It’s understandable that a cat, especially a feral cat, would feel stressed living in a stainless steel cage with nothing but some newspaper on the bottom, a plastic litter box and bowls for food and water. Shelters are stressful situations for cats to start with, and scared kitties need somewhere to hide where they can feel a bit more secure.
So when we were able to secure funding for 92 feral cat dens from the Petco Foundation, we were more than excited to play Santa for the felines at Dallas Animal Services last week! Each of the lost cat kennels now has a den and the cats are already taking full advantage of them.
The dens are cat-approved – photo: Dallas Animal Services
Experts believe that hiding places for cats in shelters are critical to reducing their stress. This will, in turn, hopefully improve adoption rates (and correspondingly reduce euthanasia numbers) by allowing cats to relax enough to demonstrate adoptable behaviors that otherwise remain hidden.
Reducing stress in shelter cats has also been shown to keep them healthier and safer.
To read more about this exciting improvement in the DAS cats’ situations, and to see more photos, check out Rebecca Poling’s Examiner article and slide show.
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"Hi, I'm Laurel and I'm the new spokesdog for CFL. I know the importance of humane education and shelter outreach in our community and I volunteered to help spread the word."
Sincerely,
Laurel
