Felines enjoy new ‘catio’ at White Oak shelter
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Janice, a cat at White Oak Animal Safe Haven looking for a forever home, enjoyed sunbathing Thursday as the White Oak Rotary revealed a “purr-fect” project it recently completed at the no-kill shelter.
Janice and the other cats at WOASH are thrilled with a brand-new “catio” Rotarians built this year and unveiled during a hybrid in-person/Facebook Live event.
The catio is an addition onto the shelter on Lincoln Way and stands where an old, less luxurious catio once was.
The catio has the feel of a modern three-seasons enclosed sunroom. It’s cozy, and makes you feel like you’ve stepped out of an animal shelter and onto the enclosed porch of a warm and loving house.
The catio is easy to clean with hard floors and solid walls that have screened openings. Cats like Janice enjoy laying on sturdy, beautiful shelves that line the windows and were designed and constructed by one of the Rotarians.
There are scratching posts, cat trees and towers for the felines to lay or play on, climb or scratch.
Rotarian Dan Dougherty said cats had to climb through a window that led onto the old catio, which was essentially a screened sunporch with a wooden floor. WOASH staff would have to enter the catio from the outside for cleaning and other purposes.
The Rotarians installed a full-sized interior door, which comes complete with a small cat door at the bottom. This allows shelter staff to enter and exit to clean, play with the cats or access a litter and cat food storage area, which is adjoined to the catio and was also built by members of the White Oak Rotary.
“This makes it more convenient for the people who are changing litter and working in the cat room,” WOASH Director Laura Massie said. “By building this it’s not only making the cats happy, but it’s making our volunteers happy.”
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