This is a small section of the Maddie's Fund website. Maddie's Fund has been a leader in the No Kill movement.
Human Companionship
By far the most important element of the formula for keeping cats mentally healthy in a shelter is the human one. Daily petting and playtime with interactive toys helps with the socialization of kittens and adults who have had limited human interaction, as well as giving them opportunity for much-needed exercise.
Many cats also thrive on bonds that are established with their caregivers; in a shelter, these cats have to establish new bonds with a often changing staff and volunteer force. If the shelter stay is very short, this may not be as crucial - but with long-term cats, this can literally be life-saving. Consider Lucky: an eight-year-old whose caregiver died, she appeared to be highly stressed when she arrived at our facility. She stopped eating, and was fractious. With the help of some wonderful volunteers, Lucky became more receptive to her new environment. She formed a bond with one volunteer especially - she would meow when she heard her special person coming, and enjoy lots of petting and playtime with her. When the volunteer could not visit for a few weeks, Lucky once again seemed despondent - she lost weight, and started grooming herself excessively. We put her on medication for the excessive grooming behavior, but it was when the volunteer came back regularly that Lucky started perking up. In fact, she got adopted on a day that her special volunteer was with her - no coincidence, in my mind: the cat "showed" better when she was in good spirits, as we all do!
Be it from staff or volunteers, added individual attention for those cats who stay in a shelter longer can benefit the cat greatly. We recently started a "case management" program for our volunteers who work with our more challenging cats. Volunteers take a special interest in one or more cats, agree to visit them a minimum of once weekly (in addition to the other volunteers who visit daily), and get involved in treatment options for behavior problems. This gives the cats a person to build a bond with, which is often the first step in being able to trust more people-especially with our formerly feral cats.