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A llama sanctuary in the Shuswap is expanding its operations and will soon be taking in cats.

The Llama Sanctuary in Tappen has has partnered with Pawprints Animal Rescue to host felines that need rehoming, as well as feral cats who, once neutered, will continue living in their feral state.

The sanctuary will have a cat hotel and a cat lounge that will be open to the public.

"A lot of the cats Pawprints catches need new homes, and since we have space and we have a desire to help the cat communities, we are setting up a cat lounge where people will be able to get themselves a drink, sit down and let the cats in and let the cats choose a new companion human," the sanctuary's David Chapman says.

"People can come along, make themselves a drink, make a donation, sit with the cats, adopt a cat or just have fun with the cats."

The sanctuary will be composed of three spaces of which one will be open to the public who will be free to enjoy some feline company and adopt the animals.

"We'll have two units. One is where the cats will sleep essentially their private quarters and then there'll be the lounge area where we'll have the chairs and where people will be able to come in and have a drink and we'll also have an outdoor compound between the two so the cats can come out and play," Chapman says.

The lounge area will be made accessible for seniors, some of whom have had to give up their own cats.

"Some people we've spoken with have had to give up their pets once they move into an assisted living or residential facility and there's a probability that some of these people will come in just to sit and be with the cats for a while so we're making the lounge suitable for seniors."

The sanctuary is looking for donations before they can be ready to welcome the pets as well as visitors.

"We hope to have it up and running within the next two weeks, we're just waiting to get some flooring and once that's done, we can get the rest of it set up," Chapman says.

"We're looking for flooring, chairs - glider chairs are best - cat litter boxes, cat beds and things like that. We're also looking for playthings like cat trees and a kitchen unit where we can have the drinks made and some coffee-making facilities."

As for the feral animals, they will have their own facility where they will be able to live their best feral lives.

"They will be in a big barn and we hope to have neutered feral cats living in the barn so they can do what they like to do, taking care of the mice in the hay barn and live their lives in the feral state."

Those who are interested in donating to the cat sanctuary, call the organization at 250-948-3675 or visit the The Llama Sanctuary website here.

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