AMES CAT NETWORK
The Ames Cat Network is a small organization of volunteers who rescue cats abandoned on NASA Ames Research Center grounds, and find them loving homes. Cats and kittens end up at Ames for different reasons. Some wander in by themselves, but we believe most are housecats whose owners abandon them there. A very few are unsocialized. We foster and try to socialize all of them. Most are very affectionate once the trauma of being abandoned wears off. But we try to find openings for all of them, in loving homes for the socialized cats, or in outdoor placements for those that are not. Homes are needed: The friendly kittens and cats need homes; they will be great companions! See adoptable cats on the "Cats" page. Fosterers are needed: Would you consider fostering cats trapped at Ames? Fostering can be challenging. But it can also be incredibly rewarding! That transformation you orchestrate, from scared cat who won’t emerge from a dark corner to the confident cat who demands cuddles and trusts you enough to nap peacefully on your lap, is amazing. And beyond satisfying - it saves their lives. The Ames Cat Network has two fosterers, but we need backup fosterers in case an unusual number of cats get trapped, or if we for whatever reason can’t foster at a given time. We’ve been incredibly lucky that no cats were trapped during the pandemic. But that lucky streak will probably end. We have to be prepared. We need people who would be willing to occasionally give of themselves for a short time to save an animal’s life. Can we introduce you to some of these saved lives? Ames Cats Tiny Topaz sat despondently in the small bathroom. She’d been trapped at Ames. No one knew where she’d come from. Was she abandoned by her mother? By people? Was she lonely? Afraid? Whatever the reason, she wasn’t eating. Days went by. Her fosterer tried regular kitten food. Fancy kitten food. Baby food. Homemade food. Treats. Nothing worked. Finally, her frustrated fosterer smeared baby food on her whiskers. The kitten immediately and fastidiously licked the food off her face - and decided it wasn’t so bad after all. Crisis averted! She was eventually adopted to a family in Los Altos; when her fosterer dropped her off, she explored the house tail held high, as though she already owned the place. Tip only slowly emerged from under the couch when his fosterer sat in the room and read out loud, mostly ignoring him. Gradually, he felt less threatened, and soon allowed himself to be petted. Within a few weeks, he was reaching up to stretch luxuriously against his fosterer’s leg, begging for a treat or a cuddle. He’d become a loving - and beloved - companion. The cat was beautiful. A rag doll? Maybe a Siamese mix? Gorgeous or not, she was terrified; she took up residence under the futon and would not come out. Fortunately, the resident cat, fondly known as The Ambassador, leaped into action. He joined her under the futon, gave a head bump or two, then came out to join his human and demonstrate that there was nothing to fear. She started to emerge from her shell and was adopted out to a person who fell in love with her, and had patience for her shyness - and affectionately named her Bashful. Responsibilities The cats trapped at Ames start by visiting a vet, courtesy of the Palo Alto Humane Society. The vet makes sure they’re in good health, provides the necessary shots, and spays or neuters the animal. As soon as they get a clean bill of health, they go to their foster home. The fosterers are responsible for socializing the cats, feeding them, and helping get the word out to potential adopters. These animals are often traumatized - abandoned, hungry, lost and afraid - but they’re almost never feral (the ones that are are not fostered). They do need badly to interact with humans who will treat them kindly and restore their faith in humanity. This is not as hard as you might think, in most cases. The cats are limited to one room initially, so they can become accustomed to the smells and sounds of their new temporary homes. You will sit in the room and read out loud or work on phones or computers, so the cats become accustomed to your presence. Your entry into the room will become associated with good things: food, treats, play with wand toys. In the space of days, the most cautious cat will start to feel comfortable and emerge to check things out. Then he’ll jump to the far end of the couch and watch some more. Then he’ll slowly approach and sniff your fingers. He’ll let himself be petted. And then he’ll nap beside you, ending curled up on your lap. That last step, getting a frightened cat to trust you enough to sleep, purring, on your lap, is deeply satisfying! Once these little guys start to feel comfortable, they become wonderful companions. They play. They explore. Their antics will make you laugh. Their purring will lower your stress levels. Their napping on your lap will cause your blood pressure to plummet. While you will feel satisfaction to see them get adopted, the departure of the special ones will also make you feel sad at the loss of a special friend. They give back so much more than they receive. But in the end, the goal is to make these fostering jobs temporary, by finding the cats homes; fosterers are among those who get the word out by posting information on the websites of local rescues, Facebook, NextDoor, and other means. The process to find adopters can take several weeks to a few months. A few times we appealed to local rescues to help us with adoptions. Often, we can find adopters ourselves. While no cats have been trapped at Ames lately, there’s a LOT of kittens in the Bay Area needing homes. That means that there’s a large network of people and organizations who’ll help with medical costs and adoption outreach. Getting the word out to potential adopters is perhaps the biggest challenge. But all our cats have found homes. Every. Single. One. Would you consider signing up to be a back-up fosterer? If so, please click the "Contact Us" link at the top of this page. KITTENS ADOPTED! See next page! Other ways to help: Even if you cannot adopt, you can still help in very important ways:
Thank you for caring! |
Remembering
IRIS ANN LUBITZ
January 7, 1938 - November 16, 2017