Cats Can’t Do Math, But They Sure Can Multiply!
Deb Wolfe interviews Deborah Cribbs, Founder & Leader of the Give Them Ten movement for CATS. Cribbs says ‘cats can’t do math, but they do multiply’ and explains how promoting cat spay/neuter in Cincinnati brought the shelter cats no kill rate from 37%- 96%. How many cats do you think wil result if a mating pair are together for 5 years? Think about it… how many offspring will a Romeo and a Juliet cat make if they keep mating naturally for 5 years and their offspring mate too? See if you can guess how many and listen to the show to see if you guessed right.
The cats may not do Math but this organization sure does and the way they’ve set up donated money from a cat loving person who passed away is brilliant; they have structured their ads and promotions to allow other cat shelters anywhere in the world to tap into their model and use their platform with their mascot ‘Scooter’ the neutered cat to help the cats where they live. So if you want to make a difference for stray cats, cats in shelters and nice cats being euthanized you can go to www.givethemten.org and figure out what will work best for you. You don’t need money to make a huge difference. Deborah Wolfe adds cat facts like how cats’ sense of taste is different from ours and how many lost cats get found compared to the found lost dogs stats.
For training demos on cats (& dogs) check out Deb Wolfe – Pet expert on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKv0UI45qaZQAV2IS5cUuhQ and for pet laughs and great social media posts see Deb Wolfe-Pet Expert on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/debwolfepetexpert/ . We welcome your pet questions, comments & guest suggestions. Especially If you have a pet problem please send us a voice clip message, or text message to deb@petliferadio.com and we will answer your question on the air
Listen to Episode #200 Now:
Scooter the Neutered Cat
BIO:
Scooter the Neutered Cat™ took Greater Cincinnati and the nation by storm in 2013 with an edgy, irreverent and hilarious campaign that encouraged spay/neuter and feline education with the goal of creating a more cat-caring community. Nearly nine years later, Scooter the Neutered Cat’s™ initiatives have been an unequivocal success. The shelter live-release rate (percentage of cats that enter shelters and are released/adopted) was merely 37% for cats in Cincinnati when Scooter™ debuted. Today, that rate is more than 95%.
These tremendous results are thanks to several factors, people and organizations, including the leadership of Deborah Cribbs, a director of the Joanie Bernard Foundation and founder and leader of the Give Them Ten™ Movement — the parent organizations of Scooter the Neutered Cat™. Today, Cribbs considers herself “Scooter’s™ mother” and has committed herself to improving the (nine) lives of cats.
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Deborah Wolfe: Hello, you're listening to Animal Party on Pet Life Radio with me, Deb Wolfe.
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Deborah Wolfe: And today we have a special guest, first time ever from the Give Them Ten movement.
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Deborah Wolfe: And I've told you about Give Them Ten before.
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Deborah Wolfe: So givethemten.org.
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Deborah Wolfe: I'm gonna tell you more about them today.
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Deborah Wolfe: But coming to us as our special guest today is Deborah Cribbs, the founder and the leader of the Give Them Ten movement.
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Deborah Wolfe: Welcome to the show, Deborah.
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Deborah Cribbs: Thank you, so happy to be here.
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, I'm happy to have you.
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Deborah Wolfe: You're doing so much good work.
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Deborah Wolfe: Okay, let's tell our listeners, in case they didn't catch me talking about you earlier on an earlier show, let's tell them what Give Them Ten movement is about.
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Deborah Cribbs: Well, first of all, I'll explain the very provocative name.
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Deborah Cribbs: Cats have nine lives, so give them ten, get it?
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Deborah Wolfe: I get it, for sure.
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Deborah Wolfe: And they do seem to have nine lives.
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Deborah Wolfe: I mean, how many times do you see a cat do something that you think, wow, that is quite the jump?
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Deborah Cribbs: They are good at that.
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Deborah Wolfe: And you think, how did you do that?
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Deborah Wolfe: How did you fall off the roof while I was fixing the roof onto the balcony and not hurt yourself?
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Deborah Wolfe: But they do get hurt sometimes.
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Deborah Wolfe: So some of them need a tenth life.
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Deborah Wolfe: You know, there's some myths out there about cats, like they can fall from any height and right themselves, which is mostly true, but you don't want to be the statistic in the small group where they get hurt.
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Deborah Wolfe: So got to be careful.
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Deborah Wolfe: So give them ten.
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Deborah Wolfe: What do you guys do?
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Deborah Cribbs: Well, we are working in the Cincinnati area in about a hundred mile radius right now, and we are working very hard to see that no more cats get killed in shelters.
