Lots of work by volunteers went into making the building ready to be a cat shelter. This used to be office space for another local business, so to turn it into a colony-based cat sheltering facility would require carpet removal, installation of new flooring that would be easy to clean (daily), fresh paint, and of course installation of items off the ground so the cats could go vertical if they chose to.
Of course over the life of the shelter (which opened near the end of 2011), we’ve made a few changes and improvements. Have a look inside our colony rooms today (click the first photo to view larger images with captions!):
Welcome to Cats Cradle Shelter!
Lots of daylight and elevation for cats to hang out.
All of the rooms have a hard surface floor and a storage cabinet hanging on the wall for supplies.
All of our colony rooms have at least 1 large window (some have 2).
Sliding windows can be opened to let that clean, fresh North Dakota air flow through the room. Windows are secure so we have no escapees.
This is our largest colony room. Toys and tunnels can be found in the rooms.
Shelves give the cats a place to get up high and each room has some type of seating for visitors (and cats).
Each room also has a large scratching post and Kuranda beds!
If a room’s window(s) doesn’t have a ledge for cats to lounge on, we put shelving up so they can take advantage of laying in the sun!
Many of our rooms also have wall items from The Vertical Cat.
Volunteers have also made shelves with short walls for the cats to relax in. Many times you will find a cat that is a little shy relaxing in these.
Plenty of cat beds and vertical space can be found in each room.
Donated seating, scratching post, Kuranda beds, and vertical spaces make a pleasant cat room.
Bright colors and large windows keep rooms bright during the daytime. No shortage of natural sunlight for our cats!
Stainless crates in our Isolation (ISO) room. When cats are admitted, they need to spend a few days here while their health is checked and they get their vaccinations. Once they are cleared to join the others, they are introduced to a colony room. Cats that are sick or recovering from medical procedures can also stay here.
