West Coast Dog and Cat Rescue: Purina and Amazon Treats for the Holidays Grant Report

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

The Friskies Party Mix Cat Treats were used for several purposes. We used them as rewards when modifying behaviors that kept them from being adopted. We used them to show adopters how rewards work well in adjusting to a new home and with behavior modification. And we used them simply because the cats loved them!

West Coast Dog and Cat Rescue is a foster-based organization. Normally we do not have a lot of disposable income to purchase treats, so having these given to us was a real boon. Our fosters had treats to use with their charges, which helped them in socializing the cats. More-socialized cats are more readily adopted.

How many pets did this grant help?

Since the treats were given to our fosters and the number of cats varied over time, the grant helped approximately 100 cats and kittens.

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

Tsunami was having trouble finding his forever home. Part of the problem was he needed a special diet, but part of the problem was he was shy. You’d never know it from his picture, he looks like a party boy, but when the Friskies treats were used to reward him when he ventured out, he started to change. Then when he allowed himself to be petted there was another treat. The combination of learning to trust and getting rewarded for it helped him become more socialized. He finally found his forever home and is well-loved.