Purr-fect Cat Shelter Fur Bowl March 4th

FUR BOWL 2018, a bowling fundraiser to benefit the Purr-fect Cat Shelter will be held Sunday, March 4, 2018 at Ryan Family Amusements, 1170 Main St. (Rt. 109) Millis. Bowling begins promptly at 3:30 p.m. Bowler check-in and registration will begin at 3 p.m. The afternoon of bowling fun and raffles to help raise much needed funds for the homeless cats and kittens cared for by the Purr-fect Cat Shelter. Registration is $20 per bowler and includes 2 games of bowling, shoe rental and refreshments. Registered participants will also be entered for a chance to win a $25 Especially for Pets Gift Card. All ages and skill levels are invited to participate. The event will also include the drawing of a scratch ticket raffle, with the prize of 100 $5 Mass Lottery tickets for $10 per chance.
The Purr-fect Cat Shelter has been in operation for 24 years, according to volunteer Donna Elbery, who’s been a volunteer for two decades after she’d lost her own cat. “It was formed by a group of concerned citizens that got together,” she says. “Back then, there was a huge stray cat problem.”
Since its creation, the shelter has adopted out 2,825 cats, with about 80 to 100 adopted out each year.
The shelter, located in a small converted home within a quiet neighborhood in the Medway area since 2007, has a homey feel for the kitties, with piped-in music and lots of windows.
“We pride ourselves on how it is inside,” says Elbery, with each cage equipped with its own tools, information about the cats and, metal bowls.
Elbery notes that volunteers who have a love of animals are always needed. Volunteers must be at least 18 and complete a training. Volunteers are also needed to do clerical work and even provide foster homes to kitties.
The shelter provides two types of foster care, and volunteers are needed in both areas. Volunteers must have a room they can dedicate to their foster kitty, especially if they have other pets, says Elbery. Also, foster parents need to have time to spend with their temporary charges.
“Basically, it’s just the time to be able to take care of them until there’s space at the shelter,” she says. “Some may need a little bit of medical care, or just until we can get them to the vet.”
In other cases, a permanent foster situation is needed, as, for example, the case of a cat with a long-term illness. Elbery, for example, has “three fosters, two of which are diabetic, and then one, he’s just very skittish and shelter life just wasn’t good for him.” Veterinary care for permanent fosters is taken care of by the shelter.
Other volunteers may opt to simply bake for the shelter’s bake sale, which will take place on March 30th this year, outside Wal-Mart in Bellingham.
Because of its residential location and town permit, the shelter does not have open adoption hours. If you are interested in meeting its boarders in person, you must contact the shelter through by email at purrfectcatshelter@yahoo.com or leave a message at the message center at (508) 533-5855.
Donations are also always welcome.
“We have to pay for veterinarian care and general supplies, like food and litter,” says Elbery. The adoption fee includes an exam by veterinarian, spay or neuter, testing for feline leukemia and FIV, age-appropriate vaccines, deworming and microchipping, as well as flea treatment, says Elbery.
“Everything is done for them,” she says, of the adoptive parents, who come from many nearby towns. “It used to be just the local areas, but people will travel for a cat if they see one on the website they like.”
In addition to helping out the Purr-fect Cat Shelter through the Fur Bowl on March 4th, the bake sale on March 30th, or just by a simple donation, you can also help out through the “Adopt-a-cage” program, for a minimum of $5 per month, or you can purchase one of the cat shelter’s 2018 calendars for $15, available at the website.
The shelter also has a wishlist, says Elbery.
Things we can use include clay litter, paper towels, dish detergent, cat toys, tall kitchen trash bags – Those are things we go through a lot and could really use. (People) can contact us if they have donations.
Overall, says Elbery, “Our goal is to match the cat to the right family and the right situation.”
For more information, visit the Purr-fect Cat Shelter’s website at www.purrfectcatshelter.org, find them on Facebook, or email purrfectcatshelter@yahoo.com, call the Message Center at (508) 533-5855.
The Purr-fect Cat Shelter is a non-profit, no-kill, all volunteer organization providing care and shelter to homeless cats and kittens with the ultimate goal of finding permanent loving homes for each cat.