“I’m thrilled to be part of Royal Canin’s #Cat2Vet campaign and to help shine a light on the importance of regular vet visits for cats,” she exclaimed. “So many people don’t realize their cat is having a medical issue, because cats can appear very stoic or even hide their pain.”
She continued, “Behavioral changes like urinating outside of the box, drinking more or less water, or even hiding all can be signs of a medical condition. So many cats don’t get the care they need because people don’t recognize the behavioral change as an indication that they need to see a vet.”
“This cause speaks deeply to me as someone who spends her life advocating for a greater understanding of the needs of felines. Animals aren’t voiceless – we just need to learn how to listen to them, and to stay curious about what they might be telling us,” she added.
In the #Cat2Vet campaign, she collaborated virtually with Mayim Bialik and Dr. Blue.
I love that three advoCATs with different backgrounds and areas of expertise can come together with one unified message! It was wonderful to be a part of the PSA and to help spread the message that veterinary care is something every cat should be experiencing on a regular basis.
On her daily motivations, she said, “As a foster mom to kittens, my time is punctuated each and every day by hands-on care for vulnerable neonatal kittens. Knowing that I have the power to save a life simply by choosing to open my home and my heart to animals in need keeps me motivated to get up early, stay up late, and even wake up in the middle of the night to help my babies thrive! But the most motivating thing is knowing that I can make an exponential difference in the lives of cats and kittens simply by creating the educational content I share with the world.”
She opened up about life during quarantine. “I’ve been extremely focused on creating life saving content for kittens and cats. At the beginning of quarantine, it was immediately evident that with more foster parents stepping up across the nation, there would be an increased need for education about how to care for kittens,” she said.
“I partnered with Royal Canin to launch a four-part instructional kitten care webinar series called Catology, which now have more than 400,000 views. Due to the success of that series, Royal Canin and I teamed up for a follow-up web series called Catology: Kitten Lady & Friends in which I interview various cat welfare experts about topics ranging from nutrition to behavior to veterinary care. Staying focused on my work has helped me make it through this very difficult period,” she exclaimed.
Regarding her future plans she said, “I have some exciting writing projects I’m working on, and I’m really enjoying that process. Since putting out my book Tiny But Mighty: Kitten Lady’s Guide to Saving the Most Vulnerable Felines, I have been bitten by the literary bug. I also run a nonprofit organization called Orphan Kitten Club.”
“We constantly are working on new projects and have been responding to the pandemic by providing emergency grants to help organizations all across the country save kittens during this challenging time. We are planning for our big fall grant cycle now – all while continuing to take on vulnerable kittens in our nurseries, and providing programs to spay and neuter community cats,” she elaborated.
On her definition of the word success, Shaw said, “I dream big and throw myself into a lot of situations where the outcome is uncertain but where I have a real vision in mind for a positive outcome – whether that’s a creative project or a difficult medical case with a special needs kitten.”
She continued, “To me, success is the feeling of looking back at something I’ve achieved and having that amazing feeling that the leap of faith was worth it. The feeling of looking at a finished product, or even better – a newly healthy kitten – and being able to say, ‘Wow, I did that’.”
Shaw concluded about #Cat2Vet campaign, “The first step in keeping your cat healthy is to be curious about cat health. One fun and easy way to do that is to watch my current series, Catology: Kitten Lady & Friends, every Saturday at 11 a.m. PST on YouTube.com/KittenLady to learn more about cat welfare. Another way is to check out the incredible partnership between Royal Canin and Ask.Vet where you can talk to a vet online for free at the click of a button. Right now, you can even enter the #Cat2Vet sweepstakes, where you can win some amazing prizes.”
For more information on the #Cat2Vet campaign, check out the Royan Canin official website.
To learn more about Kitten Lady, visit the official homepage.
