Animal Welfare Professionals

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

Our cats don't have a specific spot in adoptions set aside for them, and we have a few different types of spaces they could go into: condos that are a little bit bigger than their double kennels in the back rooms, a "villa" which is a small room, and our group rooms that can house 5-10 cats. Cats that are ready for surgery get picked up by our medical staff around 7-8 am and brought over to a separate building where they do surgery (this building is on the same lot as our stray and adoption building so not far) and then in the evening around 4-5pm they are all brought back over to the main building and put in a spot in adopt either by the medical team or volunteers.  All of our kennels are pre set up for the cats with clean towels/bedding, bowls, and toys. 

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

Would it be possible to bundle up and label their whatever should stay with the cats and then bring their labeled belongings to the adoptable side? That way staff can easily grab their things when they're moving the cats out of surgery.

Our cats don't have a specific spot in adoptions set aside for them, and we have a few different types of spaces they could go into: condos that are a little bit bigger than their double kennels in the back rooms, a "villa" which is a small room, and our group rooms that can house 5-10 cats. Cats that are ready for surgery get picked up by our medical staff around 7-8 am and brought over to a separate building where they do surgery (this building is on the same lot as our stray and adoption building so not far) and then in the evening around 4-5pm they are all brought back over to the main building and put in a spot in adopt either by the medical team or volunteers.  All of our kennels are pre set up for the cats with clean towels/bedding, bowls, and toys. 

We use the Stretch & Scratch pads for our cats and move them with the cats. In our shelter, cats move directly from the pre-adopt side to the adoption floor, except for the brief few hours they're in the medical room for s/n (if needed). There's really no point at which they don't have a cage set up for them, so it's easy for us to move their scratcher with them (and all their other belongings - they keep the same bedding, hiding box, Kuranda, litter box, etc., unless they are dirty/damaged and need to be replaced). We even keep their scratchers with them when they go to our satellite adoption facility in PetSmart. We write the cat's name on the scratcher so it stays with the correct cat.

It's not clear to me what the process of moving is in your shelter, but maybe just skipping the surgery room (assuming they're only in there for a brief time) and putting all their stuff directly in their cage on the adoption floor would be better if the surgery room is where the break down is.

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!

I think having scratchers is an important thing for cats.  We always recommend new adopters having them as well as try to give out donated ones to fosters and adopters. We also always offer to show how to trim nails to make sure they are comfortable with it.

It is important that cats have the ability to preform their natural behaviors in their kennels in the shelter, one of which is scratching. In the past our shelter tried providing every cat in our back kennels with a scratcher and the idea was for that same scratcher to stay with them through surgery and onto the adopt floor. Setting kennels up with the round scratchers we had was not an issue, where it almost immediately fizzled out was when the cat was picked up by the medical team to go to surgery or the transport from surgery to adopt. The scratchers were almost never going with the cats. That was over a year ago. Where we are at now is providing the scratchers either to cats who are clearly frustrated, or sometimes as one of the many different kinds of daily enrichment they may receive. When there is a cat that has a scratcher going to adopt that didn't need surgery, my animal care staff is usually good about bringing that with them to their new kennel.

This was recently brought back up to me when someone on the medical team gave a scratcher to a frustrated cat and when they asked the vets if they should make a note about it somewhere the vets said that every cat should have one (even though they know exactly why they don't all have one). And while that irked me that they were so passive about it and not acknowledging the flaws in the system, it did re-spark my want to revisit this topic.

My thoughts are to either come up with some other system (maybe setting up all stray and adopt kennels with scratchers? although then we would need to buy basically twice as many) or just try the old plan again but be more diligent about making sure that everyone at every step knows and follows that plan. If your shelter is able to successfully have access to scratchers for all cats, how do you do it? Do you have suggestions for a different plan, or how to talk to other departments about sticking to the plan and the importance of having the scratcher? Or just advice in general would be awesome!