Animal Rescue Connections: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The funding provided from this grant project was utilized to purchase several large crates for temporary housing for cats.

When our adoption center was forced to close due to COVID-19 restrictions right before kitten season begins here in south Texas, we were forced to reintegrate more than 15 cats back into foster homes that had already taken in new families. Crates were utilized to help keep animals/families separated during transitions and, in one case, allow a young mama kitty to be brought into care with her kittens when we wouldn't otherwise have been able to intake the family.

How many pets did this grant help?

12

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Cream-sickle was a young, feral cat whom we had attempted to trap for some time, particularly when we noticed she was pregnant. She disappeared from her regular feeding station for about three weeks, then returned with her three kittens in tow.

Because our foster homes were overcrowded with cats who had been returned to them from the adoption center, Cream-sickle was caught with her kittens and housed in a foster home in a semi-private room within her own (blocked-off) large crate. She and the kittens lived there until the kittens were old enough to be weaned.

When we took Cream-sickle to have her spayed, she was already 5-6 weeks pregnant again, according to the doctor — having gotten pregnant again at an unheard of 2-3 weeks post-delivery.

Cream-sickle returned to her crate for rest after her surgery, and her kittens were acclimated to a “kitten nursery” in one of the foster’s other rooms so Cream-sickle could rest and recover. Cream-sickle has since been returned to her outdoor home, and the kittens will be ready for adoption in October!