by Harvie Schreiber

Harvie has been with the Cat House for eight years. She coordinates Facebook and Fundraising for The Cat House on the Kings, fosters kittens, and serves as an Adoption Coordinator and on our Board of Directors.

The cold fog hugs the ground at The Cat House on the Kings during the winter, adding a chill to the air and making it seem even colder than it is until the elusive winter sun finally burns through (if it does). While some of our sanctuary cats are snuggled warm inside one of our many buildings, we have a number of feral and under-socialized cats who prefer the solitude—and cold—of our twelve acres along the Kings River. Keeping them warm is an ongoing task every winter, but it’s a task that’s undertaken by our staff with love and care.

Cat House cats keeping warm

The night-time temperatures in Central California can dip into the 20s and 30s, so The Cat House on the Kings has placed twenty insulated Tough Sheds around the property that are kept closed (with cat doors) that have oil-filled heaters on timers in addition to electric heated beds. This gives a toasty place for the cats to spend the night or whenever they want a nap. In addition, we’ve got individual A-frame style cat houses filled with straw and covered with plastic for the cats who aren’t very social with other cats. And we’ve even turned one half of the Big House garage into a “warming station” complete with a wood stove. (Did you know that we cut our own wood for the wood stoves we use?) As always, we can always use some help with keeping the lights on and keeping our cats warm, and we really appreciate cash donations: The Cat House on the Kings/Contribute; The Cat House on the Kings/Donate or items from our Amazon Wishlist The Cat House on the Kings/Wishlist.

Cat House cats keeping warm

Lights! Camera! Action! While the rest of the world was recovering from turkey overload after Thanksgiving, The Cat House on the Kings became a Hollywoodesque hotbed of activity as a crew from a new Animal Planet television show, How Do Animals Do That?, arrived at our Sanctuary to do some filming and interviewing over a three-day period. In addition to filming our founder/director Lynea Lattanzio for this new show premiering in 2019, the crew also captured our very own Registered Vet Tech, Chrystyne Cordova, as well as some of our beloved (and famous) Sanctuary Cats like Amelia and Eyebrows. We’re especially glad that Eyebrows was featured as he sadly passed a few weeks ago due to kidney failure. Eyebrows had come to us from Saudi Arabia, and along with Amelia, is featured on our Famous Cats of the Cat House magnets: The Cat House on the Kings/Magnets.

Lynea Lattanzio being filmed for Animal Planet

When The Cat House on the Kings received a telephone call from Victor Perez of the Reedley Police Department about an injured lynx point, fluffy-tailed Burmese mix kitten injured and who had been pulled rescued from a car engine, our staff said, “Of course we can help!” After receiving this bedraggled fluffball and getting her proper vet care, we discovered that not only did she have a recent leg break on one of her front legs, she also had an older break on one of her rear legs! (In cold weather, please bang on your car to make sure there are no cats or kittens looking for warmth!) We’ve nicknamed this kitten Mercedes (she has excellent taste in cars), and she’s now fully recovered after her pinning surgery. She’s a bit on the shy side after her car-related ordeals and subsequent treatment, but we’re sure that she will warm up once she’s adopted into the right home. In the meantime, she’s becoming best friends with Bernadette (a beautiful grey and white girl rescued after being burned in a local Taco Truck). Please consider adopting your very own Mercedes: The Cat House on the Kings/Adoption/Cat ID 17740

Bernadette and Mercedes

2018 was a big year for The Cat House on the Kings. We’ve rescued more than 1,215 kittens and cats as well as a dozen or so dogs. And we’ve had nearly 1,000 adopted into wonderful new homes or transferred to one of our rescue partners (and then adopted!). We’ve dealt with infrastructure issues ranging from broken pumps to broken fences to the need for security cameras and new concrete. We’ve welcomed hundreds of visitors and helped spay and neuter hundreds and hundreds of community cats. It was an especially soggy spring, an especially hot and smoky summer and fall, and it looks to be a cold, grey winter this year. But through it all, we stay focused on our mission: to rescue and save as many cats as we can, while working hard to provide the best home, care, and treatment for them as long as they are with us—whether it’s a few weeks or a dozen or more years. Thank you so much for your support and generosity in 2018, we look forward to doing more good work in 2019 with your help.

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Check out more animal rescue & pet related articles, including more Cat House columns, in our Pet Perspective section and remember that if you buy an ad in KRL you can designate 10% of the ad price to go to the Cat House. Join our Pets Facebook group to keep up with all of our pet articles.