Monthly Archives: August 2018

Louie’s Happy Tail Ending

Posted in Happy Tails, Mewsletter by

Rachel and her partner Chris already had three cats and were not looking to adopt another when they sat down to read the VOKRA newsletter together earlier this year. Living with Type 1 diabetes herself, the article on Timmy, an older male Maine Coon with diabetes, really resonated with Rachel. In fact, one of her previous cats also had diabetes so she was familiar with how to care for a diabetic cat. However, they were already short on space and were confident Timmy would find a forever home soon.

Several months later another VOKRA email arrived in Rachel’s inbox featuring Timmy front and centre. Once again Timmy’s story was used to highlight how your donations to VOKRA are used to care for special kitties in need. Rachel’s heart went out to Timmy and, after convincing Chris, she contacted VOKRA to arrange a meeting.

Visiting Timmy at his foster home (only five blocks from her own!), Rachel was able to review his lengthy medical files. It turns out Timmy had been a struggling diabetic without a permanent home for nearly seven years. Furthering her bond with him, Rachel learned Timmy was on the same insulin and required the same glucose checks as she did. Despite her concerns that adopting Timmy into their happy three cat home could potentially disrupt the other cats’ lives, Rachel knew the value of giving Timmy the opportunity for a happy, stable home overshadowed the risks. Rachel and Chris decided to take the plunge and take Timmy home.

The first thing Rachel and Chris did when they adopted Timmy was to change his name to Louie. Shortly prior to his adoption, it was discovered that Louie needed emergency surgery to remove his teeth. The recovery was difficult for an older diabetic cat like Louie and developed pancreatitis. After a few close calls and attentive care from Rachel and Chris, Louie pulled through.

It took a month for all three cats to come around but Louie has now been accepted as part of the clowder. Louie’s a lover of all people food but is kept on a strict diet and schedule to manage his diabetes (even though Chris sneaks him a tiny taste here and there!). In fact, Louie’s diabetes has improved since his adoption and he now requires less daily units of insulin to manage his glucose levels.

Since Rachel treats her own diabetes she quickly accepted Louie’s needs as part of her routine. “I think, if anything, taking care of him has left me feeling like I’m not alone,” said Rachel. “It never felt to me like I was taking on too much more, but rather I was gaining someone who was helping me deal with my depression around diabetes. A support buddy!”

Thank you so much to Rachel and Chris for giving Louie the loving home he’s been waiting for. We wish you all many happy years together!

Would you like to share your Happy Tail? Email us at [email protected].


Wet Food is the Best Food

Posted in Mewsletter by

Little Nugget enjoying a snack

At VOKRA, we do our best to ensure all kitties who pass through our doors live the best lives they can. That’s why when we come across issues we always look for a pattern and try to find a solution.

Unfortunately, from time-to-time cats are returned to us due to behavioural issues, and the most common of these issues is peeing outside of the litter box. More times than not, the root cause is diet and stems from the fact the cat is fed primarily dry food.

Cats who eat mostly dry food also tend to have more urinary tract infections. And cats that are free fed, which is when food is left out for the cat to self-monitor their own diet, have it even worse as they’re often fat so they can’t clean themselves properly.

So, why is dry food the culprit?

Little Nugget with his mom Bonnie

Cats are designed by nature to be carnivores and their digestive tract, despite thousands of years of domestication, is not intended to assimilate dry food. Not only so, contrary to popular belief, dry food causes plaque to form on teeth. It’s also highly processed, making the body work anywhere from 12-18 hours to break it down. This means the cat is always half full and in a constant state of digestion. On the other hand, raw food moves through the body within four hours, while wet food takes 8-12 hours for the body to metabolize it.