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Deborah Cribbs: That's our big goal.
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Deborah Cribbs: The fact that so many cats die in shelters in the US was astonishing to us when we started this work back in 2013.
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Deborah Cribbs: So I'm happy to report, generally in our area, the live release rates are very high and cats are not being killed for space and shelters.
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Deborah Cribbs: So that's what we're working on.
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Deborah Cribbs: But I think it's the way that we're doing it.
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Deborah Cribbs: That might be fun to hear about.
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, okay, before we go into that, I just want to give people an idea of what kind of success we're talking about.
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Deborah Wolfe: First of all, it's not just confined to Cincinnati.
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Deborah Wolfe: We'll go over that a little bit later.
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Deborah Wolfe: So if you're listening and you're thinking, well, that has nothing to do with me.
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Deborah Wolfe: Oh no, it's coming to your area.
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Deborah Wolfe: But besides that, when she says she's improved the situation, okay, the stat of cats being killed in shelters, the live release rate rather in Cincinnati was 37% back before in 2013.
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Deborah Wolfe: So not that long ago.
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Deborah Wolfe: And now because of you guys and your helpers, it's 96%.
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Deborah Wolfe: So that's huge.
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Deborah Cribbs: Huge.
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Deborah Cribbs: We're so proud.
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Deborah Cribbs: And I mean, understand, we didn't do this.
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Deborah Cribbs: All of the people on the ground in the shelter community did this.
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Deborah Cribbs: But we funded it.
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Deborah Cribbs: We funded the Genesis.
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Deborah Cribbs: We funded the beginning of it, let's say.
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Deborah Cribbs: They did all the work.
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Deborah Cribbs: And I certainly don't want to sit and take credit for it.
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Deborah Cribbs: But we definitely had a lot to do with framing the question and kind of asking the shelter community, why?
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Deborah Cribbs: Why in this day and age do we have to kill so many animals?
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Deborah Cribbs: On a really interesting ride, I will say.
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, we're going to take a quick break and come back and find out how this is happening, what is going on exactly.
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Deborah Wolfe: And then let's insert a few quirky facts about cats along the way just to keep you all entertained.
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Deborah Wolfe: Stay tuned on Animal Party, Pet Life Radio.
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Deborah Wolfe: This is Deborah Wolfe, host of Animal Party on Pet Life Radio.
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Deborah Wolfe: You know the expression, cats have nine lives?
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, what if you can give them one more?
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Deborah Wolfe: The Give Them Ten movement is on a mission to help give cats an extra life.
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Deborah Wolfe: How?
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Deborah Wolfe: With spay and neuter.
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Deborah Wolfe: Spaying or neutering your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life.
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Deborah Wolfe: And it helps control free roaming cat populations too.
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Deborah Wolfe: Learn more about the benefits of spay and neuter and meet Scooter, the neutered cat, at givethemten.org.
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Deborah Wolfe: That's givethemten.org.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets on petliferadio.com.
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Deborah Wolfe: Hello, we're back on Animal Party, Pet Life Radio, and we're talking with Deborah Cribbs.
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Deborah Wolfe: She's the founder and leader of Give Them Ten Movement, which is all about spay and neuter, right?
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Deborah Wolfe: That's really the thing.
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Deborah Wolfe: Why was overpopulation your target issue to tackle?
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Deborah Cribbs: Well, thanks for asking, Matt.
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Deborah Cribbs: We looked at the fact that cats were being killed in shelters and said, through data, why?
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Deborah Cribbs: And the reason was there were too many entering the shelter.
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Deborah Cribbs: How do we get fewer cats entering the shelter?
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Deborah Cribbs: Complicated question, complicated answer.
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Deborah Cribbs: We chose what we believe was the low-hanging fruit.
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Deborah Cribbs: And by the way, that's a pun.
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Deborah Wolfe: Yeah, I get it.
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Deborah Cribbs: About spay and neuter.
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Deborah Cribbs: I can do so many of them.
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Deborah Cribbs: But we thought spay and neuter might be the low-hanging fruit.
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Deborah Cribbs: So we started our attack on the problem with spay and neuter.
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Deborah Wolfe: So, you know, I noticed lately in the past few years, following cat shows and dog shows, as I do, that you can actually enter a spay or neuter cat in a cat show and win, and even win best in show.
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Deborah Wolfe: So there's really no reason not to do it.
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Deborah Wolfe: Even if your cat's really gorgeous and you think, oh my gosh, his career.
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, no, just neuter or spam, he can still have a really good career.
