10 organizations you should support if you love cats (of all sizes)

Are you looking for a charity or organization to support which adheres to your values (your values = cats)? I put together a list of the top organizations which support the health and conservation of all felines. Most of these organizations provide fellowships and scholarships for young scientists; a donation to one means investment in the future of wild and domestic feline health. Plus, if you follow them on social media, non-stop cat action!

#1 
Panthera, founded by Thomas Kaplan and led by CEO Alan Rabinowitz, emphasizes the conservation of the 36 species of wild felids worldwide. From their Puma project in western North America and parts of Central and South America, to their Snow Leopard program in China, Nepal and India or their Jaguar corridor initiative spanning from Mexico to Argentina, Panthera is dedicated to the conservation and research of all wild felids.

#2 
BigCatsWildCats is an organization which attempts to connect the more than 200 organizations involved in wild cat rescue, research and conservation. Their website shares daily wild felid news and pictures from around the globe. They also host a blog which discusses current issues in wild felid management. This group is heavily invested in grassroots social media, so follow them on Facebook or Pinterest.

#3
The Cheetah Conservation Fund was founded in Namibia in 1990 and quickly became a leading organization in cheetah research and conservation. Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animal and the most endangered wild felid in Africa. In 1900, Cheetah populations numbered ~100,000 but have since experienced extreme population declines; only 10,000 individuals exist today. Cheetahs were once abundant across Africa, the Middle East and into India, but now remain only in fragmented populations including one in Iran! The Cheetah Conservation Fund details numerous ways citizens can help scientists protect and preserve these graceful animals.

#4
The Snow Leopard Trust is an organization which builds community partnerships to conserve the Snow Leopard in China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Pakistan. The Trust is working with local communities to determine conservation actions which benefit both leopards and people. In building these relationships, the Trust is helping to ensure the future of the Snow Leopard and the other wildlife that inhabit its range.

#5
Although they are not well-known, Scottish wildcats are the largest of the wildcat family. The Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia) is believed to be a sub-species of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), and while it once roamed all of the British Isles, only a small population remains in the Scottish Highlands. The Save the Scottish Wildcat organization is dedicated to the conservation of these small mysterious cats.

#6

The Cougar Network is a research group that focuses on cougar-habitat relationships in North America. North American cougars—also known as mountain lions, pumas, panthers and catamounts—were extirpated from eastern North America, except for a small population in the Florida Everglades, the endangered Florida Panthers. The Cougar Network is diligently pursuing research of population and human-cougar interactions to provide the public with the best information possible about North America’s largest cat.

#7

The Wild Felid Research and Management Association is a cooperative group of scientists in the Americas. Their scholarships benefit early career scientists from North and South America who study wild felids. These scholarships are in honor of four scientists who lost their lives while researching wild felid health and conservation in the Americas. The organization is committed to the highest level of scientific and professional standards in wild felid management strategies. A recent scholarship provided funding for understanding puma ecology in Argentina.

#8 

The Felidae Fund represents a team of conservationist who believe that the conservation of wild felids will directly help to conserve the ecosystems where they occur. The team is increasingly using new technologies, not just for research, but for outreach to the public. The Felidae Fund has many research projects, including the study of bobcats and pumas in the San Francisco Bay Area, investigations into the ecology of fishing cats in Thailand, and projects examining the Arabian leopard in Oman.

#9

Founded in 1968, the Winn Feline Foundation is an organization which provides funding for medical research to improve the health and welfare of domestic cats. These grants provide veterinary researchers the resources they need to make the next discoveries in cat health. Recent Winn Feline Foundation awards sponsored studies for treatment of feline infectious peritonitis and chronic kidney disease, two important health issues of domestic cats.

#10

The Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) may have connections to stars like Betty White, but the organization is focused on improving the health of all domestic and wild animals. Recent MAF research projects have included genomic studies of feline infectious diseases and stem cell research in Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor disease. The MAF is the largest non-profit organization in the world that provides funding for researchers of companion animal, horse and wildlife health.

