'Cat-mobile' visits Shallotte, Feline group offers adoptions on wheels
BY LAURA LEWIS, Staff writer
Iggy, Soot and Runt rolled into Shallotte last Saturday, stopping at a local pet store in search of new owners.
Ditto for Millie, Blossom, Princess and Jada, all of them homeless felines who have been traveling the county hoping for good homes via Cat Tails Cat Adoption Services.
"There's a new cat in town," said Cat Tails organizer Kathy Kimbrough, referring to the new mobile unit that has begun visiting area pet stores in hopes of matching the cats with cat lovers who will adopt them.
The trailer, decorated with paw prints and messages such as "Love on Board," carried an assortment of kitties in cages who visited with residents during their four-hour stop at Pets Plus in Shallotte Crossing shopping center.
Portia, a 1-year-old white cat with black spots, is described as a "pretty girl; chatty and fun-loving lap cat."
Saturday, she was among felines peering through the glass window of the portable trailer, which the group recently purchased.
The adoption fees are $55 for kittens and $65 for a cat, which is a bargain when you consider the vet fees that have already been absorbed in that, Shook said.
In addition, "if you adopt one, you agree to keep them inside," Shook said.
"We don't want them to end up in the same situation they had before," Cat Tails volunteer Marilyn Mills said.
"I think they're awesome," Supply resident Maria Hayes said as her children, 2-year-old Bethannie and 3-year-old Patrick, climbed on board the trailer to get acquainted with the cats and kittens in their cages.
Ray Zetts of Sunset Beach was among Cat Tails animal lovers volunteering his time Saturday.
"When I'm not helping turtles, I'm helping kitties," Zetts said.
One of the kittens, an orange striped tabby named Electra, was rescued by Zetts from a drain beside the electric company.
Zetts "called her 'sewer girl,' which is totally unacceptable for such a pretty girl," Shook said.
Cat Tails, which also visits the Pet Smart store in Wilmington every weekend, should be at the Pets Plus store in Shallotte twice a month, Kimbrough said.
A free bag of pet food will go home with each cat that's adopted.
For five years, volunteers staged yard sales and collected special donations to raise money to buy the Cat Tails trailer, said Mills, who also serves as a foster mom for homeless felines awaiting permanent homes.
"The reason it's so important is animals that get adopted here are already spayed and neutered," Kimbrough said. "And they're healthy. We hope we're going to reduce the euthanasia rate in the county."
The felines come from a variety of sources.
"A lot of these kittens actually came as a result of calls from the Brunswick Animal League," Kimbrough said.
A mother cat recently gave birth, "and we took the kittens," she said. "We try to stay in Brunswick County. It doesn't always go that way, but we try to."
It's a "felines only" endeavor, Kimbrough acknowledged, because cats need their support.
"We're just cat people," she said. "We love dogs, but we love cats more. Cats get the short shrift."
While the popularity of cats has grown, they still lag behind dogs, Kimbrough said. In addition, the feral cat population is a "huge problem" in Brunswick County, she said.
The nonprofit group also works with Brunswick County Animal Control in aiding adoptable felines.
"We're not a shelter," Kimbrough added. "We are a no-kill adoption service."
Animals under their domain aren't euthanized, "unless they're sick," she said.
Each kitty also is tested for feline leukemia and AIDS.
Cat Tails also is in the process of raising money for a permanent facility, Kimbrough said.
Until that happens, the Cat Tails kitties will continue to hit the road, looking for the best homes they can find in Brunswick County.
"We love what we're doing," Mills said, adding, "We need volunteers, foster homes, money."
"About $100,000," Kimbrough said.
For more information about Cat Tails, call 253-1375.
