58-year-old Chris found a new life purpose in rescuing and caring for cats after his son died. It helps him cope with his grief, and it gives him something to do.
Chris Arsenault left his whole house and garden to abandoned cats, except one small bedroom where he sleeps and eats. He created a shelter for 300 homeless cats, providing complete care. He spends his days taking out their potties, mopping the floor, refilling their water bowls, and baking chicken for dinner for his four-legged residents. His day starts at 7 am, and he doesn't do weekends.
Chris really loves his new life's mission, and he says that if you are really excited about something, you can overcome any obstacles, like accommodating 300 cats in your house in Medford, New York, for example. He designed and implemented all the changes to his house by himself, his priority being the safety and hygiene of the cats. All surfaces are adapted to this both inside and in the garden. Everything is easily accessible and washable.
While a lot of people living in a house leave the boiler room as a shelter for their outdoor cat friends in our country, Chris is doing the opposite. He built a place for himself in the boiler room, where he has a small bathroom and kitchen. It is unbelievable to what extent some of us will give up our comforts to help animals.
He decided to open his house to cats, now known as the Happy Cat Sanctuary shelter, in 2006, several months after his son's fatal motorcycle accident. He did so after finding a colony of thirty sick kittens by the railway. He knew they would die if he left them there, and since he was an animal lover from a young age, he knew what he had to do.
He soon realized that the cats gave him something to do again after his son's death. In the following years, he began to contact shelters and local charities to provide his home for more and more cats, until he had three hundred of them living with him.
Chris finances the project on his own and with the help of public donations. The annual cost of running the shelter is more than $ 100,000. He spends more than $ 20,000 on vets alone, even though he treats simple cases himself. He says that giving a home to abandoned cats is rewarding in itself, and he is proud of his work. I think he is rightfully proud, don't you?
Temperatures exceed thirty degrees Celsius, but not many people want to stay inside for days. And, to be honest, it often isn't much better inside. However, it's harder for our four-legged friends to bear the heat. How can we relieve them?
July is the time to prepare for autumn kittens. It's good to remind ourselves what cat pregnancy entails, when and how to prevent it and why.
Do you have a pregnant cat at home? Is this stage slowly coming to an end and you are starting to panic about the birth? Let me take you through it from the beginning to the end. Let's take a look at when it is necessary to intervene, when the help...
Outside temperatures suggest that the boater season is just behind the corner. Many people take their family and children on a water adventure. Some boaters even take their four-legged friends along. What can you do to make sure your trip goes...
In the summer, most of us move to the garden, whether at our home or cottage. Of course, we also want to let our rodent friends loose, and simply bringing the cage out won't do it. How can we make a comfortable, safe outdoor enclosure?
Does your cat wander outside? Are you tired of constant meowing and scratching on doors, or constantly opened windows? Then it's time to get your cat a door.
The nutrient requirements of each dog varies depending on its age, physical condition, lifestyle and size. There are many aspects, and you need to take them all into account when choosing your food.
Cats can take a cold a lot harder than we do. For them it's a relatively serious and very contagious viral disease. A cat cold is a combination of diseases, whose symptoms include a cold.
What elements play an important role in cat nutrition, why do they need them and in what proportion should they get them? This is the alchemy behind the preparation of quality cat food.
Although traveling is fun, it can also be stressful. We have to make sure we don't forget anything and that everything goes according to plan. But what if you decide to travel with your little friend, a guinea pig? Let's take a look at what you...
It is a well-known fact about cats that they like lying in the sunlight. However, that doesn’t mean they are never hot and the risk of overheating is not real for them.
The fact that there are different cans and dry food for dogs and cats is not a marketing stunt. Both beasts have their specific nutrition needs which vary in certain aspects and if you give them the wrong food, they will start suffering quite soon.