The Top Ten Best Gifts for the Gardener in Your Life

As I don't have any followers at this point, nobody has probably noticed my year plus of absence. If someone did happen to stumble upon this blog by chance once and then came across it again, let me explain, I haven't been writing because of an autoimmune illness which left me exhausted for the past two years. I'm learning how to deal with it.

I finally have a little energy and motivation so I'm starting the writing back up! Soon, I'll talk about how I finished my PhD and my first postdoc while dealing with the physical and emotional effects of chronic illness.

 But not today. Today is all about my mom. Or, at least, her gardening.

My mom is a lifelong gardener. It is her talent and her passion. My West Virginia home is filled and surrounded by plants and flowers. Some of these are older than I am (~30)!

These are the essential tools (and great gift ideas) for any gardener based on my mom.


1.Garden Tiller
I think the tiller is my mom's favorite tool. At least in the Spring and the Autumn. As soon as the ground is soft, she pulls this out and tills up her garden. Then in the fall when everything is winding down, she aggressively tills everything under and covers the dirt in compost and dirt. Sometimes she'll plant winter wheat just to till it under in the spring. This is a tiny lady, almost 70 years old, and she loves putting in a hard day's work.

2. Flower bulbs
This is a go-to gift if you're a poor graduate student who has a gardener for a mother. Mother's Day? Birthday? Done. Over the years I have bought her tulips, irises, and gladiolas. She excitedly plants them right away or saves them for the right time of year. Then when I come home from wherever I am in the world, she points out all the flowers which resulted from my purchase.

3. Gardening Gloves
After my first postdoc ended, I became very sick and decided to head home to the Wild and Wonderful for a bit of rest and recuperation. I was inevitably put to work helping her landscape a dry creek bed. I had to dig footers and pull up weeds. Gloves saved my pipetting hands.

4. Heirloom seeds
Have you ever tried a heirloom tomato? Yes? Then you get it. No? You are in for a pleasant surprise.

5. Loppers
When you wake up at 7AM and your mom is already outside working, you feel a little guilty. No matter that you have a PhD and are well-respected in your field (I hope!), this lady is beating you at the game. When I walked outside one morning, I was handed a pair of loppers. First, I thought of all my happy memories cutting straw twigs and branches. Then I thought about my summer on the Ohio River Islands culling invasive plants. Then I realized she wanted me to trim the Boxwood tree and that I had a lot of work to do. Loppers are great for pruning and for putting your wayward vagabond of a daughter to work.

6. Marigolds
I think there is some science that suggests marigolds are an insect deterrent. If there is not, then there's an Old Wives Tale. Anyway, their pungent distinct scent seems like it could deter anything. To me, it's instant time travel to hot summer afternoons in my childhood. Each row of vegetables book-ended by a marigold.

7. Sunhat
Gardeners are people who love the elements. The type of people who open their windows after a thunderstorm to smell the petrichor. These are people who relish dirt under their nails and the wind in their face. Unfortunately, many of them forget to protect themselves against the sun. Sun damage can be bad cosmetically, but can also lead to skin cancers. Help your favorite gardener: buy them a sunhat.

8. Composter
I know I said the tiller may be my mom's favorite toy, but she has always been a hardcore composter. Husband's morning coffee grounds: composted. All the fall leaves she has her granddaughter rake up: composted. Branches from that boxwood tree: composted. In our house, if it was biodegradable, it was composted. In graduate school, there was a movement to increase composting on the university campus. My mom could have run circles around them.

9. Bamboo Stakes
Sustainable? Check. Perfect for bean poles? Check. Perfect for tomato stakes? Check. Perfect for your kids to pretend to be knights of the roundtable? Check.

10. Greenhouse
My mom's biggest dream was to have a greenhouse so she could start her garden earlier in the year, grow her seeds into seedlings, and maybe have an orchid or two. A few years ago, she finally got her wish. I'm happy to report that she treks down there during the cold and the rain to look over her little seed babies. She even built a stone walk leading to it. Buy your gardener a greenhouse and they will grow up so many different foods for you to eat.



Amazon links above because I have student loans yo.

Wildlife Disease Association Meeting in Knoxville, TN