The Cat House on the Kings: Cat Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Our hearts are overjoyed and grateful for the considerable generosity of the Petfinder Foundation, which allowed us to purchase several wall-mounted jungle gyms, climbing shelves, wall scratchers, and wall-mounted nap cubbies, along with wall-mounted activity/rest additions that still let our adoptable senior cats be seen and available to potential adopters. To see our senior cats show such jubilation for their new wall-mounted jungle gyms, climbing shelves, nap cubbies, rest additions, and treat trays has renewed adopter interest in them as adoption candidates and revived our staff's hope for their adoptive futures.
After the adoption room received repairs and fresh paint, these items were mindfully placed so that they could all get maximum function and enjoyment. The wall-mounted jungle gym has provided our sassy and strong-personality seniors with an extensive, entertaining, and athletic outlet for physical activity, as well as much more space when catitudes run high. All of the amusing additions have helped to reduce stress, encourage activity for those who love to eat well, remove boredom, and increase play between the cats. Our seniors spend the longest amount of time awaiting adoption, so their new room makeover has them bringing out their lively inner kittens again!
The wall-mounted nap cubbies have changed the visual ability to see a cat who may want to be in a space where they feel safe and protected. Before, a nervous senior would hide in the bottom of a cat tree where they couldn't really be seen at all, reducing their chance at adoption. Now a potential adopter can see them without them having to come out of their safe space; it also allows them to see if a cat who is standing on the cubby is one that they want to engage with or just ignore.
The variety of surfaces along with the wall-mounted cat scratchers has greatly expanded the area that the cats now have for relaxing naps, exploration, and zoomie activity. This has also increased their personal security, as there are more options if they feel they need to get away from someone they feel is bothering them. Many of the cats enjoy having so many more vantage points at different levels, too. Engaging in natural feline behaviors has made an improvement on their well-being that we are grateful for.
Having these enrichment additions has been an amusing, encouraging success as we see the impact on the emotional, physical, and mental health of our senior adoptable cats. The change in our potential adopters has been incredible as well: They no longer see the senior adoption room as sadder than the other adoption rooms. We have had a robust increase in visits to our senior adoption room by potential adopters and visitors, who now are having more fun with our senior cats.
The stimulation, adventure, expanded play, and cerebral space have done a world of good for our nervous, shy, and situation-shocked senior cats. This has also led to improved interactions between adopters and adoptees that have resulted in more of our senior cats getting adopted, even during kitten season.
How many pets did this grant help?
100+
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Zabba (photos 1-3) came back to The Cat House on the Kings for the second time from an adoptive home because his second adopter said he was too active for her as she was elderly (he was returned the first time because the family that adopted him as a young kitten moved out of state and could not take him).
We always take our cats back and it is important to give them the space needed to adjust to a change in living environment. Zabba was now 7 years old, so he moved into our Senior Adoption Room with his deeply fuzzy wuzzy coat of ivory luxuriousness, with the sweetest little smile, big, soulful eyes, and perfectly adorable personality, hoping for a third chance at a forever love!
He’s always been super affectionate, loves to snuggle on laps (though he prefers not to be restrained), and can often be found basking contentedly, sprawled flat on his back in a spot of his choosing.
Zabba’s inner kitten kept him very active, too active for many people and other mellow cats, so the new wall-mounted jungle gym was perfect for him to play on, showing off his talents as well as his beauty. The climbing shelves allowed him to lounge in the manner he prefers and the wall cat-scratchers provided a gentler decent when he wanted to come down to meet potential adopters. The priceless part for Zabba was that he was allowed to show how much he likes to climb to get the attention and pets that he so desperately seeks and what ultimately got him returned the second time.
While Zabba is gorgeous, it isn’t looks that make a lifetime bond, so it was of upmost importance that his potential adopters understood who he was, in action, so that they could make a decision that was right for everyone. The grant-funded enrichment helped display the truth of who Zabba is and who he would be in his new home. Zabba was thankfully adopted and his new family understands that he must have love from his humans when they are around and instead of using them as a ladder, with the right enrichment tools he can achieve that happily for all!
Thanks to your generosity, Petfinder Foundation, we are able to give our seniors not only the environment and enrichment they need in their adoption room, we can also let potential adopters know them much better since their personalities can shine as well as their talents and preferences!
