Alpacas and Kittens get along just fine
The barn kitten greeting the newborn cria (a baby alpaca barely 1 1/2 hours old) is a former stray, barely six months old herself. Animal Rescue League in Boston was the kitten’s original savior. When the kitten showed no interest in people, Animal Rescue League asked Shelter Me to find her a country home. We placed her on Silver Oaks Farm in Ashby, MA. Lucky kitten. Her name is Gretel; she does not seem to have any trouble making friends with nonhuman alien species. Click here to see the video, Alpacas meet the barn kittens
See additional photos below of the kittens not long after their arrival in the alpaca barn.
Photos by Pam Welty, Silver Oaks Farm.
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January 2, 2010
Pam Welty just sent along these photos of the kittens with the alpacas. Delighted to share them with you.
How to Acclimate Barn Cats (in five steps)
This “How to” video shares learnings from one of our proudest accomplishments, the Shelter Me Barn Cat Program. As of this writing, Shelter Me has placed 65 “unadoptable” cats in barns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
We have probably driven more than 5000 miles delivering these cats to a wide range of really wonderful places. While the vast majority of the cats have already been spayed, vaccinated and tested for FIV/FELV by the groups that have given them to us for barn placement, we loan out acclimation cages to the barns, usually provide litter, litter pans, food, toys and soft beds to make sure the cats are situated properly.
While the work is a joy, the program does not pay for itself, which is a continuing challenge for us.
Shelter Me, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization recognized by the IRS.
Woody, the cat that Sara is holding in this picture, came very close to being euthanized by a neighbor who was moving. Click this link to read that story.
P.S. We have the capability to reproduce this video on disc at a small cost for those who would like to share them with prospective barn cat owners or members of rescue groups that want to develop barn cat programs. Interested? contact: sandy@sheltermeinc.org
Sandy on August 11th 2009
Leigh said on 18 Mar 2010 at 7:47 am #
What a sweet video of barn cats that have been rescued. We moved into a farm house almost two years ago. Our land is surrounded by a neighbors farm land. The year we moved in he had winter wheat planted. We kept hearing cats. They finally came out of the field when they decided we were okay. Tiger, our big male barn cat thought he was a dog and followed the kids all over the property. Sadly he is no longer with us. Mystique lives happily in our garage and sits on her perch. She is a lover and very sweet for a “feral” cat. God bless your mission.