Hull Seaside Animal Rescue: Cat Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
With this grant, HSAR purchased a series of new cat trees and wall shelves to provide perches and private space for cats that are easy to clean, attractive, comforting to stressed animals, and visually entertaining for our feline guests (enabling window views). Most of the grant proceeds went to purchasing the wall shelves, so we used our own funds to purchase the cat trees.
The floating shelves allow cats a high space if they need it or a perch from which to look out the window. By providing a warm, safe, and entertaining environment for cats while they are recuperating or waiting for adoption, we endeavor to help them relax and engage with people. Cats who are relaxed and people-friendly are typically adopted within a week or two.
Also important is making sure that the new trees and shelves can be easily sanitized as former residents are adopted and new residents move in. We had no wall shelves, and our former cat trees, almost all of which had been donated to us, were carpet-covered and much more difficult to disinfect. We believe the easy-to-clean versions will be aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, as well as more sanitary.
How many pets did this grant help?
Hull Seaside Animal Rescue, on average, takes in and adopts out 175-200 cats every year. The wall shelves will be useable for many years to come, so we anticipate the number of cats who will benefit from this investment will continue to grow.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
One of our resident kitties who has taken to the new shelves is Rosie. Rosie is part of a bonded pair of cats who were surrendered to HSAR late in 2024. They were adopted from us four years ago, but were returned when their owner could no longer take care of them.
Rosie and Ringo, her companion, are very, very shy, and the first few weeks of their stay, they remained hidden under pillows or inside cat-tree cubbies and would not come out, making it difficult for potential adopters to get to know them.
The shelves have helped Rosie come out of her shell! She can confidently perch on the shelf and survey her domain, knowing she is safely above the fray. Now adopters can see her beautiful face and interact with her, so hopefully Rosie will be adopted soon.
