Long Live the Kitty Mafia

I first became a HART volunteer when I was in college, but after awhile life got in the way and I stopped volunteering. I started volunteering again because of the Kitty Mafia.

What's the Kitty Mafia? If you own cats, you are probably living with the Kitty Mafia yourself. Let me explain...

When I was 11 years old my Christmas present was an adorable little calico kitten I named Holly (short for Holly Berry, since I found her playing in the Christmas tree.) When I graduated college and got my first apartment, I brought Holly to live with me.

The only problem was, I spent very little time at home, due to my work hours and commute. At the time I was still volunteering at HART, so I decided to adopt a kitty to keep Holly company. Thus Cleo (short for Cleopatra) entered my life.

At least 6 months went by before I realized that I was living with the Kitty Mafia. The realization came to me as I lay in bed one Saturday morning, attempting to sleep in but being completely thwarted by the cats, as was usual.

I am not a morning person. If I had my way I'd be up until 1 or 2 in the morning and then sleep until 10 or 11. So the weekends are my chance to do just that. Unfortunately, just as the sun would start rising at some far edge of the planet, Cleo would climb on top of me and start purring, kneading, and licking my face. This of course would instantly wake me up, and I'd have to fend her off with the blanket until she would finally settle down next to me. Grumbling, I would go back to sleep.

As soon as I would return to dreamland, Cleo would get up and search around the room for any bit of plastic or other noisy items that should could rustle. Again, I would wake instantly. Stubbornly keeping my eyes shut, I would yell at Cleo to go away. The rustling would stop for a minute, then start up again. This would continue in a loop until I would fumble around on my nightstand for an empty water bottle or chapstick that I could throw in the general direction of the sound. Ah, peace at last!

Not.

Cleo would return to my bed, to purr, knead and lick again, this time joined by Holly. Holly never messed around - she would just sit right on my head until I was forced to get up. The cats always won.

You may be wondering how this lead me to the realization of the Kitty Mafia...

One sleepless night I woke early, before the cats. I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. As the sun started to come up at some far edge of the planet, Holly rose, stretched, hit Cleo on the head, and then left the room. Cleo, having been woken by Holly, got up as well, and left the room. She didn't make it out of the doorway before I heard an hiss and glimpsed Holly's paw reaching out to smack Cleo again. Cleo ducked her head and came back into the room. She jumped on the bed, came over to me and started purring, kneading and licking. I fended her off with the blanket until she settled down. I waited, and heard soft growling coming from the doorway. Cleo got up and jumped off the bed again. She searched around the room to find something to rustle. I was completely dumbstruck as the lightbulb went off in my head.

Since that morning, I watched their interactions more closely, and found that Cleo deferred to Holly in everything. She wouldn't even eat food until Holly had finished. Holly was the Kitty Mafia boss, and Cleo was her soldier.

I enjoyed my Kitty Mafia, but sadly the mafia boss became old and sick, and eventually passed away. I adopted another cat from HART, Danu, and she joined with Cleo to form the Kitty Assassins! (They vowed on Holly's deathbed that they would spend every day trying to kill me, in honor of her memory. They're very good at it. Danu has needles of death (i.e. very sharp claws!))

What has the Kitty Mafia done in your house?

Only the lonely

@PetFinder tweeted today that it is "Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week" and it reminded me of several promotions we have done in the past at HART to try to get the "less adoptable" cats adopted. I did a brief Google search to see what the interwebs thinks is the least adoptable cat. The consensus seems to be that black cats are the least adoptable. Although I agree that black cats are harder to adopt, I don't agree that they are the least adoptable of all shelter cats. Here is my list of least adoptable cats, in order:

1. Senior cats (particularly those on medications.) We do get the occasional angel who comes into the shelter specifically looking for a senior cat, but most adopters want a young cat (even more prefer a kitten.)

2. Semi-feral cats. Though some, maybe even many, of these cats will eventual become very loving, not many people want to put the time and energy into socializing the cat. Foster homes help this process tremendously, but it is hard to place these cats in foster too.

3. FIV+ cats. Most people are turned off by the "aids" misconception. See this blog post for more info: FIV

4. Bonded pairs. You might think that most people coming to adopt a cat would want to have more than one, and that usually is the case. So why do they ignore the bonded pairs? In many cases, they already have other cats at home, and are looking to add just one to the mix. In many other cases, they like one of the pair, but not the other, and are far more likely to find 2 unbonded cats to adopt.

5. Pure black cats. Call it superstition, call it whatever you want, but pure black cats do stay longer at the shelter before getting adopted.

Are shelters really hurting?

You may be wondering if shelters are really hurting for money and adoptions as much as I've let on. Let's examine the issue.


On Saturday, during HART's open house, they adopted out 6 kittens and 4 adult cats. It was a wonderfully busy day, and an exception, not the rule. Based on the current adoption special, those adoptions brought in approx. $650. (The number is approx. because there are 2 different rates for kittens, based on age, and I don't know the age of the kittens adopted.)


Also on Saturday there were 10 kittens and 6 adult cats, one possibly pregnant, surrendered. Already the numbers are not good...more coming in than going out. At least 4 of the adults, and all of the kittens, will need to be spayed/neutered.


What happens to cats when they are brought into HART? They are weighed, checked for fleas/ticks, treated for fleas/ticks/parasites, and given a general lookover to see if there are any issues to bring to the vet's attention. They are brought to a vet where they are vaccinated for rabies and distemper. They are tested for FeLV, FIV, and heartworm. They are spayed/neutered if not done already. They are given a health exam, and any health issues found are followed up with the prescribed treatment by the vet.


What would all of this cost you, if you had the vet do all this to your cat?

          Medical Service                                                            What You'd Pay

          Neuter (male)/Spay (female)                                                  $92 / $200

          FeLV/FIV testing                                                                                $52

          Rabies vaccination                                                                            $29

          Distemper vaccination (1 shot)                                                         $20

          Revolution (fleas & ear mites)                                                           $18

          Pyrantel (hook & round worms)                                                          $8

          Droncit (tapeworm)                                                                             $6

          Total Cost:                                                                           $225 / $333

HART is fortunate to work with local area vets who are able to offer these services at a reduced rate, but it is still well over $100 per cat. This does not take into consideration the expenses of normal, every day care, such as food and litter. The regular adoption fee for a cat from HART is $75.


Let's go back for a moment to that $650 that was brought in through adoptions. Let's assume that all of the cats/kittens brought in will need $150 (for easier calculations) each in vet care. That's $2400. I'm terrible at math, but even I can see that HART is fighting a losing battle.


This is why donations are so important to shelters like HART. This is why I am trying to raise $10,000 to help them, and to help these cats. The cats deserve the high quality of care they receive, but even more they deserve good, permanent homes.

Apple family

It's come to my attention that the ChipIn donation widget does not display on iPhones, iPads, iPods, etc. If you are viewing my page from one of these devices and would like to make a donation to HART, please use this button:

A Request

If you donate to your local shelter as a result of reading this blog (kudos if you do), please leave a comment on this post with the state and name of the shelter, so that others in your area might do the same.

Did You Know?

Did you know...that a cat's digestive system isn't designed to handle grains? Cats are carnivores, and in the wild do not eat grains, fruits and vegetables.


Did you know...that the primary ingredient in most cat foods (particular dry kibble) is grain?


Did you know...one of the leading contributing causes of diabetes in cats is a steady diet of dry kibble and food high in carbohydrates?

A simple diet change could change your cat's life forever.


For more information about feline diets and diabetes, please check out Lisa Pierson, DVM and Feline Diabetes.