Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends: Cat Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The Petfinder Foundation's generous Cat Enrichment Grant funded the purchase of On2Pets Cat Trees for Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends. These multi-level climbing modules with built-in scratch boards promote exercise through vertical movement and mental stimulation through a variety of leaf and scratch textures. They also give our fosters a great place to play hide and seek!
We invested in these trees with a few foster cats in mind. Tito, age 9 (fourth photo), and Linus, 14, are both senior cats with persistent health issues that qualify them as long-term residents. Tito is overweight and can always benefit from exercise and activity, and both cats' quality of life would improve for the duration of their stay with these enhancements to their environment.
Another resident, Nola, 5 (fifth and sixth photos), is overweight and FIV-positive. Nola is easily overstimulated and we knew she would benefit from an outlet to channel her energy during her stay as she improves her behavioral skills and physical fitness.
While many of the overweight cats hung around on the lower levels of the trees at first, we've now seen even Tito lounging on an upper level! The increase in play, exercise, and wellness has been so encouraging to observe, and we've recommended the same trees to several volunteers and other visitors.
How many pets did this grant help?
20+
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Flora, age 2 (first three photos), is the most reserved tabby from a litter of three.
Flora was very slow to come out of her shell and show her personality, but has been one of the most frequent users of the cat trees! She loves the “hide” aspect of the leaves, and is now very chatty and more willing to engage in other types of play (laser toy, etc).
