Cats League and Assistance of the Western Slope
Yogi Bear is a real
sweetheart. He is a
Maine Coon mix that
is about 4 years old.
He is quite shy, but
once he gets to know
you, he comes out of his shell. He needs a home
with no dogs and no kids. He is a beautiful, orange
cat. Everyone at the shelter is just absolutely in
love with Yogi Bear! If you would like to meet
Yogi Bear, call the shelter at 241-3793.
Double your pleasure
with Vinney and Charlie! Vinney and Charlie love
each other and are very bonded. They would be
happiest if they could be adopted together. Vinney
and Charlie came to us from a woman from Denver that was homeless and living in her car with
her two cats. She knew it was
an unsuitable accommodation
for her cats, so she brought
them to CLAWS. Vinney is
grey with short hair and Charlie is black with long hair. Vinney is 16 years old. He is very
laid back and would love to sit
in your lap and watch TV with you or read a book.
He is very friendly and just loves his
best buddy Charlie. Charlie, the
black kitty, is 7 years old and absolutely beautiful. He has long, shiny
fur and gorgeous, gold eyes. Charlie
would love to sit with you too, he is
very friendly. He has a very serious look on his
face, but he can be playful still too! Vinney and
Charlie spend a lot of
time cuddling and
grooming each other.
Come and meet them!
Corporate Sponsors
We want to thank Enstrom Candies and Loki Outdoor Shop for sponsoring CLAWS! Each business
will have their logo and information displayed at
our adoption events for a specific period of time.
Loki is the shape shifting
God of Mischief in Scandinavian Mythology. Loki makes
the first outerwear with a
built in face shield and mitts
which are unnoticeable when
not deployed. Loki gear fuses
low-key casual design with
state of the art performance
to update and extend the outdoor experience.
Enstrom Candies has
been a Grand Junction, family owned
and operated business for over 50
years. Their motto
has always been
“We’re just making a little almond toffee for a few
of our friends”. Today Enstrom Candies ships
world wide and we expect they will just continue to
grow and expand and Enstrom’s will be here for
our grand children to enjoy.
If you own a business and would like to become a
Corporate Partner with CLAWS. Please call our
shelter and ask for Teri Shecter.
Shop at Smile.Amazon.com to Give Back to Cats
How do I shop at AmazonSmile and have them
donate 5% of my purchase to CLAWS? To shop
at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com
from the web browser on your computer or mobile
device. You will need to log into your Amazon
account, if you have one. How do I select a charitable organization to support when shopping on
AmazonSmile? On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), you need to select
a charitable organization to receive donations from
eligible purchases before you begin shopping, select- Cats League And Assistance Of The Western Slope. It will r emember your selection, and
then every eligible purchase you make at
smile.amazon.com will
result in a donation.
Cats League and Assistance of the Western Slope
We would like to recognize some of the outstanding volunteers of 2014.
Barb J. for our new computer system and software.
What an amazing job she has done to create a
more accurate system for logging and tracking our
cats at the shelter. Jill D, Della G. and Leslie M.
for their fantastic job using the new system and
their countless hours and dedication to handling all
administrative tasks at the shelter. They are a great
team. Teri S, Alice O, Kim S. and Barb J. for all
the hours that goes into writing grants. What an
amazing job you all do! Also, the volunteers cleaning at the shelter each week; Kelly, Jeff, Connie F,
Mila, Savannah and Moraine
Our volunteers
rock!
Volunteer Opportunities
If you are looking for a way to give back to your
community, we have some ideas!
Foster Homes: We need foster families to take
in orphaned kittens, momma cats with babies and
someone who would foster older, bonded pairs of
cats. You would bring your foster kitties back and
forth to adoptions until they get adopted.
Evening Adoptions: We have a volunteer doing
adoptions 3 days a week, Friday, Saturday and
Sunday. However, we are looking for someone to
handle adoptions on Friday and Saturday evenings
from 5pm to 9pm. You would interview applicants
and deny or approve adoption applications based
upon specific adoption guidelines, as well as maintain the cleanliness of the cats in their cages while
you are there. You must be respectful, but firm.
Off Site Cleaning: We have a gr oup of 4 or so
cats at a local pet supply store, Chow Down Pet
Supplies. One day a week, you would clean, feed
and give attention to the adoption cats there. This
takes between 20 minutes and an hour. Chow
Down prefers the cleaning to be done in the morning or early afternoon.
If you are interested in any of these volunteer
opportunities, please call the shelter at
241-3793
PetSmart Donations Adding Up
At the beginning of February, PetSmart started a
canned food drive for the kitties at
CLAWS! Each week there are 5 or 6
carts overflowing with canned food
donations! And, this week, they have
started collecting cat litter, which is
great! Our first pick up was almost a
whole pallet of litter! PetSmart says
it’s the generous people in the Grand Valley that
make this possible. Thank you so much PetSmart
and the people in our community for all the
canned cat food and
litter!
