Kamloops cat society looking for foster families, auction donations

Photo: Sammy's Forgotten Felines

Ever wanted to help a cat in need?

Local cat support society Sammy's Forgotten Felines is looking for foster families for their furry friends as winter brings new reports of cats out in the cold.

"People are really starting to notice, which is typical when the weather changes," says Jenn Breckenridge, one of the group's founders. "We need places to put these kittens and cats."

Right now, they have six or seven cats who need a foster family soon; ideally, they'd each get their own so they can better socialize.

While Sammy's often deals with feral cats, Breckenridge says the ones that they're looking to temporarily get fosters for aren't feral, but can be shy or "scaredy cats." Some are from a hoarder.

"We need to help them integrate with a family," she tells Castanet. "They may have no reason to trust humans so it takes a while."

Breckenridge notes that once they have learned to trust people, often the foster cats become very affectionate.

"Once they trust, they are snuggly."

Fosters need to be patient with the cats they're caring for.

Ideally, they would have a room for the cat to be housed for a bit. Before they're sent to a foster family the group makes sure the cats get their first vaccine, are dewormed, and are spayed or neutered. Due to COVID-19 that's become difficult to schedule, so not all fosters get the procedure done before being sent to their human family.

Breckendridge says the cats are often undersocialized and unpredictable at first, and the role of the foster is to help socialize them, so foster families should be prepared for that. For example, some cats may be OK with being pet or played with but react poorly to being picked up or handled too much.

"They’re shy and not really trusting," she says. "They're not used to living in a proper household."

"We need to have fosters willing to work with the cat on the cat’s terms," she adds.

While foster families is one part of what they do, Sammy's also helps adopt out kittens and cats they're caring for. Currently, they're working through some applications for most of the kittens they have, but Breckenridge says there might be a couple where families haven't come forward.

Photo: Sammy's Forgotten Felines

"We’ve got quite a few applications on our kittens," she says. "What we do is we want to find the best match for the right home. We want to make sure we’re giving everyone the best chance for success."

More kittens are going to be available for adoption soon. The group is working on lining up spay and neuter appointments for them.

In addition to finding short- and long-term homes for cats, the group is running an auction in early December to help fund their endeavour. But first, they need donations from the community for the event.

"We’re looking for stuff people might want to buy for Christmas shopping," says Breckenridge.

"It could be anything," she adds. "Beggars can't be choosers."

The digital auction will kick off in a couple of weeks on Facebook, running from the Dec. 1 to 11.

For more information on how to donate auction items or to bid, click here.