A home for the holidays

A great reputation can be both a blessing and a curse.  

Ours is a tough job to do, but at Woodford Humane Society we work hard to do it right.  Our placement rate is between 90 and 95% annually, and we place no age or breed restrictions on the pets that come through our doors.  Nobody has a time limit on their stay, either; as long as we can keep a pet happy and healthy, it can wait with us for as long as it takes for the right family to walk through the door.  With the help of the VCA Woodford Animal Hospital, we provide exceptional veterinary care; with the help of staff, supporters, and volunteers, we provide exceptional daily care and love.  We wouldn’t have it any other way.  

But there’s a catch.  The knowledge that a pet will be safe with us makes us the destination of choice for people wanting to give up a pet, but that very same knowledge makes many potential adopters turn elsewhere to choose a pet that may not be so safe.  When those two things collide, we find ourselves in a perfect storm of high intake numbers and sluggish adoptions.  

In a perfect world, we could soldier on regardless of all obstacles, but in reality, there are very real limits on the space and resources we have to work with.  We are currently housing twice as many animals as our facility was built to hold, and many of them have waited a long time for their new homes.  25 of our pets have been homeless for more than a year; another 30 have been waiting for more than six months.  We have puppies and kittens, and seniors up to 14 years old.  We have every size, shape, and color, and every personality type from shy to spunky.  They all need homes as soon as possible, even though we don’t give them any deadlines to meet.  

For most of us, the holidays are a time for family; maybe that’s what brings this issue into sharper focus this time of year.  The hundreds of pets in our care don’t have families to spend the holidays with, but they could – they just need someone to adopt.  If you’ve been thinking of adding a furry friend to your family this holiday season, please make adoption your only option and find your new family member with us.  When you choose to adopt, you change the world for that pet, and you open up a temporary home for the next pet waiting in line.  When we, as a community, choose to adopt, we make it possible for organizations like Woodford Humane to continue providing top notch care – to continue placing 95% of our pets in great homes, and never setting time limits.  We wouldn’t have it any other way, but we can’t do it alone.  

So here’s our holiday wish, on behalf of our staff, volunteers, supporters, and pets present and future: a busy adoption center through December and beyond, and the gift of a home for the holidays – and forever – for our patient pets.  You can meet them at our adoption center 7 days a week at noon, or get in touch with us at 859.873.5491 or manager@woodfordhumane.org. Or, browse our online pet listing here before you visit.

From the Sun: Fix your feline friends

From the June 27th, 2013 edition of the Woodford Sun: 

Fix your feline friends

By Beth Oleson, Education Coordinator

Rabbits get lots of credit for their reproductive speed, but cats aren’t far behind.  They can reproduce at just four months old, and have two or more litters a year.  Average litter size is six kittens.  The math gets a little overwhelming, but think of it this way: in just seven years, a single cat, her mate, and their offspring become 420,000 cats.  Or, think of it this way: for every person born, 45 kittens are born. 

There’s no question about it; cats are seriously overpopulated.  Millions of them enter shelters in the United States every year, and while we’re proud to maintain a placement rate upwards of 90% every year at Woodford Humane, that is far from the norm; on a national scale, only 30% of homeless cats are ever adopted.  Spay and neuter is the one way that those placement numbers will ever rise, and the euthanasia numbers fall, so you can see why it’s such an integral part of what we do and what we teach. 

As important as it is for all of us, as cat owners, to make sure that our cats are spayed and neutered, it’s equally critical that we do the same for the cats who are nobody’s pets.  Feral – or wild – cats are easy to overlook.  They’re not snuggly, they don’t curl up by your feet at night or purr when you pet them.  Heck, you might not ever even get to pet them.  It’s easier just to leave them to their own devices.  And for that exact reason, ferals are the biggest drivers of the cat overpopulation problem.  Every year, we take in hundreds of kittens from feral moms – barn cats, or strays – who haven’t been fixed, because they’re nobody’s pet. 

So whose job is it to take care of these feral cats; to have them spayed and neutered and reign in cat overpopulation?  The answer, really, is all of us.  It’s crucial for the cats and kittens already waiting for homes, and for the feral cats themselves, but the benefits reach farther than we might realize.  Keeping the feral cat population under control reduces the spread of fatal diseases like feline leukemia and FIV to our pets; it eases the pressure on cats and kittens already waiting for homes in shelters; it even benefits the nature lovers concerned about cats’ impact on bird populations, and the gardeners who are tired of roaming cats using their flower beds as litter boxes. 

