Big Sky Ranch/CATNIP Foundation: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The COVID crisis hit just as kitten season was ramping up. In addition to our regular intake of kittens and cats pulled from [open-admission] shelters, we were inundated with calls from people who were stuck at home and finding unattended animals everywhere. While this happens every year, this year was unusual in that so many had time to pick them up because of stay-at-home orders. At the same time, most shelters and animal clinics were closed for intake and we were the only place for them to go. Fortunately, we were able to expand our foster network and found new safe, loving homes for young kittens to thrive in outside of our shelter while they grew big enough to be spayed or neutered and then go on transport. When we place kittens in foster homes, we provide all necessary food and supplies. This grant helped us perform intake protocols, provide medical treatment for incoming kittens, and provide food and bedding for fosters.
This grant offset some of the staggering costs of kitten-season intake and fostering we experienced during the height of the COVID crisis in the greater New Orleans area.
How many pets did this grant help?
In the month of April alone, we took in 125 cats and kittens. This grant contributed to some of their care.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
The 1-year-old tortie was one of three cats admitted to the Big Sky Ranch “maternity ward” in April during the height of the COVID outbreak in the greater New Orleans area. With so many shelters and animal clinics closed to intake, there were very few places for homeless animals to get help. This girl was discovered by a good Samaritan after she went up a tree to get away from a dog chasing her — while she was giving birth!
By the time we arrived to help, one kitten had already been born up in the tree. We carried her to safety and then back to Big Sky Ranch for the rest of the labor. She was one of three cats to arrive and give birth within 24 hours of each other. We named her Tabei, after the first female mountaineer to climb Mount Everest and ascend the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent. Her babies are Sherpa, Himal, Malaya, and Summit.
After some time in the maternity ward to make sure all the kittens were thriving, Tabei and her babies were fostered by a Big Sky Ranch longtime friend and board member. The kitties lived together in a large kennel while Tabei continued to nurse and help her babies grow healthy and strong. We received regular updates on their progress, and their foster used social media to share photos, communicate the joys of fostering, and encourage others to foster kittens.
It wasn’t long after returning to Big Sky Ranch that the kittens were adopted. They were adopted in sibling pairs and went to loving homes in neighboring towns. Sherpa and Malaya are forever sisters, and Summit and Himal are forever brothers. Tabei was a little older and was overlooked during a few adoption weekends, until her forever family arrived. Family members wanted a young, playful pet, but dad wasn’t on board with tiny, raucous kittens. When they met Tabei, she was the perfect companion for them — not too old, not too young.
This grant helped us provide the medical care needed for Tabei and her babies to become healthy, adoptable pets. Their foster multiplied the impact of this grant by caring for these cats in her home and creating space at our shelter for us to take in new mamas and babies who needed our help. When funders and fosters are involved, we all save more working together.
