Have you ever come across a sick or injured stray kitty, and didn't know what to do? Or did something, but was hindered by financial difficulty? Found it difficult to find a shelter that could provide intensive care for critically ill or end-of-life stray kitties?
If you have been with us through the year thus far, you will know adopters have been few and far between. We do not know the mechanics why, and we know we are not the only ones in the cat rescue industry finding it hard to re-home rescues this year. Because of this trend we have had to freeze on new rescue intakes for the longest time. Perhaps the market is saturated or already mature. Perhaps stray cat populations are skyrocketing above adoption demands. What we know is the consequence of low adoption rates this year.
To wear us out even more, our Feline Founder Slinky has fallen ill. While we are used to having sick cats to care for, this has a morale drain regardless. We suffered from compassion fatigue: motivation was low, cat work felt dreary. For people who love cats, this is a big blow to us.
The downsides of 2012 have been aired above. What this has done is incite us forward for 2013. Without slumps there can be little victory.
We have strategised that for 2013, we will go where the need is greater. If kitten adoptions are down, we shall help other sectors of the cat populations in our lives and neighbourhoods. Which brings us back to the questions at the start of this post. There IS a need for critical intensive care for sick and injured stray and abandoned cats. These cats are either due to be released back into their territories when well, or to be cared for till they leave this world. Not everyone is available to foster cats like these not just due to lack of knowledge or funds, but also because of time.
This is timely because we have stored up experience in intensive care for cats over the years. Wound changes, injections, nutraceutical care, medications, handfeeding, dealing with incontinence, and yes, dealing with very feral cats that keep hissing and spitting at us while we try to care. We have also had requests coming in asking for help regarding sick and injured stray cats. There is currently still a low level of support for helping sick and injured cats from the streets and we want to help boost it a bit higher. And yes, Slinky has inspired us to care for more infirmed cats when they are vulnerable, and we are doing this for her.
So, come 2013, we will scale down on our rescue kitten intake, and open our foster home doors wider to the stray cats waiting in veterinary clinics for critical home care. For those we cannot take in, we hope to ease the financial burden for these rescuers by channelling your donations to these cats' vet care via our Stray Cat Fund.
Essentially, we are getting out of the adoption business. But for good reason, and for changes we are eagerly anticipating.
Our mode of operations is not changing much. We will still have the functions of boarding, veterinary care, and general operations costs. We will still be using sterilisation donations and reimbursements for TNR projects that we come across. We will also still be caring for the kitties already in our custody and available for adoption (see right side bar under 'Adoption Alert'). We will constantly be re-evaluating how we go about effectively caring for the welfare of stray cats to ensure mileage for your financial contributions.
To sum up, Love Kuching will continue loving the cats in our lives and neighbourhoods, and partner you to do the same. We are not going anywhere but to keep doing something better for cats' lives. And we would like for you to continue joining us on this mission.
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish
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