Volunteer Darryl
Volunteer Shannon
TRACY HARRIS – Staff Writer
Lucky’s Cat House participated in the national Clear the Shelter event on Saturday and there were plenty of cats to go around.
It’s been almost a year since their grand opening at 1191 E. Commerce St. and their contribution to the area has been huge. The center offers fostering, adoption, and assistance with trap, neuter, and release to help control the stray population.
Lucky’s Cat House may be in Lewisburg, but it serves the entire Marshall County area, as well as Giles and Lawrence in a unique way. Their facility is one-of-a-kind, specializing in feline-only rescue and adoption. In many areas, feline populations have no shelter or animal control options and that’s where Lucky’s steps in.
Board member Brandy Fox was on site Saturday and it’s easy to see she wears many hats. Fox is involved with the Marshall County Animal Alliance, Marshall County pet food bank, Marshall County’s TNR (trap-neuter-release) program, and she single-handedly cares for all neonatal kittens.
In addition to cats indoors, they had items to sell outdoors including Barbie dolls, Lego sets, Funko Pop figurines, pallet items, and clothes. Malice Brain Freeze was on site to help keep everyone cool in the heat and BBQ plates were available during lunch hours.
Fox said, “We don’t call this a shelter. It’s a rescue center because our goal is to assist in the counties that do not have animal control for felines, so we’re filling that need.”
Lucky’s currently has 20 volunteers including fosters and about 10 that volunteer in-person. Fox said, “We’re looking for dedicated volunteers that can come in and help chore each day and help take care of the cats.”
The center is always in need of temporary fosters and even assists with cat food during this time.
There are three free-roaming rooms that are divided according to age group-kittens, teenager, and adults. This serves two purposes: it helps with socializing the cats and for cat owners to see which cat will be the best fit for their home.
The cost to adopt is $125 but this fee ensures that all cats are fully vetted, dewormed, microchipped, vaccinated, and fixed before going to their forever homes.
In addition to standard adoption, there’s a foster-to-adopt / pre-adoption option for kittens that are too young to be spayed or neutered. This means half the fee is due when you choose your kitten. It remains in Lucky’s care until it’s old enough for spay or neuter. Once your kitten is fixed, the adoption gets finalized and the other half of the adoption fee is due. This process also helps Lucky’s know which cats are leaving soon to help plan for incoming cats. Fox said, “It helps us with intake numbers. It’s literally a revolving door.”
Visitors can come in and interact with the available cats. If your rental doesn’t allow pets, you can always come in and go to the free roam rooms to engage with the cats or kittens. If visitors want to, they can make a small monetary donation if they have it, or maybe even bring a bag of cat food, but Fox assures that there’s no pressure to take a cat home. “You can just come in and get your cat fix while helping some of the more timid cats get used to people. It also lets us see how all the cats here react to people and kids. We get a better picture of the cat to help place them,” said Fox.
Anyone 16 or older can volunteer. Anyone under 16 can volunteer with a parent or guardian present. Fox is available Sat and Sun to speak with anyone interested in volunteering. They provide a mini orientation, a tour, and answer questions about volunteer requirements. Volunteering at Lucky’s even counts towards TN Promise so if you’re a senior in high school and a cat lover here’s a chance to do something you love while working towards college goals!
If you can’t come in physically, there’s a big need for volunteers to help with answering emails, replying to social media messages, data entry, and other online work. Medical records work would require coming in and using their software, but it’s a big need right now!
Lucky’s is open Mon and Thu from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Fri by appointment, Sat and Sun from noon – 4 p.m. You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for frequent updates.
If you are unable to adopt, or simply want to help enrich the lives of local cats in need, donations can be made online at https://www.luckyscathouse.org. Applications to volunteer, adopt, and foster are available on their website too.
