New shelter to build "Catios" for its cat residents

[Catherine]

St George, New Brunswick  is building a new shelter on 15 acres of land. There is need for a shelter,  particularly for cats. There are many stray and feral cats. One possible cause is seasonal workers who leave their pet cats behind when they leave.  The area has a group called Karma that traps, neuters and releases the cats to their feral colonies in an effort to control the feral cat population. Many of the cats that end up at a shelter were once someone's pet. Shelter life is hard enough on the cats. The Catio idea is meant to make life better for the cats while they are at the shelter. It will give them a safe place to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. The cage designs they are going to use are meant to reduce stress and be as comfortable as possible.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns...-1.5335888

Shelter life will never be easy on an animal, especially a cat. Setting things up to make life calmer and quieter will make life less stressful and hopefully help the cats to be adopted. The cage design and the catio idea  are really good. It would be good if more shelters adopted the idea. Many cats don't do well in cages  and are stressed by noise. I hope the building plans go well and the shelter can open its doors to animals in need.

[Catslave]

What a great idea,have you ever checked out the Lanai cat sanctuary in Hawaii I follow them on Facebook they have a similar ethos.

[Catherine]

Now that you mention them I do remember the shelter in Hawaii. They make a point of setting things up to make the cats feel better.

A lot of the shelters are taking cats more seriously. They make sure the cats are separated from the dogs. The Toronto Humane society built what they called the Cat Sky House. The dogs are on the main floor. Cats are upstairs in an area built just for them. They have some cages and they have small rooms for several cats to share. It is all done to make the cats calmer and more adoptable.