Help us help these cats, and every cat in our care: if you know of one or many feral cats who need to be spayed and neutered, contact us at 859.873.5491 or manager@woodfordhumane.org and ask about the TNR – trap, neuter, return – program for feral cats.  We can help with pet cats, too, so get in touch if yours isn’t fixed.  By working together to help the cats in our community – even the ones that are nobody’s pet – we can truly make a difference.

June is Adopt A Cat Month!

Ok, so June is just the official Adopt A Cat Month.  Every month is adopt a cat month, if you ask us.  But, in honor of the occasion, here's an all-you-can-eat buffet of cat facts.  Help yourself!  Go back for seconds!  Cats are fascinating creatures and wonderful companions, and hopefully we can fill folks up with enough cat-love to turn June's Adopt A Cat Month status into a year-round phenomenon.   

History:

• Cats weren’t domesticated by the Egyptians; genetics trace the first domesticated cats to about 8000 BCE in the Middle East. 
• The very first felids (progenitors of big cats and house cats) appeared 25 million years ago.
• The Egyptian Mau is thought to be the oldest breed of domesticated cat.
• Domestication of cats occurred at about the same time that agriculture began to develop, which makes sense: agriculture attracts mice and rats, mice and rats attract cats, cats do humans a service by keeping pest populations under control, humans decide cats are pretty cool and begin to care for them.
• From the original domesticated cat, about 40 recognized breeds have developed.

Biology:

• Felids are the strictest carnivores out of all of the entire order Carnivora – no vegetarian diets for kitties, please!
• Cats are “leapers” – their powerful hind legs allow them to jump up to five times their height in a single bound.  The only exception is the cheetah, which is built for running instead of jumping.
• Cats can run over 30 mph over short distances.
•  Cats do NOT always land on their feet when they fall, but they are often able to because of their “righting reflex;” their eyes and inner ear cooperate to help them keep track of which was is up so they can twist around and land safely. 
• Cats’ hearing is more sensitive than dogs’ (and FAR more sensitive than humans’)
•  Cats’ vision is a mixed bag; their night vision is far more sensitive than humans’, but they don’t see color as vividly.  It’s thought that cats can only see a few of the colors that humans can.
• When cats purr, muscles in their larynx vibrate about 25 times per second.  They can purr while inhaling and exhaling, and purring may even accelerate the healing process.
• There’s a name for the floofy hair that cats have in their ears: “ear furnishings.”  Aside from being cute, it helps direct sound into the ear and keep dirt and disease out.
• Cats can’t taste sweet! 

Care:

• Indoor cats live, on average, 15-17 years; outdoor cats only average 3-5 years.
• Feline leukemia and FIV are common in populations of indoor/outdoor or outdoor cats; both are incurable and fatal. 
•  Cats are notorious for disguising symptoms of illness or injury, which makes it especially important that they be examined by a vet at least once a year – not just when they’re showing signs of illness or discomfort! 
•  Many cats are picky about drinking water from a bowl; some prefer moving water and some get almost all of their moisture from their food.  If your cat is bad about drinking, a canned food diet is important to prevent urinary infection and blockage.
•  Clay cat litter – the stuff that looks like little gray rocks – is a cancer risk for your cat.  It is made out of silica, and the dust that billows up when you pour litter into the box (and every time your cat scratches in it) is a known carcinogen.  Switch to an all-natural, safe litter; there are many on the market!  We use pine pellet litter with our cats.
•  Change is tough for cats, and it just gets tougher the older they get.  Try to make any changes as gradually as you can – from introducing a new family member to moving the litter box.

Behavior:

• When cats rub their faces against someone or something, they are marking territory; they have a scent gland in their cheeks.  Take it as a compliment when a cat likes you enough to “claim” you!
• Unlike dogs, cats are instinctively inclined to potty train themselves!  Their drive to bury their waste is a throwback to their wild ancestry; burying is a way to disguise their presence from possible predators (or prey). 
•  Even the cuddliest house cats are hunters at heart; cat toys let them act out their hunting instincts in a fun way!  If your cat is stalking or pouncing on you, he might be telling you he needs more playtime. 
• Cats are capable of producing about 100 different sounds; dogs can only produce about 10.
• Cats love to perch!  High-up perches are a comfort zone for most cats, where they can feel secure while they scope out their domain.
• Cats love dens and hidey holes!  Ever wonder why cardboard boxes are so popular with our feline friends?  It’s simply because they’re a common (and fun) enclosed spot to sit in.
• Scratching is a natural and essential behavior for cats – it stretches the muscles and tendons in their legs, and allows them to mark territory.  It is impossible to train a cat not to scratch at all, but it is easy to train a cat to scratch on appropriate things…a scratching post, for example, instead of your couch!

