Those who prefer on-line payment can pay for their sponsorship through
Paypal. If you prefer this method of payment, Paypal
explains how to do it.
Katie's Place has several animals who are unlikely to be adopted. Meanwhile
there are people who'd love to take an animal home but they can't for one
reason or another.
For those who would like to take a special animal under their wing,
we have a sponsor program.
For $15 per month you can sponsor a hard-to-place animal for a period from three months to a year. You'll receive a sponsor certificate for your animal and we'll send you our newsletters and update you on any changes in your sponsor animal's life. Your sponsor animal may be adopted (if their lucky day ever comes) or, if you sponsor one of our elderly or FeLV/FIV cats, your animal's time may come to cross the Rainbow Bridge. If this happens, you will be able to choose another animal to sponsor or we can pick one for you.
Sponsorship will provide basics such as food and vet care. Your money goes directly to the animals. Less than three percent of our funds are spent on maintenance (eg. phone, bank fees, insurance). Nobody who works at Katie's Place receives any kind of remuneration.
There are different costs associated with each hard-to-place animal. An elderly animal may require ongoing medication for a chronic condition, and some injured animals have had surgeries totaling hundreds of dollars. But a shy animal may need no more than altering, tattooing and vaccinating. Regardless, the costs for each animal amount to more than $15 per month. So each animal could have several sponsors, each of whom contribute directly to the animal's care. Every animal requires a minimum of three to five sponsors to completely cover veterinary costs and expenses of daily life (food, litter, heat...).
For us, the most important words in our mission statement are: "The sick, elderly and homely are as precious to us as the healthy, young and attractive." Many of the animals we take in require veterinary care. It can end up being very expensive, but as long as their lives have meaning for them, we will do whatever it takes to make them comfortable. If they're young and have the potential for long, happy lives we will get whatever treatment is required to make them whole. If they are elderly or terminal we will get whatever treatment is required to keep them comfortable. Only when life becomes a burden for them we will help them pass. Cost has never figured into the decision. Our vets have trusted us to pay when we can and the generosity of supporters who donate whatever they can spare has kept our vet bills paid to date.
Sparky came to us in January '04, a fearful, tattered street cat who had struggled to survive on his own for more than a year. He backed into a far corner as we tried to get his picture (left photo). Eventually he learned to trust us and he relaxed (middle photo). But though he was an affectionate fellow, he had ongoing issues with scabby skin and sparse fur due to a persistent flea allergy. These issues made him hard-to-place. Despite that, he was adopted by a loving family, and the right photo shows the blissful pet he became. He was adopted in December '04. That was the best Christmas present he'd ever had.
Another animal always arrives to fill the vacancy. Phoenix (below) arrived in June '05 covered with mats, some as large as her head, and with teeth so bad that our vet had to remove them all. (No wonder her mats were so bad, grooming must have been an agony!) She was already spayed so somebody had loved her once. But that may have been a long time ago because she was about 10 years old. Animals like Sparky and Phoenix need a lot of care to recover. Phoenix was beyond "hard-to-place" and her destiny was not adoption. But she still needed to be looked after. Her story is told in the link below.
Phoenix was a sorry looking little cat when she arrived and she
had to be completely shaved (left photo).
Within a short while, she could eat and groom groom herself again
(right photo). But she steadfastly rejected contact with humans.
Click here on Phoenix's
update for her status a year later.
We'd seen Gaelen slipping furtively through the tall grass beyond
the shelter. When winter set in and months passed with no sign of him we
thought he was dead. Then one day we set up the live trap for another cat
and came back to find Gaelen inside, alive and reasonably well. We had
him fixed up at our vet's and watched as he changed from a withdrawn animal,
beaten down by life, into a confident, happy member of our shelter. He
came to us in March '03 and left us in August '03 when he went home to
live with someone who was captivated by the handsome fellow he'd become.
Gaelen was lucky to find his forever home sooner than many other cats.
