Jill and her family have always loved cats. So it was no surprise when, twelve months after adopting their cat Samantha, her son announced, “She needs a companion!”

Jill began an online search for potential friends for Samantha. She came across The Lost Dogs’ Home website and found a black, eight-week-old male kitten named Elmo who was waiting to be adopted from the Campaspe shelter in Echuca.

“I phone my husband and I said, ‘I found a kitten! The problem is he’s in Echuca!’” Jill laughed. “He replied, ‘You’ve got to be joking!’”

Concerned about the three hour drive from their home in Melbourne, Jill and her husband decided not to call the shelter straight away. However Jill found herself checking the website every day to see if Elmo was still there. Then, a few days later, her husband gave her a surprise phone call.

“He said, ‘I phoned Echuca and there’s a hold on Elmo. We’re going up tomorrow.’”

When Jill met little Elmo at The Lost Dogs’ Home Campaspe Shelter in Echuca, she instantly fell in love.

“I knelt down, held out my hand and said, ‘Come on’. Elmo darted out and rushed up to me and was really responsive… I picked him up and there was this throaty purr that was about ten times bigger than he was. He was just gorgeous.”

The three hour drive was not a problem for Elmo, as Jill and her husband brought along suitable cat transport and kept an eye on him to make sure he was ok.

Introducing Samantha to her new companion was not so easy, but once she realised Elmo was not going anywhere, she began to tolerate him. Twelve months later, she still ignores him in her ‘superior way’, unless of course he tries to play with her ‘feather duster’ of a tail!

Elmo likes to have his paws in the house work too! He’s been known to jump into the car boot when the groceries are being taken in to house, sit in the laundry basket and even help Jill ‘tidy up’ after dinner!

“He is a cat that wants to be in everything that you do. If you’re washing the dishes, he’ll walk along the sink and drink out of the tap.”

It was this curious nature that nearly got Elmo into some hot water – literally!

“I was in the laundry and he jumped up onto the trough and leant forward to drink,” Samantha recalled. “His paws slid and he went straight down, head first into the soapy water! I immediately pulled him out but it didn’t stop him! He has tried to drink the water out of the tap again since!”

The whole family is taken with little Elmo. Jill’s son dotes on him and her husband has even been spotted rubbing his belly.

Jill and her family have a long history of adopting animals from shelters and couldn’t imagine getting a cat from anywhere else.

“They need homes… Elmo’s an incredibly friendly cat, he’s very amiable and no claws ever come out. He’s just beautiful.”

Sounds like it was worth the trip!

The two kittens found in a box being couriered across Melbourne finally went to their new home this week.

Courier worker Geoff waited over a month to adopt Wilbur and Tinks, who he discovered underweight and tiny in a cracker box on November 15. At four-weeks-old, the kittens were far too young to be taken away from their mother and after being assessed by vets at The Lost Dogs’ Home, they were put into foster care to gain weight. On Wednesday their ‘guardian angel’ came back to the Home to officially adopt them and give them a new start to life.

“Geoff was the one who found Wilbur and Tinks and we are so thrilled that it’s he who will be taking them home,” Manager of The Lost Cats’ Home Karina Bailey said. “We often give the finder preference for adoption, since they have done the right thing by bringing them in to the shelter.”

In their foster home, Wilbur and Tinks developed a strong bond, with foster carer Amber saying, “They absolutely love each other; love to cuddle together, hang out together and play together.” Karina said it was the Home’s wish to see them adopted into the same home and staff were elated to hear Geoff would be adopting both.

“Wilbur and Tinks have given each other support and comfort throughout this entire experience and seem to have a very special bond,” she said. “We’re so glad we haven’t had to separate them and they can continue playing and cuddling together for the rest of their lives.”

As Geoff adopted the now desexed, microchipped and vaccinated Wilbur and Tinks during December, he received 50 per cent off the price of adoption, meaning he got two for the price of one! However, like everyone wanting to receive the discount, he first had to complete the Pet Licence test to ensure he was aware of his responsibilities as a pet owner.

“Guardian angel or not, everyone can learn something from taking the test, as being a responsible pet owner is what it’s all about,” Karina affirms.

To find out more about half-price adoptions during December.

The Home would also like to thank everyone who called to enquire about Wilbur and Tinks and our Foster Care Program.

