Author: Jennifer

We love welcome home stories of an adopted pet’s happy beginning of their new life! Did you find your pet through Adopt-a-Pet.com or one of our Search Saver email alerts? Let us know! Send your adopted pet’s story and photos to info@cms.adoptapet.com and let us know  how Adopt-a-Pet.com helped you welcome home your new pet. Here’s one we received recently via email, from Lacy and her husband Blake: ” Hi! My name is Lacy. My husband Blake and I adopted “Mr. Tims” 3 weeks ago. My husband found him on Adopt-a-Pet.com which led us to his shelter! His new name is George W… we call him George 🙂 He SUCH a wonderful dog! He is so sweet and is adjusting quite well with us! He LOVES going on walks and snuggling before he moves to the hardwood floors which he seems to love! (they must keep him cool) He also LOVES car rides 🙂 We are so happy we were able to give him a safe and loving forever home! I have attached a few pics for you to share if you wanted. Thanks again for sweet George W 🙂 Kindly, Lacy

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There’s no question that cats who live indoors-only live longer, healthier lives.  Since we want them to live long, healthy, HAPPY lives too, it is up to us cat caretakers to add hunting, watching, chasing, pouncing, sniffing, hiding, and listening enrichment to their indoor environment. One way to add a bunch off that checklist is to give them access to a totally screened-in porch or catio — like the cat is enjoying in the photo — or access to windows with interesting views. If you have screened windows, check if you can open them safely by (carefully!) leaning against them, to make sure they are strong enough to withstand a cat’s full weight without tearing or popping out of the window frame. Recheck screen strength regularly as screens often loosen as they age over time, or even quickly as the temperature changes. If you don’t have screens or prefer not to have your windows fully open, you can crack them open a half-inch, secure with locks, and still let the breeze, sounds, and smells easily drift in for your kitty! To increase your cat’s window enrichment, place a view-enhancing resting spot such as a cat tree, table, couch, or bookshelf right in front of the window.  There are even pre-made window perches you can purchase that attach to some types of window sills. Get creative! If you only have one cat window perch and have more than one window with a view, move it around from week to week, to keep the view interesting. Your cat will really appreciate the room with a view, and you’ll have a happier cat – which means a happier you!

DogVacay Giveaway! Win $500 in Pet Care and a Tempur-Pedic Dog Bed (While Helping Homeless Pets). Ask any pet owner and they will tell you that finding care for their four-legged children while they’re traveling is no easy task. They want the safety and security of professional pet care, but they also want their furry family members to get adequate one-on-one attention and not just be one of the crowd.  That’s why Aaron Hirschhorn started DogVacay.com, an online service that allows pet parents to board their dogs in the home of pre-screened and insured dog lovers instead of a kennel.  We recently chatted with Aaron to learn more about DogVacay and the work they do and we found that we have a common interest and concern – shelter pets!  Aaron and his team have a soft spot in their hearts for homeless pets (with some DogVacay team members even fostering multiple at a time!) and wanted to know more about what they can do to help Adopt-a-Pet.com’s cause. That’s when his team had an idea for a giveaway that would not only help shelter pets, but also give a lucky winner the chance to experience the peace of mind of DogVacay’s home dog boarding services firsthand – and even score an awesome Tempur-Pedic dog bed for Fido!

For the month of March, Adopt-a-Pet.com and DogVacay.com are partnering to bring you the chance to win $500 worth of home dog boarding and a top-of-the-line memory foam dog bed, both courtesy of the awesome folks at DogVacay! For each contest entry, $1 will be donated to Adopt-a-Pet.com – up to $10,000! You can enter the giveaway on DogVacay’s Facebook page and you can learn more about their services at www.dogvacay.com.

For some time I’ve been eyeing some of the amazing Ikea Stolmen pole creations creative DIY folks have been constructing for cats. But the latest discovery on the Hauspanther blog (formerly ModernCat.net) may be the one that motivates me to brave the Ikea crowds and break out the drill and nontoxic glue gun. Looks like the floating Ikea wall shelves too, stud mounted for strength. Despite the thoughtful layout and inventive idea, the photos aren’t incredibly inspiring… but watch the video here! The creator’s cat watches as she tosses a toy up on to grass carpet lined shelf, and the fun begins. I have one young foster cat who can leap tall cat trees in a single bound, and I know he’d so appreciate something fun and challenging with a high perch reward like this! Climbing and creating new environmental stimulation is so important for cats, especially young ones. Taking the time and putting in the effort to enrich and indoor cat’s life with new things to climb, and playing games like this owner does with her cat fetching the toy helps cats stay happy and healthy. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!