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Deborah Wolfe: So I thought that was kind of interesting that the show world has evolved a bit.
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Deborah Wolfe: You know, a stat I've often put out there is that in five years, a boy cat and a girl cat together, and all their offspring in five years, if they're not spayed or neutered, they're going to end up with 5,000 offspring.
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Deborah Wolfe: So I think your idea to tackle, spay, and neuter is pretty key.
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Deborah Wolfe: It's not like us, we have a few babies in our life.
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Deborah Wolfe: They can have eight to ten, twice a year, three times a year, over and over and over and over, and each one of those can have babies.
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Deborah Wolfe: So I mean, you're really going to the root of the problem, right?
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Deborah Cribbs: Absolutely.
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Deborah Cribbs: You know, interestingly, that you brought that up.
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Deborah Cribbs: I'll take a step back, if I may, and just say that part of the way that we're combating this problem is that we've got a really interesting ad campaign we've been running.
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Deborah Cribbs: And it's changed over the years.
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Deborah Cribbs: But one of our ad campaigns is called Cat Math.
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Deborah Cribbs: And we like to say, cats surely can't do math, but they do multiply.
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Deborah Wolfe: Yeah, that's a good one.
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Deborah Wolfe: Have you ever tried like to trick a cat though?
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Deborah Wolfe: I mean, I'm not sure they can't do math.
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Deborah Wolfe: I think they can count.
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Deborah Wolfe: I think if you have three toys they like and you take away one, they'll keep looking for the third.
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Deborah Cribbs: I think you're right about that.
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Deborah Cribbs: My cats are extraordinarily wise.
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Deborah Cribbs: I think they can do any kind of math or count if they want to.
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Deborah Cribbs: I think that's the key.
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Deborah Cribbs: Cats are passive aggressive, right?
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Deborah Cribbs: They'll do it if they want to.
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Deborah Wolfe: Some are, yes, if they want to.
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Deborah Wolfe: That's the whole thing in cat training, really.
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Deborah Wolfe: And you have to pick a cat who often wants to.
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Deborah Wolfe: And then you have to pick a cat who wants to for a very specific thing so you know, you can summon up that want to, go to attitude on a set of a cat food ad or something because he loves his little mouse or whatever it is.
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Deborah Wolfe: It's usually prey.
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Deborah Wolfe: It's not usually food, but if you get a cat who will work for food, that's a treat, literally.
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Deborah Wolfe: See, I can pun too.
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Deborah Cribbs: I was told, I don't know if you would know better than I, but I was told in working on some of the ads that we've done, that it is the orange striped cats who are easiest to train.
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Deborah Wolfe: Well, okay, yes and no.
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Deborah Wolfe: Orange tabbies and tabbies in general are smart.
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Deborah Wolfe: And orange male tabbies, because they're usually male, are pretty confident.
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Deborah Wolfe: But it depends on the trick.
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Deborah Wolfe: Like if you're talking about agility, like leaps and jumps and three hoops and stuff like that, Abyssinian every time.
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Deborah Wolfe: If you're talking about talking, well, then you go with the Siamese.
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Deborah Wolfe: Like it depends what the trick is, you know?
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Deborah Wolfe: Yeah, so it really depends.
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Deborah Wolfe: But if you're looking for a cat out there and you go to a shelter and you want a cat that's going to interact with you, and you want a cat that maybe might do tricks, well, bring something.
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Deborah Wolfe: Bring some kind of specific cat toy on a stick or a rod, a long one so your hand's not in there.
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Deborah Wolfe: And as you go by the cages and you're looking at these rescue cats, see who's responding.
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Deborah Wolfe: Because if they're going to respond in there, they're going to respond outside in your home.
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Deborah Wolfe: I mean, that's kind of an environment where a lot of them just sort of give up and hide in the back and don't show their true personality.
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Deborah Wolfe: If you have a cat who's interacting with you even there, then you've got a good one for tricks and training.
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Deborah Wolfe: And then it's just all about you.
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Deborah Wolfe: I find if you're used to training dogs, you kind of have to think of your cat as an extra smart dog with almost like ADHD.
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Deborah Wolfe: They get distracted very, very easily, and they don't want to repeat anything very often, like a gifted kid.
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Deborah Wolfe: So you don't do the trick seven, eight, ten, twenty times like a golden retriever wants.
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Deborah Wolfe: Throw a fetch again, fetch again, fetch again.
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Deborah Wolfe: The cat's not like that.
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Deborah Wolfe: Cat wants to do it once or twice and then move on to something else.
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Deborah Wolfe: So that's what I would suggest, if you're out there listening and you want to train a cat.
