Katies Place Cat Shelter

Dear friends,

Well, we are almost at the end of another eventful year at the shelter. There have been a few exciting firsts: cats started arriving by private plane, we forged new relationships with rescues in Fort St John and Vancouver Island, we hosted an episode of the TLC show '90 Day Fiance', and perhaps most importantly we experienced fabulously high adoption rates. The bitter-sweet downside of all that awesomeness, is that our occupancy through 2023 was a constant 50% above our pre-COVID average.

We think you'll agree it's a lot. But, Katie's Place will never turn a cat away that's in a desperate situation, and we can't do this work without you from our volunteers, donors, adopters, fosters, veterinary clinics to our Open House visitors and community cheerleaders every single minute, every cent donated, and every cat you take into your home, makes a difference, as you'll see as you read on......

Let's begin with our arrivals: over the years, cats have turned up at the shelter in all manner of transportation; arms (not recommended), cardboard boxes, humvee's, motorcycle side cars, police cars, bus, etc. but, NEVER by a private airplane - well, that was until this summer. As you know, we regularly work with cat rescues all over Western Canada and recently we were approached by Foster Kritters Feral Cat Rescue Society on Vancouver Island and the SPCA in Bonnyville, Alberta, to take a bunch of hard to place cats some had FIV, others ongoing health concerns and the rest were regarded as semi-feral.

Foster Kritters partnered with Harbour Air, who flew the cats in by seaplane to Vancouver Harbour, where we picked them up. The Bonnyville cats were VIP'ed over the Rockies and directly into Pitt Meadows airport by a terrific charity called Canadian Wings of Rescue. The work of these vital, life-saving services often goes unrecognized, but without them, Okie Dokie, Hunky Dory, Ejay, Gadi, San Diego, Cowboy and all the others wouldn't be living it up and deeply loved in their new, safe and warm homes.

This year, we were lucky enough to be the recipients of a grant from the BCSPCA to spay or neuter 50 stray cats. Katie's Place matched the amount received, which then enabled all the cats to be vaccinated, tattooed and tested for several viruses as well. We hit that number in early June and by the time you read this, we'll have fixed a further 70. But, that's not the whole story. In addition to those strays, we also spayed or neutered a further 77 cats who were surrendered to us or were part of our ongoing free or low cost community spay/neuter program. That number will reach 100 by the time you read this newsletter.

So, that'll be over 220 cats spayed and neutered by us in 2023. Undertaking this task will cost the shelter $30,000 this year, but it's vital work. The statistics are scary...... one female cat can have up to 3 litters a year, each bearing an average of 5 offspring. That's 1,500 kittens, and if the female kittens go on to have litters of their own from the age of six months, that's 7,500 additional cats entering the world in the span of just one year. We never turn a cat in need away, but the potential impact of those numbers is crushing, and this is why we are making an ongoing commitment to allocate funding for this important work into the future.

We were also fortunate that in 2022 we received a grant from the Coquitlam Foundation to support seniors with cats, and/or senior cats residing with their humans in our community. The grant administrators kindly allowed us to spend the remainder of the fund through 2023, and we are pleased to say that as a result, we have helped many cats stay with their owners by using the fund to pay for medical care, including dentals, a urinary blockage, kidney disease and pancreatitis, that would otherwise be unaffordable to their humans.

Of course, we can't do what we do without our volunteers. No one gets paid a cent at Katie's Place and yet we have over 120 people volunteering with us at any one time, scooping poop and pee by what feels like the tonne, week after week, year after year, and always with a smile on their faces. When asked, our volunteers tell us 'I have friends here' and 'I do it to help the cats'. But, it's not only cats that come to us for healing, and every person who volunteers with us has created a culture where we are each accepted and welcomed for our uniqueness and what we bring.

Our thanks also extend to our adopters, fosters, and supporters; we don't often mention people by name, but this year we experienced the loss of two amazing women, Ena and Evelyn who, in their own very different ways transformed the lives of the cats coming into our care. We wanted to tell you about one of these women as a reminder to us all that while we feel our contributions may be insignificant, they can in fact be life changing. Ena passed away in August this year. When she retired from nursing in 2002, she set up Chilliwack Animal Safe Haven, and later, Ena's Community Cats. She worked seven days a week providing knowledgeable advice, comfort and affordable vet care to the community, and did so up until the day she passed. She collaborated with Katie's Place and was a mentor and source of inspiration to those of us who knew her. We took in many of the special needs cats she rescued and in her honor, we have named the space to the right of the entryway to the shelter ‘Ena's Alcove'.

