A Cat rescuer’s ‘CatVana’ Adoption Campaign Went Viral

Carvana advertised itself as a new and different way to buy a car. What if you used that thought to help people adopt pets? From the idea of Carvana, the idea of CatVana was derived.

Kayla Delcoure runs social media for Pippi’s Place, a cat rescue in Atlanta. She came up with a clever social media post to help the online used-car store find new homes for its cats. The idea came from the online used-car store.

There is a “2014 Furrari” named Arlis with a black exterior and power napping, a “2015 Furcedes”. It was named Buddy with a custom grey saddle kit and a seat heater, and a “2022 Meowzda” named Cassie with a custom multicolored exterior and self-cleaning.

The look for a truck was the first step.

“My idea for CatVana is funny because it’s so boring,” Delcoure told NPR in an email. “My husband has been looking to buy a truck for months, and he sometimes shows me listings on his phone. On Tuesday morning, while I was thinking of cute ways to show all nine of Pippi’s Place’s available cats in one post, my husband came into my office to show me a truck ad.”

Even though Delcoure wasn’t very interested in the truck, the picture that showed the year, make, and model in detail got her artistic juices flowing.

She said that alsthough she went to the Carvana website. Additionally, she used the car search to make a page with several cat ads. “Funny descriptions like “four-paw-drive” and “rear air vent” kept popping into my head, so I went ahead and made the individual listings, too,” Delcoure wrote.

Pippi’s Place began two years ago:

 It is named after the black kitten that owner Vicki Grizzard found abandoned and in need of help. She named her Pippi, after the naughty character in a book.

Pippi the cat died in an accident, which was sad, but Pippi’s Place goes on as a tribute to her. Delcoure tells NPR that it’s a place “where the light of love is always on, shining on our loved ones and guiding those in need.”

Kitten season keeps helpers very busy:

“We’re in the middle of kitten season right now, so we have a lot of tiny kittens who are too young to be adopted out and others who are sick or hurt and need to be treated before they can go to their forever homes,” Delcoure said. “Our volunteers are however taking care of these kittens every four hours, which is every hour of the day.”

Grizzard thought the social post from CatVana was very cute. Delcoure put the post on Reddit, where it got over 1,500 comments and 65,000 “likes.” The reaction amazed both Grizzard and Delcoure.

“People have furthermore been giving us a lot of support. People have even asked to give,” says Delcoure. Somehow a family in Canada has asked to adopt “Furrari” Arlis, an older, sweet cat. “They’re willing to go through the adoption and transfer processes to bring him home!”

Delcoure says that her best ad is for Mr. Goodbar, “the 2023 Mini Pooper.”

She said, “His listing was the last one I had to make, and I knew I wanted it to be cute and appropriate for his size”. “I own and love a Mini Cooper”. Moreover, I thought the “mini” part would be perfect for him, so I went with that”.

Delcoure said that all the credit exclusively should go to the volunteers. They somehow run Pippi’s Place and find homes for all the kittens.

She wrote, “We have consequently many more volunteers who give their blood, sweat, and tears for these cats for countless hours”. “Besides, if they weren’t taking such good care of our cats, I wouldn’t have anything to post.”

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