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Deborah Wolfe: All right, so we've got some questions to go through.
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Deborah Wolfe: I want to know, how did you even get involved with this, Deborah?
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Deborah Cribbs: Well, by day, I'm a banker.
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Deborah Cribbs: My team were all bankers and we were given the responsibility when a client died to manage a real big pot of money.
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Deborah Cribbs: And that big pot of money was and is a private foundation that we run.
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Deborah Cribbs: So we were given this extraordinary opportunity and responsibility to give away a great deal of money for the benefit of cats and pretty much cats only.
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Deborah Cribbs: So we had to figure out, how do we do this in a way that actually makes sense, you know, as bankers, as produce share, meaning as the people who have to explain why they get it.
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Deborah Cribbs: And we landed on, well, hey, there's an actual problem out there.
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Deborah Cribbs: Cats are being killed in shelters.
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Deborah Cribbs: Can we actually solve that problem?
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Deborah Cribbs: Will money solve that problem?
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Deborah Cribbs: I mean, money won't solve every problem, but it does give you a jumpstart.
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Deborah Cribbs: So we used it as a jumpstart.
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Deborah Cribbs: And we started talking to the public pretty aggressively.
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Deborah Cribbs: Why are you letting cats die in shelters?
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Deborah Cribbs: And for that matter, it's hot.
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Deborah Cribbs: Nobody wants cats and dogs to die in shelters down the street from them.
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Deborah Cribbs: So that's how we got involved in it.
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Deborah Cribbs: And it's done quite a wild ride.
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Deborah Cribbs: And you're right, we're really proud of our statistics.
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Deborah Cribbs: Very proud that cats are not being killed around here because of overpopulation.
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Deborah Cribbs: And you're right, we'll be coming to a town or a city near you soon.
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Deborah Wolfe: Near you, yeah.
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Deborah Wolfe: Okay, so I just want people to understand, you know, when dogs go missing, a lot of times they're never found, but 60% of the time they are found.
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Deborah Wolfe: Whereas when cats go missing, the stat is really low.
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Deborah Wolfe: It's only 10% that get found.
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Deborah Wolfe: Now sometimes the cat just found a nicer home nearby, okay, but a lot of times, it has to do with identification and microchipping.
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Deborah Wolfe: And every cat looks the same in a picture.
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Deborah Wolfe: And how are you going to find your black cat or your black and white cat or your gray cat, even a cat with striking eyes, if it goes missing, you need to have really good ID on them and microchip.
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Deborah Wolfe: And then if you spay or neuter them, they don't go wandering.
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Deborah Wolfe: They don't get hit by cars.
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Deborah Wolfe: They're more content to stay in your world and not have these troubles.
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Deborah Wolfe: So it's really the smart thing to do.
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Deborah Wolfe: All right, we're going to go to break and come back and talk more about, well, it sounds like you're doing something for dogs.
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Deborah Wolfe: So I'd like to hear about that.
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Deborah Wolfe: Stay tuned with me on Animal Party and our guest Deborah Cribbs.
00:12:34.478 --> 00:12:34.938
Deborah Wolfe: Stay tuned.
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00:14:01.738 --> 00:14:17.878
Deborah Wolfe: Hello, you're back on Animal Party with Pet Life Radio.
00:14:18.593 --> 00:14:26.193
Deborah Wolfe: And we are talking with Deborah Cribbs about Give Them Ten and givethemten.org, because that's where you wanna go.
00:14:26.193 --> 00:14:28.753
Deborah Wolfe: And I need to know, what are you doing for dogs?
00:14:28.753 --> 00:14:33.993
Deborah Cribbs: Well, I didn't mean to mislead you, but we are doing something really important for dogs.
00:14:33.993 --> 00:14:40.553
Deborah Cribbs: We fund cats to such a large extent that other funds are diverted to help dogs.
00:14:40.553 --> 00:14:44.553
Deborah Cribbs: So while we don't do work directly with dogs, absolutely not.
00:14:44.553 --> 00:14:46.973
Deborah Cribbs: We are a cat organization.
00:14:46.973 --> 00:14:54.493
Deborah Cribbs: When I'm meeting with shelter directors, I certainly am aware of the dog statistics and situation as well.
00:14:54.493 --> 00:15:02.893
Deborah Cribbs: And overall, in the areas where we're working, sort of a rising tide floats all boats, the dog welfare has improved as well.
00:15:02.893 --> 00:15:04.133
Deborah Wolfe: Nice.
00:15:04.133 --> 00:15:06.653
Deborah Wolfe: Okay, tell us about your expansion.
