Caturday Art: To the Rescue

For those of you who have been visiting our blog throughout this week, you might know that I have been on a bit of quote frenzy with my artsy endeavors and doodles. Today is no different. I have yet again picked some of my favorite words of wisdom to illustrate for Athena's Caturday Art blog hop. And, of course, I was heavily inspired by some fantastic furbabies I happen to know.

Is this not one of the truest sentiments out there? Adopt and rescue!

We are wishing everybuddy a blessed Caturday!

***

Our Tip of the Day:

There is something so very special and rewarding about adopting and rescuing a furbaby. That being said, please always make sure that, upon adopting a furbaby, you have your home and any necessary supplies ready for such an addition to the family. Don't forget to be prepared with necessities such as food and dishes, leashes, litter boxes, and of course toys to keep them busy. Also consider having a caged area set up for a new furbaby, so that they can have somewhere safe to stay and sleep when unsupervised, especially on their first days and nights in their new home. And don't forget about taking precautions prior to bringing home a puppy or kitty, or even a grown dog or cat, who is not yet potty or litter trained. For example, do you have a favorite rug that you adore? In that case, pick it up prior to bringing home that pup or kitty, as accident can happen, as can chewing and scratching. And of course also think ahead to other potential issues or problem areas in the home, and do your best to make them safe and secure prior to bringing home that new furbaby. Adopting and rescuing a furbaby is one of the most rewarding experiences, but don't forget that it is also a responsibility for which you must be prepared!

#RememberMeThursday

Instead of a usual Thimble Thursday post, Thimble would like to use this Thursday to honor the mission behind #RememberMeThursday.

Remember Me ThursdayⓇ, which falls on the fourth Thursday in September, was initiated to bring awareness to orphan pets. It is a movement that strives to unite shelters, rescues, and all pet adoption organizations and individuals worldwide, for the purpose of getting orphan animals to much deserved forever homes.

That is why, today, we remember all those animals still in the shelter and rescue system who are awaiting their forever homes. We of course also remember those who, sadly, never made it out of the shelter system and never knew a forever home.

Although we know that many of you already are, we would still like to ask all of you to please take a moment today to remember homeless shelter and rescue animals, and to spread awareness on their behalf. These sweet animals awaiting their forever homes cannot speak for themselves, but we can do it for them. Spread the message on Twitter and Instagram, using #RememberTheRescue and #RememberMeThursday. Even better, if you post a picture of your rescue furbaby on one of the two aforementioned social media sites today and use the two aforementioned hashtags, you will be entered to win $2,000 and other prizes for your shelter of choice!

And, of course, please continue each and every day to spread the message and mission of finding forever homes for orphan pets. Please consider giving to this cause in any way you can, no matter how big or small. Consider adopting a shelter animal, or fostering one, or sponsoring a shelter animal, or donating your time or a little money or goods to a shelter in need, or of course bringing awareness to the shelter and rescue animals in your community and others. Cats, dogs, and all domestic animals deserve a forever home where they can know and feel love and happily live out their days. Young, aging, healthy, and special needs, they all deserve a home to call their own. So, let's all come together today, and every day, to help them find those forever homes.

As part of our #RememberMeThursday and #RememberTheRescue efforts, we want to give shout-outs to just a couple of our favorite shelters and rescues:

Hospice Hearts

A fairly new foster-based rescue in our local area, Hospice Hearts focuses heavily on finding homes for animals whose previous owners have fallen sick, entered hospice care, or have passed away. It also focuses heavily on adopting out aging and special needs animals.

CatSnap

My girl Eddy's Alma mater, CatSnap focuses on finding homes for many, many felines in our area. Most of these kitties are captured during TNR efforts (like Eddy) and adopted out thereafter.

PAWS

Like many of us in this wonderful blog community, we love to visit our friends over at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life. The amazing humans behind that blog volunteer their time at PAWS in Connecticut, a wonderful and clearly compassionate shelter that strives to find forever homes for the orphaned cats and dogs in that area.

To close out this post, today I not only want to bring attention to orphan pets, but also note the fact that today is one of our favorite days of the year for another reason. It is the first day of autumn! That means cooler weather (hopefully, someday, it will no longer be 90 degrees F here in our corner of the world...), beautiful foliage, and Halloween! So, to celebrate this autumnal day of animal awareness, I wanted to create something a little special to share with you all. Here's what I came up with:

(For the record, there's more often than not a story in my head to go along with each drawing I make. For this one, the little witch here of course adopts the little black kitty.)

Happy autumn! And, of course, always #RememberTheRescue!

****

Our Tip of the Day:

If you are unable to or not yet certain about adopting an animal, please, if you are able, perhaps consider fostering. The more foster homes a shelter or rescue has at its disposal, the more animals they can take in and ultimately adopt out. Foster homes are crucial for animals in need of special care while awaiting their forever home, as well as for times when a shelter facility itself is reaching or at capacity. Sometimes, a foster home is only needed for a couple of days or less, while other times they are needed for longer. And often, especially in the case of a short-term or emergency foster situation, setting up even just a small (yet safe) area is not only beneficial, but potentially lifesaving. Shelters and rescues are grateful for both short-term and long-term foster homes, and for those that take in one and those that take in multiple animals, as all foster homes play such a significant role in getting more animals into forever homes. So, if possible, please consider fostering an animal. That being said, no matter what role you play in animal shelter and rescue efforts, whether it be adopting, fostering, donating, or spreading the word, please know that you can indeed make a difference.