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| The Book Shop |
| 608 South Dubuque Street - Iowa City IA 52240-4231 - 319-400-1817 - www.thebookshop2.com - thebookshop@q.com |
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| Our Work With Cats |
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The Book Shop has been at its current location since May of 1986 and since almost the day we entered this interesting neighborhood, we've been caring for lost and feral cats. With a little help from a large number of cat lovers and store customers, we've been able to feed, house and keep safe from as few as a couple to as many as twenty cats and kittens at a time. Cats find us. Bounded by railroad tracks and Ralston Creek, our backyard is a little like a slice of state park dropped within a couple blocks of an always bustling downtown Iowa City. And cats, lost and hungry, have an uncanny way of finding the food and safety we try to provide. We offer cats who more or less become residents a heated cat house, complete with cat beds, cat food, fresh water and cat-friendly access and egress. While they have complete freedom to enter and multiple exits to leave the cat house, they are safe from predators and humans alike, who can't get into the cat house without a key. As well, we built a separate sheltered outdoor feeding area for those cats who are shy about entering the usually populated cat house. Those cats have the run of our several small storage buildings, where so many who are lost and frightened can find the safe niches they need to rest and recuperate from whatever ordeals led them here. Again, with help, over the last few years we've been able to participate in spay/neuter-release programs which allow cats to continue to live in the protected environment we're happy to provide, without further reproducing. Although cats with kittens do find us, we're doing what we can capture, spay and neuter all the cats who come into our care. Most of the cats we care for eventually become socialized to us. We feed them and spend time with them no less than twice a day, every day, enough for most of them to develop trust, to allow petting, and then holding. Once a cat progresses to this point, we begin to work toward its adoption. One by one we bring these once lost, feral, even asocial cats into our store, introduce them to our resident cats, teach them how to use the litter box, how to play and then how to meet new people. Cats we've brought in have universally shown great affection and something we might even be tempted to call cat gratitude (if it wouldn't spoil their reputation). They have all graduated to become exceptional indoor pets.Notes On Adoption While we're fond of cats, we've been around them long enough to know that they're capable of less than healthy behavior. Therefore, we ask that those who seek to adopt cats from us realize and respect that they are adopting indoor cats. Indoor cats should never be let out of doors, unless on a leash, or unless it's into an escape-proof run. Because even the wisest cats wander and lose track of where of they are, cats too often become lost when let loose outside, and nothing good happens to lost cats. We also ask that the long-term responsibility of adopting one or more cats be clearly recognized. As food and care for cats has improved over the years, it's not unusual for cats to live well beyond twenty years old. Please consider the decades-long commitment involved when you're contemplating a cat addition to your family. Feeding: Our own experience, as well as the advice of veterinarians we trust and admire, is that cats are healthiest when they always have access to food and clean, fresh water. Feeding cats too infrequently often leads to health problems, including (perhaps counter-intuitively) obesity. We have found that a bowl of dry food should always be available and that twice a day cats be given canned food. Cat digestion and cat dental health each benefit from having both dry and canned food in their diet. And, having access to cat grass, or oat grass, helps with their digestion as well. The cat family: Is there a perfect number of cats for your household? So much depends on how large your home is and often you actually are at home. Cats, being social and tribal animals, almost always do best when there's more than one in the home, most especially when their humans are away from home most of the day. Singleton cats who live with a human who spends almost all of his or her time at home can and do thrive but if you need to be away, as in having to go to work or school, cats will do best with one of their own as company.The cost of adoption? There is no cost to adopt the cats we have prepared for adoption. Our interest is simply in seeing that the cats in our care find loving homes. Friends Of Animals We support and applaud the fine work of:
We thank the following donors for their generous support:
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Copyright © 2010 The Book Shop. Copyright of this document is owned by The Book Shop Iowa City IA 52240. All rights are reserved. Reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, in any manner, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law.