00:15:06.653 --> 00:15:08.653
Deborah Wolfe: So you're not just in Cincinnati?
00:15:08.653 --> 00:15:14.593
Deborah Cribbs: Well, right now, we work in about a hundred-mile radius from Cincinnati directly.
00:15:14.593 --> 00:15:22.653
Deborah Cribbs: But a year or so ago, we got this great idea and said, we have these amazing ads.
00:15:22.653 --> 00:15:27.433
Deborah Cribbs: We do digital ads, TV ads, billboards on the street.
00:15:27.433 --> 00:15:29.653
Deborah Cribbs: We have these amazing ad campaigns.
00:15:29.653 --> 00:15:34.713
Deborah Cribbs: And by the way, if anybody wants to see them, check out our YouTube channel.
00:15:34.713 --> 00:15:37.813
Deborah Cribbs: Scooter, the neutered cat is our mascot.
00:15:37.813 --> 00:15:43.173
Deborah Cribbs: And if you just try to look up Scooter, the neutered cat, you'll find his YouTube channel.
00:15:43.173 --> 00:15:47.553
Deborah Cribbs: And our website is givethemten.org, and you can access our ad campaign.
00:15:47.553 --> 00:15:56.053
Deborah Cribbs: But we thought, wow, we have put a lot of resources over the years into this really high quality ad campaign.
00:15:56.053 --> 00:16:04.173
Deborah Cribbs: And it's so fun to show it in the areas that we have, which is Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky.
00:16:04.173 --> 00:16:10.733
Deborah Cribbs: But hey, wouldn't it be fun if Scooter could live in other cities as well?
00:16:10.733 --> 00:16:15.473
Deborah Cribbs: Well, we can't just go to Eddie City and say, hey, we want to start running these ads.
00:16:15.473 --> 00:16:17.813
Deborah Cribbs: It's just, it's not quite that simple.
00:16:17.813 --> 00:16:20.913
Deborah Cribbs: But what we did is we did a little road show.
00:16:20.913 --> 00:16:32.413
Deborah Cribbs: We went to some conferences, some animal welfare conferences and said, hey, we will offer to license our ad campaign for pretty much nothing.
00:16:32.413 --> 00:16:42.753
Deborah Cribbs: And we'll offer some marketing support to help shelters figure out how to use it if you will let Scooter live in your city.
00:16:42.753 --> 00:16:47.613
Deborah Cribbs: So since that time, we've got more than a handful of cities that have signed on.
00:16:47.613 --> 00:16:51.113
Deborah Cribbs: And Scooter is now living in Iowa.
00:16:51.113 --> 00:16:52.733
Deborah Cribbs: He's in Georgia.
00:16:52.733 --> 00:16:53.613
Deborah Cribbs: He's in Hawaii.
00:16:53.613 --> 00:16:56.073
Deborah Wolfe: Oh, like Lassie, there's more than one.
00:16:56.073 --> 00:16:57.993
Deborah Cribbs: Yeah, well, on TV.
00:16:57.993 --> 00:16:59.713
Deborah Cribbs: He lives on TV.
00:17:00.933 --> 00:17:03.993
Deborah Cribbs: Well, the deep dark secret, there is more than one, yes.
00:17:04.273 --> 00:17:07.373
Deborah Wolfe: But are some of them girls?
00:17:07.413 --> 00:17:11.473
Deborah Wolfe: No, Lassie, some of them were boys and some of them weren't.
00:17:11.493 --> 00:17:13.273
Deborah Cribbs: It's so funny what you said.
00:17:13.273 --> 00:17:17.393
Deborah Cribbs: The orange striped Tabby is almost always a boy cat.
00:17:17.393 --> 00:17:19.973
Deborah Cribbs: So he's always been a boy cat, yes.
00:17:19.993 --> 00:17:22.593
Deborah Wolfe: Yeah, and calicoes are almost always a female.
00:17:22.593 --> 00:17:23.933
Deborah Wolfe: There's certain genetic things.
00:17:23.933 --> 00:17:26.393
Deborah Wolfe: Ragdolls have a certain color eyes.
00:17:26.393 --> 00:17:31.793
Deborah Wolfe: There's certain things that go with genetics and personality too.
00:17:32.553 --> 00:17:34.173
Deborah Wolfe: But what you see is what you get.
00:17:34.173 --> 00:17:41.873
Deborah Wolfe: So if you're looking at a cat in a shelter and it kind of looks Siamese, and it talks a lot, it's probably mostly Siamese.
00:17:41.873 --> 00:17:44.133
Deborah Wolfe: You can kind of see what's in there.
