I recently was at a large cat rescue shelter. I found that the beautiful cats, were all in such desperate need for personal attention, each of them waiting for me to talk and pet them....and the more assertive ones practically climbing up my legs as if I was a tree!! Not only did I wish that I could adopt them all, but I wished at that moment I was equipped with 10 hands, so as to be able to touch and hold all of them!
I am planning on finding a way to try and obtain donations from companies which manufacture toys for cats. I will try and "beg" them for some toys.
I would greatly appreciate any opinions and suggestions, from others who are volunteers and from their experiences, know what it is like at cat rescue shelters. I.E. Being aware, from i.e. "experiences" between the cats, i.e. the safety of certain toys....which ones would be the best ones to get for shelter cats, and which I should make sure NOT to get for them. I noticed a few small interactive circle toys, the type with a ball inside....and they use their paws to push it around.....but they looked quite dirty (and "dead") as if they had been thoroughly used. So I plan to get large new ones as I think that they will be greatly appreciated by the cats, who appeared to be very very bored. The highlight of their life is food........they were all quite "large"....which is very understandable!
I was also thinking if a television would be a good idea?
What do you think...
I am sure the cats will be very grateful, when I bring them some new, interactive toys to help stimulate them a bit, as what they have been through, each of them having their own personal stories, having lived through abuse, abandonment, illness, pain, no food, cold winters.....and no one to love and care for them...
... and now living life inside a shelter, some of them being there for many many years, and who will never get
adopted.......all of this, must be very very difficult for them.
I hope that some of you who read this, will also think of adopting a cat from a rescue shelter, and volunteering - it is so very very important. Also bringing the shelter cats some new toys. (which MUST be approved by those who run the shelter).
Thank you to the most incredible volunteers, the most incredible people I have met....who dedicate their lives by caring for the cats in the rescue shelters, and finding homes for some of them. You are truly all ANGELS!!