Why are there no new cats at Ziggy's this week?

For the first time ever, we aren't able to send new kitties to Ziggy's this week. Why is that?

In a nutshell, the cats who were designated to go to Ziggy's unfortunately started having diarrhea. They are on medication, but are not yet healthy enough to send. Given our current low numbers of adoptable cats, we unfortunately don't have any other cats who are an option to send. The adoptable cats we do have are not a candidate for Ziggy's because of their personality or health issues.

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Interested in learning our process for accepting animals and how we get them ready for adoption? Read on for the inside scoop...

Where do our animals come from?

We accept animals into our program through a variety of ways. Some are found as strays and officially enter our program after their stay hold period is completed. Many puppies and kittens come in through our Last Litter program, and animals of all ages are surrendered due to a variety of reasons. Others come in through rescue partners. And still others come from overcrowded, very unhealthy "hoarder" homes. Young kittens capable of socialization come in through our TNR efforts, and other animals are sadly left abandoned at our door.

To accept a stray or surrender into our program, we review surrender applications that are submitted to us, and when we have space available, we follow up with each person to learn more about the pet. If we're able to assist, we set up a time to intake the pets. You wouldn't believe the number of people who never call us back or who don't show up for their intake appointments! Around the holidays, the lack of response was even greater.

We currently have less than half the number of animals we have the rest of the year. Granted, this cycle of having more animals in the summer and fewer in the winter is very common. But the lack of response from people applying to surrender pets has contributed to our reduced number of animals. Thankfully, people are now responding, and we have 23 animals coming in this week.

We bring as many pets into our program as we can while maintaining quality standards of care for the animals and realistic expectations for our team. However, It's important to note that we are not an open admission shelter. We are a small foster-based nonprofit organization, and we do not have the capacity to accept every single animal into our care. 

 How do we ready animals for adoption?

When an animal first comes to us, they receive vaccines, a dewormer, and an intake exam. Almost every pet accepted into our program comes to us with an illness or injury that needs treatment. In fact, in 2025, HSMC spent over $26,000 on diagnostic testing and emergency care alone!

Countless cats come into our care with upper respiratory infections, and we had a large number of cats who came to us with ringworm this past year. A lot of animals, especially cats, have diarrhea that can take quite a while to address. Healing takes time.

Thankfully, our incredible team of skilled veterinarians, techs and assistants is able to provide most care in-house, which significantly reduces our overall medical costs!

Many of the pets who enter our program are scared. Some have never been exposed to humans or they have had negative experiences in their short lives. We help them to learn that respectful, loving humans are safe. Helping them to trust takes time and patience.
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On average, only about 20% of the animals in our care are ready for adoption.

Because we strongly believe in reducing the overpopulation problem, all of our pets are spayed/neutered before being made available for adoption.

As you may know, the low-cost spay/neuter appointments at our clinic are in high demand. We are working hard to expand our clinic capacity, but at the present, we must balance the number of appointments used by HSMC pets and those made available to the community to get their own pets fixed. Because of this, there are times when our pets are waiting to be made adoptable because they haven't been able to have surgery yet.

Selecting cats for Ziggy's

In order to be a candidate for Ziggy's Cat Lounge, cats must be healthy. They must have gone through a quarantine period so we know they aren't contagious to others. They must have passed their FIV/FeLV test, and they must be able to handle the fun, yet overwhelming environment. And of course, cats who don't do well with other cats obviously aren't a logical fit.

We do our best to evaluate every cat to determine who will be a successful match for Ziggy's in order to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Congratulations to Ziggy's for celebrating their 900th adoption on Saturday!

We're rocking the adoptions!

Now that you know some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into accepting and preparing an animal for adoption, it's important to highlight one of the main reasons we have so few pets right now. So many adopters are looking to HSMC to find their new best friend. This is wonderful news!

Almost every week, every single cat is adopted at Ziggy's. Cats arrive at PetSmart in Silverdale and often leave the same day! Even our shy cats living in foster or at our facility in Belfair are being adopted. This is incredible, and we're so thankful for the amazing adopters who choose to love our pets!

Our adoptions team works hard to help loving families select a pet who will be a good match. And after adoption, we're here to help with any questions or problems that might arise. Because of this, our rate of return is quite low. More good news!

We're disappointed that we aren't able to supply Ziggy's with adorable cats this week. But making sure that all the animals in our care are safe and healthy is our top priority!

We expect to have more cats available next week. In the meantime, we ask all our of supporters to show Ziggy's some love this week!

Want to help?

• Stop on by the café and grab a drink; hang out and play games with friends.
  
  
• Buy a gift card for a later visit.
  
  
• Spend time with the resident kitties!
  They need some love, too!
  
  
• Purchase Ziggy's merch!
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• Sign up for upcoming Ziggy's events!

VISIT ZIGGY'S WEBSITE