by Harvie Schreiber

Harvie has been with the Cat House for nine 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.

We interrupt a really hot summer to bring you news and updates about The Cat House on the Kings. This month has been extra toasty, and we get a lot of questions about how Cat House cats (and staff) stay cool during these dog days of summer. First of all, the cats are either indoors or have access to indoor buildings that are air conditioned. Secondly, we also have strategically placed fans and misters in other areas where the cats congregate. And, finally, we are fortunate to have a lot of foliage, trees and bushes, to provide much-needed shade. Our hard-working cleaning and maintenance staff come to work very early (5 a.m. or so), so that they can get their heaviest work completed by noon when the temperatures start climbing. And—as always—we take special care to make sure that there is plenty of fresh water available for the cats, peacocks, and other wildlife that calls The Cat House home.

The Cat House is thrilled that one of our very own foster kittens, Clawdia Jean, placed first in a nationwide contest sponsored by GreatGood and Royal Canin called “Flaunt Your Feline” that received more than 5,200 entries. As a result, Clawdia Jean’s foster mom (who entered the contest) wins cat food from Royal Canin as well as signed books from Jackson Galaxy and Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw, plus a phone consultation with Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw. Best of all, The Cat House wins a much-needed $5,000 grant which will be used to rescue and care for more kittens. We really appreciate everyone who took the time to vote for Clawdia Jean once she was selected as one of 50 finalists. Contests like this one, as well as the Shelter Challenge contest, which just ended on August 21, really depend on the support and votes of our supporters: Thank you!

Clawdia Jean

Meet Lucha —her name means “fighter” in Spanish and this adorable girl needs all the help she can get. This eight-week-old was found and brought to us with severe injuries to her pelvis and hind legs, but we’re not giving up on her. Despite her injuries and obvious pain, she craves love and attention from our vet tech staff and she’s quite the little fighter. We don’t know how she received these injuries and assume she was either hit by a car, possibly thrown or kicked, or she fell from someplace very high. But no matter what the cause of her injuries, we will do our best to treat her. Donations to us and shopping our Amazon Wishlist are just two of many ways that you can help us help kittens like Lucha.

Lucha

We recently received 150 masks for our staff to use at The Cat House on the Kings. The masks were an “in-kind” grant from Greater Good and we’ve we’re approved for a second grant in the future. We’ve rescued over 1,030 kittens and cats so far this year, and things haven’t slowed down on the rescue side of things due to COVID-19. Donated masks like these lets us put our financial resources directly towards cat care while protecting our staff.

Black kitten post surgery

Sometimes, the best way to save cats and kittens we’ve rescued is to send them outside the San Joaquin Valley to partner rescues in places like Oregon, where kittens are scarce and people are looking to adopt. We recently sent 14 kittens to Oregon (a 10-hour drive, each way) and we’re grateful to our volunteer, Gilbert Romero, who made the long, meow-filled drive to get these kittens a chance for a better life. We regularly partner with out-of-state and out-of-the-area rescues, taking their unadoptable/feral cats in exchange for adoptable kittens and adult cats. This helps both rescues save and adopt out more cats and frees up space in both rescues to do more.

Imagine how scary it must be to be a kitten shoved into a box and dumped outside a furniture store in really hot summer temperatures! The Cat House just rescued six two-week-old kittens (whose eyes were crusted shut) found outside a local Mattress Land store. These tiny guys were quickly hydrated, fed and medicated and they’re doing as well as can be expected in a local foster home. We’re so thankful that we’ve got skilled foster homes for these sorts of kitten emergencies that spring up from time to time. Because this is happening more and more, our supplies of kitten food and other needed items are running low, so we’re once again asking you to do some shopping and restocking for us online from our Amazon Wishlist: www.cathouseonthekings.com/wishlist.

In other news, The Cat House has partnered with an online company called Purrs and Whiskers which sells cat-themed clothing, accessories, jewelry and gifts. They have pledged to donate four percent of every order over $25.00 to The Cat House, and if a shopper uses the following coupon code, they will donate 10% of the order to us: purrsandwhiskers.com/discount/10%25CATHOUSE
Finally, don’t forget that our “Watercolor Cats” Quilt raffle is taking place on September 15, 2020. It’s not too late to call our office to purchase raffle tickets over the phone for this beautiful throw-style quilt. You may call our California office Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m.to 3:00 p.m. at (559) 638-0030 to purchase tickets with a credit card ($20 minimum).

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.