Declawing:

• Unlike human fingernails, which could be removed without damaging the finger, cats’ claws are fused to the bones of their toes.  The procedure of declawing is the amputation of the full last joint on each toe; it is far more serious than most people realize.
• Cats are digitigrades, meaning that they walk on tip-toes all the time.  Because of this, the practice of declawing – which removes the full last joint on each toe – can seriously impact their agility, balance, and joint alignment. 
• Declawing is illegal or considered an inhumane practice in over 24 nations around the world; in Israel, you can get up to a year in prison for declawing a cat. 
• Studies have shown residual pain in declawed cats’ paws up to 8 years after the surgery (that’s not necessarily when the pain ended, it’s just when the study ended).
• Declawed cats frequently stop using the litter box in the years following the surgery due to the pain in their paws caused by scratching in litter; once the cat has developed an association between the pain in its paws and the litter box, it will begin using softer surfaces that cause less discomfort instead – things like furniture, clothing, and carpet.  This is often the reason that declawed cats are given up for adoption. 
• Another common behavior problem with declawed cats is excessive aggression and biting.  Without their claws as a main line of defense, cats turn to biting as a response to any perceived threat, and because they feel so vulnerable, almost anything can seem threatening.
• Declawed cats are less likely to tolerate the presence of other pets in the home.
• There are many alternatives to declawing, including training, nail trimming, and nail caps like Soft Paws, all of which allow your cat’s feet and your furniture to remain intact!

Overpopulation:

• Cats can reproduce when they are just 4 months old, and have 2 or more litters of kittens a year.  On average, a litter contains 6 kittens.
• In just 7 years, one cat, her mate, and their offspring can produce 420,000 cats. 
• For every person born in the US, 45 kittens are born; for every cat to have a person to care for it, every person would have to care for 45 cats. 
• Every year in the US, 5-7 million pets enter shelters; less than half of them are ever adopted.
• Shelter euthanasia is the #1 cause of death for house cats.  Although we maintain a 90% or higher placement rate at WHS, the national placement rate is closer to 30%; most cats do not get as lucky as the ones in our care.
• Spay and neuter are the ONLY way to reduce homelessness and shelter euthanasia!  Always always ALWAYS have your cats fixed; even one litter adds to the millions of cats waiting for homes in the US every year. 
• Feral – or wild – cats need to be fixed, too!  We take in hundreds of kittens from feral moms every year.  Most shelters and rescues offer Trap-Neuter-Return programs that round up feral cats, fix them, and return them to their original locations.  These programs are almost all free, or extremely low-cost, for the cats’ caretakers.

Adoption:

• Our cat adoption fees range from $20 (seniors) to $50 (kittens); that fee includes a spay or neuter surgery, one or more rounds of vaccines, a blood test for feline leukemia and FIV, deworming, and one or more doses of topical flea/tick prevention – an estimated value of $400-$600.  Adoption is a good deal, no matter how you slice it!
• Black cats wait longer to be adopted than their more colorful counterparts, partly due to superstition, but partly due to simply being overlooked in a sea of “fancier” cats, and partly due to how difficult it is to capture their features in photographs for web postings.
• You CAN find pure-bred cats at humane societies and rescues!  25% of pets who enter shelters are pure-bred.
• Approximately 70% of the animals WHS takes in in a year are cats and kittens.
• Because we have no time limit on any of the pets in our care, many of our cats wait a long time for their forever home to come along.  Our current longest-term resident is Persephone, a black and white cat who has been at WHS since March 21, 2011.  In the past, cats have waited upwards of 4 years to find a home. 
• Making the move to a new home can be very difficult for cats; it is not uncommon for them to hide, decrease their food intake, and duke it out with other pets for days or weeks as they settle in.  Give a new cat at least a week to adjust before you decide it’s not working out!

Got more cat facts to add?  Join in and share them in the comments!  And spread the cat-love around a little; you never know, you might help a cat-lover-in-training make the leap to adopt and give a cat in need a home, just in time for Adopt A Cat Month.