Katie's Place

Have I told you all about Katie's Place yet?  It's a wonderful volunteer-run shelter in Maple Ridge (~1 hr outside Vancouver).  They take in many cats that would otherwise be deemed 'unadoptable' and they provide the best life they can for them.  They do their best to find generous-hearted people who will adopt a less-than-perfect, sometimes jerky cat, and it's very heartwarming when they succeed.  They also have regular cute cuddly cats that are perfectly perfect.  Their cats live in communal rooms with access to outdoor catteries so they can laze in the sun & feel the breeze and have space to climb and run.

As shelters go, it's a nice set up! But it's still a shelter - and many cats get very stressed in that kind of environment, so go adopt someone!

I happened to be out in Maple Ridge the other day, so I stopped by to visit during their open house. I took my camera with my lovely new lens and decided to try to get some photos myself (couldn't get a professional to come with me!).  Am fairly pleased with how the photos turned out.

This is Marlowe.

He is one beautiful cat - and quite the model too, striking all these poses for me.

He was super chill and friendly and purring with me, but I was told, when I asked about him, that he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes (aren't we all?). I take that to mean he's moody and needs an understanding adopter that doesn't expect a cat to be cuddly all the time.  Marlowe is also pulling out his fur, which is heartbreaking and probably a result of being stressed (I'm guessing here).

Sounds like this poor guy needs a home of his own where he can be himself and be accepted for who he is, jerky bits and all!  Isn't that what we all want?

Sneak Peak

Just got some photos from Tanja - very unique cat, this one....  for now, you just get a sneak peak!

2012 Summary

I'm rather late with the year-end summary, but here goes!

The greeting card sales went well during the holidays - allowing me to send a $100 cheque to Katie's Place, AND pay down $100 worth of HomeFinder's vet bill for them.  The assistant at the vet who processed the payment kept thanking me for doing such a nice thing - which I wish I could pass on to all the people who bought cards because it was their money!  So thank you - by directing your greeting-card purchases to my fundraiser, you helped warm the hearts of many - from vet admins to the hard-working people who run these rescue groups!  I hope it brightens their day, when rescue work gets them down, to know that so many people support them and appreciate what they do.

I did another print run of the most popular card - the blank card with Nicole of Katie's Place on the front. She is stunning - and Cindy Hughes captured her beautifully.  Feel free to purchase more!  They will only be available until March.

In addition to the cards - I run a snack basket in my office where I charge outrageously high prices for snacks. My co-workers like to munch (and support saving kittens) - and I was able to donate an astounding $700 to Katie's Place through this!!!  Go start a snack basket in your office today! No, seriously.

Aside from fundraising - we got out and met some lovely animals!  I met three great photographers Tanja of Jelger and Tanja Photography, Kristina of K9 Studio Photography (who sadly moved to Venezuela shortly after we did our first photo shoot), and Cindy of Muddy Love Pet Photography (and Sugar Snap Photography). 

Here's the rundown of photo shoots in 2012:

• Ben (my original photographer) and I did two photo shoots for HomeFinders, including our first bunny and turtle photos! [27 animals]
• Cindy also did a photo shoot of kittens for HomeFinders (and inexplicably, the cutest is still available!). [7 cats]
• We did 6 photo shoots for VOKRA (Jackie, Tanja, Ben, Kris) [15 cats]
• Cindy did a ton of photos at Katie's Place [50 cats!]
• In total - approximately 99 animals where photographed! I'm quite shocked to tally it up and find it was so many! 

How is this guy not adopted yet? Go adopt him!

2013 will certainly be much much quieter - as I'm off to spend a year in Europe!  But, I'm hoping to squeeze in a few photo shoots before I leave in April, and I'll certainly be back at it in 2014!

Cards & photos & more!