When both of Anne’s parents sadly passed away within weeks of each other earlier this year, she and her husband Doug felt the need to bring some life back into their house. Being long-time lovers of cats, they had been continually checking The Lost Dogs’ Home adoption page, watching the kitties come and go as they all went on to find new and loving homes.

All, that is, except one.

“We monitored the website for about three months but didn’t come in to adopt one because we were always travelling to visit my mum and dad at the time,” Anne said. “But every time we went online, we noticed a ginger cat named Floyd keeping popping up! He had been looking for a home for so long and he was so adorable, we couldn’t believe no one had taken him.”

Anne said she and Doug became very familiar with Floyd over the months, with a simple ‘Floyd is still there’ needing no further explanation. At long last, Anne decided to call the Wingecarribee shelter in New South Wales – where Floyd was being held – and enquire about him.

“I had never envisaged getting a cat without at least meeting him first!” the St Kilda-based Anne laughed. “It was a big gamble but I spoke to the girls at the shelter and they said he was such a beautiful cat. In the end, we decided to just go for it and thought, ‘Well, hopefully he likes us!’

After lots of negotiations with staff at the shelter, Anne and Doug arranged for a pet courier service to collect Floyd and bring him to their Melbourne home. Anne said she was expecting an extremely grumpy cat waiting to be collected by them; the reality was just the opposite!

“After driving for so long, I was expecting a ginger bundle of angry cat to come flying out of his cage, but he just walked calmly out and started smooching with me straight away,” Anne said. “It was just purr, purr, purr the whole time. He clung to me all day; I was trying to work from home and it was just absolutely impossible!”

In the time since Floyd came to live with the couple, he has kept them in hysterics with his antics. Doug, who has owned cats for most of his life, said he’s never had such an active cat before and Anne describes him as ‘dog-like’ in the way he follows her around and chews on their thongs.

“He’s always exploring; for his age – about 16 months – he still acts like quite a kitten,” Anne said. “We think he might have had a bit of a deprived kittenhood, because he always seems so fascinated with everything. And we live in a townhouse so he’s always up and down the stairs. His favourite toys are ping pong balls, he goes crazy over them.”

The fluffy ginger boy has also proven to be quite the food connoisseur, only eating food that passes his unique testing system.

“When given any new food that he is unsure of, Floyd bats it with his paw and then licks his paw to see if it is acceptable,” Anne laughed. “Doug says this is really unusual, as cats generally sniff and lick to test.”

Floyd’s antics haven’t always been so amusing; he once almost gave Anne a heart attack when he decided to inspect what she was doing in the kitchen!

“In the second week we had him, he almost lost one of his lives when he decided to jump up onto the stove top!” Anne said. “I reached out and deflected him as he jumped – lucky, as he would have landed square in the middle of the frying pan, in amongst the chops! One of his paws touched just the edge of the pan and when he landed, he was swiping it furiously and then spent hours licking it.”

At the end of a long day, Floyd loves nothing more than stretching out between his two loving owners for a nap.

“It’s so funny when we let him inside at night, he just collapses,” Anne said. “He’s so exhausted from his busy day. He stays inside at night and is very affectionate in the morning. I’m normally woken up by a little paw on the face and a smooch.”

“There are certainly worse ways to wake up!”

The travel bug must be spreading around The Lost Dogs’ Home, as we recently received an update on yet another one of our globe-trotting pussycats! Sasha was adopted from the Home nearly two years ago by Ebonny and her husband David and has since made a big journey up north to live in chilly Germany. Here, Ebonny shares the story of how Sasha came to be in their lives.

I have always lived in a home where I was surrounded by animals, so when I moved out of home over a year ago, it was a big adjustment not having any animals with me every day. After much deliberation, my partner and I decided to adopt a cat from The Lost Dogs’ Home. I have supported the Home for many years and since I was living in Victoria, I could actually visit and see firsthand the difference The Lost Dogs’ Home is making to help animals in need.

We visited the North Melbourne location and the first cat that we were greeted by was Sasha. She was very smoochy and seemed like she was eager to go home with us, so there was no doubt we were going to adopt her.

