Volunteer Spotlight: Heather Steinmann

Volunteer Spotlight: Heather Steinmann

Heather Steinmann has a rich history with Furry Friends.
She and her husband Jon joined the cat rescue organization about nine years ago after they adopted a kitten and its Mamma from the non-profit. When the couple learned that Furry Friends had a shelter, Heather said, “Oh there’s somewhere I can volunteer, and I started.”

Spotlight on Nomi Berger

Spotlight on Nomi Berger

I’m unique in that I volunteer my writing skills to this amazing rescue in Vancouver, WA from my home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! As for the journey that brought me here? Words are my passion and were my profession. A journalism graduate from The American University in Washington, D.C., I’m the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles.

Volunteer Spotlight: Betsy Sanford

Volunteer Spotlight: Betsy Sanford

Nothing gives Betsy Sanford more joy than getting to know the cats who live at the Furry Friends house and giving them “cuddles and a little fun.”
“They are each so unique,” she said. “I really enjoy trying to help a cat adjust to human touch and maybe relax a little if they are stressed.”

Working in Clark County: Jenn Hutchman, Furry Friends

Working in Clark County: Jenn Hutchman, Furry Friends

Furry Friends is a nonprofit no-kill cat rescue and adoption organization based in Vancouver. Serving the greater Vancouver-Portland metro area, Furry Friends seeks to provide local cats in need with proper medical and emotional care while waiting for a forever home, rescuing abused, abandoned, or otherwise unhoused or unadopted cats with a safe place to stay while searching for their perfect human companion.

Easter’s in sight and spring has sprung

Easter’s in sight and spring has sprung

Don’t let the Easter Bunny forget about your fluffy feline when he comes a hopping down the bunny trail. Remember the kitties with a basket filled with goodies they will like.
For the container, use a plastic basket or bucket, a decorative box or container made with untreated wood. Some of the purchased Easter baskets may be treated with toxic chemicals or paint. Handling the basket may be okay, but if your pet likes to chew on these tempting baskets, he/she may end up with an upset stomach.

Volunteer Spotlight: Lorien Kelly

Volunteer Spotlight: Lorien Kelly

A true animal lover, Lorien Kelly owns five cats and fosters others as needed, and she has a “little back patio sanctuary” where she feeds a family of raccoons and a pair of opossums.  Lorien became involved with Furry Friends in April 2018 while she was caring for an injured stray that showed up one day on her patio.

Furry Friends Review of 2022

Furry Friends Review of 2022

Fury Friends and our supporters are ending a most challenging year as 2022 draws to a close. The aftereffects of Covid on the veterinary profession and on animal welfare overall caused many trials, but we have risen to the challenges and look forward to growing and improving in 2023 with the help of our many dedicated volunteers.

Volunteer Spotlight : Cathy McCanta

Volunteer Spotlight : Cathy McCanta

    Furry Friends is lucky to have hundreds of amazing volunteers who dedicate hours upon hours of their time caring for our cats. Cathy McCanta is one such volunteer; she spends three mornings a week at our Halfway House shelter making sure our cats are fed, their rooms are cleaned, and most importantly that our cats are happy and healthy!

Volunteer Spotlight: Sara Lugo

Volunteer Spotlight: Sara Lugo

Sara Lugo, a Furry Friends volunteer since 2019, often rolls up her sleeves to clean the kitties’ house. She is the Team Lead on our Tuesday morning shift and frequently helps others on their shifts. Sara adopted a cat from Furry Friends several years ago, and shortly after retiring she made the decision to volunteer!

Volunteer Spotlight on Kelli Thompson

Volunteer Spotlight on Kelli Thompson

Introducing our new Volunteer Coordinator, Kelli Thompson! Kelli has been volunteering with Furry Friends for a little over a year, and initially started out as one of our kitten foster
parents. In that amount of time, Kelli and her husband, Josh McClellan, have fostered 8 different litters of kittens! You may have also seen them at the Halfway House, since Kelli and Josh have
recently been working as House Shift substitutes as well.