Bebe was 15 when she was surrendered to the shelter. She had known one person her whole life and entered a depression as she struggled to adjust. Evelyn was 90 when they met and it was love at first sight. We heard Bebe purr for the first time and it's fair to say that Evelyn spoiled Bebe rotten as soon as she got her home - Bebe got a little side dish of whatever was on her human's menu that night and she slept on the pillow right next to Evelyn's head. We visited Bebe every six weeks to trim her nails and those visits were always a joy. Evelyn passed away early summer at the age of 92 and Bebe went to live with her grandson; you see, they'd also formed a bond over the years and we're pleased to say that she continues to thrive.

And, we have so many more stories like that.... Like Irene, our rolypoly chonky torti girl (yes, the same Irene who, rumor has it, was responsible for the 'Roof Replacement Great Escape of 2020'). We were unable to touch her for two years until, thanks to our awesome cat whisperers, she went from being a runner to a hugger and is now cuddled every day in her very own home.

Oh, btw, we caught every cat involved in that 2020 breakout, and despite the relentless efforts of the 'Door Dashing Aficionados' (yes you, Holtby and Detroit), the ‘Let Me Out or the Ankles Get It Gang' (Jellicoe and Springer), and 'The Legendary Charmers' (Laohu, Aramide and Duke), we unfortunately broke our three year escape-free run when San Diego, a scared new arrival from Vancouver Island, decided to decamp and move his operation to the woods around the shelter over the summer. To this day, we have no idea how he got out, but it took us three weeks to entice him back. We can only imagine what life was like out there for him, but as soon as we got him back inside he became a soft cuddle bug and pretty soon after was adopted. We heard from him recently and he confirmed that indeed, his jail-breaking days are over.

We often get calls to help trap a cat in the community. Cats who have slipped out from the safety of their home, strays noted hanging in an unsafe neighborhood, or cat colonies in areas where they require assistance, such as the 19 unfixed farm cats we trapped after being approached by a family whose farm-owning relative has passed away. We have amazing volunteers who trap in all hours of the day or night to catch these cats, and it is often quite eventful. Sometimes we catch a smelly skunk, or an irritated raccoon, and these animals are released of course, and we try again. Sometimes, we catch a cat other than the one we intended: we were assisting an owner who had her cat escape from her car in a shopping mall in another community and in the process of trying to catch that cat, we got 2 other strays, unfixed males with no ID. Kirkland has happily gone to his new loving home and Costco won't take long to capture a heart and a home for himself. Sometimes we see the target cat sitting beside the trap, on top of the trap, or even do some Cirque Du Soleil parkour-type moves to skillfully leap over the sensor of the trap to enjoy the food and then leave the trap in the same artful manner!

As with other years previously, and years yet to come, we get every sort of cat there is. One eyed cats (Bernice! Sia!), portly cats (Bo! Cherry! Bonnie!), diabetics (Feng! Fishtopher!), deaf cats (Freckles! Talvi!) older cats (Annie! Victoria! Alistair!), ehemm...personalities' (you know what I'm talking about Jellicoe and Mutzu!), and oddly enough a great many youngsters (too many to list!). Our incoming cats tend to be the one of the 3 most common cats, the T's... Tuxedo, Tortie, or Tabby! But this year we had more than our usual amount of exotics... Savannahs, Himalayans, Persians and Scottish Folds. Most it seemed came from backyard breeders and were surrendered to us for behaviors such as aggression or litter box indiscretions, both of which can stem from being removed from the mother too soon. But, in true Katie's Place style, with a little patience, we've been able to support most into the right home and for those still with us, we've been helping move their recovery forward one step at a time.

Speaking of recovery, we can't do what we do without the incredible skills, knowledge and kindness of our local veterinary clinics. You are second, third.... tenth chance lifesavers for our little bunch of weirdos and without you, cats like Farrah Nuff and Sativa the Diva would not be living happy lives with their loving humans.

Well, there we are, Katie's Place's 21st year of operation is almost over. It's been busy and eventful, but overall good, and while we hope that one day we'll not be needed, our highest occupancy numbers ever this year indicate that's likely a way off. So, what are we going to do about it? We keep going. That's what. As long as there is a cat out there in need, we'll be there.

And, we can't do it without you! Thank you

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