Tuxedo cat with white paws, belly, and chest lying on her back on a gray bedspread.
And Daisy wasn't always this full of play. Daisy. This tuxedo beauty is Daisy. She is a young adult, around 1 or 2 years old. When she was rescued, she was far too skinny. Every day, though, she's gaining more weight and energy, thanks to her loving foster mom. She loves to play with feathers, give head butts, and snuggle in the covers. She cannot wait for her forever home!

The Little Paws Project kitten nursery is getting ready to roll out bottles, blankies, heating discs and kittens by the dozens. The City Council approved a $50,000 grant from Long Beach Animal Care Services that will provide starter funds to keep the kitties fed and housed, and the nursery will receive much of its necessary revenue from donations. Little Paws’ conditional use permit has just been signed, and one more inspection for the building needs to pass.

“It’s time to contact volunteers and set up scheduling!” said Jessica Ruth, cofounder of The Little Lion Foundation. Little Lion and another nonprofit cat rescue organization, Helen Sanders CatPAWS, are working in tandem to save as many cats as possible, hence, the nursery’s name. Volunteers from both organizations regularly rescue and care for neonatal kittens as well as pull older cats from shelters to rehome, and the nursery will offer them a single dedicated location for saving as many as possible.

Why a kitten nursery?

Every year, thousands of kittens are born during kitten season, when warming weather causes female cats to go into heat. The period runs from approximately late February to mid-October and it’s coming up pretty soon. Because there are limited resources to care for these fragile babies, thousands also face euthanasia at shelters. There aren’t enough people who can bottle-feed. The Little Paws Project will be a 24-hour facility and will give more neonatal, orphaned and sick kittens a safe place to thrive.

Because, as the Little Lion Foundation’s motto states, “Every cat deserves to roar.”

Sign up here to volunteer at Little Paws, or make a donation here. Or both. See Ongoing for more details.

Also, know that while the nursery will save more little lives, and more effectively, it’s imperative that as many cats, both domestic and in the community, are spayed and neutered. The shelter offers vouchers, and organizations like Fix Long Beach and SNP/LA will help with costs. Also, if you cannot engage in trapping, altering and release, support organizations like Stray Cat Alliance, which offers resources and education for the project.

 Kittens so well cared for have a better chance of growing into independent kittens and adult cats, who’ll make good housemates. Here are a couple from both rescues.

Brown tabby with big light-green eyes sits in a meat-loaf position.
She may not be the Talented Ms. Ripley but she sure is the loving one. Ripley was rescued from a shelter where her owner dumped her. CatPAWS pulled her when her days were numbered. She’s only 6 years old and has been declawed (sigh). She needs a patient adopter in a quiet home. She may be prone to some asthma, but it’s easily controlled. It seems to flare up with stress, so she needs a low-stress environment.
Brown-tabby with brown nose and light-green eyes sitting on tan carpet.
And here’s the book cover! Ripley has stunning, rich espresso swirls and stripes. She has the cutest little tufts right on the tips of her ears! She is friendly, loves to be petted, purrs and cuddles. She’s a great lap cat and would be perfect for someone who just wants one low-maintenance kitty to hang with.
Tuxedo cat with a black nose and mustache sitting on a tile floor flecked with colored spots, in front of a glass-and-metal door.
Speaking of literature, CatPAWS has its own Daisy Buchanan, the object of Jay Gatsby’s affection and certainly of the volunteers here. She’s about 2 years old.
Tuxedo cat with white paws, belly, and chest lying on her back on a gray bedspread.
And Daisy wasn’t always this full of play.
This tuxedo beauty is Daisy. She is a young adult, around 1 or 2 years old. When she was rescued, she was far too skinny. Every day, though, she’s gaining more weight and energy, thanks to her loving foster mom. She loves to play with feathers, give head butts, and snuggle in the covers. She cannot wait for her forever home!

To adopt Ripley or Daisy, or to check out any of the CatPAWS cats, access this adoption application. All cats are spayed or neutered, have their shots, and are otherwise vetted.

Black cat lying down on left next to calico cat with a white chest sitting upright in a kennel in front of a cushy cat bed.
These two are such good friends that Little Lion included them in the same photo. Emmett, the black kitten, was saved at 5 weeks old from the Long Beach shelter. He’s happy to be a Little Lion! Boomer, the lovely calico, got her name from the Boomers mini-golf, where the Little Lion volunteers trapped her. How nice for them if they could go home together!