Karen Duncan, co-founder of VOKRA, has fed a raw diet to all of her animals for more than 20 years and fully recommends a wet or raw diet for all kitties. At VOKRA, FirstMate is our first choice for the cats in our care and Karen explains why:

“We got involved with FirstMate a few years ago. They’re a local company, which beats buying masses of food shipped from the US. Every product is cruelty free as the protein is sourced ethically – all wild salmon and tuna, never farmed. There’s never any guar gum or thickeners. Instead, potatoes or peas are used. Their packaging is also epoxy free and the label is foil laminate, making everything recyclable. VOKRA’s very confident of the quality of FirstMate food and are able to get answers quickly from them if any arise.”

All of these reasons are why we feel so strongly about feeding cats a diet that primarily consists of wet or raw food.

So if your kitty is peeing outside of the box, has frequent urinary infections or stinky breath it will most likely be worthwhile for you to switch their diet away from dry. It will help save their health and will cost you less trips to the vet.

If you’d like to learn more about why wet is best click here.

Walk for the KITTENS!

Posted in Mewsletter by

Kittens, kittens and more kittens.

Kitten season may be the cutest time of the year, but it means a lot of extra costs and work for us here at VOKRA. Each year during kitten season we care for more than 600 kittens, and this year’s no exception.

As a volunteer-driven non-profit, we count on your support to be able to rescue so many kittens.

Kittens in our care have a chance at a happy, safe and healthy life. Kittens like these cuties who were found living at an industrial site out in Abbotsford. These little guys were lucky enough to be trapped by our dedicated volunteers and will now spend the rest of their lives in loving homes.

And, by taking these kittens off the streets and ensuring they’re spayed and neutered, we’re also breaking the cycle preventing more unwanted kittens from being born. It doesn’t take very long for five kittens to become 35, and for 35 kittens to become 105 and so on.

Kittens like these are just five of the thousands of reasons why we Walk for the Kitties.

Each year, VOKRA rescues more than 1,400 homeless cats and kittens from around the Lower Mainland. Our work is made possible through the generous support of volunteers, adopters and people like you.

Walk for the Kitties is our largest fundraising event of the year. This 5k fun walk takes place at Jericho Beach on September 16 and all funds raised go directly towards supporting our rescue efforts. Learn more here.

Without your support we wouldn’t be able to afford to rescue all these cats and kittens.

Please help this September 16 by joining us for Walk for the Kitties, presented by FirstMate.

Eventbrite - VOKRA Walk for the Kitties 2018

Can’t make it on September 16? You can still donate today!

 

Springtime at Ops

Posted in Rescue Stories by

Forget fall; it’s springtime all over again at our Operations Centre. Spring the kitten, that is. This little feline has been getting her fair share of attention here at Ops, with playtime and cuddles galore.

Sweet Spring’s mom was one of the many cats in Vancouver who aren’t spayed or neutered, leading to a lot of unwanted kittens for her owner. VOKRA staff and volunteers helped to spay Spring’s mom, and they’re now working hard to get Spring and her brothers and sisters ready for forever homes.

With her big amber eyes and attractive Bengal-like brown and yellow markings, Spring’s sure to be a hit when it comes time for her to be adopted. But there’s a problem. Spring’s the runt of the litter and she’s been having organ troubles. Her kidneys in particular show some congenital difficulties. Not so long ago, Spring was really nauseated and couldn’t pee or eat. Everyone at Ops spent a lot of time helping with her treatments and giving her some much-needed love.

Right now Spring’s back to her regular self. She loves to chase plastic ball toys around her kennel and afterwards scratch her small nails on her cardboard ramp or snuggle up to her many admirers.

As a no-kill rescue, our volunteers strive to give a fighting change to every cat, including kittens like Spring, whose health problems could have led to her euthanization at other centres. Everyone at Ops is hoping for a long and happy life for little Spring, with a loving friend to take care of her. There may be some colder weather ahead for this tiny kitten as she may still need some special care. But we’re all in her corner and won’t let her down.

Kittens like Spring are just one of the thousands of reasons why we Walk for the Kitties.

