This is Szymon AKA Shortbus. He belongs to my son.
And this pic shows all four of my housekitties napping on my couch they destroyed.
The shelter cats are all sweet, and starving for attention, so I spend as many hours a week I can there.
There is also a place a few hours North of my home that has 300 outdoor (fenced) kitties.
Anyone else have a cool or unusual animal shelter near them?
I hope I am doing this right, and that everyone gets a good squeeee
Your cats have a disturbing lack of any apparent color …
But I bet they match all her outfits! They go with everything.
I bet the mice are terrified
I volunteer at an animal shelter near my home. I am a cat socializer, which means that I get to spend my time playing with kitties to keep them friendly with humans.
I usually socialize the adult cats, cuz kittens always get lots of attention, but sometimes I just want a pile of kittens and a toy on a string.
It’s relaxing, fun, and I’m helping kitties. I think of it as something I get to do, not have to do.
… and ambition.
I’ll take “Job titles I previously never imagined” for 100, Alex…
Sounds like a good thing to to, especially if you like cats. Maybe I’ll find out whether there’s a need of cat-oriented volunteers in my area.
“Cat socializer” is a new one on me, too. It makes sense, though–helping the cats stay on friendly terms with humans can only help them get adopted.
Cute kitties aside–how did you end up with the Deadliest Couch from my old college apartment? 
I’ve helped with cat socializing in a few places. The hardest part is leaving the skittish ones alone until they’re ready to come over.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s any job openings for a professional cat socializer; they’ve practically got volunteers lining up around the block. 
Gotta love volunteering with the critters! I do a stint every week at a horse rescue and feel like my soul has come back to life. I can’t afford to have a horse of my own at this time but at Hoof and a Prayer, I have a whole stable full to play with as much as I want! It’s a win/win situation.
Does it count if I actually work at the coolest cat rescue? I’ve never linked to it or mentioned it by name since I’m an employee, so you’ll just have to take my word for it… ten years!
Sunspace most of the shelters in my area encourage people to spend as much time as they can working with the animals so they don’t become sullen. The rescue I posted pics of will even reduce adoption fees based on time spent helping. All FIV and HIV cats are FTAGH.
Balance Habitat for Humanity’s 10 dollar garage. It was mine for all of 5 minutes before the overlords claimed it.
SeaDragonTattoo I understand the desire for privacy, hence not giving the location of my shelter, but are you willing to let us know what makes your shelter special? We are always trying to come up with ideas to keep the cats happy, and not have legal and health issues.
For example, we just bought 5 stainless steel industrial kitchen work counters to replace the old donated urine soaked picnic tables.
PapSet That sounds awesome! I have never been to a horse rescue, and know very little about horses. Are they feral/wild or just homeless?
Suba, these horses at the rescue are just unfortunate souls that have for one reason or another been cast aside. Most are terribly thin, many have been rescued from slaughter. One, the old man of the bunch, was rescued from a big cat rescue (lions, tigers, etc) where he was going to have a bullet put in his head and fed to the cats.
Most are saddle broken, all are sweet tempered and loving. Every week, I see them growing fatter, healthier. I love each and every one of them. They range in age from 8 months to close to 30 years. I go out ever Saturday and clean stalls, groom, and work with ground manners to make them more adoptable. My favorite at the barn is a 9 month old Appaloosa filly named Jewel. She whinnies when she sees me come in.
It may be a ‘horse rescue’ but it has saved MY soul as well.
First of all thanks and congrats for the good you are doing.
Second, on first seeing the thread title my first thought was “hope this isn’t a Need Recipes Quick thread”.
Damn that’s a lot of cats. I’d love to put a dog (a nice dog) in there and watch the mayhem.
