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Five Ways to Keep
Your Cat Happy & Healthy
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September is Happy Cat Month! The
CATalyst Council
created the annual holiday to assist in spreading the word about the health, welfare, and value of companion cats. Often, cats are viewed as self-reliant, aloof, and less in need of medical care than dogs. The aim of this holiday is to counteract these stereotypes and ensure cats are well cared for, enriched, and receive the preventive care they need.
Five tips for keeping your cat happy and healthy throughout the year:
- Provide entertainment for your cat. Make sure your cat has lots of toys to play with and also make sure you set aside some personal time for interacting and playing with your cat. It will help you bond with your cat and also promote exercise, an important part of your cat's routine to prevent weight gain and to keep your cat's mind stimulated.
- Keep your cat lean and fit. An overweight cat is more prone to developing a variety of diseases, including diabetes. Lots of toys and interactive play will increase exercise for your cat, helping to burn calories and keep your cat at a proper weight.
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Visit the veterinarian.
Healthy cats are happy cats. While some owners may dread a trip to the veterinarian with their cat, many veterinary practices are cat friendly or have doctors who specialize in cats and will gladly show leery owners how pleasant a trip to the veterinarian can be.
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Get your cat acclimated to the carrier.
Many cat owners find that the worst part about taking their cat anywhere is getting it into the carrier. The time to work with your cat on making their carrier seem like a safe, secure and inviting place to be is prior to veterinary visits or family vacations - not when you're ready to get into the car. Visit www.catalystcouncil.org to view
Cats and Carriers: Friends not Foes
for tips on how to get cats to love their carriers.
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Scratch the surface.
Cats should have places they are allowed to stretch and care for their claws. Scratching is an important aspect of feline behavior. Providing a long and sturdy scratching post in a vertical, horizontal or angled position is a good way to keep your cat happy and your sofa, too!
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Fall Therapy Dog Program Screening
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ROAR is holding another ROAR Therapy Dog Program Screening on September 14 in the late afternoon.
Location:
Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue, 45 South St, Ridgefield, CT.
If you are interested in learning about the program and scheduling a screening session, please contact Kerry Dobson at [email protected].
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Come Meet Chips
and Doug!
"Adorable" doesn't even begin to describe them!
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| Chips |
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Chips
Chips is a sweetheart!
Please come to ROAR to meet this loving, friendly girl. She will make a great addition to your family!
Sadly, this beautiful Torbie girl is an adoption return to ROAR after five years. Her owner became ill and could no longer care for her (the owner was heart-broken).
Chips adapted well to being back in ROAR's Cat Room. However, she is ready to go home with her new, forever family.
She is up-to-date on her vaccinations; FELV/FIV negative; and spayed.
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Doug |
Doug
Doug is an all-around amazing dog who is still eagerly waiting to find his forever home! This handsome, sweet boy is a two-year old, Black Lab mix who LOVES people and other dogs.
When Doug came to ROAR, we noticed that he was limping. After further examination, we discovered that this poor boy needed ACL surgery on his hind leg. Doug has already had his ACL repaired with great results.
Our friends at Wags and Menace Make a Difference Program Foundation made a generous donation that helped make all of this happen for Doug. We are so thankful and grateful!
Doug is up-to-date on vaccinations, is micro-chipped and is neutered.
Thank you for supporting our mission and helping to make a difference in the lives of so many homeless
cats and dogs like Chips and Doug.
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| From Left to Right: Tristen with ROAR dog Piper and rescue dog Aspen, Cathy with ROAR cat Raven and Tao with rescue cat Clover. |
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Family Ties:
Three Generations Give Back and Care for
ROAR's Cats & Kittens
Every Saturday morning, Cathy, Tao and Tristen arrive at our shelter to help care for our adoptive cats and kittens. The three-some not only share a love of animals, they share family ties as three generations in one family.
Grandmother Cathy first started volunteering at ROAR with our cats about eight years ago. Tao, her daughter, and Mom to Tristen, followed a year later as a dog volunteer before switching over to volunteering with cats. Sixteen-year-old Tristen joined the duo about three years ago through ROAR's Youth Program. The program enables 12 to 17-year-olds to volunteer on a shift with a parent who has volunteered at the shelter weekly for six months or longer.
According to Cathy, "It's a great way for us to all do something together as a family and is really rewarding. We get so much out of it."
Tao agrees. "We are big pet people and love being around animals. Caring for ROAR's cats and kittens is something that we look forward to every week."
Tristen also gets a lot out of volunteering.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to go with my mother and grandmother to ROAR to help with the animals. To me, the idea of spending an hour and a half with cats and kittens was the dream," said Tristen. "When I learned that there was a program that showed kids how to volunteer, I was ecstatic. The program is very rewarding. The cats are cuddly and adorable. It is also a great time to spend with whoever you are going with."
Tristen and her Girl Scout Troop also helped ROAR paint the Cat Room about a year ago when it was being renovated.