To adopt Emmett, Boomer or any of the Little Lions, complete the adoption application. All cats are spayed or neutered, have their shots, and are otherwise vetted.

Things to do, pets to support

 Please send any Long Beach or Seal Beach pet-related events or projects to [email protected]. Posting subject to approval.

Fourth Friday with Zoey’s Place Rescue and Moon Cat Cafe: Friday, Jan. 25, 6 to 9 p.m., Artistic Edge Gallery, 410 St. Louis Ave., Long Beach. $20 includes pastry, beverage and a visit with some swell cats.

Grab a rideshare, bike or walk (parking is a pain in the neck) to a celebration to revitalize Retro Row. Stop by the Moon Cat Café, which has some of the best coffee ever drunk and even better cats. Moon Cat will be partnering with local nonprofit Zoey’s Place Rescue, which will receive 10 percent of the profits. Sweets to the sweet!

Valentine card made of heart shapes and shaped into a dog with pink ears, an upside-down red heart face, two black eyes with a pink heart-shaped patch over one, a black upside down heart nose, a pink tongue, and a white bone with "I love you" written in ink.

Valentine’s Card Contest and Yappy Hour: Saturday, Feb. 9, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Long Beach Animal Care Services, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter guests), free to enter.

So, who’s your Valentine? Someone who’s completely dependent on you and gives you unconditional love, sprinkled with periods of indifference? That’s charming in animals, and fortunate are those who have good places to live. The pets in our shelter aren’t so lucky, and so the Community Action Team presents an annual contest for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade to create cards for these cats, dogs and bunnies as well.

Young people are invited to send cards to Long Beach Animal Care Services, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, CA 90808; volunteers will hang cards on kennel doors and judge them for creativity, originality and first impression, with the contestants’ ages taken into consideration. (Adults are encouraged to send cards as well, but their entries won’t be eligible for contest judging.) The winning card will reward the artist with a pizza party for his or her classmates, friends or organization and will be announced at the Yappy Hour at the shelter on Feb. 9. The real winners will be the pets at the shelter who’ll receive a lot of extra attention and will, it’s hoped, find their one true love. More info here.

Bulldog Beauty Contest and National Mutt Show: Sunday, Feb. 10, 9:30 a.m.–3 p.m., Marine Stadium, 5225 Paoli Way, Long Beach, free to stand and spectate, $5 to reserve a seat, registration $10 per dog.

Inclusiveness is the word for this romp by the lagoon. Bulldogs will be there in all their jowly glory, but there are 19 other contests featuring everything from Most Photogenic to Best Butt. Register your best buddy here—your $10 registration benefits spay/.neuter, adoption rescue, and Justin Rudd’s nonprofit Community Action Team. If you don’t have a dog, so what? There are vendors, food, music and a parade—and you can adopt one at the Adoption Fair. The event is produced by Haute Dogs and woofingly cosponsored by the office of Councilwoman Suzie Price.

a white dog paw with tan spots and a brown paw rest on two human hands

Mayor’s Animal Care Visioning Task Force meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., El Dorado West Community Center Social Hall, 2800 N. Studebaker Road, Long Beach. Public invited. Agenda TBA.

Giving Gala 2019: Wednesday, Feb. 13, 6 to 9 p.m., LBX The Hangar, 4180 McGowen St., Long Beach, ticket donation.

The 5th City Council District will present a celebration in honor and support of Long Beach’s local nonprofits, youth organizations and education-based charities. Of course, animal rescues are included! Participants will stroll through The Hanger and purchase all-inclusive crafts and artisanal food while enjoying the festive and pre-Valentine’s Day atmosphere, including a live musical performance. Admission includes complimentary craft beer and wine tastings. Silent auction and opportunity prizes will go on throughout the evening. All proceeds are given in support to the non-profit of choice. If you can’t attend but would still like to support, your ticket, which you can purchase here, counts as a donation given to the selected charity.

a cartoon gray cat and a cartoon tan dog, both with tags and collars, look happily out o a circle with Friends of Long Beach Animals written on it and blue pawprint designs. The background shows photos of cats and dogs that have been rescued.