Each year, VOKRA rescues more than 1,400 homeless cats and kittens from around the Lower Mainland. Unlike many other animal rescue groups, VOKRA is a volunteer-driven, no-kill organization. Our work is made possible through the generous support of volunteers, adopters and people like you.

Without your support we wouldn’t be able to afford to rescue all these cats and kittens.

Please help us help kitties like Spring this September 16 by joining us for Walk for the Kitties, presented by FirstMate.

Eventbrite - VOKRA Walk for the Kitties 2018

Walk for the Kitties is our largest fundraising event of the year. This 5k fun walk takes place at Jericho Beach and all funds raised go directly towards supporting our rescue efforts. Learn more here.

Can’t make it on September 16? You can still donate today!

Volunteer of the Month – August 2018

Posted in volunteers by

As a volunteer-driven non-profit, VOKRA wouldn’t exist without our volunteers. Currently we have more than 400 volunteers working hard to ensure the kitties in our care get everything they need and are adopted in loving homes. But how do we find all these volunteers? That’s where our volunteer recruitment team comes in. This month we’re celebrating one of our volunteers who helps us find volunteers – Raj Johal. Here Raj tells us in his own words why he volunteers with VOKRA:

 

At the beginning of university, I wanted to get involved and volunteer to not only get experience but to meet others and make an impact. With me wanting to pursue a career in medicine the first thing that came to mind was a hospital. I started volunteering there but felt I couldn’t contribute towards anything significant or make any sort of meaningful impact. Thus, I started searching again and stumbled upon VOKRA. I had always loved animals so as I got to learn more about what this organization did and how they achieved it I knew it was the right fit and I wanted to be a part of it.

I was also fortunate enough to have gotten the position of recruitment coordinator allowing me to talk to a wide range of individuals. This is undoubtedly my favorite part of being a recruiter as I get to talk to and hear from people of different cultures and backgrounds. I’ve now heard countless stories about how cats or other animals have made a difference in people’s lives which I find to be truly inspiring. All these volunteers and their mutual love of animals and passion for helping is why I believe VOKRA has been able to do such a good job. The fact I get to play a part in introducing them to our organization is instrumental for me and something that always makes me smile.

In terms of my role, I started off as a recruitment coordinator and then in conjunction was also the team lead for over two years. I’ve really enjoyed both roles, as a recruiter I’m responsible for screening volunteer applications which involves interviewing volunteers and ultimately placing them in positions that fill our needs, but most importantly makes them happy. As a team lead, I was responsible for coordinating with other team leads to determine volunteer needs, making and refining volunteer positions along with applications, recruiting volunteers via postings and presentations, and finally ensuring our team was a cohesive unit that worked hard to fill all these gaps.

Over the years, I’ve formed many memories  I believe have shaped me into who I am today. The one that stands out is from last year when Shoaib, one of our recruitment coordinators, and I did a presentation at a senior care home. The purpose of this presentation was to recruit new volunteers. I don’t remember now how many ended up applying but what I do remember is this story of an older lady with her cat. She talked to us at the end about how having her cat was such a huge support network for her when she was severely depressed and without any family or friends. It just goes to show that not only are we helping cats but also indirectly making a positive impact on people. It makes me very proud to be a part of VOKRA when I hear how highly people think of this organization!

I am now volunteering as a recruitment coordinator while Michelle leads this team to hopefully become even better and efficient. However, I have learned a tremendous amount in my time here and met many altruistic individuals. I believe these to be a key part of why I got into medical school and something that I’ll always remember now that I embark on this journey!

THANK YOU Raj for all your hard work and dedication through the years. We’re so proud you’ve succeeded in being accepted into medical school at UBC and have no doubt you’re going to be a fabulous doctor!

As a volunteer-driven non-profit, we clearly couldn’t do what we do without our extremely dedicated and hard working team of volunteers. Thank you to each and every one of you!

VOKRA is always in need of volunteers, especially in the summer months. If you’re interested in volunteering with us visit our website at vokra.ca/volunteer.