For younger families in our community, we know that the worlds between “parent” and “pet parent” can be incredibly similar. From messy livingrooms to unpredictable emotional outbursts - both children and cats require a lot of attention of their own; but how do you combine the two under one roof? For some families, the choice to adopt a pet often creates a great opportunity for parents to teach their young ones about the importance of responsibility. When adopting a new feline friend from a shelter home, the amount of responsibility taken on can be unequivocally amplified. For this reason, we have done some research to help guide our new pet-owners navigate their way to creating a safe and loving household.
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1. Be sure to discuss your new pet 
For households with younger children, it is important that they understand that this new animal also has thoughts and feelings - and can behave in ways that we do not always understand. Whilst they may already have the basis such as “don’t pull kitty’s tail” down pat, make sure to discuss your new household member.
 
2. Enforce clear boundaries and interactions with your pet
Whether you settle on fun-sized ball of fluff and energy or a mature-aged cat with wise eyes and a softened heart - in some cases our animals have already endured a rocky road to reach the warm embrace of a new home. For this reason, teaching the children how to interact and look after their new friend is pivotal step in the transitioning to their new environment.
 
3. Encourage recognition of pet’s behaviours and traits 
In addition to setting boundaries, this step is important to teach your child how to recognise times where it might be unsafe to approach their pet. Practice speaking about how your pet may be feeling when they respond or behave in certain ways and urge your child to recognise them too. Dependent on your child’s age, this may also be a perfect time to use animal-specific dialect to educate your child about their pet. For example, teaching them about kitty’s “predator” instincts and  
 
4. Ensure plenty of positive reinforcement 
Just as you may when training your new family pet, don’t forget to give praise for gentle and kind interactions with the family pet. By keeping the experience of interaction light and joyful, your child is more likely to develop a more nurturing relationship with the pet.  
 
5. Find a way for the two to create a bond.  
The friendship between a child and a furry friend can be one of the most rewarding experience in both of their lives. According to Batter Sea, a great way to encourage bonding is to practice non-physical forms of interactions such as playing with cat toys or basic training.
 
Most parents will understand the sometimes frightening joy of the uncontrollable and unexpected moments in their daily lives. IWhilst there are certain to be bumps and jumps along the way, what you are most likely to find at the end of the path is unwavering bond between your children - both fur and no-fur. So, what are you waiting for? We have a number of cats just waiting to be snatched up by a new loving family at any time - you can find them here.


Picture from Unsplash.
Written by Gabrielle Bott-Banas for FFRAQ

Written by Matthew Leong for FFARQ. 

​You really want a kitten don’t you? You’re not alone. In 2015, it was discovered that adult cats are less popular among RSPCA adopters compared to kittens. Fortunately, they also 
learned that ‘a similar percentage of cats and kittens … [had been] adopted’ between 2018-2019. It’s a good sign, but it can it always be better. To make sure this happens, here are a few reasons for why you shouldn’t rule out adopting adult cats.  

​As adult cats are already fully developed, the likelihood of you having to deal with behavioural problems is reduced. The AWL credits adult cats with ‘understand[ing] how a home works.’ They are highly likely to have already been domesticated, which means they have an easier time adjusting to new surroundings. They will know not to scratch or bite you, your family or your furniture. This means less hand raising for you, and more time cuddling with your new friend on the couch. 

Their adaptable nature means that adult cats are independent animals who value space. While you go about your life, they’ll keep themselves entertained (leaving a toy for them certainly wouldn’t hurt) by sleeping, exploring and even hoarding! After a long day out, come home and you’ll see them watching you from a window. Did Mittens climb up the curtains and tear through them? Of course not! She was laying around, grooming herself and patiently waiting for you to return. ​

​From 2019-2020, less than 2500 of the 45,364 cats admitted to the RSPCA had been reclaimed. While animals find themselves in shelters for a number of reasons (being surrendered or abandoned being the most common), many of them are perfectly fine. Perhaps they had wandered too far from home and were taken by rangers? Whatever the case, the main reason for why you should adopt an adult cat is the simplest one of all… you are giving them a second chance at life. 

Written by Matthew Leong for FFARQ.

The last few months have seen our world change in ways we never would have considered imaginable a year ago, and for many people this has involved the addition of a new furry friend to their lives. While spending more time at home, the room for one more has been found by families across the world including here in Australia. We work with shelters across south east Queensland taking animals who are on death row, however the high demand for cats has meant that there is no longer a death row list at many shelters and thousands of cats have found their forever homes.
But where do the cats in our care now come from?
The answer is Northern Queensland.
While we may love the year-long summer of the north, one of the unexpected side effects of the warmer climate is a never-ending kitten season.
Cats follow the same breeding patterns as other mammals with mating season starting in August in the southern hemisphere and continuing through the spring and summer months. They are informed by the temperature – with the warmer days in the transition from winter to spring telling them when the perfect conditions for mating are.
For those months of the year, shelters across Australia are flooded with litters of kittens with thousands of families welcoming home their new furry friends. However, as the kitten season comes to a close, most shelters see almost no kittens until the next year.
But in the north where the warm weather lasts all year, cats decide that the breeding season should too!
It’s not only the temperature that informs cat breeding – the length of the day also plays a role in informing cats of the perfect breeding conditions. As Northern Queensland is situated close to the equator there is less of a difference between their summer and winter daylight hours. Cats become convinced that it’s breeding season all the time when the days are long and warm year-round. This creates an issue for shelters in northern Queensland as instead of having a rush of kittens towards the end of the year they are constantly receiving litters and the demand for them does not match.
But now with empty shelters here, we have been able to take kittens from Northern Queensland and find them homes on the other side of the state from where they were born. We have had several litters of kittens come in and out of our care recently including the Madagascar gang (Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria who were adopted as pairs) and Lucius and Maximus. Nobody can resist an adorable kitten and pre-adoption is common for these cuties.
If you’re interested in adopting a Northern Queensland kitten of your own, follow us on our social media platforms to keep up with when we have kittens available for pre-adoption!

