Open your heart and home to a feline this holiday season

During the Christmas holidays some shelters promote their animals with disabilities for "Home 4 The Holidays" and draw big on the emotional appeal.

All animals deserve an emotional appeal to find a home.

With that in mind, I decided to look up the definition of disability in Webster's dictionary, which defines the word as follows: "That which disables, as an illness or physical limitation, or to make unable or unfit; incapacitate."

These definitions conjure up images of limping animals, perhaps with parts missing such as a limb, tail, eye or ear. Perhaps even needing assistance to get up and down stairs. Some medical maladies might be curable or permanent.

At any rate, this animal will be so needy it will touch our most tender emotions, which are easy to summon this time of year.

I would like to expand the definition of disability, or abandon it altogether with a hope that this might get Buddy's felines homes. If we make the term more inclusive, we can add emotional disabilities such as shyness, inability to trust, advanced age, infirmity and on and on.

Need I mention color, or black and black and white felines as a hindrance to adoption? In keeping with Buddy's efforts to finding all of our felines homes, we also recognize the need to give the black ones an extra measure of assistance.

During December, and I am sure we can be convinced to run the event into January, we are promoting an elegant black cat adoption event. Any black or black and white feline can be adopted for $75, which includes blood work, medical exam, vaccinations, spay/neuter certificate (age appropriate) and microchipping. Join us for this event and other activities in keeping with the holidays.

To not stray from the thought that our felines need homes for the holidays, I am reminded of a line from the classic Christmas story "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," when the forgotten and misfit toys long for a home for Christmas.

The toys on the island tell Rudolph and his friends that "a toy is never really happy until it has a child to love and to care for it." The quote might not be perfectly accurate, but the gist of the meaning rings true.

The same is true for Buddy's felines. They too will not be happy until they have a home and a family to care for them forever.

If your time is limited this season, would you find the time to stop by our shelter for a visit and pick that special fuzzy face that you will promise to take home, if not for the holidays, shortly after?

Our felines watch our lobby with anticipation. The shelter is decorated brightly and has an eight-foot tree with animal ornaments (also available for a donation) to make our facility a happy place for all who reside and visit.

Our felines are sad watching the visitors as they leave without taking them home. The decorations are shut off for the evening, the visitors leave, the volunteers go home and still our felines wait, with only a glimmer of promise, that they too will belong somewhere forever to be loved by a family.

You can visualize their sad faces and meows saying, "maybe next year will be our year to find a home." They will go back to sleep in their cozy cat furniture to dream not of sugar plums and delights, but what almost seems like a long-awaited fantasy or fairy tale - a forever home.

It is still not too late to make a difference in a homeless animal's life. Perhaps when you are shopping for toys for your feline, you could buy extra toys and cat furniture to share with a new feline Buddy?

Featured felines

• Misty is an all black female kitty who usually wears a pink collar. She was born May 2011. Misty always has been one to greet the visitors entering Buddy's door. She is playful and affectionate. She does occasionally get moody - we think that is because she senses you are leaving the room and she is not done playing yet, so she may be better in a home without young children.

• Jude is a domestic shorthair male, who is black with a white spot on his chest. He was born June 2013. Jude is a very friendly cat, who will stare at you lovingly and so badly wants your attention. He would be a great lap cat. In fact, he would probably never leave your side. If you are looking for a loyal attention seeker, Jude is for you.

• The Buddy Foundation is a nonprofit (501c3), all-volunteer, no-kill animal shelter dedicated to the welfare of stray, abused and abandoned cats and dogs. For information, call The Buddy Foundation at (847) 290-5806 or visit www.thebuddyfoundation.org.