by Jackie Dale

Jackie is a part of Cat House On The Kings in Parlier and does a monthly column on the Cat House here at KRL.

Year End Donations

As the end of the year approaches, there is still time to make a tax-deductible donation to The Cat House on the Kings. This has been a crazy year (meaning expensive) for The Cat House. The storms, the floods, trees crashing down, and fences destroyed. We had numerous cats dumped on our doorstep, cats rescued from cars, kittens rescued from dumpsters, cats/kittens attacked by dogs, hit by cars, abandoned in alleys. If you are able to make a donation, know that your dollars are going to provide the best possible outcome for all our charges. If you have not yet been to the Cat House, please make some time in the coming year to see for yourself how your donations are spent. Obviously not everyone is able to visit, but you can always take a peek at the goings-on at the sanctuary by watching the driveway cam. You can even sign up to sponsor the driveway cam for only $5 a day and have your name listed as that days sponsor!

Kittens Can Eat A LOT!

The Cat House on the Kings has taken in over 1,500 cats and kittens this year. The need for kitten food, both canned and kibble, is never ending. December weather has been fairly mild, meaning the flow of kittens has not abated. If you would care to donate some kitten food we would be so grateful. You can go through our Amazon wish-list if you like: www.cathouseonthekings.com/wishlist.

If you would like to receive a tax-deductible receipt for your donation, please forward your purchase-confirming email to Tammy@cathouseonthekings[dot]com. Thank you in advance!

Don’t forget to shop via Amazon Smile! We get 0.5% of your purchase price donated to us (quarterly), and believe me when I say, it really adds up quickly.

Last Chance for Christmas Gifts

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas, and all those cat-themed gifts are wrapped and underneath the tree. Don’t forget about a few presents for the furbabies too! There is still time to run over to The Cat House on the Kings gift shop or the adoption center at the Petco in Fresno to pick up a last-minute gift or stocking stuffer. We have those new super-cool hat and caps with the kitten ears. So cute! And we have lots of calendars. It’s not too late to buy a calendar full of adorable kitties! Please help support us by buying a calendar, we have quite a few left and it would be a big help if everyone purchased one (or two).

Merry Christmas from Jackie Dale, Cat Trapper, Paco and Roweena

Check Him…I Mean…Check the Video Out

Lynea and Dr. Evan Antin

Give Them A Hand!

Let’s have a round of applause for Applaws cat food! The $20,000 worth of adult cat food has arrived. The Cat House was one of the five lucky winners of a Thanksgiving contest. Our immense gratitude to all of you who made this donation possible by nominating us.

Red VW Bug for Sale

The Cat House has been bequeathed a 2006 Red VW Bug that is to be sold to benefit the good works being done at The Cat House on the Kings. It only has 45,055 miles on it. That is not bad considering cars these days are designed to last at least 200,000 miles. It also has a sunroof. The “adoption” fee has been set at $10,000. Interested buyers may contact: Lynea at info@cathouseonthekings[dot]com.

Jackie Dale, Cat Trapper Tales

It has been a brisk month for me. I continue to work on the colony of a local elderly couple. I have trapped and fixed another four cats. That brings the total thus far to 10. With an estimated four to five cats remaining, I will resume my efforts there after the holidays (per the couple’s request).

Baroness is up for adoption

A fellow rescuer, Crystal, called me one morning, frantic and needing help with a severely injured cat on a very busy nearby street. I got to the spot quickly armed with a carrier and a net. Of course, the cat ran into a very large sticker bush. With cars and semi- trucks whizzing by mere inches from us, we were able to net the cat along with many, many very painful stickers. Getting it into the carrier proved to be impossible. We used a cardboard box to scoop up both cat and net into the box. The cat had grievous facial trauma. We rushed it to The Cat House and were instructed to take it to the vet right away. It didn’t look good. When we left the vet’s office, Crystal located the owner of the cat, whose name was Ninja. Turns out the owner lived in the house across the street. They were given the pertinent information with the final fate of the cat resting in the hands of the vet and Ninja’s family. We hope she fared well.

You Can’t Fix the Truly Clueless

A rescued kitten named Stanley

He called back in a few weeks with the usual parade of excuses. Except now it turned out that he lost his job, and was in danger of losing his apartment. He was asking for help with pet food for about six cats and two small dogs. So I brought him pet food because he missed the last Halo Food Pantry giveaway. The next giveaway is coming and he tells me he doesn’t think he has the gas to get there. He told me the two remaining kittens were friendly but he couldn’t catch them. I was suspicious already. When he did catch one, it turned out not to be the least bit friendly. I had it fixed and it accidentally got loose in my house. It was pooping all over despite the presence of litter boxes. I was forced to trap it and return it to the person. The kitten is reportedly very happy to be home. I had four appointments set up to fix the remaining cats, and he cancelled each one the day before. Aarrgh! You can only help people so much before they need to step up and help themselves.

Moe is another rescued kitten who is a foster failure

I have been receiving a lot of calls from Kingsburg residents lately regarding stray cats, which are pretty much everywhere. So far, it’s the area where the Kmart used to be, a restaurant near the tracks, the post office (I already neutered nine cats there last year), and the library. So I asked for donations and I did receive some to my GoFundMe page. If I combine that with another small recent donation, I will just about be able to TNR the four to five young cats that are living behind the Kingsburg Public Library, so that a major colony does not form. I do believe that Kingsburg will keep me busy for a long time.

As I was writing this column, I received a call from a disabled man in…where else?…Kingsburg. He had found a kitten in his complex and it was trying to find someone to take it. No one would, so he called me and I picked up the tortie. She has a tail injury that, while unsightly, seems to have healed. She will be fixed right away and put up for adoption along with the other seven kittens I have available for adoption. A few weeks ago I was able to send five, seven-month-old cats out to a Nevada rescue. I’m hoping they will call soon asking for kittens. Fingers crossed.

Ricky Bobby, the kitten found in a senior complex in Kingsburg with a broken, dead tail.

I wish a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a fabulous New Year to all! My wish for the New Year is for kindness to prevail, and for the number of kittens born to go down drastically. Simple requests right? See you all next year!

Learn more about the Cat House on their website and you can donate here.

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.

Jackie Dale is a freelance writer who lives in Reedley with her husband of 25 years, Frank, and their 2 children. Jackie currently writes for The Cat House on the Kings Feline Rescue. A former ballerina, Jackie now teaches yoga and fitness classes privately and at local area gyms.