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We love hearing from happy adopters who have used Adopt-a-Pet.com to find their new best friend! Here’s an email we received with a great photo from Kathy: “Dear Adopt-a-Pet.com, My family and I would like to thank Adopt-a-pet.com for helping us to meet our new kitten.  The Sandy Hook School tragedy was devastating to us, as our daughter was a student at the school.  One way that our family has found comfort – especially our daughter – has been through the therapy pets.  One of the dog owners suggested we try your site.  So many adorable animals!!!!  I thought it was a tough decision trying to pick a pet but my daughter spotted “Douglas Furbanks” immediately and had to have him.  He is a beautiful Maine Coon kitten and is everything you said about him.  He’s entertaining, funny, playful and most importantly he is full of love and cuddles.  Everyone loves him, even our other cat! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Kathy & family.”

Dogs and cats really can be the best of friends! But sometimes when you bring a new cat into your home, even if your dogs already live peacefully with cats, the new cat is so exciting and… she runs when they play chase her, how fun! Well, fun from the dog’s point of view, but certainly not for the new scared cat. Why do cat-friendly dogs suddenly give chase to a new cat? There are many reasons, but more important than understanding the why, is understanding the how! How you can stop the chasing, and help the new cat adjust and fit happily into your home. Below are some tips I’ve used myself, as I have cared for dogs that would, if given the chance, chase new cats. Cats that were shy or scared of them were especially appealing! I’ve had other adopters and fosters tell me these tips really helped too. These are not a substitute for working with a professional pet trainer or behaviorist, but you can safely try these tips – while you keep your dog leashed or crated, and are working with a trainer –  to see if they can help you too.

I wrote the tips below for a shy cat named “Twist.” She was adopted by a family with both big and small dogs. The dogs were living with other cats without a problem, but wanted to chase Twist.

*** Note:  These tips are for AFTER your dogs have been properly introduced to the new cat. Read our 6 steps for cat to dog introduction here. Any dog, even if they are only “play” chasing, should be leashed or crated when the cat is out, until they no longer chase. Even play chase can turn deadly in a second, and a cat can blind a dog with one good swat. Also, please separate pets when you’re not home. Sadly we know of cats who were killed by dogs even years after living together, when something unexpected triggered a chase.

• Create a Safe Room or Safe Zone for Twist, where the dogs can’t go at all, but where she can get in/out of and see the dogs. Big enough for her food dishes, bed, and a litter box, so she can eat, sleep and take care of business. Perhaps use a baby gate to make one room just for her, or use tall dog playpen gates in one room, with cat trees on both sides so she can get in and out but the dogs can’t. 
• Set up “highways” – literally, high paths that only Twist can take so she feels safe moving around. Wall mounted shelves with non-slip mats attached securely or work great for this, and/or using existing furniture (shelving, desks, counters) with the paths marked and kept clear by the non-slip pads.
• A cat-only escape route in every room including hallways, so Twist can get into a safe space to escape if she’s frightened. The places and routes can be a tall cat tree, tall table or bookshelf with a chair next to it, or a closet door wedged open with doorstops on both sides of the door just wide enough for her to enter.
• If she’s most scared of the big dogs, pull furniture away from the walls so she can slip behind. She’ll know the big dogs can’t chase her there.
• Crate the dogs and feed her near by.
• When humans are in the same room supervising, tether (tying) the dogs to something immobile, like a heavy couch, and bring Twist into the room – either in a crate or by playing with her, to let her spend time in the same room with the dogs to get used to them.
• Water spray bottles in every room. Calmly give one or two sprays in dog’s direction as soon as they even think about chasing the cat. Only works if dog’s don’t like the spray.
• Time outs for dogs right after they lunge or try to chase. (Not an angry punishment, just a disappointed shunning.)
• Immediate verbal praise for dogs that ignore or sit and don’t move as cat passes, reinforce with treat reward. (Use verbal cue “leave it” and reward if they do.)
• Practice dog’s obedience commands (sit, stay, etc) with rewards in same area as cat.
• Avoid feeling or expressing anger when dogs are near cat. Anger is a high-energy emotion. If you yell or otherwise get angry, you are actually “joining in” and adding to the high-energy adrenaline of the chase.
• You can use a noise deterrent if that interrupts the dog’s chase intent. Such as a firm verbal “Leave it!” or shaking a can of pennies. Not as a punishment, just an an interruption. 

