NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — International Cat Day is over, but the feline festivities are far from finished.
Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre will have a celebration of a special “Gotcha Day” on Saturday, Aug. 10, to mark a year since Shankweiler’s owners Matthew McClanahan and Lauren McChesney found their littleFunnel Cake kitten hiding in bushes at their drive-in.
The weekend schedule for Shankweiler’s has the gates opening at 6:30 p.m., with "Twisters" showing at 8:45 p.m. and "Deadpool & Wolverine" at 11 p.m.
“We found our cat at the drive in, and maybe other people find their cat at our drive-in too."Lauren McChesney
Just a few months back, McClanahan attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Foxy's Cradle animal rescue for its new mobile kitten unit.
The connection was nearly instant, and it was only a matter of time before Kandice Reinhart and the Foxy’s Cradle team would be invited to come out to Shankweiler’s.
Reinhart said people are “welcome to come and meet the kittens, and they can complete an application on site, and then we'll process it, and then we'll set up a time where it's convenient for the family to take them home."
“We found our cat at the drive in, and maybe other people find their cat at our drive-in too,” McChesney said.
Also, a supply drive
Shankweiler’s also will hold a supply drive for Foxy’s Cradle throughout the weekend, with anyone who brings in supplies to the ticket booth or snack bar getting a voucher for a free small popcorn, limited to one per vehicle.
Some of the most needed items include Purina One Healthy Kitten dry food; Royal Canin Baby Cat dry food, wet food and mousse; and Gerber turkey or chicken and gravy baby food.
Also, Breeder’s Edge Feline Milke Replacer formula, Feline Pine litter, laundry detergent, Clorox wipes, paper towels, Dawn dish soap, kitchen-sized trash bags and Terramycin eye ointment.
Also, 1 ml oral syringes without needles, Miracle MINI nipples and syringes in both 10 and 20 ml sizes, toys and scratchers, and plush and fleece blankets and bedding.
When McClanahan and Lauren McChesney originally found their feline friend, she was just a few weeks old, covered in fleas and frightened.
After investing time in making the tiny kitten comfortable and eventually corralling her into a funnel cake box — hence the name — she slept the rest of the evening in McClanahan’s lap.
Nowadays, Funnel Cake has settled into a comfortable life with everything she could want, McClanahan and Lauren McChesney said.
“She loves to sit in the windows," McChesney said. "We have little window perches all over the house, and she likes to just rotate between them and look outside.
"And she likes to watch birds and bugs, and if there's a bug nearby, she doesn't try to kill it. She just likes to watch it. She's just very curious, she’s always playing with her toys.
"But she also loves playing with things like balls of tape or like hair ties that she finds."
