Shelter cats need you. Here’s how your volunteer activities can help.
Often times it seems like volunteering at the local animal shelter is focused on dogs. Sure they need to be walked and enriched, but hey so do the cats! So here are 3 things you can do that will help cats in your local shelter
1. Cat snuggling –
Who doesn’t love a good snuggle with a cat right? After all they sleep 18 hours a day and enjoy the warmth and comfort of your lap. But did you know that this volunteer activity actually serves a very useful purpose in getting cats adopted?
Kittens are frequent residents of animal shelters and often times they are not socialized to humans. If they’re not introduced to the fact that not all humans are bad they’ll often not be good companion animals to adopt out so getting them socialized early on is key to their adoption.
Volunteers across the country are regular cat snugglers at shelters and they focus on playing with the cats and kittens and socializing them to all of the amazing things that humans can bring to their relationships. Sure you’ll be getting something out of it but they’ll benefit from your snuggles much more than you could imagine.
2. Shelter cat clicker training –
You’ve probably heard of clicker training for dogs but did you know that one of the fastest growing trends is actually clicker training for cats?
Cats are amazing animals and super smart too. The idea of clicker training comes easy to them. When they do something right, they hear a click and get a reward. What cat wouldn’t be motivated by this? We’re pretty sure they’re thinking that they’re training humans instead of the other way around.
Shelters love it when volunteers want to do clicker training with cats because it helps to train the cats while enriching them at the same time.
3. Kitten field trips –
You might have seen someone walking a cat on a leash or with a harness and thought “That’s crazy” but this is where you’d be wrong.
Cats love the outdoors. So many fresh smells, so much soft grass and so many things floating by that can be pawed at or pounced on. All of the sights and sounds appeal to their senses and satisfy their curiosity about the world around them.
One of the innovative ways that volunteers are helping shelter cats is by getting them out of the shelter and taking them on field trips. This could be as simple as putting them in a harness and taking them out for a walk. The cats get the chance to see life outside the shelter and the volunteer gets the opportunity to capture the true spirit and personality of the cat to help them get adopted.