Animal Book Reviews by Teri Shecter
A Letter To My Cat, Notes To Our Best Friends
Created by Lisa Erspamer - 174 pages, 2014
This book is a wonderful tribute to the human animal bond. A compilation of letters and photos
from a variety of cat owners, including celebrities such as the well
known “Cat Whisperer” Jackson
Galaxy, a soldier returned from
Iraq and a fourth grader. Sometimes thoughtful and moving...and
often hilarious, this book is a celebration of the unconditional love
these kitties bring into our hearts
Animal Wise - the Thoughts and Emotions of
Our Fellow Creatures
by Virginia Morell - 290 pages, 2013
Animal Wise explores the frontiers of research on
animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising and moving exploration into the hearts and
minds of wild and domesticated animals. It takes
us on a dazzling odyssey of animals from ants to
elephants to wolves, and from sharp shooting archer fish to pods of dolphins that rumble like rival
street gangs. Morell probes the moral and ethical
dilemmas of recognizing that even
“lesser animals” have cognitive
abilities such as memory, feelings,
personality and self awareness traits
that many in the twentieth century
thought were unique to human beings.
Cats League and Assistance of the Western Slope
Local Veterinarians That Support CLAWS
Many local veterinarians support our
cat-only shelter. Please support the
vets in our area that support
CLAWS.
All Pets Center, Amigo Animal
Hospital, Animal Birth Control, Animal Medical Clinic, Arrowhead Veterinary Hospital,
Banfield Animal Hospital, Clifton Animal Hospital, Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic, Footprints
Animal Hospital, Kokopelli Animal Hospital,
Orchard Mesa Veterinary Hospital, Redstone
Veterinary Hospital, and Tiara Rado Animal
Hospital.
Thank you for all your compassionate care giving for the pets in our
valley.
2014 Grants
Our grant team, Teri S, Kim S, Alice O. and Barb
J. were able to write and receive grants from the
following organizations:
Animal Assistance Foundation
Best
Bernice
Friends
Foundation
Barbour
Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund
Kitty Bed Donations!
Two of our very talented and creative volunteers
have been working hard making quilted kitty pads/
beds for our shelter cats! They have measured the
cages, and kennels and even the counter tops so
they could get them just
right. Now our cats have the
most fabulous, quilted, easy
to clean beds ever! Thank
you Sennuwy and Mary
Anne!
CLAWS
official office
assistants!
We help every
day at the
shelter. We
know that the
volunteers
wouldn’t know
what to do or
how to do it
with out our
help, it is hard
work, but
somebody
needs to help
these humans!
These grants made it possible to spay/neuter hundreds of cats and we appreciate the support of
these wonderful organizations.
Cats League and Assistance of the Western Slope
Planning For Your Cat’s Future
A Cat That Gets to Scratch is a Happy Cat
Our cats have a much shorter lifespan than us, so
we are often thinking of what we will do when we
lose our cat, but unfortunately, there are situations
where a person can no longer take care of the cat
that has become a part of their family. Whether
you are about to enter a nursing home, require
emergency hospitalization
or medical treatment, or
your life suddenly ends
sooner than you had
planned, there are a number
of scenarios that result in
our cats simply outliving us.
Take care of your cats now
by making a provision in your will for them. You
need to decide if a family member or friend will
take your cat or if you need to place them in a
shelter such as CLAWS. Even if you have a friend
who’s agreed to take care of your cat if anything
happens to you, people’s circumstances change,
and things may not work out the way you thought
they would. That’s why it’s important that your
chosen caregiver fully understands the implications and responsibility they’ll have, and they
know that if their situation changes they should let
you know. It’s important that whatever you have
in place, you have friends, relatives or neighbors
with keys to your home and knowledge of your cat
for any urgent temporary care that might be needed. Keep in mind that
CLAWS is always an
option for you too if you
have no family or friends
will or capable of taking
on your cats if the unthinkable happens.
Whichever option you choose when you’re planning your cat’s future care, you’ll need to put together a dossier on each of your cats with information about their food, personality, behavior,
health conditions and any other special requirements. If you live alone, consider carrying a note
in your purse or wallet that states who is responsible for the care of your pets, as well as keeping a
list with all of the necessary information somewhere central in your
home.
The trick is to keep the cat AND the cat owner
happy! The only way to accomplish this is to have
appropriate scratching options available for your
cats. We find ourselves explaining the importance
of this to new adoptive families
every weekend. Cats are naturally
going to scratch. They are not doing this because they are mad at
you or because you got a new sofa, although it seems like it sometimes! They actually NEED to
scratch. There are many benefits to having scratching posts or corrugated cardboard scratchers available for your cats, it allows them to:
 Stretch their back and shoulder muscles in
different positions.
 Mark their territory by shredding and rubbing
another surface.
 De-stress and get rid of any kitty aggression.
 Keep their claws clean and healthy.
You can find many different
styles and sizes that even
match your furniture at local
pet supply stores like Petco,
PetSmart, Chow Down Pet
Supplies and J&M Aquatics.
Your cat will appreciate you
for their new scratcher and
you will definitely appreciate your cats’ new
scratching target!