Monday, April 10, 2006

A cat adoption drive without the cats

The Cat Welfare Society (CWS) held a very different adoption drive for a change -- one without the cats there on display.
Why? Mainly because caging a cat for a whole day is highly stressful for the poor thing. I can vouch for that myself. My right cheek suffered at the claws of Bombay when he refused to be caged for a second day at the Ngee Ann City adoption drive last year.
So at yesterday's adoption drive at the Singapore Expo, we put up posters advertising the cats instead. This meant that our volunteers manning the adoption booth (Angeline, Alexandra, Vivienne and Candice) had to work extra hard to talk up each cat because... it is true... not having the actual cats there simply isn't as powerful.

Here is the display we had put up. It was a very simple one

The pictures of the cats, though few and not professionally taken, were powerful enough to attract many eyeballs. Here are just some of the cuties advertised on our board...

Dude the cheeky kitty filled with naughty thoughts


Handsome Ginjee with the most striking eyes


Demure Jackie melted many hearts


Ruby the supermodel kitty


Sara stole countless hearts


Smokee the street cat with a most trusting nature

It was good to see that so many people flocked to the adoption board to study the cats on it. There was a good enough number interested in the cats, even though it can't quite compare to previous drives when the actual cats were present to instantly melt hearts.

So many lovely cats to read up on


Which to choose? Which to choose?


Tabbies, Calicos, Gingers,Tuxedoes... we are spoilt for choice


She's my first choice, he's my next


Dewormed, vaccinated, spayed, litterbox-trained... so many things to consider


A little girl takes her time reading the adoption board...


... Then loses no time in choosing her favourite cat
While CWS did not have actual cats on display, there were some cats present for a separate adoption drive just next to us.
Here are some of the cats that were up for adoption at their end...

A very sweet-looking and shy ginger kitten got adopted quite quickly


What a darling face!


Eyes that beg for attention


So attention it got


Affection it received


An absolute cutie this one is


A very smart-looking, gentlemanly cat


Who's that shy kitty peeking from the side?


Another shy one hiding behind the litterbox


A gorgeous long-haired white cat


Feeling a little camera-shy


Oh how shaggy its white coat is!


Watching the humans intently


These two stayed in this position all day, staring each other down


A handome tabby poses for me


Giving the camera a sexy broody look


This kitten was attempting a Spider-Man stunt on the side of his cage


A playful ginger with large marble eyes


Swiping at my camera strap


Sniffing at my camera strap


Biting my abused camera strap


Hey, this kitty has a goatee!


A shy ginger who didn't want to be photographed


Still watching the humans intently


Two kittens show just how very close they are


Both are tucked tightly into a tiny litterbox


But they seem to be very comfy


They stayed in that position for a long long time


Until both fell fast asleep


Zzzzz...


And to outdo those two, here's an amazing Three-in-One feat
There were lots of other interesting cats at the Singapore Expo. Here's one VERY fat cat. He was soooo fat... everyone who walked passed him asked his owner for permission to carry him so that they could feel his hefty weight for themselves.

All relaxed in the arms of a complete stranger
This gray beauty is one of the many contestants in the Cat Championship Show.

What an icy beauty
While this particular cat, I am sure, was not allowed to join in the Championship Show... it was a huge hit with the children.

A brown tabby so large, we all thought it was a bear
One of the funniest sights I saw that Sunday had to be this Siamese cat.

It didn't look happy to be dressed up


What is this outfit supposed to be? I really don't know
I hope to hear the good news soon that some of the cats on our adoption board have been successfully adopted out. I now have a better idea of how we can do up a more attractive board for the next drive.
Thank you for all the good work done, Angeline, Alexandra, Vivienne and Candice. Here's to even more successful adoption drives together!
~5-Cat Style

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

SO CUTE....when was this event? whereabout it took place?

Victor Tabbycat said...

The caged cats always look so frightened, I like the idea of the photos instead. BUT, if I hadn't been at the doption fair, I couldn't haf grabbed Mom! She'd haf looked at all the pictors an sighed about Bonnie bein too mean, an gone home wifout me! Sumtimes, the doption kitty cages are away from traffic so kitties aren't so ascared. I could watch hamsters an mice an rats an bunnies from my cage, as well as notice Mom an grab her.
(V's mom: The adoption fair cages were in a pet store, next to the rodents, so Victor was happy watching them. He literally grabbed me and won me over with those big yellow eyes and loud purr.)

Gigolo Kitty said...

I would want to take all of them home! When we first saw Gigolokitty, he was sitting by his lonesome at the back of the cage which other cats were goofing off in the front. We adopted him because we thought he would be a quiet and thoughtful kitty. HAHAHA!

I hope all the kitties find good homes.

auntie p said...

I didn't know there was a cat adoption drive at that pedigree cat show. Anyway, I was nursing a bad cold and throat, could not have visited, but hey, thanks so much for putting Jackie's picture up! I thought the resolution of that pic was quite poor. I hope that some cats will finally get adopted from that drive.

I agree that for some cats, being physically present at a cat adoption drive is very stressful and can be frightening.

That dressed up Siamese looks like he's clad in a home-made body harness or strait-jacket? He looked so annoyed. ;P

=^..^= said...

Victor and GK, you two are such lovelies... I can't imagine anyone not wanting to take you home right away.

Auntie P, I dressed up Jackie's poster to make up for the poor resolution. The good news is that in spite of the quality of the photo, Jackie was one of the more popular cats yesterday. Everyone could see what a sweetie she is. I'll be forwarding all the adopters' details to the adoption volunteer later today, so you'll be able to sift through and select the best adopter for Jackie. Good luck!

~5-Cat Style

Cat said...

One of the ginger in the cage has Sanju's eyes! Hopefully many kitties get adopted this time.

=^..^= said...

Hi Cat,

I totally agree! It was exactly what I was thinking when I was playing with the little ginger cat and photographing him. :)

~5-Cat Style

CatDonna & Cats said...

Love the pics!

Drat. Should've brought my camera.

KXBC said...

Getting old and forgot about this event altogether.

Went for one years ago and saw all the stressed kitties. Really pity them.

Shaggy and Scout said...

Poor kitties. It is so sad there are so many the world over that must be in cages begging for homes. But that is better than wandering around with no hope at all. I saw some locally on Saturday at an adoption event. I should never go, I get too sad and want to take them all, and of course I can't. That's why my husband calls me Ellie May.

Anonymous said...

The siamese cat is a biker cat. I know both the cat and the lady owner. He rides with her anywhere. She makes sure he is secured properly and tuck comfortable in her jacker before she rides off. He always wear that expression but deep down, he loves the attention he receives. His owner doted him cos he is the only prince in the house:)

And a Bombay lookablike was in Top 10 household cats catergory.

Victor Tabbycat said...

My woman has seen a siamese who willingly rode in the car efurry day to drop his girl off at school. Others go into PetSmart with their people, just like dogs (but cats behave better). They seem remarkably tolerant. You'd never catch ME strapped to one of my people.
PS Victor adopted my woman at his first (and last) adoption fair.

=^..^= said...

I'm in two minds about having cats on display at adoption drives too.

Because as stressed out as Bombay and Bangles were at their last one... if I hadn't brought them down, Melvin and Stephanie wouldn't have seen them and the kitties wouldn't be living the very good lives they have now.

What to do? What to do?

~5-Cat Style

Anonymous said...

That's a great story. Waiting for more. » » »