What’s the caterwauling about? LS biz and rescue group formed this cool relationship

The small crowd clustered in front of Blue Heron Design in downtown Lee’s Summit on a recent Saturday might easily have been mistaken for a group of shoppers taking advantage of a weekend sidewalk sale. After all, the sounds of oohs and ahhs often signify the discovery of cute outfits.

Not this time, however. This Saturday, July 17, was actually “Caturday,” a joint effort between the jewelry, clothing and accessories store and Moggy’s Refuge cat rescue organization.

It was a day featuring the squirming, mewing adorableness of 34 kittens in need of permanent homes who were in foster care with the many volunteers of Moggy’s. (“Moggy” is British slang for a street or mutt cat, hence the teacup in the organization’s logo.) If they hadn’t been hanging out in separate crates, they would’ve qualified as a herd.

Velvety gray, black, orange, tuxedo and tortoiseshell kittens were available for adoption in late July. Blackstar, Buster, Melville and Dave were there, as were Dora, Gutter and the Shadow of Doom (“Doom” for short).

HeatherAnne Norbury, a founding board member who lives in Lee’s Summit, said most of the group’s rescued kittens come from feral colonies labeled “TNR” because they trap, neuter and release the adults. Others are found homeless or surrendered by their owners.

Norbury and her family were drawn into cat welfare after her 12-year-old daughter, Risa, now 16, called for a family meeting during which she delivered a PowerPoint presentation on why they should try to help. Her son, Jasper, now 21, resisted at first because he was afraid he would get too attached.

“Now he’ll get in the car and drive anywhere to pick up a needy kitten,” his mother said. The count of any particular pick-up can be unexpectedly high. On one occasion, the group got a call to rescue 10 feral kittens, only to reach the site and find 21.

Morgy’s founder and President Tracy Forbes-Bosley, of Greenwood, has worked with a number of rescue organizations over the years, and she spent a year studying each of several groups before founding Moggy’s. She focused on cats because it seemed they had fewer resources than dogs.

This is the group’s third kitten season, and it’s a challenging one, said Forbes-Bosley.

“It’s crazy everywhere,” she said, adding that COVID exacerbated the situation for all animal welfare organizations.

But area groups are good at sharing resources whenever possible, she said.

“We’re not going to solve the pet problem without working well together.”

Their most urgent needs are fosters, adopters and donors. With them, she said, “we can all make a dent.”

Forbes-Bosley has devoted herself to different types of volunteer work, including stints helping people.

“Animals are better at showing gratitude,” she said. “And at the end of the day you have kittens crawling all over you.”

To comply with a Department of Agriculture policy, Forbes-Bosley doesn’t currently have any foster cats, but she does have 12 of her own.

“I try to keep the broken ones,” she said, mentioning a one-eyed and paraplegic kitty.

Sophia Schieszer, of Lee’s Summit, a Moggy’s volunteer and the Blue Heron employee who manages Caturdays, said the store’s relationship with the rescue group started when owner Peggy Doughty found a pregnant cat. Moggy’s found homes for the kittens and Doughty kept the mother.

In addition to the adoption events from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every third Saturday into November, the store also hosts a “Star of the Week” inside from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday and pays half of the adoption fee for that one.

“Every weekend I want to take home another cat,” Schieszer said. “Anyone who comes in wants a kitty.”

More than 30 of the rescue’s kittens have been placed via Blue Heron over the past year, a successful partnership by any measure.

“I just love working with Tracy,” Schieszer said. “She loves kitties just as much as we do. We go kitty crazy around here.”