Humane Society of Marion County: Cat Enrichment Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

With the cat enrichment grant money, we purchased a large cat cage for our cats and kittens to stay in when they initially come to the shelter. We have a quarantine period for new intakes prior to them being with all the current resident cats. After they are fully vetted and have a clean bill of health, they go to the main cat shelter, which is a “free-range” facility where the cats can run, play, be cats, and interact with volunteers and potential adopters.

The Cat Enrichment Grant provided us with approximately half of the cost of the cage, which was a substantial help in purchasing this much-needed cage. This cage will be used for essentially all of the cats that come through our facility, and it is durable and easy to clean. Being able to clean and have easy access is very important since we are an all-volunteer group. The cage is roomy and comfortable for the cats as well.

This cage will be used for essentially all of the new intake of cats and kittens that come to our shelter. They have a comfortable, easy-to-clean cage that is roomy as well as well-ventilated. The cage has a door that is large enough that volunteers can easily walk into to clean the cage! This is a great improvement. This case is a comfortable transition for them to stay in prior to them coming into the main cat shelter once they have a clean bill of health. This cage is durable and will help countless cats and kittens through the years. So far it has helped 12 and it was just recently delivered!

How many pets did this grant help?

12

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

The cage was ordered immediately after the receipt of the grant funds and took a while to arrive as it is specially made for each order, according to the company. Once our volunteers unloaded it from the semi truck and assembled it, it was quickly utilized. This has helped kittens and cats already and the amount of cats and kittens this will help is really countless as there is no reason that this cage will not be used for an extremely long time, as it is very durable.

The two kittens pictured are part of a very large family of cats that we recently rescued. Many of the cats and kittens had severe eye conditions, which have resulted in significant vet care and surgeries. All of their medical needs were immediately attended to. The two kittens pictured are not quite big enough to be spayed, but once they are, they will be up for adoption and we see no reason they won’t be adopted quickly, as they are loving kittens with great personalities. They have overcome so much in their short lives and are very sweet.