we will be drawing up a "plan of attack" for population management and cat placement.  I will try and keep updating you all as we get a better handle on this situation.

As long as our vet is down here, Catkins and Helping Paws (a rescue managed by our vet) will be undertaking a grant writing storm.  We will be looking into funding for everything from kennel construction to low- cost spay and neuter initiatives. 

Finally, Catkins has ordered the first batch of microchips for our rescue animals.  It has long been a goal of mine to have every animal that goes through the rescue microchipped- and it is about to become a reality!!  This way, if any animals from Catkins end up being picked up by or turned in to another organization, we can be sure to get them back safe and sound!!  In addition, we will have a scanner at our cattery that will allow us to reunite microchipped missing pets with owners much more quickly.  

Fall is bringing a whirlwind of activity to Catkins and we're doing our best to keep up!  

I hope you all are finding time to enjoy the fall weather with your furry friends!!

Laura

Congratulations August and September Adoptions!

North

Congratulations to these cats and dogs for finding their new forever homes in August and September!!

Kizmit, the sweet little papillion, who required (and received) extensive knee surgery to guarantee her a fun filled life in her new forever home.

Zion, the Siberian mix kitty, who travelled to Chicago to meet his new parents.

Toby and Vitamin, the two best friends who refused to be parted after meeting at a local shelter.  These buddies ran out of time and faced death together rather than being parted.  We are so happy that they are now enjoying their new lives together at their new forever home!!

Buddy the dachshund wasn't part of his family's moving plans, so we him found a new family that doesn't leave him at home alone and will never leave him alone without a home!! 

West moved into his new apartment in September and graciously allowed his new mom to stay there.

South is looking forward to tiring out all the kids in his new forever home.

North is quite pleased with having snagged a new family to spoil him rotten!!

Hermione has figured out that dogs are great buddies and has decided to teach her new "siblings" that she is top dog. 

We were also happy to help place Simba, given a 48 deadline, through a courtesy listing.

Congratulations!!

Big Goings On

Hi Everyone!

So far September has been a BIG month for Catkins- BIG!  I can't wait to share this exciting news with all of you!!  

It looks like we will be adding a second cattery to Catkins so that we can comfortably house 40 cats on a regular basis!  This cattery will be targeted toward housing younger cats and some of our pickier residents.  The new  cattery will be a 12' X  20' insulated building with several windows to sun in and lots of room to play in!!  Next summer with hope to add a small window perch that will allow a few cats at a time to sit outside, but stay safe.  We are hoping with the addition of this building that we won't have to continually turn away litters of kittens during the spring and summer months.

In addition (yes, there is more!) we are replacing the doors on Harold's Hideout to include large windows and insulation.  This way our residents can watch the snow blow during the winter months without feeling the chill!!

We also are planning on having our veterinarian take a trek down from Ashland and visit our facility to give everyone their 1 and 3 yr rabies vaccines.  That will be about 30 vaccinations in 1 day!

Catkins has also been entered into the "America's Favorite Animal Shelter" contest on Care2.com.  It is super easy to go and vote for Catkins and the winner gets $10,000.  You can also recruit your friends in the US to vote and the 20 top recruiters will get $50 gift certificates.  Just follow this link:  http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/72779/?refer=23403.03.1222201337.0748

I'll be back later this month to congratulate all of our August and September adoptions and with more exciting news and updates!

Laura

A National Hero

Armani 

(Picture courtesy of his Foster Dad: Randy)

Catkins has a hero and pretty soon his story will appear in the national woman's magazine, Woman's World.   Earlier this spring Armani saved one of his foster siblings from falling through the thinning ice!  Be sure to check out his story in a November issue (if they can swing it, Armani's story will actually appear in October to correspond to adopt a shelter dog month).   We're hoping that the publicity will help Armani- and maybe his brother, Giorgio- find their forever homes!  We'll keep you posted as we get updates regarding the story's publication!