Bright Future for Future School

Like many Nonprofit organizations Kitties and Kanines has a goal to keep our cost down. We have a great group of volunteers that help make this possible! Volunteer opportunities ranges from helping handle dogs and cats on surgical days to answering phones.

In 2021 we were able to begin an internship program with the Future School of Fort Smith. This program provides hands on workforce training to high school students. Since January 2023 these students have put in over 600 volunteer hours with us. Special projects have included organizing and stocking our food pantry, answering phones and scheduling appointments, and LOTS of customer service experience. We look forward to expanding this program and to continue to help students explore the wonderful world of working in Animal Welfare.

Cuddle Puddle

Cuddle Puddle

Kitten season in Arkansas/Oklahoma can be hard to define. In many parts of the USA it is between April and October, but for us it can often be year round. Basically, if the weather is nice an un-spayed female cat is ready to reproduce.

This year we have seen many kittens brought to Kitties and Kanines, both with momma cat and without.

The particular litter we have pictured came in with a momma cat (Bloom) who had a large wound on her stomach. She was no longer producing milk and the babies were on the verge of starvation at only 2 weeks old. Small kittens are very hard to bottle feed, needing feedings every few hours and having difficulty latching on to rubber nipples. Luckily another cat (Nurse) had been brought in with her own litter who were almost ready to wean. We were able to switch the younger kittens to Nurse and begin the weaning process with a foster home for the older kittens. Nurse took to the new kittens like a champ and we were able to treat Bloom’s wound. Bloom will be up for adoption soon. Nurse’s kittens Brain, Pinky, Rita, and Runt will be up for adoption at the beginning of July. In August we expect Bloom’s babies to be ready for adoption- Avery, Sandy, Buster, Luca, and Murray.

This is why it is so important to spay/neuter your pets. All of the cats we adopt out are spay/neutered before adoption. If you would like to help with the cost of caring for these babies you can donate to Kitties and Kanines. We would also be grateful for fosters and volunteers.

Momma Cat (Nurse) with Kittens

Do you know Bo?

Bo is an absolute sweetheart that loves people, children, other dogs and even cats! One of the low cost services we are able to offer at our clinic is helping with crossing the rainbow bridge when pets are to old, severely injured or have a chronic illness that means they can no longer live life with dignity. We have been able to ease pain and help owners say goodbye when pets were at a point that they needed to be let go.

In January, Bo came in with his owner. The owner wanted us to euthanize Bo, because Bo had an injury to a tendon in his rear left leg. This injury was NOT life threating, NOT extreme, and NOT chronic. It was simply painful and inconvenient to the owner because he would have to give Bo pain medication and Bo had difficulty going up and down stairs.

When our Vet Assistant examined Bo she could tell while Bo’s injury was painful, it was not life threating, so she refused to put him down. Bo still had many years of healthy life left. The owner was not happy about the idea of taking Bo home, so he signed Bo’s ownership over to us and walked out the door.

Kitties and Kanines took Bo to a full service vet to get x-rays and a surgical consultation. This vet said that Bo’s injury would not be improved by surgery the injury was to advanced, but pain could be managed with some medication. The vet also confirmed that Bo could expect 5-8 more years of good life.

After a brief stay as our door greeter, Bo has now taken up a position as a door greeter at an eye doctor in NWA. He spends lots of time saying hello to people and napping in the sun, no stairs involved.