Spotlight: Purrfect Pals

Today I'm pleased to highlight one of our favorite shelters in the Seattle area, Purrfect Pals. A progressive shelter founded in 1988, Purrfect Pals takes the position that every cat deserves a chance and is strongly committed to finding a home for every cat and kitten in their care. They operate a traditional animal shelter helping cats and kittens find new families as well as a sanctuary for hard to place cats who may not be able to be placed in homes due to medical or behavioral issues. Currently, about 250 cats live at their sanctuary. Though these special cats may not necessarily be available for adoption, they can be sponsored by concerned friends who wish to help provide for their care.

Purrfect Pals also sponsors a great annual tradition the Average Joe Cat Show. The Average Joe Cat Show is all about what's really important, our relationships with our furry friends, and not some fake ideal of a "pure breed" cat. It's always a popular event (attendees at the 2007 show are pictured to the right) and always a lot of fun. All participants in the show are up for an award in any of several different fun categories, and there is always room for everyone to receive a second place ribbon! If you are looking for other events to attend until next cat show next spring, the organization also hosts the Black Cat Ball fundraiser, featuring a dinner and auction, each year at the end of October.

Robert and I are glad that there are shelters like Purrfect Pals around. They are a rare shelter that specializes in caring for cats, and they do deserve your support. If you have a house full of furry friends right now and can't adopt a new cat any time soon, please consider making a donation for the kitties staying at the Purrfect Pals.

Thinking About Vegan Cat Food, Part 2

Earlier in the year, I told our readers about plans to give vegan cat food a try - that is, cat food not derived from animal products. I also promised to give a follow-up report on how things went. I said at that time, that "as people who care about animals, we naturally discover that we have to make ethical choices." The ethical dilemma I was trying to address is whether it is "just to nurture one animal by means that necessitate killing another." The heart of the matter is whether it is acceptable to kill other animals in order to feed our own domestic cats. The answer to me seems fairly clear that it is not, especially as long as alternate means exist. And they do.

It was an easy decision to reach that the responsible thing to do is to try vegan cat food in our own house. We decided to give Evolution Diet Pet Food a try to see if our cats would eat it. Overall, the reception was mixed. In terms of dry food, it seems that our cats will happily eat this particular brand of vegan cat food. If mixed in with their usual cat food, they will eat the vegan dry food just fine. Over time, we could adjust the mix to slowly increase the percentage of vegan cat food until the transition is complete. Wet food, on the other hand, is another matter. After a few nibbles, both our adult cats decided that it just wasn't for them. From the samples we served our cats, the wet food just did not have a similar texture or smell to the traditional food we've given them in the past. It may just be that the change was too much for their liking.

Of course, we can only say for our own cats and for this particular brand, that these results hold true. Until we can try other brands, it is impossible to say whether our cats are simply being picky (and who doesn't know a finicky cat!) or whether they just insist on having animal products for dinner. We'll keep looking for good vegan alternatives for pet food for our little family, and I'll post any further results here. I think the important thing to remember is that we have a responsibility to give vegan pet food a try as long as good alternatives exist. If we can reduce or eliminate the suffering of animals trapped in the pet food industry production chain by simply choosing other sources of pet food, then any small effort will have been worth it.