Valley Humane Society: Cat Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The money was used to purchase Kuranda cat towers for our free-roaming-cat rooms.
This grant provided our cats with a safe, secure and easily sanitized area to lay their heads upon. With ringworm being so hardy this year, we had to discard all of our carpeted and rope-covered cat towers. These items cannot be sanitized against ringworm. With 10 free-roaming cats living in one room and 18 housed in the second, our animals were in desperate need of raised areas to use.
How many pets did this grant help?
The initial number of cats helped is 28. However, Kuranda towers are so well-made that hundreds of cats will be helped by this generous grant.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Gracie is a 3- to 5-year-old spayed female tabby domestic shorthair. She has been with us since January 2016. When she arrived, she acted very feral. She hid, and did not want to be touched, held or even looked at. She was sent to a foster home in hopes that being outside of the shelter environment would allow her to open up. It didn’t work; she hid the entire time she was with the foster. After six months, the foster, feeling dejected and concerned, returned her. Gracie continued to hide at the shelter. We placed her in our large free-roaming-cat room with other cats of varying behavioral and social abilities.
When ringworm broke our last year, we had to discard all of our carpeted cat trees. Gracie no longer had a place to hide. In lieu of darkness, she sought out high places. We eventually build our carpeted towers back up, only to have ringworm raise its very ugly head again this year. That was where the Petfinder Foundation grant came in.
With the Petfinder Foundation’s help, we were able to bring in many cat towers, providing Gracie with the height she desired. As a result, Gracie has come through in leaps and bounds. She has actually been caught soliciting affection! We had a group of high-school students come in for a tour and she actually laid on the tower and allowed multiple students to touch her. I had to do a double take when I saw who was allowing so much affection all at once! It will definitely take a very patient adopter for Gracie, but then what else would you expect for this very special girl? Meet her: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/41389195
