FELINES
FINDING FURREVER HOMES Kitty Kat Haven is the only cat rescue of its kind in Alabama By Jeana Durst There’s a new haven for felines in Hoover. Actually, it’s a new facility for a mission that’s been rescuing cats and kittens since 2016. It all started when co-founder Rita Bowman decided to retire and formalize her 40-year “unofficial” mission of rescuing cats to start the nonprofit Kitty Kat Haven. Along with co-founder Charlie Starr, Bowman first opened a brick and mortar home for cats near Alford Avenue Vet Clinic. But as of April of 2020, they had raised enough money to buy a new 2,400-square-foot home on Columbiana Road. This new facility has lots of space and windows and is completely “cat-i-fied,” Bowman jokes. With shelves for climbing that line the walls and special bacterial-resistant vinyl plank flooring, it’s a safe and clean playground for the adult cats they are adopting out. “Our facility fosters house cats and kittens that either have been tossed out or dumped in various places across
Alabama; sometimes we take in cats whose time is up at some of the kill shelters,” Bowman says. The space allows plenty of opportunity for the cats to be socialized in a home environment where they grow accustomed to hearing house noises like the sound of a washing machine. “It also helps with the socialization of the cats to have all these people come in and pet them,” Bowman says. (Right now they are operating with best practices for COVID-19 safety guidelines when it comes to visitors.) Another thing that makes Kitty Kat Haven unique is that it is a no-cage and no-kill shelter. “This is easier on the cat—less stressful,” Bowman says. As she points out, a cat in a cage is a scared cat. Having a home for adoption visits also means that potential cat owners can see them in their natural habitat. It’s then that the cat often
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