If you're interested in sponsoring an animal, please email our volunteer business manager, Susan, at helpkatiesplace@shaw.ca to set it up. Your sponsorship can be either a lump sum payment for the length of time you want to sponsor, or postdated cheques. Cheques can be made out to "Katie's Place". Please contact Susan for the mailing address.
Some of the sponsor animals have chronic medical issues. Some are healthy but have other issues that make them hard-to-place. Even without veterinary expenses, all the animals need funding to provide for them. If a sponsor animal has minimal expenses at the moment, the funds from his or her sponsorship help support other animals who need extra care immediately. Many of the cats we take are highly adoptable except for a fixable medical problem. Fletcher needed surgery for his eyes. Otherwise he was healthy and friendly and he now has a home. The vet determined that Swayze had ingested some kind of poison that affected his balance. But this lovable cat recovered and was adopted. Many need their matted fur shaved; many need dental work.... Homeless cats arrive with issues more often that not. For many of them, once a vet has addressed their problem they become highly adoptable and soon go to new homes. We don't list these highly adoptable cats with short term problems as sponsor cats since a Guardian Angel could go through a dizzying number of cats during their sponsorship. So the cats that we assess as hard-to-place represent the whole group. The hard-to-place animals have more than one sponsor in many cases. The sponsorship funds help take care of all the animals and all the funding goes to the animals' care. Nobody who works at Katie's Place takes any kind of remuneration.
Those who prefer on-line payment can pay for their sponsorship through
Paypal. If you prefer this method of payment, Paypal
explains how to do it.
Lizzie is sponsored by
Bob and Lorie
Kona is sponsored by Bob
and Lorie
Taz is sponsored by Ann
Marie
Sprite is sponsored by
Judy
Moustache is sponsored by
Jane
Beyonce is sponsored by Joyce
Moustache is sponsored by
Joyce
Colette is sponsored by
Joyce
Taz is sponsored by Joyce
Moustache is sponsored byKari
Stitch is sponsored by
Kari
Scotlyn is sponsored by
Ena
Adam is sponsored by
Kari
Colette is sponsored by
Margaret Rose
Kona is sponsored by
Flora
Jack is sponsored by
Rita
Stitch is sponsored by
Rita
Taz is sponsored by Donna
Adam is sponsored by
Lily
Purrecious is sponsored by
Laurie
Hal is sponsored by Lily
Beyonce is sponsored by
Greybrook Academy - Pre-K Class
Jack is sponsored by
Brenda
Scotlyn is sponsored by Brenda
and Jim
Frederick is sponsored by
Roanne
Roscoe is sponsored by
Roanne
Stitch is sponsored by
Roanne
Colette is sponsored by
Alison and Colin
Turbo is sponsored by Jim
Waldo is sponsored by
Debbie
Devon are sponsored by
Flora
Adam is sponsored by
Joyce
Reed is sponsored by
Pauline
Jack is sponsored by
Michael
Devon is sponsored by
Lorna
Freddy is sponsored by
Ena
Beyonce is sponsored by
Wendy
Turbo is sponsored by
Kate and Will
Purrecious is sponsored by
Kate and Will
Jack is sponsored by
Kate and Will
Roscoe is sponsored by
Nanook
Scotlyn is sponsored by
Sandy
Hal is sponsored by Irene
Brie is sponsored by
Jean
Frederick is sponsored by
Susie
Waldo is sponsored by
Chris
Kona is sponsored by
Diane
Nancy is sponsored by
Audrey
Yogurt & Matilda are sponsored
by Phyllis
Purrecious is sponsored bySamantha
Yogurt & Matilda are sponsored
by the Fairbrother Family
Roscoe is sponsored by Penny
Frederick is sponsored by 'SD
333'
Beyonce is sponsored by Phyllis
Devon is sponsored by Maureen
Stitch is sponsored by
the Duplissie Family
Hal is sponsored by Terrina
Brie is sponsored by
Carlo and Zenaidar
Devon is sponsored by
Connie and Britton
Yogurt & Matilda are sponsored
by Connie and Britton
Stitch is sponsored by
Jordan and Bernadette
Reed is sponsored by
Jordan and Bernadette