Love and Meows for July’s Volunteer of the Month, Michael Ma!

I always loved animals but never considered doing anything beyond loving them. My family never had pets and the parents always said no to adopting so it never occurred to me that I could do anything with animals beyond loving them from a distance. But ever since I had a school trip to an animal shelter, I always found some way to volunteer at one shelter or another. I would enroll in different programs that needed volunteers to do things from paperwork for animals to cleaning and scrubbing cages to helping socialize animals. I’ve found each experience rewarding in its own way and was always sad when a program ended or I had to stop volunteering due to factors like moving.

Then one day I decided to volunteer directly at KittyKind. I signed up for Saturday morning shift and I felt that the people on the shift were just like me. I clean cages, feed the cats, play and talk with them (sometimes they talk back) and take an insane amount of pictures so that I can spam my friends with them. I would often stay after my shift to play with the cats and help out the adoption reps with anything they needed. I love volunteering at KittyKind and hope to be helping out for a long time.

Three Purrs for Volunteer of the Month, Eunice Park!

I wasn’t always crazy about cats. But I was crazy about a boy who was. And he said I should give them a chance. We rescued our first cat, Kiki three years ago from a mobile adoption van in Park Slope. We were told that Kiki had been abandoned and found in a box with his siblings. I became hopelessly enamored of him. Two years later, we adopted Nara from KittyKind. There were so many abandoned and homeless animals that needed help, I started to think about other ways I could make a difference.

I had never volunteered for anything before, until KittyKind. I started working directly with cats at the adoption center, helping with general care like feeding and cleaning cages to rescued kittens and cats waiting adoption. Looking back, what made my experience so rewarding and successful was my Saturday morning crew. We immediately bonded over our love for cats but more importantly, we shared a common goal, which brought everyone on the same page and allowed us to work with collective passion. Over the course of two years, I saw many great volunteers come and go, and it made me think about how I could have more impact.

Earlier this year, I transitioned into a volunteer manager role where I’m overseeing the recruiting and training process at KittyKind. I’m excited about growing our KittyKind team and building up what I hope will become a more scalable organization. It’s funny to think until three years ago I never had a cat and never actually desired one. Today, I have two and since joining KittyKind, we have found homes for over 1,500 cats. Volunteering at KittyKind has been immensely rewarding and I hope to continue working with my incredible team for many years to come.

NYC Cat Rescue to Host Farewell Screening of the World-Famous Walker Internet Cat Video Festival

KittyKind Inc, an all-volunteer animal welfare organization and one of the oldest cat adoption groups in New York City, will be hosting a farewell screening of the wildly popular Walker Internet Cat Video Festival June 29^th and 30th. Produced by Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center, the Internet Cat Video Festival began in 2012 as a “communal experience” for fans of the online phenomenon of viral cat videos. What resulted is nothing short of a sensation. After beginning an international tour in 2013, the Walker Internet Cat Video Festival has attracted crowds of tens of thousands around the world for four straight years.

Unfortunately, KittyKind’s screening of the Internet Cat Video Festival, which will take place at Anthology Film Archives from 7:30 to 9:30pm on Wednesday June 29^th and Thursday June 30^th, is the last time the Walker Internet Cat Video Festival will ever be in New York City. “We think that cat videos will live on without us, and we’re really excited for other people to take up the mantle and program their own festivals,” Walker Art Center design director Emmet Byrne told the Star Tribune earlier this year.

The Walker Internet Cat Video Festival is a 70 minute compilation of videos curated by Will Braden, creator of the Henri Le Chat Noir videos, and includes the most touching, hilarious and artistic internet cat videos of our time. There will be complimentary beverages, wine, and hors d’oeuvres following the screening, from 9 to 9:30pm. Hors d’oeuvres are generously provided by East Village favorite Lil’ Frankie’s. All ages are welcome and cat attire is strongly encouraged! Proceeds of this screening will benefit KittyKind and provide life-saving support for cats awaiting adoption. Tickets can be purchased at kittykind.org/film.