Furry Friends President’s Report for 2022

Furry Friends President’s Report for 2022

“What a year it has been! We have had many successes and many challenges along the way, but despite those challenges we have saved hundreds of cats and kittens and continue to make an impact on the community we serve.
One of the challenges that we are facing is that we are now feeling the full effect of the veterinarians partial closures from the past couple years of COVID19. With the community having limited to no access to spay and neuter services for 2020 and part of 2021, we are now seeing the result of that. It Kitten season ALL-YEAR-LONG. 

A Happy ending for a litter of kittens

A Happy ending for a litter of kittens

It was brought to Furry Friends attention in early September that at Frito Lay in Vancouver some of their workers (Chris and Will) had been feeding a stray cat for over a month. This particular day another worker (Josh) saw four-week-old kittens in a trailer that was stuffed full and probably 120 degrees inside.

Volunteer Spotlight on Amanda Kadell

Volunteer Spotlight on Amanda Kadell

Meet Amanda! She started volunteering with Furry Friends back when she was in high school, in order to complete community service hours for graduation. She took a break from volunteering after that, but started back up last fall after adopting one of our kitties, Leia. Unfortunately, her senior kitty wasn’t able to accept a new cat in the household, so Amanda and her family had to make the hard decision to relinquish Leia back to Furry Friends. Even though this meant she couldn’t adopt any more cats herself, she started volunteering in order to help the many other rescue kitties in need of forever homes!

Declawing is a Bad Idea

Declawing is a Bad Idea

Let’s talk about Onychectomy! What in the world does this word mean? Declawing. This is an operation to remove an animals claws surgically by means of amputation of the end bones on an animals toes. Popular misconception is only the nail is removed since the name means “nail excision” but since the phalanges are removed it would be better termed as a phalangectomy or surgical removal of the phalanges. Would this deter people from declawing if they knew it was similar to cutting off your own finger up to the first knuckle and not just removing your nail?

Keeping Kitties Indoors

Keeping Kitties Indoors

At Furry Friends we get a lot of questions on why we adopt out of kitties to indoor only homes. Many people feel guilty thinking they are depriving their cat the pleasures of being outdoors. Along with the freedom of being an outside cat comes may risks for your furry family member. We will discuss some of those below:

Volunteer Spotlight on Lisa Baxter

Volunteer Spotlight on Lisa Baxter

Lisa Baxter is one of our long-time volunteers. She has been volunteering with Furry Friends since 2013 as our auction procurement lead. Her son, Austin, volunteered for us for his senior project and she was so impressed by the volunteers and the annual auction she jumped in with both feet. This volunteer position is quite the job gathering items for our big annual fall auction while keeping track of donors and coming up with ideas for future auctions. 

Volunteer Spotlight on Jim Grafmyre

Volunteer Spotlight on Jim Grafmyre

Jim has been a volunteer for a little over a year now and has become invaluable as our jack of all trades and handyperson. This year he has repaired gutters, cleaned the roof, made a door for our hot water heater, helped to make improvements to get the commercial occupancy permit, fixed the outdoor lights, fixed a few catios, weather sealed windows, built/installed new interior doors, and continues to take care of whatever needs done. He says he has a long wish list of Sandi and Jenn’s projects to still complete. We keep him busy! 

Volunteer Spotlight on Freya Fisher

Volunteer Spotlight on Freya Fisher

One of our many dedicated volunteers is Freya Fisher. She has been volunteering with Furry Friends for the last year and a half. She began volunteering right after she moved to Vancouver, even before she found a house to live in! She came from Fairfax, Virginia where she volunteered at multiple animal shelters.

Pregnant Cat & Newborn Kitten Facts

Pregnant Cat & Newborn Kitten Facts

 1.     Cats can get pregnant when they are only 4 months old! So by the time they hit 1 year they can have up to 4 liters of kittens!
2.     Cats are only pregnant for around 63-65 days
3.     The process of preparing for kittens is called “queening”

Furry Friends is a nonprofit cat adoption organization. Its mission is to help homeless, relinquished and abused cats by providing spaying and neutering, medical care, and foster shelter for as long as it takes to find their forever home. Copyright © 2013 – 2020 Furry Friends. All rights reserved. Website design and development by Christina Roberts.