To our Ka’anapali boardwalk community, and to everyone who supported this project: thank you.
Hundreds of you submitted photos, shared the project with friends, cast votes, and pledged to buy a calendar. The response was overwhelming, and it showed just how much this community cares about the boardwalk cats and about the volunteers who look after them.
After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the calendar project.
Why we are stopping
Our goal was a simple one. We wanted to celebrate these cats, and to help the people who quietly feed them, get them to the vet, and look after them every single day.
But as interest grew, more and more people began visiting the cats hoping to see them in person. That attention has had an effect nobody intended. Some of the cats have started staying hidden for longer stretches, which makes it harder for their caregivers to keep an eye on them and to know they are eating. Food set out at feeding time has sometimes been taken by birds before the cats felt comfortable enough to come out for it.
There has also been more feeding by visitors. It comes from a kind place every time. But food from strangers makes it far harder to manage the special diets and the ongoing medical needs that several of these cats depend on.
These are wonderful problems in the sense that they came from people caring. They are still problems for the cats, and the cats cannot tell us when something is wrong. Ending the project is the clearest way we have to give them back their quiet.
If you love these cats
The very best thing you can do for them is the simplest. Give them room. Admire them from a distance, let a cat come to you rather than going to it, and please do not feed them. They are already fed twice a day, every day, by people who know exactly what each of them needs.
We are deeply grateful to the volunteers who give their time, energy and their own money to care for these animals. Their commitment has made a real difference in the lives of countless cats over the years, and it will keep doing so long after this project is forgotten.
To everyone who took part: thank you for your enthusiasm, your kindness and your compassion. This chapter is closing, but the thing underneath it, our shared affection for the cats of Ka’anapali, has not changed at all.
With gratitude, The Cats of Ka’anapali Boardwalk Calendar Team