Since being adopted, Sasha has been enjoying her new life ruling the roost. Her favourite place is under the dining room table where she can watch everything that is happening and play with her favourite toy, a hedgehog. Sasha has become part of the family and we couldn’t imagine life without her. She has picked up a quirky habit which involves her waiting for you to get out of the shower so she can groom your wet legs. She also enjoys playing hide and seek; she has a very playful nature.

My husband, Sasha and I have now relocated to Germany for two years. Sasha has settled in quite well, she misses living in a house with a backyard though (Germany is full of apartments) and she took some time getting used to the different seasons. We are now experiencing winter and she has puffed right up for the freezing temperatures.

I hope that people can continue to enrich their lives by adopting animals in need. The love you receive from an animal is unconditional and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The little kittens that were sent in the mail have now gone into their foster home, where they will stay until they are big and strong and ready for adoption!

Foster Carer Amber collected Wilbur and Tinks from The Lost Dogs’ Home on Monday and reports that both are doing extremely well.

“When we first took the kittens home on Monday, we could see that they were very nervous,” Amber said. “They were quite skittish and cautious, but even by Monday evening they had become a fair bit calmer.”

Like most kittens, the pair needed a bit of time to settle into their new surroundings; however it didn’t take long for their natural kitten curiosity to come out.

“They run around A LOT and love to investigate everything in the house,” Amber said. “They seem to really love each other too; they play together, hang out together and cuddle up together. It’s very sweet.”

Amber said as each day passes, their little personalities continue to grow – and so do they!

“Wilbur especially is a hungry little guy!” she said. “He sometimes muscles in on Tinks during dinner and tries to eat her food after he’s polished his own off!”

Tinks has become very talkative in her foster home and will often fill Amber and her partner Dirk on every event of her day. Amber said both kittens are extremely affectionate and trusting towards them – unusual, given their age and background.

“They both love being tickled and cuddled,” she said. “We’re really pleased with how affectionate they are with us – you wouldn’t blame them for being a little wary of people after what happened to them.”

Wilbur and Tinks will be coming back into the Home next week so vets can weigh them and check their progress. The Lost Cats’ Home Manager Karina Bailey said she was thrilled to see the photos of Wilbur and Tinks playing and behaving like any other kitten in their foster home.

“It’s a big change from the tiny, scared little things that turned up in a cracker box,” Karina said. “It’s so wonderful to have the support of people like Amber and Dirk to help give these two a better start in life.”

If you think you have what it takes to be a Foster Carer, please visit our website for more information. 

Most cats go bolting at the first sight of water, but not two-year-old Lucky. Adopted from a Best Friends Pet SuperCentre over a year ago, Lucky has kept his new owners in fits of laughter with his antics, which includes positioning himself underneath the shower and waiting expectantly for them to turn it directly on him.

“It can get pretty bizarre in my household at times!” Lucky’s owner Jill laughed. “He’s just a really fun cat. When my daughter has friends over, they love playing with him so he often ends up in the doll’s pram! He’s really good with kids, so easy-going.”

Jill, her partner and their daughter Joanna weren’t looking to adopt a cat the day they walked into the Maribyrnong store 15 months ago – in fact, they were only there to buy food for their goldfish! But when they spotted the cats’ enclosure, they couldn’t resist taking a quick peek and that’s when they first laid eyes on Lucky.

“He was in there with another cat, but for some reason, Lucky really stood out to us,” Jill said. “He just seemed so sweet and relaxed. But we didn’t give it much thought at the time, because we didn’t go in with the intention of adopting a cat.”

However once the family were home, it soon became clear that they had all caught Lucky fever!

“We kept saying to each other, ‘Oh he was so nice, wasn’t he?’” Jill said. “We really liked him but we wanted to be sure he was right for our family, so after thinking about it for a week, we went back in to Best Friends to ask some more questions.”

The family had always said if they adopted a cat, it would be an adult and would come from a shelter. When they heard how Best Friends Pet SuperCentres acts as a satellite adoption centre for cats and kittens from The Lost Dogs’ Home, that really sealed the deal for Lucky.

“We wanted to adopt; we didn’t want to go through your typical pet shop,” Jill said. “So we thought it was great that Best Friends have the adoption program. We were really impressed with the whole experience, especially because they seemed to really know each cat’s personality and could tell us whether Lucky would be suitable to us. They were very helpful.”

Staff at Best Friends told the family how Lucky had been up for adoption at another store for quite some time before he was moved to the Maribyrnong store.