00:17:44.133 --> 00:17:50.793
Deborah Wolfe: If you look closely and you look at their behavior, not just their coat, because the coat, that's only a couple of the genes.
00:17:50.793 --> 00:17:53.933
Deborah Wolfe: There's a lot going into behavior and personality and agility.
00:17:53.933 --> 00:17:55.513
Deborah Wolfe: And not every cat is the same.
00:17:55.513 --> 00:18:00.613
Deborah Wolfe: There's some cats that have been bred to just lay about and other cats that are pretty primitive.
00:18:00.813 --> 00:18:04.153
Deborah Wolfe: So it's a good idea to make sure you get your right match.
00:18:04.153 --> 00:18:12.473
Deborah Wolfe: And if you don't have your right match and you have destruction or difficulties, well, then you should call my show because I'll help you with that.
00:18:12.473 --> 00:18:13.113
Deborah Wolfe: No problem.
00:18:13.113 --> 00:18:14.033
Deborah Wolfe: And I won't charge you.
00:18:14.033 --> 00:18:27.193
Deborah Wolfe: Just call pet or Deb at petliferadio.com or send an email or send a voice clip with any cat problem you have or cat question or dog problem or dog question and I'll solve it for you.
00:18:27.193 --> 00:18:31.193
Deborah Wolfe: And if I can't solve it myself, I'll bring an expert on to help me with it.
00:18:31.193 --> 00:18:34.553
Deborah Wolfe: So send me your problems, Deb at petliferadio.com.
00:18:34.553 --> 00:18:37.433
Deborah Wolfe: Okay, so we've taken our two breaks.
00:18:37.433 --> 00:18:39.873
Deborah Wolfe: I'm afraid we have to end the show soon.
00:18:39.873 --> 00:18:43.553
Deborah Wolfe: So I want to ask you what you want to leave people with.
00:18:43.553 --> 00:18:47.033
Deborah Wolfe: Like how can they get a hold of you or get involved?
00:18:47.173 --> 00:18:48.853
Deborah Wolfe: What should people know out there?
00:18:48.853 --> 00:18:52.573
Deborah Wolfe: All over North America, we have listeners and all over the world.
00:18:52.573 --> 00:18:55.653
Deborah Wolfe: And everywhere I can think of, there are too many cats.
00:18:55.813 --> 00:18:58.873
Deborah Wolfe: So everywhere except it seems like Turkey.
00:18:58.873 --> 00:19:06.573
Deborah Wolfe: Have you noticed that, Deborah, that it seems like in Turkey, there are a lot of street cats and they all seem to be doing quite well?
00:19:06.573 --> 00:19:08.293
Deborah Wolfe: I don't know what's up with that.
00:19:08.293 --> 00:19:11.613
Deborah Cribbs: As a matter of fact, I could do a whole show with you on that topic.
00:19:11.613 --> 00:19:13.273
Announcer: Yes.
00:19:13.273 --> 00:19:13.753
Deborah Wolfe: You know what?
00:19:13.753 --> 00:19:16.853
Deborah Wolfe: Okay, I'm going to have you come back and we're going to talk about that on a future show.
00:19:16.853 --> 00:19:18.273
Deborah Wolfe: I'm going to hold you to that.
00:19:18.273 --> 00:19:21.553
Deborah Wolfe: But makes me want to book a ticket.
00:19:21.553 --> 00:19:22.293
Deborah Wolfe: All right.
00:19:22.293 --> 00:19:25.333
Deborah Wolfe: Everywhere else though, it seems like there's a terrible cat population.
00:19:25.333 --> 00:19:27.073
Deborah Wolfe: An overpopulation.
00:19:27.073 --> 00:19:30.973
Deborah Wolfe: And the best thing you can do is spay or neuter your cat.
00:19:30.973 --> 00:19:32.013
Deborah Cribbs: Spay, neuter.
00:19:32.393 --> 00:19:33.133
Deborah Cribbs: Adopt.
00:19:33.133 --> 00:19:34.353
Deborah Cribbs: Adopt from shelter.
00:19:34.353 --> 00:19:38.473
Deborah Wolfe: People think that kittens in shelters come from breeders.
00:19:38.473 --> 00:19:40.113
Deborah Wolfe: But that's not true.
00:19:40.113 --> 00:19:44.373
Deborah Wolfe: You know, only 3% of cats come from breeders.
00:19:44.373 --> 00:19:54.133
Deborah Wolfe: Most of the cats you see are from friends or relatives or strays or some kind of not intended coupling.
