International Cat Day

Today is International Cat Day – a day to remember all of the cats that don’t have nice forever homes like the Farm cats. The Farm cats all came to live here in different ways and only one came from a shelter:

• Stinky the Farm cat has been with us the longest. We found her in a campground in New Jersey in 2004. We have no idea how old she is other than she was at least a year old when we found her.
• Pumpkin the Farm cat found us here in Montana. He kept appearing under the fifthwheel (before we built the yurt) and I put out food for him. One day I left the door open a little too long and he ran it. He never ran out.
• Sherpa the Farm cat is our shelter cat. In all of my decades of being owned by cats I had never had an orange cat and I always bemoaned this fact. One day the hubby came home and handed me the cat carrier. I was confused – until it moved. I opened the carrier and inside was the tiniest little orange kitten. He had stopped at the shelter and brought me home Sherpa as a surprise.
• Harry the Farm cat arrived the next year when a neighbor found him in the road with his brother. They were sitting next to their dead mother who had been hit by a car. She kept one kitten and gave me Harry.

They all fill my heart and despite the floating tufts of cat hair that go by on the currents of air year round I couldn’t imagine my life without them. I wish I could take all of the cats out of the shelter but I know that’s impossible. I can try and let people know that shelter cats can be the sweetest pets. I type that with Sherpa sitting next to me purring away.

I am sure there is a shelter near you that needs support in some way or another. If you can’t adopt a cat (or dog) you can any number of things!

• Volunteer – most shelters need all the help they can get.
• Make a donation. They always need money.
• If you can’t afford a donation pick up a couple of cans of cat food or a box of kibble the next time you are food shopping. Shelters always need food to feed their animals. No donation is too small.
• Hold a fundraiser – it can be a bake sale or walkathon. Anything that drives awareness and helps to make a little money.

The Farm cats have all they need; more toys they can use, plenty of food and lots of love. They live a totally relaxed life. So many cats do not have this luxury. Just think of all of the poor kitties (and doggies) in cages in shelters. Don’t they deserve all the love a forever home can give?

I try and give some money and other donations to AniMeals in Missoula. They are the shelter I like to support. In fact let’s have a party! How about I turn this post into a commentathon to support AniMeals!

Harry has his party hat on so he’s ready are you? I will donate 50 cents for every comment up to $50! So comment away. Share the post and get your friends to comment. I’ll use the money to send AniMeals something from their Amazon wish list. I did this last year and they were very happy.

Have you ever adopted a shelter cat (or dog)?