A huge thank you to Got Craft, the best craft fair in Vancouver who let me sell my fundraiser greeting cards at their merch table last weekend. Got Craft is always busy with exactly the kind of people who will buy cute cards to support a good cause. I sold all but 14 of my cards!  Whoo!  I have to do the math to add up all my sales and calculate the donations to Katie's Place and HomeFinders, but it should be a nice chunk of change.  In addition, one of my coworkers ordered 32 cards to use as thank you cards after a big party he had, so I printed an additional run of the most popular card - the one of Nicole.  I have a handful of the other cards left too - so if you want to place an order, please do!!

Lovely Bella - apparently a great bug catcher!

In addition to selling cards and raising funds - I did another photo shoot with Tanja, who I'm learning has endless patience for photographing cats (you really do need to have patience with cats). We ended up with two skittish cats again. It's hard - my cats are the same way -they're well adjusted normal cats around us, but when strangers come over they get scared for no reason. Too bad too because Bella and Tux were adorable and looked awfully snuggly! Tux was pretty scared the whole time we were there, so we weren't able to get many flattering shots of him, but Bella struck some nice poses for us.

I've added a gallery for Tanja - and you can check out her photography site to see more of her work!

Tanja - photographer

I'm falling behind on adding profiles for the great photographers I get to work with as part of this project! Yesterday I went out to do a photo shoot with Tanja, of Jelger and Tanja Photography She was super nice and very patient with the young cats (one shy, one less so), following them around, trying to capture them relaxed and adorable. And, of course, she sent me amazing photos afterwards! Once again, it was a challenging lighting situation, with one shy cat and one black cat - but Tanja got great photos of both! yay!

Look for more photos of Marlin and Valentine in Tanja's gallery soon. These siblings are available for adoption through Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue!

Thanks Tanja, for your time and these lovely photos - I look forward to doing more! 

Marlin - the shy cutie

Valentine - the playful one

I Have Cat Feature

In an effort to get more people aware of (and buying) the fundraising greeting cards, I reached out to the biggest powerhouse I know in the internet cat world (besides Maru, that is) - I Have Cat. Tamar writes a fabulously entertaining blog to chronicle her life as a 30-something NYC singleton looking for love despite the complication of owning cat. As funny as it is, she also does a service, I think, by breaking down the stereotype of crazy cat people.  I especially love her features of cat men to balance out the cat ladies.

Tamar was nice enough to do a feature on me and Orphan Animal Pics!  And some cards have already sold from etsy as a result!  Thanks Tamar -  I'm honoured to be on such a great blog, in such great company and fingers crossed for more sales in the fundraiser!

Shy Cats

Shy cats. You know the ones - they run and hide when company comes over, people don't really believe you have a cat because it's never seen by strangers. But when the strangers are gone and it's just family - they're snuggly and show a whole different side of themselves.

For cats looking to get adopted, being shy can be a barrier to finding a new home. People go to shelters and foster homes and want that instant connection with 'the one'. I understand that. But there's so much reward to be had with adopting a shy cat and helping her overcome that shyness and learn to trust you (and hopefully others!). Watching a shy cat come out of her shell is a wonderful thing.

So shy cats are already starting out in a challenging place - by running and hiding when potential adopters come to visit. This behaviour also makes it difficult to get their photos, even though they are often most in need of photos that show off their good looks and personality!

There's a pair of bonded brothers with Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue - Sammy and Jet, I saw them in the gallery and couldn't believe it - they've been passed around through a few homes and spent years in the foster system. Two boys who sounded just lovely!  That's crazy.  So Kris of K9 Studio Pet Photography and I made a date to try to get their photos, even though we were warned they were shy.

These boys are great cats! Jet spent the first half hour under the bed, then walked out into the living room and right over to me (a stranger) for a head pat! Cats are so funny.  Kris got some beautiful photos of Sammy, but Jet (the black cat) wasn't as cooperative (and is black, making him more challenging to begin with).

Once again, I'm so impressed with the photographers I get to work with - they take crummy lighting situations, busy backgrounds, faulty equipment.... and somehow in the end manage to have beautiful photos.  Thanks Kris! Keep your eyes peeled for Gallery 4 with Kris's photos.