These two motherless babies were at PAWS Sunday for a few hours.
Shelter Kittens are lovingly fostered in homes until they are older.
When they come back in a month or so, they’ll be well socialized and ready for adoption.
When Milo came to PAWS, he was unkempt, battle scarred and fierce. It was months before he realized that he’d hit the jackpot. First we had to continually remind him that humans could be trusted. It was a long process and emails went out among the staff and volunteers celebrating every mark of progress.
And boy, did he make progress! He became the calmest, sweetest lap cat who never willingly ended a brushing session. All the other cats in his room wanted to be near him.
And this week, two years later, it finally happened… the moment we’ve all dreamed of. Milo has left us for a real home of his own.
Click HERE for an earlier visit with Milo.
Clicker training is a way to have fun, positive interactions with cats. This is especially important in a shelter where some cats don’t view humans in a very positive light. It reminds the cats that nice things happen when people are around. Eventually cats become less fearful and more interested in potential adopters.
PAWS volunteer Gail has been teaching clicker training to other volunteers, and working with a number of cats at the shelter.
Here’s a session with Roamer, one of her star pupils.
“Up, Roamer!”
“Good job, Roamer!” Gail gives him a little reward.
For a very good short video that shows the benefits of clicker training CLICK HERE.
Loreen and her sister Krystal have been at PAWS since September 2009. From the start, Krystal has been a good tempered cat, adjusting well to shelter life.
Then there’s Loreen…
There’s a dry erase board in most of the cat rooms with tips on things like favorite toys, whether a cat likes to be brushed, which cats can be out of their cages together. It’s very helpful information. Some months ago a note appeared (Thank you Tracey and Kevin at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life!) advising that if you put a towel in your lap, Loreen would come over and sit. Having needed bandaids from encounters with Loreen in the past, I wasn’t eager to experiment.
Then Sunday I sat down with the towel and called her. She came right over and purred up a storm! Yea!!!
Two year old Maggie is a sweet and gentle cat.
Our friends at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life fell in love with her too.
Pretty Violet is making progress with her socialization- she hisses “hello”, then lets us brush and pet her.
When I wrote about Milo back in May, he was still a very grumpy, unfriendly guy. What a difference love, attention, and treats can make!
Now Milo is living loose in Cat Room #5. His calm manner and loud purr makes him the favorite cat to curl up with.
That’s Violet in the cage. The cats are telling her to stop hissing all the time so that she can come out too.
We’ve just started to work on socializing Milo.
His ears say, “No, no, no,” but then he feels the brush running through his beautiful orange coat.
And he’s starting to say, “Yes.”
This is Maggie who came to the shelter as a very angry and bad tempered stray. At first, when we entered her room, there was the constant sound of growling coming from her cage.
After weeks of treats and visits from kind hearted and brave volunteers, she’s a different cat. Now she purrs and kneads her towel in anticipation when she sees her friends.
I don’t know about dogs, but you can teach a cat new tricks!
This shy girl is almost a year old and making good progress with her socialization. Pokeeta looks like she’s thinking, “Can I really trust you?”
She’s a stray rescued from the streets.
Santana is a little over a year old and still making up her mind whether or not people are a pleasant addition to her life. A group of volunteers are trying hard to help her with that decision.
So far she really likes the baby food everyone is hand-feeding her!
