We’ve all cried during the ASPCA “in the arms of an angel” commercial.
But after the song has stopped, how many of us have actually taken steps to help shelter pets?
Let’s make it more of us, with these creative ways to help the cats in your local shelter.
How to Help Shelter Cats
- Make blankets for the cat kennels.
- Donate food, toys, and other supplies.
- Volunteer to socialize cats.
- Foster a cat or kittens.
- Share the animal shelter’s posts on social media.
- Adopt a cat.
Make blankets for the cat kennels.
The cats who are up for adoption in an animal shelter spend a lot of time in their kennels. Help them be more comfortable and cozy by making blankets for them! I love crocheting blankets for the senior cats at my shelter.
Hint: Keep the blankets small so they can easily fit inside of the kennel, and try to use bright colors so that the darker cats can stand out to potential families!
Donate food, toys, and other supplies.
Pretty much every animal shelter has an Amazon Wishlist that you can scroll through. You can decide what you’d like to donate, then have it shipped directly to their door! This is great because you will be able to help stock the shelter with what they need to take care of the animals currently in their care.
Volunteer to socialize cats.
No time is wasted when it is spent with cats. Have a few free hours during the week? Sign up to volunteer at your shelter to help socialize the cats! Socializing cats will help relieve some of their stress, teach them to trust humans, and make them more adoptable when furever families arrive!
Foster a cat or kittens.
Fostering is an amazing way to help give the cats a break from the shelter environment and teach them what it’s like to live in a home. You can even work with the shelter to figure out the best fostering setup for you. If you’re busy with work, consider fostering an adult cat. If you have a little more flexibility, consider fostering a litter of neonatal kittens!
Share the animal shelter’s posts on social media.
Sharing an animal shelter’s posts on social media is completely free and only takes a couple of seconds. When they ask for donations or have a cat they’re featuring who needs a home, hit that share button! You’ll help raise awareness for the shelter and its cats. Someone you follow may just fall in love with a cat and adopt them!
Adopt a cat.
Speaking of which, adoption is the ultimate way you can help out cats at the shelter. Skip the breeders, and instead, save a life! When you adopt a cat from a shelter, you not only give this cat a loving home, but you also make room at the rescue for the next cat who needs help.
What are you waiting for? Find a way to help the shelter cats in your community today! And when you do, tell me all about your experience.
Pawsitive Purrpose 