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For eight years, cats and kittens had a friend in Carol Cain.
In 2002, Cain created the Hobo Hotel Spankey Halfway House for Cats and Kittens, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter for felines.
The first cat Cain helped, the shelter's namesake, Hobo, is now 24 years old.
What began as a small group of dedicated cat rescuers has grown into quite an operation.
"The first shelter was a little hut for outside cats," said volunteer and Operations Coordinator Bette Talbot. Then, they grew into Cain's trailer. After that, the shelter moved to a storage facility.
"We had no idea we were going to be a shelter," said Talbot. "We were just rescuing cats."
Now, the Hobo Hotel has its own building with rooms dedicated to adult cats, young cats, pre- and post-op cats, a quarantine room for cats that get sick, a "shy room" and an FIV room for cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus.
Cain passed away in February. Diana Andersen, who has been involved in rescuing animals since 2000, has stepped in as director.
Hotel guests
Hobo Hotel, which is funded through donations, grants and fundraisers, has a capacity of about 50 cats, but typically houses 60-65 felines. Some are kittens, but most are adults — the oldest, at 15, is "Sweet Baby."
The Hotel has a permanent guest named Chalky. Chalky, a regal, firepoint Siamese, suffered abuse before being taken in by the shelter. Now, he greets people in the lobby and is the "resident wise old man," according to Ciri Miller, who takes care of and cleans up after the cats.
Chalky is not up for adoption — Cain said he was so special that she would only adopt him out for $1 million.
Hobo Hotel has several special-needs cats, including My Girl, who came to the shelter with a bulging eye that later had to be removed. My Girl spends her time in the shy room, but now loves being around people.
Cats spend as much time in the shy room as they need to to become used to people. Other residents of the shy room are Josh, who likes to hide under blankets, and Sky, who highlights one of the Hotel's important policies — adopters can return cats within 30 days.
"That's a good point about adult cats. We're willing to work with people," said Talbot. "If they adopt an adult cat, and it doesn't work out for any reason, we'll take them back."
For eight years, cats and kittens had a friend in Carol Cain.
In 2002, Cain created the Hobo Hotel Spankey Halfway House for Cats and Kittens, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter for felines.
The first cat Cain helped, the shelter's namesake, Hobo, is now 24 years old.
What began as a small group of dedicated cat rescuers has grown into quite an operation.
"The first shelter was a little hut for outside cats," said volunteer and Operations Coordinator Bette Talbot. Then, they grew into Cain's trailer. After that, the shelter moved to a storage facility.
"We had no idea we were going to be a shelter," said Talbot. "We were just rescuing cats."
Now, the Hobo Hotel has its own building with rooms dedicated to adult cats, young cats, pre- and post-op cats, a quarantine room for cats that get sick, a "shy room" and an FIV room for cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus.
Cain passed away in February. Diana Andersen, who has been involved in rescuing animals since 2000, has stepped in as director.
Hotel guests
Hobo Hotel, which is funded through donations, grants and fundraisers, has a capacity of about 50 cats, but typically houses 60-65 felines. Some are kittens, but most are adults — the oldest, at 15, is "Sweet Baby."
The Hotel has a permanent guest named Chalky. Chalky, a regal, firepoint Siamese, suffered abuse before being taken in by the shelter. Now, he greets people in the lobby and is the "resident wise old man," according to Ciri Miller, who takes care of and cleans up after the cats.
Chalky is not up for adoption — Cain said he was so special that she would only adopt him out for $1 million.
Hobo Hotel has several special-needs cats, including My Girl, who came to the shelter with a bulging eye that later had to be removed. My Girl spends her time in the shy room, but now loves being around people.
Cats spend as much time in the shy room as they need to to become used to people. Other residents of the shy room are Josh, who likes to hide under blankets, and Sky, who highlights one of the Hotel's important policies — adopters can return cats within 30 days.
"That's a good point about adult cats. We're willing to work with people," said Talbot. "If they adopt an adult cat, and it doesn't work out for any reason, we'll take them back."
Talbot advocates for older cats.
"I have taken in four cats that are over 10 years old," Talbot said. "One is now 24, one is 20 ... and they make great pets."
Special cases
Cats with special needs can also make great pets for the right people.
Other special needs cats housed at the Hotel are those infected with FIV. Michelle McCann cares for these felines.
"It's mainly blood-borne ... most of the cats that have it are male tom cats, and they transmit it to others because they are fighting, mating and biting," said McCann.
McCann said the virus cannot be transmitted to people or dogs, but she wouldn't recommend an FIVpositive cat being around other cats. FIV-positive cats can live a long time with the disease, but they may be prone to catching other illnesses since their immune systems are compromised.
One resident tortoise shell named Charmaine has a disease called stomatitis, which causes sores in her mouth. McCann said the best thing to do for stomatitis is to remove nearly all the back teeth. Charmaine has very few teeth, but she gets along like a normal cat.
"She does good," McCann said. "She eats regular food."
Outside interests
In addition to adoptions, Hobo Hotel offers a trap, neuter and release program for feral cats that may not be suitable for adoption.
"Just by fixing them, we're going to reduce the disease ... and, of course, the unwanted animal population," Talbot said.
In 2009, Hobo Hotel altered 526 cats and adopted out 329 cats.
"You have to get them in and get them fixed," said Andersen. "That's the one thing that we do promote here is spay and neuter. That's our number one goal."
Hobo Hotel helps locals with low-cost spay/neuter procedures through Lake Area Animal Hospital. Each pet the facility adopts out is spayed or neutered, microchipped and has all vaccinations. The adoption fee is $80.
According to the Humane Society, about four million cats and dogs — or one every eight seconds — are euthanized annually, and between six and eight million pets enter shelters every year.
Every cat adopted out by the Hobo Hotel is spayed or neutered, microchipped and has all vaccinations. The adoption fee is $80. In 2009, the facility altered 536 cats and adopted out 329.
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Information from: American Press, http://www.americanpress.com