​Photo created by freepic.diller - www.freepik.com

By nature, the act of volunteering doesn’t involve any monetary reward for the time and energy volunteers put into their work, but it isn’t just the organisation who can benefit from volunteering. One of our own volunteers, Hemangi, gained experience and knowledge from her role at Furry Friends to help her get a job at Ronald McDonald House.
After arriving in Melbourne in August 2017 from Mumbai, Hemangi started working in the IT department of Furry Friends just a month later. Initially her role was in IT support, however she quickly moved across departments to become the Volunteer Admin Team leader, where she was responsible for looking after groups of foster carers and answering adoption and surrender inquiries. This gave Hemangi a bigger picture of the organisation as a whole and led her to becoming a key part of Furry Friend’s transition to using Shelter Manager as our animal records database application. She was heavily involved in helping the other volunteers learn how to use the database after teaching herself.
Hemangi says she was motivated to volunteer with Furry Friends through her love of volunteering and desire to learn more about her new home. She had previously volunteered in Mumbai working with women, children and aged people however in Australia she found a new opportunity. Her self-described ‘crazy cat lady’ personality and the virtual nature of working with Furry Friends became the perfect combination. Being able to devote her spare time to working for the betterment of her beloved cats while still working full time is Hemangi’s favourite part of volunteering with Furry Friends.
Through working with us, Hemangi has been able to implement all of her previous knowledge and has picked up a few new skills along the way, too! This includes essential communication skills and using social media as an effective tool to engage with our audience. These skills became vital when she started working with the Ronald McDonald House. The culture of working within a charity organisation was familiar to her through her previous volunteer work and Hemangi was able to fit in seamlessly in her new workplace. She regularly uses interpersonal skills she developed working with Furry Friends while working alongside 65 staff members at Ronald McDonald house and feels connected to the charity and their mission.
But volunteering doesn’t just bring us professional benefits. “Volunteering at Furry Friends helps me connect with people from different spheres in life,” Hemangi says, “It also brings me happiness and a sense of fulfillment.”
For anyone considering volunteering for the first time, Hemangi recommends considering what cause you’re passionate about and what skills you have that could benefit a charity organisation. Your goals and how you want to spend your time are also critical to consider. Find a position you can enjoy and fulfil. Hemani says, “The best volunteer experiences benefit both the volunteer and the organisation.”

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While a human can pick up a phone and book a doctor’s appointment to have their medical concerns taken care of, our feline companions lack the ability to easily access healthcare this way. By taking your cat to the vet every year for a check-up from nose to tail, you can help them live a long and healthy life purring beside you. Here are some things that make this trip important:

Teeth
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Wild cats take care of their teeth by eating meat from carcasses, the bones of their prey acting like a toothbrush and removing debris and plaque from their mouths. However, domestic cats’ diets of biscuits, wet food and treats often forget to take care of their teeth. Providing cats with dental treats and brushing their teeth regularly can prevent your cat from developing dental problems, but it is always best for a professional who sees kitty teeth every day to check them and make sure your friend’s teeth are ready for more food.

Vaccinations

Keeping your cat’s vaccinations up-to-date is vital to ensuring preventable diseases don’t stop your cat from chasing their favourite toy. Top-ups of cats’ vaccinations are needed to keep them effective. Whether your cat spends their time inside your home (as we recommend) or outside, vaccinations can save your cat’s life and your bank account from the expensive vet bills associated with treating diseases. Furthermore, most boarding facilities require up-to-date vaccination records of your cat before you go on your holiday. So if you plan to take a trip this year and send your cat on a vacation of their own, make sure they’ve had their shots. 

Weight
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Keeping a cat on the scales in the vet’s examination room long enough to weigh them often proves a challenge, but the task is just as important as everything else in the check-up. Most cats love food and find it easy to overeat and become overweight, however if too much weight is gained they can find it difficult to move and have issues breathing. Underweight cats often have an underlying health issue that is decreasing their appetite, and a visit to the vet can ensure that nothing sinister is going on under your cat’s fur. 

Coat 

Almost every breed of cat is covered in a coat of fur. This seemingly mundane part of your cat’s body can actually hold a great deal of insight into your cat’s wellbeing. A coat that is dirty, full of loose hair and hasn’t been cleaned in a while by your cat can indicate that your cat is feeling down, while anxiety and boredom can lead to an overgroomed coat with bald spots. Having a vet check over your cat’s coat can show them what’s going on in your cat’s mind and can help you discover how you can improve their happiness just by paying a little more attention to their coat. 

Nothing says Christmas more than an artificial Christmas tree to celebrate the season of giving. After all, where would Santa Paws leave his treats for all the good little kittens and cats of the world?
 
From the sparkling ornaments, to the impressive twinkle of an LED fairy light, you could almost understand the appeal to scale the synthetic and scratchy limbs of a pine branch to a feline who is up to no good.
 
Don’t let a cheeky ball of fur curb your Christmas cheer! Here are 5 crazy ways to keep your Christmas decorations safe and sound this holiday season. 

1. The Upside Down Christmas Tree
Not the most convenient, we’ll admit, but this little trick will definitely keep the toe beans at bay!

2. The Plastic Wrap Christmas Tree
​All paws will definitely be off this festive season with this genius hack!

3. The Bottomless Christmas Tree
​A minimalist approach that is both cat- and child-proof.

4. The Caged Christmas Tree
​Keep your cats off the naughty list with this clever hack.

5. Festive Cat-mas Tree
​When all else fails, make your beloved companion the star!