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By pet chemistry, we don’t mean the science that deals with the composition and properties of substances and various elementary forms of matter! When we’re talking about match making you and your home with a new pet, the kind of chemistry we’re talking about is “the interaction of one personality with another” and some of the “sympathetic understanding” type of chemistry. Figuring out how your personality interacts with a potential new pet, and how that pet’s personality will mesh with the other pets and people in your home, can sometimes feel like scientific experiment with all its complexities! There are some elemental guidelines you can use to help you make the most of your meet and greets with potential adoptees. These can help you be more likely to pick the pet that makes those little hearts and cherubs dance happily around your heads for the rest of your lives.

Personality vs Looks

We assume you’ve decided how much looks, or more technically physical characteristics, are important to you. If you have your heart set on a silver tabby, a little fluffy dog, or a big muscular brindle dog, that will narrow down the pets you choose from – but it doesn’t eliminate the importance of personality chemistry.

Personality Elements

Chemistry is made up of elements! There are personality “tests” for pets created by animal behaviorists, just like there are for people. But for a regular person, not a professional trainer or shelter staff, there are some simpler ways to assess an animal you’re meeting.  Keep in mind that pets in a shelter setting (cages or kennels) can and often do act very differently than pets in a home. If you have very strict personality requirements, like say you have a home with small children or multiple pets, and don’t feel confident in your ability to train or work with a pet that might not be an ideal fit, selecting an adult pet that has been in a foster home environment is one great way to get a more solid idea of how that pet will likely do in your home.

Ask staff or volunteers for more information. In a shelter/kennel setting, the more time you spend with the pet, the better your ability to assess their personality elements. Ask shelter staff or volunteers if they can provide you with more information. Shelter pets at an adoption fair or off-site adoption event are often with their handlers for many hours – those handlers can often offer you valuable insight!

1. Element #1: Energy Level
   Do you run 6 miles a day and want a running partner? Want a cat that wants to play with you and toys for hours and hours? Or are you looking for a couch potato pet… or somewhere in between? Energy level is one of the most important “matchmaking” elements. If you have older pets, saddling them with a baby or young, likely energetic pet may well make them grumpy, not more youthful. Match you and your household’s energy level to the new pet’s.
2. Element #2: Independence
   So many adopters are drawn to the pets who are up at the front of their cage, rubbing on the bars begging for your attention. Take the pet out and spend time with them. Do they explore the yard or room, or are they like velcro to your leg or lap? What kind of pet do you (and your pets) want? Velcro, independent, or in between?
3. Element #3: “Je ne sais quoi”
   This is the elusive element that so many adopters yearn for, the “je ne sais quoi” or “I don’t know what” but its something attraction that some pets inspire when we meet them. This is what people often think of when they think of “chemistry” with a pet. There doesn’t seem to be any scientific way to measure this element! Listen to your internal emotions, the feelings that you get when spending time with a particular pet. The human subconscious can often read clues that our conscious mind misses. Sometimes it leads us astray, so you have to decide when to listen! I worked as an adoptions counselor in a large animal shelter for 10 years, and saw the “je ne sais quoi” happen time and time again. It might be the first pet the person met, or the 10th.

There should be no rush when you are looking for chemistry with your future pet. Take your time in picking a pet to adopt, so that you’ll be willing to work through the inevitable bumps as the pet gets adjusted to you and your home (and vice versa!) and you’ll be happy with each other for the rest of the pet’s life.

Many cats have only bad associations with that horrible plastic and metal torture device humans call a cat carrier. “You capture me, put me in a noisy moving terrifying car, then we end up at the vet! And you want me to go back in there?” Trying to get an unwilling cat into a cat carrier sometimes feels like you need to be a reverse houdini, or perhaps wear full body armor. While owned cats, if they’re lucky, may only have to get into a carrier once a year for their annual vet checkup, fostered cats very often have to endure the carrier and car trip torture once a week! Of course, it’s worth it for them to find a home. But amazingly even once-a-year cats can have a surprisingly good memory when the cat carrier comes out of storage – hey, where did the cat go? Telling him it’s for his own good won’t likely convince him (see illustrative photo above, of our foster cat George). So what can you do to get a carrier-phobic cat safely and as happily as possible into a cat carrier? Below is our technique after getting dozens of kittens and cats into carriers. These are not reconditioning or training tips, like leaving the carrier out, feeding your cat in the carrier, etc, which though effective, take time. These are how to get a cat into a carrier quickly, reducing the anxiety and potential injury for both humans and felines.