00:19:54.753 --> 00:19:56.393
Deborah Wolfe: And that's who's in the shelters.
00:19:56.393 --> 00:20:00.793
Deborah Wolfe: You might think, well, it's okay if they have a litter, because I know 2 people who want kittens.
00:20:00.793 --> 00:20:02.433
Deborah Wolfe: Well, what about the other 8?
00:20:02.433 --> 00:20:04.513
Deborah Wolfe: And will those 2 people spay and neuter?
00:20:04.513 --> 00:20:15.093
Deborah Wolfe: And what are you going to do when it comes time to wean those kittens and your cat goes into heat promptly within days and escapes out the window, because that's what they do when they're in heat.
00:20:15.093 --> 00:20:19.633
Deborah Wolfe: They find escapes and they're really small and they can cut through screen if they need to.
00:20:19.633 --> 00:20:23.273
Deborah Wolfe: And boom, now you got another 8 to 10 kittens in 2 months.
00:20:23.853 --> 00:20:31.033
Deborah Wolfe: So, okay, I know you're already convinced, but what can people do to help besides spay and neuter their own pets?
00:20:31.033 --> 00:20:35.013
Deborah Cribbs: Well, spay and neuter, I think mathematically is the most important thing.
00:20:35.013 --> 00:20:37.173
Deborah Cribbs: Adopt from a shelter.
00:20:37.173 --> 00:20:40.433
Deborah Cribbs: Adopt from anywhere, but adopt from a shelter.
00:20:40.433 --> 00:20:41.593
Deborah Cribbs: Save a cat that way.
00:20:41.593 --> 00:20:43.633
Deborah Cribbs: Understand kitten season.
00:20:43.633 --> 00:20:48.433
Deborah Cribbs: Kitten season is usually a specific time, usually spring, summer in the United States.
00:20:48.433 --> 00:20:51.373
Deborah Cribbs: Shelters are overwhelmed that time of year with kittens.
00:20:51.373 --> 00:20:52.773
Deborah Cribbs: You know when we don't have kittens?
00:20:53.153 --> 00:20:53.953
Deborah Cribbs: Christmas.
00:20:53.953 --> 00:20:56.133
Deborah Cribbs: You know when people want to adopt kittens?
00:20:56.133 --> 00:20:56.673
Deborah Cribbs: Christmas.
00:20:56.673 --> 00:20:58.073
Deborah Wolfe: Christmas, yeah.
00:20:58.073 --> 00:20:59.613
Deborah Wolfe: But do they really?
00:20:59.613 --> 00:21:08.633
Deborah Wolfe: They think they do, but you bring a kitten home and there's a Christmas tree and the toys and all these hazards and candles and guests coming in and out and the doors open and no, no, no, no.
00:21:08.633 --> 00:21:14.973
Deborah Wolfe: How about a card under the tree that tells your kid they're getting a kitten in April?
00:21:14.973 --> 00:21:20.253
Deborah Wolfe: How about like, you know, a card that says your Easter gift will be a kitten, something like that.
00:21:20.793 --> 00:21:22.713
Deborah Cribbs: Music to my ears.
00:21:23.973 --> 00:21:26.053
Deborah Wolfe: It makes so much more sense.
00:21:26.053 --> 00:21:27.453
Deborah Wolfe: Okay, so what else can people do?
00:21:27.453 --> 00:21:35.193
Deborah Wolfe: How do they contact your organization if they're involved in rescue or they want to be in there and they like this idea of that campaign?
00:21:35.193 --> 00:21:36.153
Deborah Cribbs: Well, absolutely.
00:21:36.153 --> 00:21:39.233
Deborah Cribbs: Check us out at our website, givethemten.org.
00:21:39.233 --> 00:21:44.293
Deborah Cribbs: And if wherever you are, wherever you are in the world, go to your local shelter that needs your help.
00:21:44.293 --> 00:21:46.573
Deborah Cribbs: They need lots of help, always.
00:21:46.573 --> 00:21:49.973
Deborah Cribbs: And talk to your shelter about licensing our ad campaign.
00:21:50.393 --> 00:21:52.613
Deborah Cribbs: We'd love to hear from people.
00:21:52.613 --> 00:21:55.853
Deborah Wolfe: I think sometimes people think if they're not rich, they can't help.
00:21:55.853 --> 00:22:06.153
Deborah Wolfe: But if they need drivers, they need cuddlers, they need blankets and towels, and just ask them what they need, because they probably need something you've got.
00:22:06.153 --> 00:22:07.893
Deborah Cribbs: Shelters need help, yep.