“Luckily for us!” Jill said. “It all seemed to work out just right, because Best Friends said they normally only have kittens but Lucky was six-months-old, which suited us perfectly. It was quite coincidental that he ended up at our local store.”

Another box Lucky ticked for the family was the fact that he had been raised as an indoor cat. Jill said there are quite a few cats living in their street and they didn’t want a cat that would run off with them all the time.

“Lucky seems perfectly content to spend all his time indoors,” Jill said. “And our vet said it was probably a good idea, given his colouring. He’s nice and white and we want to keep him that way!”

While not a lap cat, Lucky is very affectionate with his owners and loves to rub himself up against them and receive pats.

“He’s pretty endearing and lots of fun to have around,” Jill said.

Entering the cat adoption at The Lost Dogs’ Home can be quite the experience. With so many beautiful, whiskered faces staring at you and little paws stretching out to say hello, it’s hard to know where to start, let alone who to take home with you!

Yet despite the insistent meows coming from each enclosure, often one cat will stand out from the crowd to truly capture your heart. Whether it’s the crazy kitty who loves to play chasey with their toy mouse, the chilled-out old softie who is content to curl up in your arms or the smooch machine who wants to pepper your face in tiny nose kisses, there is a little personality just waiting to become a part of your family.

At present, there are 33 little personalities who are looking for homes. Thirty-one of these are adult cats who, our past adoption figures tell us, have a harder time finding a home than their wiggly kitten cohorts. With the breeding season upon us, we desperately need to find homes for our more mature moggies, as once the kittens start coming in, the older guys tend to get lost in the shadows.

“We have some absolutely gorgeous cats at the moment, but it’s the kittens that are walking out the door,” The Lost Cats’ Home Manager Karina Bailey said. “It’s so hard to see when you know these older cats – most of whom aren’t so far out of kittenhood themselves – could be just as fantastic a companion as the little guys.”

Among the cats who have had a bit of trouble finding a home is Bessie, an eight-year-old domestic shorthair who was once the beloved companion of an elderly owner. Despite being featured in a story on the website two weeks ago, no-one is yet to express an interest in the gentle girl.

“Bessie would be a wonderful companion for another elderly person, as she is very relaxed and happy simply to curl up in a lap for a snooze,” Karina said. “People have been put-off by her age but the average life expectancy for an indoor cat is around 12 – 15 years. So Bessie definitely has plenty of years still ahead of her.”

Another cat who has failed to grab the attention of a prospective owner is the shelter’s biggest cat, aptly named Big Bobby. This gentle giant isn’t fazed by anything, including other cats and would be a welcome second addition to any home; however at seven-years-old, Bobby is often brushed off as being ‘too old’ by adopters.

“Big Bobby is such a special boy, he’s completely relaxed and enjoys the simple things in life,” Karina said. “He’s an enormous cat but so sweet too. He will make a terrific family pet.”

And then there is Lucky, the three-legged wonder cat! When she arrived at the Home with a severely broken leg, vets had no choice but to remove it or else Lucky may not have survived. While we hoped an owner would show up to collect the beautiful girl, no one did and she was put up for adoption.

“We gave her the name Lucky because if she wasn’t found and brought into us when she was, she wouldn’t be here with us today,” Karina said. “Now we just hope she will be lucky enough to find a family who really love her, three legs and all.”

More and more cats are coming in every day and we need to find homes for our current cats now, so please take a moment to look through our adoptions page. There are cats of all sizes, ages, colours and temperament so you will be sure to find the right feline friend for you.

Cats for adoption at The Lost Dogs' Home, North Melbourne

On Tuesday morning, in a disgusting display of cruelty and thoughtlessness, two kittens not yet old enough to be away from their mother were discovered in a courier box by staff at a distribution centre. The box had been collected from a household in Melbourne’s western suburbs the day previous and the kittens had been in the box without food, water or padding to protect them for well over 24 hours.

After making the shocking discovery, staff contacted the City of Melbourne who immediately called upon The Lost Cats’ Home to collect and care for the kittens. Cattery Manager Karina Bailey said she was outraged when she heard about the incident.

“Any number of things could have happened to those kittens while they were in transit,” Karina said. “The box could have been squashed, it could have been dropped or roughly handled, and at such a young age, these kittens are already extremely vulnerable.”

