Teri Vance: Cat sanctuary hosts open house

Catmandu, Carson City’s no-kill, no-cage cat rescue, is holding an open house today to thank the community for supporting the rescue operation.

“About a year ago we nearly had to close our gates for lack of funding,” said founder Linda Buchanan. “The community rallied around us, and we were able to stay open.”

Not only have they been able to stay open, Buchanan said, they have improved.

“We’ve been able to make some changes,” she said. “We’re doing better than ever. We want to say thank you to the community and show them what we’ve been able to do with their support.”

The open house will run noon-4 p.m. today at Catmandu, 1829 Brown St. There will be face painting, refreshments, tours, adoptions, a raffle and balloons.

Since opening in March 2014, Catmandu has rescued more than 700 cats and kittens, many of which would have been difficult to adopt because of age or other conditions. They range in age from a few weeks to older than 18 years.

At any given time, there are typically 60 cats roaming free in the cat-centric group home. An additional 20-40 kittens are cared for in Kittenmandu, a separate building dedicated exclusively to kittens under 4 months old.

“Most have found loving homes — a few senior cats were able to live out the rest of their lives in comfort before passing,” said volunteer Vivian Spiker. “Additionally, a handful of less social cats continue to live out their lives in our sanctuary.”

Spiker began volunteering after she and a neighbor found a litter of kittens about two years ago.

“Literally, none of the other rescues would take them,” she recalled. “The kittens turned out to be wonderful cats. I was so happy that Linda cared enough to save them.”

Buchanan continues the spirit of rescue, recently driving to Las Vegas to pick up five cats whose owner was going into assisted living.

“She was just desperate to find someone to care for her cats,” Spiker explained. “A lot of our cats do get adopted, but if they don’t they can live the rest of their lives here.”

Inside Catmandu, felines receive medical care and are socialized regularly. The rooms are filled with cat walks, climbing towers, cabins, soft places and enclosed patios — they call “catios” outside windows.

Spiker started out by just visiting the cats before deciding to become a volunteer.

“It’s nice to get a cat fix,” Spiker said. “I love to see the little kittens come in. There’s a lot of happy endings.”

To provide those happy endings, Buchanan pointed out, Catmandu will continue to rely on the community for support.

“We’re just coming into kitten season,” she explained. “We will need to feed them, provide medicine, take care of them. To do that we will need more donations and more volunteers. That’s just the inevitable.”

For information or to volunteer at Catmandu, contact founder/executive director Linda Buchanan at 775-297-3419 or momcat@catmanducc.org. Find out more at catmanducc.org.

Teri Vance is a journalist, freelance writer and native Nevadan. Contact her with column ideas at terivance@rocketmail.com.