A Motel For Cats Provides Safe Haven In Avondale

This time of year the Kitty Motel at LifeLine Animal Project is as crowded as a beach town during spring break. It’s “kitten season” in Georgia and, like shelters across the country, LifeLine is finding their resources stretched and their space limited due to an overflow of kittens being born, abandoned and often abused in the Atlanta
area.

LifeLine rescues and rehabilitates homeless cats and kittens, mostly pulling them off the euthanasia list from county shelters and housing
them in the Kitty Motel until they are adopted.

The motel is a cage-free area where felines are free to socialize, roam, climb and play. It’s a group living situation and allows some freedom. It also allows potential adopters to see them in a more cat-natural environment than the rows of stainless steel cages you see at many shelters.

Walk into the Kitty Motel and you will be greeted by the more outgoing cats and coolly sized up by the calmer ones.

If there’s a group nap taking place, cats and kittens will sleepily yawn and stretch before venturing over to see if a visitor or volunteer has treats or want to play.

If one cat vacates a particularly appealing sleeping spot, another will rush in to lie down and claim it.

At the top of a wall of shelves, perching cats will peer down and when you pass by they might mew or reach out a paw to touch you.

One cat, Star, sits by the window and watches a daily parade of people and pets go by as volunteers walk dogs from the no-kill shelter and people bring pets to LifeLine's Spay & Neuter clinic. She blinks nonchalantly as a passing dog attempts to sniff her through the glass.

Taylor, a large grey cat who was abandoned and found with a huge gash in her side, is particularly fond of things like pens and utensils and will try to take them out of your hands. She practically demands that when staff or volunteers feed the cats that the fork used to dispense wet food is left behind for her to play with.

A buff tabby named Duffy lost one eye as an abandoned kitten
when it ruptured due to health problems. LifeLine vets treated him and he’s now healthy and ready for a home. Having just one eye doesn’t slow him down and furiously playing with Taylor is one of his favorite daily activities.

Salinger, a black and white cat, is calm and friendly. He has a broken stripe on his nose that looks like it was put there with two quick
strokes of white paint. He will walk up and sit quietly until a pat on the head or back rub is offered.

This time of year the Kitty Motel often has to turn away new residents due to lack of space.

The ongoing problem of pet overpopulation in Georgia results
in thousands of cats being killed every year in county shelters, at a significant cost to taxpayers. Part of LifeLine’s mission is to stop the cycle of rampant breeding and inevitable euthanasia by promoting and providing spay and neuter services and working with county shelters to reduce the number of healthy animals euthanized.

The spaying of female pets and neutering of male pets is a routine surgery that keeps dogs and cats from reproducing. It is generally seen as the most humane solution to pet overpopulation, with a side benefit of reduced risk of some cancers in dogs and cats. It also helps curb problem pet behaviors like wandering, aggression and (in cats) spraying or urinating on furniture, rugs and drapes.

LifeLine operates two low cost spay and neuter clinics, one in
Avondale Estates and one in College Park, where they serve the public and other rescue groups by supplying spay and neuter services at a vastly reduced cost.

All the cats living in the Kitty Motel are up for adoption and can be seen on the adoptable animal database at www.AtlantaPets.org.