Pet Mats Donated to Animal Shelter

Written by Mary Stephenson

On 8-26-2025 we took 26 pet mats to Another Chance Animal Welfare League in Palo Cedro and donated them on behalf of the Redding Breakfast Lions Club.

Another Chance Animal Welfare League (ACAWL) is an organization in the business of rescuing animals, mainly cats and dogs and finding them their forever homes. It is a no kill organization which means any animal which comes into the program stays in the program until adopted or dies. This is their website URL https://acawl.org/

The pet mats all happened from my loss of our 5 year old Siamese cat, Lily, to kidney failure this year. 

In May she was at her last few days. We had covered the sofa and love seat cushions with plastic bags and proceeded to put towels down for her. I looked for a more comfortable covering and came up with an old blanket from the days my daughter got a twin bed. During the time the blanket was on the love seat, our other cat, Lucy, decided it would be a lot of fun to grab the end of the blanket and kick with her hind legs. So I decided when it was no longer being used I would cut it up and make a mat for her.

Now with only one cat, that was happy being an only cat, we no longer needed two cat carriers ready to go at a moments notice. With years of having acquired a number of cat beds and mats at cat shows (late 80s), it was apparent I really didn’t need to make her anymore cat mats. She had 2 rectangular, 2 round mats, and a cat bed on the living room floor that she could kick around.

We no longer needed that blanket and a number of other things, such as a comforter that had seen a better day. So I dragged out a number of items and got busy creating mats for pets. Some of the process was simple enough for the first 14 and then after that it was finding clothes that could fit as a cover for the rest of the fabric padding. So some was creative piecing together. Sizes ranged due to materials I had and trying to get the most efficient use of the material. From 28 X 15, 21 X 17, 20 X 12 and a few close to that goal of finished product to be 20 X 16. The approximate 2 inch inside row of stitches was to keep all inside padding in place, when washed and used.

There is a two fold purpose in doing this, besides cleaning out stuff that probably should have been tossed years ago. Animals are getting a nice place to sleep on and it didn’t ended up in the landfill. Of course one day it will, but putting it to use for years to come is a good reason to get out the sewing machine.