KITTENS!!!
By Marielle Shaw in Arts & Entertainment on May 11, 2014 7:00PM
Anastacia- Photo by Marielle Shaw
If cats don’t actually *run* the internet secretly while we’re at work, they’re certainly a huge part of it. From memes to cat celebs like Lil’ Bub and Grumpy Cat, feline popularity is at an all-time high.
They’re smart, somehow sarcastic (perhaps slightly sadistic), and yet still incredibly loving animals. Cats are now a more popular pet than dogs, with the Humane Society reporting that US pet owners house 95.6 million cats versus the 83.3 million pooches in our places of residence. In Britain, cat pictures are reportedly more popular than the selfie. If that’s not saying something, we don’t know what is.
Kittens, then, are at the top of the heap for the cutest damned things on earth, a virtual kryptonite to most bad moods. But it’s not all balls of yarn and empty grocery bags for these critters. Shelters sometimes fill up with the little buggers, and kittens are more difficult and more expensive to care for than their more mature kitty friends, averaging $300 for care. Oftentimes, caring for homeless kittens just isn’t sustainable for standard shelters. But before you break out the McLachlan tapes, know that here in Chicago, there’s something you can do to help.
The Tree House Humane Society will be hosting its fifth annual Kitten Shower on May 17th from 11 am to 2 pm. Tree House is a cageless, no kill shelter that specializes in treating and rehabilitating sick, injured, abused and neglected kitties, as well as offering low and no cost spaying and neutering for both dogs and cats. The kitten shower’s goal is to help collect the extra supplies needed to care for the cavalcade of cuteness. Guests to the event are asked to bring shower gifts in the form of necessary supplies for our fuzzy friends.
This includes kitten formula, human baby food (only in meat flavors), toys, kitten nursing bottles, cat litter, scratching posts and stainless steel bowls. A full list of items that are requested can be found on Treehouse’s Amazon wishlist. Even if you can’t attend the shower in person, you can still donate—anything bought off the list will be shipped directly to the shelter. For those who can attend, expect little tiny kittens, baby shower games, a donation bar stocked with meowmosas (we couldn’t make this stuff up) and some how-tos on kitten care and safe trapping of feral kitten moms.
This is looking to be a near overdose of cuteness, and a great way to help homeless furballs get the care they need before finding forever homes. Think of the kittens, and plan to drop in or donate.
Tree House Humane Society is located at 1133 W. Fulton Market Rd.