Simon and Theodore are available for adoption.
This Simon and Theodore are not, however, the annoying brothers of the equally as annoying Alvin the Chipmunk, if you remember those quasi-musical animated TV characters.
They are, however, actual brothers, currently living at the Claws and Paws Cat Rescue on Chicago Avenue, with about 30 other cats that can either be adopted, or housed temporarily by foster families while permanent placement is arranged.
“We focus on animals likely to be overlooked by other organizations,” says Paws and Claws Executive Director Ashlynn Boyce, who founded the “no-kill” group in May 2020.
“We take in a lot of adult cats” from municipal shelters, Boyce adds.
“We’re taking in animals at risk of euthanasia.”
Paws and Claws also has in a lot of black cats.
But that has nothing to do with superstition.
Boyce says black cats are so common that they don’t “pop out” as do different-colored felines when someone is looking to foster or adopt.
Paws and Claws began during COVID, and so everything was done virtually.
Plus, at the start, it was only for fostering.
But in May last year Paws and Claws opened its bricks and mortar shelter, with room for 62 cats. Another hundred or so can be out on foster placements at any given time.
Fostering is just as important as housing a cat at the shelter.
“The more foster families we have,” Boyce notes, “the more lives we can save.”
So, to help celebrate the 1,600 lives saved since Paws and Claws began four years ago, and recognize one year in a physical location, the group is holding a fundraiser on May 3 at the Palm House on Howard Street.
Just about every dollar needed to run the rescue is donated. And most of the workers are volunteers, like Harriet Conroe, a retired teacher from School District 65.
Obviously, Conroe loves cats.
“Oh my gosh, yes,” she says.
“My husband and I have been married for 54 years. In our first year, we got a cat, and we’ve had cats continually since then.”
Volunteers like Conroe don’t just feed the cats and clean up their “free roaming” living quarters (four rooms where cats can play as well as eat and sleep).
The volunteers also help to socialize the cats, director Boyce explains, with the living areas turned into cat “communities,” with animals who get along.
“We spend a lot of time pairing cats,” Boyce says.
That’s why Simon and Theodore are together, and that’s why they’re a package deal. If you want one of the brothers, you have to take the other, too.
For anyone interesting in temporary foster care, Paws and Claws not only does all the medical checks and spaying or neutering, but the organization also provides cat food for as long as the cat stays with the foster family.
“We have a large population of Northwestern students” who serve as fosters, Boyce explains.
“Students may not be able to commit to adoption,” but they may want to have a low-maintenance pet for, say, part of the school year.
As for herself, Boyce says “I grew up with animals. I’ve always loved them. I felt a strong desire to do more and create a difference,” a philosophy that led to the creation and expansion of Paws and Claws.
The average cat stays with Paws and Claws, either in the shelter or in foster care, for about 50 days.
Cats at the shelter, even if they’re only on hand briefly, become “family” to the staff and volunteers.
“You get attached” to them, Boyce says.
But you also have to get unattached.
“Goodbye is the goal,” Boyce adds, goodbye to cats on their way to a permanent place to live.
For more information on adopting or fostering a cat, or about the May 3 fundraiser, go to pawsandclawscatrescue.org.