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.

2020 has arrived at The Cat House on the Kings in the form of more living space for the senior cats at our sanctuary. Cat House on the Kings Founder/Director explained that a few months ago (while giving booster shots to the seniors), they realized that they had close to 100 senior cats! Lynea explained that, “a few months ago we took in 40 more cats (mostly seniors) from a woman with health issues, and a rescue in the East Bay that was closing. It was clear that we had a need to add more housing to our senior facility.” The main senior house at The Cat House had one addition already (Alfie’s Annex), and now has a brand new addition for 2020! “The spacious senior yard, and now the three senior houses, allow any senior cat in our care the necessary environment to hopefully remain stress free and healthy.” If you’re local to us and can donate a loveseat and a few side chairs for the new addition, please email: Lynea@Cathouseonthekings[dot]com. (The walls might also benefit from some donated art, too!)

We need your help! The time has come for The Cat House on the Kings to update, renovate, and repair the wood/pellet burning stoves and chimneys located in several buildings. This work has already started, and we expect the total to be in the neighborhood of $25,000! We really, really, REALLY could use some donations to help cover the cost of this important infrastructure project and to help keep our staff, volunteers, and cats warm and safe. You can mail a check to us at: CHOTK, 7120 S. Kings River Road, Parlier, CA 93648, or call (559) 638-0030 to make a credit card donation, or donate online at our website: www.cathouseonthekings.com/donate.

From time to time, The Cat House on the Kings has “Special Needs” cats who need homes. Often these cats are missing a limb, have a vision impairment (or are blind), and sometimes they have a chronic health condition (diabetes, seizure, FIV). This month, we’re spotlighting a beautiful seven-month-old Brown Tabby girl named Bunny, who got her nickname because she loves to “bunny kick” her toys. She came to us with a problematic eye that has been surgically removed, and she’s now healed up, affectionate, people-oriented, and anxious for her new home. You can apply for her online, if interested, at: www.cathouseonthekings.com/adoption/cat.php?id=18874&n=Cat+18874. We also have several other completely blind kittens who need homes; just visit www.cathouseonthekings.com and click on the ADOPT tab to search (and apply for) our available cats and kittens.

When a kitten named Bumble Bee and her mom (Honey Bee) were found huddled by the side of the road in the mountains, they had no way of knowing how their lives would change. They arrived at the Cat House scared, underweight, and Bumble Bee was missing part of one of her legs. Once they were ready, they were both adopted into loving homes. Bumble Bee hit the jackpot in her adopter, Joan Jeffriesie, who reports that this beautiful tripod kitty is flourishing. “She continues to fit in and adjust wonderfully! Bumble Bee doesn’t seem to know that she is handicapped. She easily keeps up with her sisters and also loves sleeping with us. She is putting on weight and getting a nice shiny coat. We Love Her!” said Joan in an email to the Cat House. When asked what she would say to a potential adopter who is considering a Special Needs cat? “Be ready to give and receive lots of love. A rescued animal will always appreciate their rescuer.”

Can you imagine how scary it must have been for a young mom cat to give birth to four tiny kittens behind a fast food restaurant in Reedley on a cold January day? This beautiful mom and her precious kittens are now safe and warm at The Cat House on the Kings. Kitten Quarters Supervisor Karla Cortez reports that the kittens have all opened their eyes and that their mom is the “sweetest cat ever.” The Cat House is helping to spay and neuter over a dozen feral cats in that same location. Kitten season never ends for us, which means that we hope your donations keep flowing in to support what we do: www.cathouseonthekings.com/donate. You can also shop directly for us from our Amazon Wishlist: www.cathouseonthekings.com/wishlist.

Cat House on the Kings staff members met recently with Kathy Guinn and Porterville Animal Control Officer Augie about our past (and future) partnership with them to help facilitate low-cost spays and neuters for community cats in the Porterville area of Tulare County. At the conclusion of the meeting, they presented Cat House Founder/Director Lynea Lattanzio and Assistant Director Tammy Barker with a $10,000 check from one of their donors so we could continue our spaying and neutering efforts.

The Cat House on the Kings staff has announced that starting this year, there will be only a single Open House held each year in the Spring. Mark your calendars, make your plans, and mention to your friends that the Spring Open House at the 12-acre Cat House sanctuary property will be on Saturday, April 18, 2020 from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. Admission, as always, is a donation to The Cat House on the Kings. If you’re interested in donating an item for our Silent Auction (or you’d like to volunteer), please email: Tammy@Cathouseontheking[dot]com for more information.

As always, we’ve got many ways you can help us out. Did you know that in addition to selling Cat House calendars, reusable tote bags, and magnets, we’ve also got some very cute clothing items available online.

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.

We have also just set up an email mailing list for KRL’s new pets newsletter. It is still a work in progress-click this link to subscribe. It will only go out once every couple of months or so and will keep you up to date on all of our pet articles, including the Cat House column, and hopefully some extra content each month.