00:22:07.893 --> 00:22:19.253
Deborah Wolfe: I get calls all the time and I go to this local cat shelter with bags and bags of food that are donated, but there's no one to take them from the donation site to the receiving site.
00:22:19.733 --> 00:22:30.733
Deborah Wolfe: Yeah, it hurts my back a little bit, and it's not that great on my car, but oh my gosh, when I walk in that place, meow, meow, meow, meow, everybody knows, all the cats have figured out what I'm coming with.
00:22:30.733 --> 00:22:47.433
Deborah Wolfe: You know, like they're just so excited, because I have toys and treats and all kinds of donations, and because when I walk in, the rescue workers who are usually exhausted and tired of seeing yet another person surrendering a cat are so excited to see somebody coming with actual supplies they need.
00:22:47.593 --> 00:22:51.553
Deborah Wolfe: So, look to see how you can help, because there's more ways than just money, for sure.
00:22:51.553 --> 00:22:52.633
Deborah Cribbs: Absolutely.
00:22:52.633 --> 00:22:56.333
Deborah Wolfe: Okay, well, I'm going to have to let you go, because our time is out, but I'm taking you up on that.
00:22:56.333 --> 00:22:59.873
Deborah Wolfe: You're coming back to talk about turkey, I hope, Deborah.
00:22:59.873 --> 00:23:01.013
Deborah Wolfe: Of course.
00:23:01.013 --> 00:23:02.393
Deborah Wolfe: We're going to talk turkey.
00:23:02.393 --> 00:23:04.953
Deborah Wolfe: I had to say that, because you're a pun kind of gal.
00:23:04.953 --> 00:23:12.753
Deborah Wolfe: So, all right, everybody, find givethemten.org and look for us on a future show with Deborah Cribbs.
00:23:12.753 --> 00:23:16.313
Deborah Wolfe: We're going to be talking about turkey and cats coming up on a future show.
00:23:16.973 --> 00:23:19.333
Deborah Wolfe: I just want to let you know where you can find me.
00:23:19.333 --> 00:23:23.313
Deborah Wolfe: Animal Party is on petliferadio.com where you can subscribe.
00:23:23.313 --> 00:23:30.273
Deborah Wolfe: But you can also find this show on iTunes and Spotify and Everywhere Podcasts Play.
00:23:30.273 --> 00:23:33.573
Deborah Wolfe: I'd love it if you subscribe so you don't miss a show.
00:23:33.573 --> 00:23:40.733
Deborah Wolfe: But also on social media, you can find my training demos with real cats and real dogs, naughty ones.
00:23:40.753 --> 00:23:44.893
Deborah Wolfe: You can check that out at Deb Wolfe Pet Expert on YouTube.
00:23:44.893 --> 00:23:51.793
Deborah Wolfe: And for pet laughs and great social media posts, you can see Deb Wolfe Pet Expert on Facebook.
00:23:51.793 --> 00:24:00.073
Deborah Wolfe: Here at Animal Party, I welcome your pet questions, comments, and guest suggestions, especially if you have a pet problem.
00:24:00.073 --> 00:24:02.013
Deborah Wolfe: I'm begging you like a beagle.
00:24:02.013 --> 00:24:07.653
Deborah Wolfe: Please send me a voice clip message or text message to deb at petliferadio.com.
00:24:08.653 --> 00:24:10.793
Deborah Wolfe: And I'll answer your question on the air.
00:24:10.793 --> 00:24:20.793
Deborah Wolfe: I can even, if you send me your contact information, we will try to arrange to speak with you off air, record it, and solve your problem together.
00:24:20.793 --> 00:24:27.733
Deborah Wolfe: If you're a first time listener, you can scroll through the older shows and find the topic or expert guest that really speaks to you.
00:24:27.733 --> 00:24:36.353
Deborah Wolfe: Maybe it's dog breed bands or the royal family pets or pets in war zones or how to train your cat to use a litter box.
00:24:36.473 --> 00:24:42.673
Deborah Wolfe: Whatever it is, you can find it on one of my old shows, and they're all there at petliferadio.com.
00:24:42.673 --> 00:24:48.413
Deborah Wolfe: So I hope you'll tune in wherever you listen to podcasts to Animal Party on Pet Life Radio.
00:24:48.413 --> 00:24:53.193
Deborah Wolfe: And from me, Deb Wolfe and Animal Party, be good dear animals.
00:24:53.193 --> 00:24:54.913
Deborah Wolfe: Ciao, meow.
00:24:54.913 --> 00:25:00.913
Announcer: Let's talk pets every week on demand, only on petliferadio.com.