My Visit to Treehouse Humane Society

At the end of August, I had the privilege of driving my daughter Rachel and her cat Maggie out to Chicago, where Rachel is starting graduate school this month. It was two days of nerve-racking driving, but Maggie was actually an awesome traveler, so the anticipation ended up being worse than the actual drive. Since I was in Chicago, I thought it would be a great opportunity to visit Tree House Humane Society. I have long been a follower and have admired the Tree House’s work from afar for years.

Tree House Director of Operations Darlene Duggan (CCP Episode 265) was gracious enough to meet with me on a Saturday and we had a great time. I got to Tree House a bit early, so I was able to spend some time having an “Arnold Palmer” iced tea in their cat café and meeting the four resident kitties there. Nayla (in the pictures) and Mr. Jones were the two that stood out the most.

The cat café is a pretty small room with two small tables that can hold maybe six people. There is a volunteer in the space at all times. You enter in through a triple door system so no cats can get out. Everyone has to wash their hands before entering and exiting. I had a book along with me, but I just ended up playing with the cats and chatting with the volunteers. The caféis nice and quiet even though it is on street level. The cats looked great and I believe that they get a lot of attention.

Once Darlene and I found each other, she gave me a wonderful tour. I first saw the behind-the-scenes area where they handle intake, isolation, and surgery. Then I got to see their “adoption alley,” which has eleven community rooms that can hold up to ten cats at a time. Two of their community rooms are dedicated to kittens. The kittens are not caged and they let litters mix (remember: they have been isolated on intake and had vaccines, etc.). Darlene said their kittens are adopted very quickly. The rooms all have outdoor access. The building sits on a small lot, so the adoption area is up on the second floor, which is interesting.

I then had a chance to meet with Sarah Liss, Tree House’s Program Manager for Operations and Community Cats, and Paul Nickerson, Community Cats at Work Manager. Passion for cats is high on their list! We had an energetic conversation about the work that they are doing in Chicago. Paul has tracked the placement of over 1,200 working cats in the city. That is a lot of good data! They were great sports and were even willing to let me get a picture of them with Darlene.

Of course, as I left the building I had to shop in Tree House’s retail area (Rachel’s cat Maggie, needed new toys in the new apartment!), and I had to have another Arnold Palmer in the café (so I could have a chance to say goodbye to my new friends). If you are ever in Chicago and have a couple of hours, I highly recommend a visit. Thank you again to Tree House for opening your doors to me.