Though New York City is saying goodbye to the Walker Internet Cat Video Festival, the Walker Art Museum has donated its internet cat archives to the Minneapolis Historical Society and rumors of the next phase in the festival’s life (a new CatVidFest) are already purr-collating. Says KittyKind President Marianne Mathieu, “KittyKind experiences how powerful the love of cats can be in uniting the community every day.  We are honored the Walker Art Center has chosen us as a partner for the farewell tour of the Internet Cat Video Festival. The Internet Cat Video Festival will help us to save many animal lives. We know there are exciting things in store for these incredible internet cat archives in the future.”

To learn more visit http://www.kittykind.org or call KittyKind at 212-726-2652.

Meet Our Volunteer of the Month for April, Ashley Vazquez!

In 2012, after high school, I took a break to do some volunteer work. I trained at KittyKind as cleaner and feeder for the cats, and stayed in that role for a year. In 2013 I requested to assist the adoption reps with adoptions. In 2014 I was offered the AMAZING opportunity to foster orphaned bottle babies. I’ve had more than 40 kittens in my home since. It’s a 24/7 job I wouldn’t trade for the world. Fostering these infant babies has become my entire life. Most people my age are out clubbing and I’m home on a Friday night helping a week old kitten poop! Since volunteering, I became a certified veterinary assistant, now taking courses to become a licensed veterinary technician (LVT). I’ve worked at animal emergency hospitals like FAVS and Blue Pearl. I was apart of the first team to work at the ASPCA Kitten Nursey. And now I work with our KittyKind’s veterinarian partner, Dr Gagliardi, at Cooper Square Veterinary Hospital. This year I started on KittyKind’s intake team, working with the public to get the sweet cats we have now. I’m also training as an adoption representative and can’t wait to find forever homes for our kids! Thank you KittyKind for helping shape who I am today!

Behind the fur with KittyKind’s Volunteer of the Month, Aimee Gordon

                  Aimee feeding the strays in Tel Aviv

My love and experience with cats is relatively new, having started right before adopting in March 2010. I had grown up with dogs so I was never lucky enough to spend quality time with cats. My boyfriend and I had just moved in together and were interested in adopting an animal. While we were initially thinking of adopting a dog, we ultimately decided a cat would be a better fit for our lifestyle, and after a fateful sighting of a mouse in our apartment, it seemed like the right choice! We had visited cats at the ASPCA several times to meet the different characters, and it was during our last visit that we met Batman, a one year old recent owner surrender, who stole our hearts. I immediately fell in love with our first child! We decided three months later to adopt him a brother, and sure enough a three-month old tabby renamed Flash Gordon (Gordon!), completed the family! “Cats are kids too.” has become my motto!

Like many people, I had stumbled across KittyKind as I frequented Petco to purchase supplies for my kids. I felt such sadness seeing those precious faces in the cages, and I knew I had to contribute in some way. I started by cleaning and feeding once a week on Wednesdays, and Wednesdays immediately became my favorite day of the week. I was no longer sad seeing the cats in the cages because I knew they received such great care, attention and affection from our amazing volunteers. It happened by chance that a fellow volunteer introduced me to Miriam so I could learn more about the adoptions aspect of the organization. I learned so much from her and credit her with my wonderful experience, and I’m happy to report that I now work three shifts a week as an adoption counselor. Suffice it to say, KittyKind has become my home and has provided me with a supportive network of like-minded friends and colleagues that I’m so grateful to have.

                              At home with Flash and Batman

FIV cats are no different…

Please consider adopting an FIV + cat…it’s not a death sentence!
Some of the best cats we had/ have were FIV +

❤

HAPPY TAIL! Chloe

All is well with Chloe. We love her so much! She is sooooo cuddly, and loves playing fetch with her toys. It’s adorable! Here are some pictures we have of her. Some of them are a bit dorky, but that’s just because we love her so much!

HAPPY TAIL! Dexy

Dexy is a lovable, fun, and extremely cuddly kitty. He is such a wonderful addition to the family and I am so glad I was able to give this senior cat a forever home!

Happy Tail Arthur (adopted by KittyKind’s President Marianne Mahieu)

“Here are some pictures of Arthur in his new home and with his new cat friends, Magee and Lois.T he picture of him in the window (he’s facing the window) with my 17-year-old cat Magee is quite remarkable because Magee never even let his own brother or Lois sit next to him like that!”

March Cat of the Month: Luna