by Jackie Dale
Jackie is a part of Cat House On The Kings in Parlier and will be doing a monthly column on the Cat House here at KRL.
Things are really jumping at the Cat House on the Kings as we are preparing for our big 20th Anniversary Open House next month. Our two annual fundraisers require a lot of planning and preparation. We always need extra hands so feel free to give us call with an offer to volunteer your time. We can use donations for our silent auction too. We are accepting vendor booth applications and interested parties may email Tammy@cathouseonthekings[dot]com. The fundraiser is on October 27th from 10-2, so please mark your calendars now. You do not want to miss this awesome event! Tickets for the raffle of two spectacular, handmade quilts are on sale now! $1 each or 6 for $5. The Cat House will ship the winner’s quilt anywhere in the world. Last years winner was from Canada! (559-638-0030)
We are also busy arranging an exchange of cats with a rescue in Boise, Idaho. The Cat House on the Kings runs a successful feral exchange program. For every feral we accept from a rescue, the other party takes several adoptable cats in return. This exchange program was one of the reasons the Cat House was featured on NatGeoWild’s “The Lady with 700 Cats”. We have a wonderful woman on our team by the name of Bonny Schumaker. Bonny runs a program called “On Wings of Care.”
Bonny flies the country in her Cessna 310, delivering animals to destinations where there are homes waiting for them. She will fly any animal that will fit into her airplane including goats! Bonny fills a very unique niche in the world of animal transport. Transporting animals long distances by motor vehicles can be stressful for them and very time consuming. Logistically it is quicker and easier to fly the animals to their new homes. When total costs are calculated, it is only slightly more expensive to fly than to drive. Donors often step up to help cover the cost of the fuel.
Speaking of donors, the Cat House on the Kings was stunned to take delivery of a $3,000 riding lawn mower from Amazon.com. We hope the as-yet anonymous donor comes forward so we can thank him or her personally. Such generosity is incredibly overwhelming. We also have less expensive items on our Amazon wish list if you care to purchase something (tax-deductible) for the Cat House.
The Petco Foundation has honored the Cat House on the Kings as one of its “100 Celebration” Petco Charitable Partners. This award brought us a check for $1,000 and automatic entry into a contest for $10,000! Please go to The Petco Foundation Facebook page and “Like” the page. Then click on the “100 Celebrations” link and vote for us everyday until October 5th. We can do this! To say that we could really use $10,000 would be a gross understatement. A truer statement would be; “We desperately need $10,000!!” Ask everyone you know to vote for us. Just a few clicks a day, that’s all we ask!!
My family currently has nine cats. We recently adopted two sibling kittens that we have been fostering. The kittens were found in a box near Cricket Hollow in late July and were about 3-4 weeks old. Temps reached 105° degrees that day and they would have died within hours. Kilroy and Natalie are now thriving, playful, lovable kitties. We fell in love with them and just couldn’t give them back. The other day my husband good-naturedly said to me; “I don’t know which is worse, having to feed and clean them every two hours when the were tiny or now having them wreck the house everyday and play on top of us at night!”
Lin Faurie of the Cat House on the Kings and I spent last Sunday morning trapping kittens in the Selma Walmart parking lot. A family had been spotted last week standing on the curb trying to give the kittens away. When their efforts were unsuccessful, they simply left the cats in the bushes. We managed to trap three of the five kittens plus an adult we believe is the mother. It was obvious that someone had been leaving food and water but if left there they would start to breed and the problem would only grow. That is of course, assuming they survived. We will return soon to trap the last two kittens. I plan to leave a sign stating that it is illegal and immoral to abandon animals.
It sickens me that there are people who have so little regard for animals and so little sense of right and wrong. Don’t get a pet just because it is so cute or because your kids want a kitten or puppy to play with. A pet should be a carefully chosen lifetime member of your family. Our pets love us with all their hearts and do not deserve to be discarded when deemed inconvenient.
A special “thank you” goes out to our Facebook administrator whose on-line fundraiser netted us $4,000 to help pay for the medical expenses of “Marmalady.” Marmalady was run over and left for dead in a local apartment complex. Her severely injured front leg had to be amputated. Our own Tammy Barker continues to foster Marmalady and she is doing very well. Thank You to everyone who donated towards Marmalady’s care.
In other exciting news we have teamed up with zazzle.com to market and sell Cat House on the Kings themed items. T-shirts, mugs, tote bags, iphone cases are just a few of the many products available. We get a portion of the proceeds without having to do any of the actual work. www.zazzled.com/cathouseonthekings
Another super easy way to help out the Cat House is to play Meow Trivia. Go to www.freekibble.com and answer trivia questions. Every time you play, 10 pieces of kibble are donated to the rescue group of your choice. (That would be us!) If you think 10 pieces of kibble is nothing, the Cat House on the Kings just received 18,000 pounds of kibble food from freekibble.com. That is no chump change, er, kibble!