Our “burrito cat-into-carrier”  technique is meant for friendly, uninjured cats.

1.  Ideally 24+ hours before you need to get the cat into the carrier, casually put the carrier in your bathroom. Do this while your cat is distracted by something, say eating, or someone playing with him, or when he’s sleeping.
2. Position the carrier so the door is open & facing the ceiling. So for hard plastic carriers or crates, that would be standing on its end. This will let you take advantage of gravity and with plastic carriers, their slippery plastic sides. 
3. Locate a lightweight bath towel that is big enough to wrap around your cat and contain all his legs/paws/claws, but not so big that wrapped around you cat you can’t get him through the carrier door. Put it in the bathroom too.
4. Get the cat into the bathroom with you and the carrier. Depending on your cat, you may be able to pick him up and carry him in, or lure him in with food or a toy. Quickly close the door.
5. Gently but confidently (as possible!), wrap the cat in it like a burrito in the towel with only their head sticking out. You may not get this right the first time! You need to wrap and hold the towel securely enough so the cat doesn’t escape, but obviously not so tight that you are hurting them or inhibiting their breathing. 
6. Putting the tail end in first (so the cat doesn’t see he’s being put into the carrier), lower the burrito cat into the carrier, and swiftly shut the door. Do NOT worry about unwrapping the towel, they will unwrap themselves.

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We’re doing our happy dance over here as it’s time for another wonderful adopter sharing the story of how Adopt-a-Pet.com helped them find a pet to adopt! We’d love to hear from you too, please send your adopted pet’s photo to info@cms.adoptapet.com and tell us how Adopt-a-Pet.com find the pet you adopted! And now, I’ll turn the blog over to Mary C, who writes: “Dear Laurie, I decided to Rescue as opposed to buying. I wanted an older dog that didn’t need to be housebroken, liked cats and was small. Sex was not a consideration. My last dog passed almost 2 years ago and I really missed him. Attached is a photo of the best dog we could have adopted. It was love at first sight when we meet. I brought along a pink ruffled coat for her and they had no problem putting it on here. We bonded immediately and she will not let me out of her sight. She was exactly as described in the item…friendly, likes cats, and VERY housebroken. Taryn did let me know what her diet was and that she was accustomed to sleeping in a crate.

Vet visit went well except there was no record of her having the series of 3 distemper shots. That was not a problem. Our vet did feel she was closer to 3 years old based on the tartar on her teeth. Whom ever fostered her did a wonderful job. I do wonder where her puppies are and if they look like her.

She loves to play catch, chase squirrels, ride in the car, go shopping either walking at PetCo or riding in the cart at Lowe’s (I was asked by 3 different people what aisle in the store they could find one as cute as her), cuddle with one of our ragdoll cats and would rather be sleeping on my lap. She does pick up all her toys during the day and return them to the basket, of course, she takes them all out during the day. I do have to work on her going outdoors without me; probably fears that she won’t get back to me.

As I am typing this to you she is asleep in a bed under my desk near my feet. She’ll stay in the bed as long as I’m in the room. When I leave she follows right at my heels.

I’m so glad I found Day Before the Rainbow on your Adopt-a-Pet.com website. Smooch is wonderful and we are very happy we found each other.

Sincerely,
Mary C”

We are so happy that we were able to help Mary find her perfect pet. Stories like hers are so inspiring to future adopters! Did you like this article? Click an icon below to share it on Facebook, Twitter, and more!

Shelter pets are going to get a lot of love at the Great American Pooch Smooch & Kitty Kiss even in St. Louis this year on February 10th! What a great way to show how many lovable pets are in animal shelters. Adopt-a-Pet.com is hosting the event in conjunction with Stray Rescue of St. Louis and Five Acres Animal Shelter. Celebrity athletes David Backes and Barret Jackman of the St. Louis Blues, their wives Kelly Backes and Jenny Jackman, Mayor Francis Slay, and other notables, along with Adopt-a-Pet.com representatives, will be making sure every single adoptable pet in two shelters is kissed in a marathon display of interspecies affection.

Not in St. Louis? You can join the online Great American Pooch Smooch & Kitty Kiss no matter where you are! You can read about the February 10th through 14th social media event here.

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