Was desperately trying to find a home for my 80-year-old mother's cat. Her only income is Social Security. Gave details of situation in email to them. Made mention that she was selling her house and couldn't take the cat with her. THEY SAID THEY WOULD TAKE THE CAT IF WE PAID THEM $3,000 AND THAT THEY TYPICALLY DON'T ADOPT CATS OUT!!!!! NO MISTAKE on the amount or adoption comment - I know how many zeroes represent a thousand. Need proof for this ridiculous claim? Here you go!
Clowder House (Yelp wouldn't allow posting of their email address)
Hello and thanks for contacting us. We do charge a fee to accept cats to our shelter. To care for a young cat for its entire life, which is what we do (we typically do not adopt out), is $3000. I know that seems like a lot up front but if you divide that over 16-18 years it's $160 per year. If this is something you'd like to do, please let us know.
Hi, our cat is here and we are very happy with the care, safety, protection, love and compassion that Diane and volunteers have for all the cats. It's God's creation. God's creation is beautiful. May our Heavenly Father Bless you and keep you all healthy.
Clowder House is a unique cat shelter in St Louis. This is a retirement home for cats. When people can no longer take care of their cats because of life events, or any other reason, Clowder House welcomes them. This is a true no-kill shelter. Every cat that is accepted here is given full care for the rest of his/her life. They also accept rescued cats when fund allow for it. Cats will be up or adoption if the owners request it.
The first time I entered Clowder House, I immediately fell in love with the place. There are >275 cats in the building. The place is run entirely by volunteers. This means they have many dedicated volunteers coming in every day to clean every room, clean every litter box, wash every water bowl and replace with fresh water, and fill every food bowl. A lot of the cats are on medications, or need special diet. The volunteers make sure their individual needs are taken care of.
I used to spend my best day of the week here. After an entire week of busy work schedule, I would go there every weekend to relax and forget every stress as I spent a few hours with the cats. The few hours I spent cleaning at Clowder House was truly rewarding. The cats really appreciate what the volunteers do for them. Many of them are constant companions while volunteers do their work. After I cleaned the room and put out fresh food and water, it was really rewarding to see how every cat would come by and have a drink of clean water, eat, and then go and take a nap on the clean beds. Each cat has free love and hugs to offer. Since all of them come from a loving home, they crave human affection. Every time I was there, I made sure I spent at least some time playing with them and hugging them. The volunteers who work here are an extremely fun group of people. All of us worked hard, but we were constantly having fun.
Unfortunately my work situation required me to move out of St Louis and if there is one thing I miss about STL, it is Clowder House and the enormous unconditional love of the cats. If you live in St Louis and are looking for a rewarding and fun volunteering experience, stop by Clowder House. You will LOVE IT!! Check out Clowder House website and facebook page for more information and pictures of the residents