Luckily the young male and female appeared to be unharmed, although they were underweight for what they should be at four-weeks-old. Veterinarians at the Home assessed the pair upon arrival and they have been carefully monitored this week to ensure their health doesn’t deteriorate.

“They should never have been taken away from their mum at this age,” Karina said. “Cats weaned off their mother’s milk too early can often have weak immune systems later on, so we wanted to make sure these kittens are getting lots of nutrition to make up for that.”

With the kittens still too young to be out up for adoption, Karina is appealing for members of the public to act as foster carers for the pair over the next four weeks.

“We want them to be strong and healthy by the time we put them up for adoption, so we need someone who will be able to provide them with the best quality care,” Karina said. “They are eating well and don’t appear to have any medical problems. Fattening them up and making sure they become lovely, socialised cats is the main thing!”

Anyone who believes they can provide a loving, temporary home to the two kittens – or to any of our sick, injured or underage cats and dogs – are encouraged to contact Foster Care Coordinator Amanda Huggins on 9329 2755 or download the foster care application form on www.dogshome.com.

“They are adorable kittens, very sweet and cuddly, which is surprising at their age,” Karina said. “It makes me sick that someone could do something so abhorrent to two innocent kittens. But hopefully we can give them a fresh start to life and they will grow up to become healthy, loving cats.”

An investigation into the incident is currently taking place.

Read more about this story in the Herald Sun (Reporter: Aleks Devic)

The Lost Dogs’ Home is celebrating a very exciting, landmark event – the completion of our newly constructed $2.35 million The Lost Cats’ Home.

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (inside)

Its opening marks the culmination of many years of planning, funding, and of course building a structure that is going to mean an enormous change and improvement for cats here at the Home. The facility commenced operation on Wednesday December 22, with a more formal open scheduled for a little later in the year.

“We are very excited by this state of the art, innovative and attractive new cat shelter. We expect to increase the lost cat claim rate and also to increase the adoption rate.” said the Home’s Managing Director Dr Graeme Smith.

The Lost Cats’ Home has been built on the premises after the acquisition of a factory space next door to The Lost Dogs’ Home at 2 Gracie Street North Melbourne, and it will double the number of lost cats we are able to hold.

Here at the Lost Dogs’ Home, we love our feline and canine tenants equally, but the cats have undoubtedly been in need of a bigger and better base from which to have treatment and assessment while they wait for their owners to claim them.

They will now enjoy state of the art facilities, in the form of 200 new air conditioned ‘cat condominiums’. And, we must admit, they will probably breathe a collective sigh of relief to have their own separate shelter, removed from the boisterous barks and yaps coming from the dog-end of town.

Since the Domestic Animals Act was introduced in 1996, there has been a huge increase in the number of cats and kittens being admitted to the Home. Councils began to implement a range of cat collection programs, and this has meant that in recent times we have had years where the number of cats admitted has exceeded the number of dogs. This dramatic rise simply had to be met, and we are thrilled that the support of so many donors and benefactors has enabled us to do this.

When our donors and benefactors learnt of the need to upgrade and improve our cat facilities, the Home was overwhelmed by their giving and their generosity.

The new facility will make a huge difference to the level of care we are able to give to vulnerable cats and kittens. By housing them in our purpose built cat condos – which each house up to four kittens or one adult cat, and have in-built temperature and ventilation controls, as well as en suite bathrooms – we will be able to drastically limit the incidence and spread of cat flu.

WATCH: Channel 10 News – The Lost Dogs’ Home – Cat Condo

Cat flu is a problem in most cat shelters. The cat condos should reduce the incidence of the condition from 15% to 3%! “This world class facility will set a benchmark for the rest of the country,” said Dr Smith.

Having a separate shelter building for our cats and kittens also gives us the perfect opportunity to increase awareness of some of the Home’s less high profile tenants.

We take in approximately 10,000 cats and kittens per year. While previously they may have lived a little in the shadow of the dogs, our new Cats’ Home will ensure that these animals in need have a solid profile in the community.

“I am very proud to see the completion of the vision to both raise the profile of cats here at the Home, and to significantly improve their living condition while they are under our care awaiting their owners to claim the.” Said Dr Smith.

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (left side)

The Lost Dogs' Home - Cat Condo (wide)