In addition to volunteering in our Cat Room and supporting ROAR through community service, Tao and her family are also fostering their fourth litter of kittens for ROAR.
"If we didn't already have two cats and two dogs at home, it would be really easy to add another one to our pack," said Tao. "We've adopted four rescue animals from ROAR over the years and two of our current pets are from ROAR."
ROAR is forever grateful to Cathy, Tao and Tristen for their dedication and ongoing support. And our cats and kittens are lucky to have them!
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Hank
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Congratulations to Our
August Giveaway Winner!
Congratulations to Wendy B. on winning ROAR's Cooling Mat Giveaway!!! Also, thank you to everyone who submitted entries for
a chance to win the giveaway.
Wendy sent ROAR the following message and photo of her dog after finding out that she was the winner:
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Wow!! Thank you very much!! My boy Hank (formerly Cracker Jack) will be thrilled with the news!!"
- Wendy B.
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ROAR Joins New Coalition
to Save More Animals
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Q&A with Kerry Dobson
In August, ROAR joined local animal shelters across Southern Connecticut and New York in a newly formed coalition to support each other's work and save the lives of more animals. In addition to ROAR, the coalition consists of DAWS in Danbury, CT; PAWS in Norwalk, CT; Connecticut Humane Society in Westport, CT; Adopt-A-Dog in Armonk, NY; and Paws Crossed in Elmsford, NY.
The following Q&A with Kerry Dobson, our Executive Director at ROAR, shares additional insight and information on the coalition and how it will help ROAR moving ahead.
Q: Why did ROAR decide to join the new coalition?
A: "The shelter community is a very supportive group who share the same goal of successfully helping adoptive cats and dogs find their forever homes. We joined the coalition to share and learn about ideas, challenges and resources with other local shelters so we can apply best practices and information to our own programs and initiatives so we can rescue, care for and adopt out more homeless animals."
Q: What are the goals of the new coalition?
A: "Animal shelters are tasked with saving precious lives and breaking the cycle of pet overpopulation. The goal of the coalition is to share the expertise, experience, and knowledge of each animal shelter with each other, so they are better equipped at giving all animals a second chance at finding loving homes. The coalition will enable participating shelters to look at things from a different perspective."
Q: How does the coalition work?
A: "ROAR meets regularly with directors at other participating local shelters in the coalition to discuss current challenges in animal welfare and to share best practices.
The coalition pulls animals from local animal control, other shelters and helps people in the community who are no longer able to care for their dogs and cats. This provides these animals with social/emotional/medical/behavioral care and love which transforms them into amazing, loving family pets."
Q: Are there any key takeaways that you've learned about and can share from ROAR's participation in the coalition so far?
A: "Through the coalition, we've learned about each other's strengths and which shelters ROAR can reach out to for expertise on certain programs and initiatives. We've also learned about how some of the other shelters do similar programs like fostering and meeting potential adopters."
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NBC (Channel 4, NY) Visits ROAR
On August 17, ROAR participated in the annual
Clear the Shelters
event for the first time. NBC and Telemundo teamed up with ROAR and more than 1,000 shelters across the U.S. for the national pet adoption drive.
Prior to the event, NBC (Channel 4, NY) visited the ROAR Donofrio Family Animal Shelter and filmed ROAR cats and dogs, volunteers in our ROAR Therapy Dog Program and a veteran with his companion animal in our Pets for Vets program. You can watch the footage that aired
here.
Stay tuned for more exciting news from ROAR on the Clear the Shelter event and adoption success stories in the October 2019 newsletter.
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| Why Do You Do What You Do for ROAR? |
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"My love of animals goes back as far as I can remember.
When I found some free time to give several years ago,
volunteering at ROAR was an easy choice.
Nothing is more rewarding than helping to give
these dogs and cats a fresh start and
find a real home,
but I honestly get a lot more
back
than I can ever give."
- Brad, Board Member and Volunteer
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Sept. 7
-- Weston Kiwanis Dog Jamboree
Weston Middle School Field
S
ept. 16
--
Tales and Ales
Redding Beer Company
7 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT
Sept. 26 --
Gallo Guest Bartender Event
5 Grove Steet, Ridgefield, CT
6:00 p.m. -- 9:00 p.m.
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Ridgefield 8 to Guest Bartend at
Gallo Ridgefield on Sept. 26 to Benefit ROAR
Ridgefield 8 set the Guiness World Record for World's Longest Bocce Marathon on June 22, 2019. Can they set the record for best guest bartenders too?
Join ROAR at
Gallo Ridgefield on Thursday, September 26, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., for a fun time as the Ridgefield 8 serve up cocktails and laughs to benefit our shelter.
A portion of all food and drinks, as well as 100 percent of bar tips will go to help the animals at ROAR. Grab some friends, come meet the Ridgefield 8, enjoy some great food and drinks at this awesome restaurant and support ROAR. Don't forget to tip your bartenders generously!
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