Celebrate Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month by bringing a new shelter cat or kitten into your home, once you've researched one that matches your lifestyle. |
June 1 marks the beginning of “Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat” Month in the United States, which is an event that encourages people to consider adopting shelter cats.
It’s estimated that eight to 12 million pets enter animal shelters each year. Seventy percent of those cats, which are healthy and adoptable, are euthanized because of space and resource constraints, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
“In general, America is a dog-loving country, and we’ve seen that cats are only half as likely to be adopted as dogs are,” said Ed Sayres ASPCA president and CEO.
By commemorating June as Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, the ASPCA and other organizations aim to raise awareness of the life-and-death situations shelter animals face every year.
“By focusing the spotlight on what great companions cats make, we hope to lessen risk for shelter cats, even if in a small way,” Sayres said.
If you’re considering adopting a shelter cat, the ASPCA offers the following tips on bringing a new cat home:
- Consider your needs and expectations. If you have a full-time working household, the ASPCA recommends passing up kittens and cats less than 18 months old in favor of a more low-key adult whose energy needs will be easier to meet.
“If you are a novice cat owner, stay away from ‘excessive’ cats — cats that are excessively shy, aggressive or demanding. Such cats may prove too great a challenge for your first cat-parenting experience,” said Emily Weiss, senior director for shelter outreach at the ASPCA.
- Also, choose a cat that attracts you, but remember that a gorgeous cat hiding at the back of its cage could go into hiding once it is in your home. Consider the cat’s entire personality, not just what it looks like.
- Don’t be discouraged by what you may have heard about cat behavior, such as the belief that cats tend to scratch furniture, curtains and upholstery.
“While it’s true that cats do scratch surfaces, it’s only because they inherently want to remove dead nail sheaths from around their sharp new claws,” said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA’s Adoption Center and Mobile Clinic.“You can eliminate this by trimming the cat’s nails every two weeks to keep them blunt and making favorite scratching targets feel unpleasant, such as by covering them with double-stick tape, balloons, tin foil, contact paper or a commercial product like Sticky Paws.”
“Also, consider providing a suitable scratching post as a more appealing option. That should solve this problem,” Buchwald said.