We are also trying to raise funds by selling a special Cat House on the Kings Rescue Roast Gourmet Coffee. Just go to the website www.raisemoneyforpets.com and enter order # RR-TCHOTK. A 6-oz bag is only $6 of which we get $3. Coffee always makes a nice gift too!
And don’t forget, if you advertise in Kings River Life Magazine, you can designate 10% of the ad fee to go to The Cat House on the Kings. Every little bit helps! Learn more on KRL’s advertising page.
Learn more about The Cat House On The Kings in this past article in KRL and check out their website.
Loved Jackie Dale’s article. Look forward to reading her future columns.
Thank you Holly for taking the time to let me know how much you liked the Cat house on the Kings column. Love the feedback!
What a great addition to your magazine! Cat House on the Kings is an amazing organization, and worthy of as much support as it can get. Education is the first step in ending the misery of so many animals who, through no fault of their own, have wound up in terrible conditions. Thanks so much for taking this step in the “educational process!”
Thank you for your kind words, So glad you enjoyed the column.
NICE article. Lots of information and interesting too. Cat House is an amazing organization and you should be proud to be part of it. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. So happy you enjoyed the article!
Thanks for focusing attention on the wonderful work Cat House on the Kings does Jackie; great column! You covered a lot of important and interesting material. I’d love to see a featured adoptable and/or a success story in future editions, if space permits-
I look forward to the next round 🙂
Thank you for the nice comments Jennifer. We will be featuring one of our Cat House residents in my next column. Thank you for the suggestion.
What a great article! Thank you for updating us about news about The Cat House. Great to know about your Zazzle goodies too (will stop by for a T shirt). 🙂
Thank you Victoria.So glad you enjoyed it!
great info, much appreciated.
bravo, meow, and meow again
Thank you Tiffany. Meow to you as well!
I just read the first article. I love it! Tom and I know the Cat House On The King is one awesome place run by an even more awesome lady. We hope to make it to the open house. This is the first year in awhile that we have not been able to donate to the Open House. Maybe next year will be better for us. Lynea, just keep up the wonderful work you and your group do for the animals.
Best of Luck, Tina & Tom Ellis
Thank you for the compliment, so glad you enjoyed it. We hope to see you on October 27th. You can still help by voting for us at the Petco Foundation Facebook page,
‘100 Celebrations’ contest!
Well done, Jackie. Why don’t you feature one or two cats up for adoption in each article?–AG
Wonderful! Looking forward to your updates. The Cat House on the Kings is the bet rescue organization anywhere!
I love The Cat House on the Kings! It is an amazing place and I’m looking forward to the Open House.
This article makes me wish I lived closer so I could volunteer, but I just live too far away.
Great article Jackie. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Jilian, your kind words and support are much appreciated. You can easily help us by voting for us on the Petco Foundation Facebook page, click on the “100 Celebrations” tab. Free and easy! Ask your friends to vote. (PC’s only)
Thank you for your compliment Andrea. Your suggestion is a good one and I think we just might do that!
Please go to the Petco Foundation Facebook page and vote for the Cat House in the “100 Celebrations” contest for $10,000!
Contest ends THIS FRIDAY!
Love reading your article. Cat House on the Kings is raising Stumpy a rescue kitten that my daughter so kindly brought me up to your place, so that Stumpy could be adopted. I check on him all the time. You are a wonderful group of care givers. I live to far away to be at the event. but I do enter every thing that pertains to the Cat House. Blessings to you all
Pete and I love the Cat House! That’s a good idea from others about showing some adoptable cats from the Cat House each month. Maybe you could even give a few vouchers out each month for some spay and neuters. Keep up the good work Lynea and all. See you on the 27th.
When I answer a question on Freekibble, they don’t ask where I want to donate the 10 pieces of kibble. How do I designate the Cat House as the recipient?
Carole, thanks you for playing Meow Trivia. There is no designation. It is divided equally among the listed rescues. We just received 18,000 lbs of kibble thanks to people like you!
Thanks, Jackie.
Thank you for your article – I’ve been a supporter of the Cat house on the Kings for a little over a year. Wish I lived closer – I have free time that I would volunteer but unfortunately I’m on the East Coast. I ask all my friends to support the cause and remind them to adopt rescues and neuter or spay. Thank you for what you do and the awareness for all the cats and dogs in the world that deserve a nice home.