CAAAAT CLINIC! Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter Clinic, sponsored by Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA): Saturday, Feb. 23, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Cherry Park, 1901 E. 45th St., Long Beach, free spay/neuter for qualifying Long Beach residents; free microchips; shots, flea-med doses, dewormers and nail trimmings $10 each.

It’s the law to fix your pets in Long Beach and many Southern California cities. To add to this, cats can go into heat at 6 months old and have three litters a year, with an average of four kittens per litter. And those kittens have kittens. Who wants to do the math? Fix your cat instead! To provide this costly service to our Long Beach residents who otherwise couldn’t afford it, Fix Long Beach offers this service free of charge. Make an appointment through IM or email at [email protected];include (1) your name, (2) address, (3) phone number, (4) pet’s name, (5) age, (6) sex, (7) breed, and (8) weight. Standby available at 8:30 a.m. Vouchers are provided through Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) Spay/Neuter Assistance Voucher Program for pets without appointments or dogs too large to fit on the vehicle—they may be used at specified veterinary clinics. For both spay/neuter and vaccinations,all dogs must be on sturdy leashes and all cats must be in dedicated carriers.

Mayor’s Animal Care Visioning Task Force meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., El Dorado West Community Center Social Hall, 2800 N. Studebaker Road, Long Beach, public invited.

Agenda to be announced.

Ongoing

Adopt, adopt, adopt

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions. If you’re a Long Beach-area rescue and don’t see your adoption event listed here, please email [email protected].

Chase Bank, 5200 East Second St., Long Beach

 Gelson’s Market, 6255 E. 2nd St.

Kahoots Pet Store, 18681 Main St. #102, Huntington Beach

Petco Animal Supplies, Marina Shores, 6500 Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach

Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach:

PetSmart Cerritos, 12741 Towne Center Drive, Cerritos

PetSmart Compton, 1775 South Alameda St., Compton

PetSmart Garden Grove, 9835 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove

PetSmart, Long Beach Exchange, 3871 N Lakewood Blvd., Long Beach

PetSmart Signal Hill, 2550 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill

PetSmart Seal Beach, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach.

Unleashed by Petco, 600 Redondo Ave.

tiny gray kitten sleeps in someone's hand

Long Beach Little Paws Project needs donations

The most vulnerable animals in the public shelter system are kittens under two pounds. These fragile babies, especially those not yet eating on their own, are typically euthanized on intake at most public shelters. In an effort to change the fate of far too many kittens, two non-profit rescue organizations, The Little Lion Foundation and Helen Sanders CatPAWS, have launched a joint effort to create and operate a kitten nursery. This nursery will give kittens too young to be adopted or those who need medical care a safe place to heal and grow. Newborn kittens are fragile and vulnerable. You can tell by those photos—if you look closely, you’ll see the beautiful cat that each of them will grow to be. Please read all about them here, and please, please donate.

Low-Cost Pet-Vaccination Clinics: For schedule, visit this link

Pet owners must be 18 years or older, all pets must be on leashes or in carriers, and only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. Please bring prior vaccination information with you to the clinic.

Free Pet Food Distributions

Pet food is available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 439 West Anaheim St., Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. A dog-washing station with a stainless-steel tub is also available onsite at these hours. Donations and supplies such as shampoo, flea control meds and pet food are always gratefully accepted.

The Pet Food Bank is sponsored by Christian Outreach in Action, located at 515 E. Third St., Long Beach. Hours are Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m.

Pets of the Homeless provides many collection places across the country to help homeless people to feed and care for their animals. Please support them through a cash donation, or bring pet food to the Long Beach-area drop-off center, Trendi Pawz Grooming, 3726 E. Seventh St., Long Beach. Access this link for resources and donation areas in SoCal and across the country.

Four photos featuring shelter volunteers in green aprons and street clothing making peanut-butter treats in ice trays

Shelter-enrichment supplies requested for ACS’s cats, dogs and rabbits: drop-off Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., shelter side of P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Creamy peanut butter, yogurt, beef and chicken broth, pipe cleaners, toilet-paper and paper-towel rolls, catnip, canned pet food, wine-bottle corks (for cat toys) and ice cube trays all are needed. Donations are tax deductible.