Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Proof.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
A little over 6 years ago, my wife Amanda (an Ypisi native) and I unfortunately had our cat Avocado taken from us unexpectedly due to an unknown health issue. Amanda had been interested in fostering cats before, but now with this loss, she decided that she wanted to finally give it a try. When she asked if we could start fostering, I replied “of course, if I can live stream it”.
I’d been very active in online video creation and live streaming since 2005, but once I got married and became a father those hobbies (which are actually now my career) had to be put on hold. So, when the opportunity came up to create a Kitten Cam Live stream, I jumped at it.
We started fostering summer of 2017 and streamed early on to the Microsoft platform Mixer, we quickly found a community and sprinted to 10,000 followers as we cared for litters of kittens and even a pregnant mom who gave birth on stream (archive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSzKo6oDQs)
When Mixer shut down, we stumble around multicasting to a dozen platforms until we found a new home on Twitch, where we currently stream 24/7 at https://www.twitch.tv/cuteavalanche
We’ve fostered over 135+ cats and kittens, specializing in kittens under 8 weeks old as we saw a need to saw these youngest furpals from a shelter system that could not care for them. Kittens under 8 weeks often are euthanized by the end of the day that they have been dropped off if a rescue/foster can’t be found.
This year we ran a fundraiser and raised $500 to make gift bags for fosters participating in Giving Tuesday (more: https://cuteavalanche.com/2022/11/27/we-raised-500-to-make-kitten-rescue-clear-the-shelters-gift-bags/)
We also took on our latest foster, a solo black female named Mila who has one good eye and is super affectionate.
We’re known for out interactive stream which includes 8 cameras, allowing viewers to switch views on the live stream as well as PTZ camera that viewers can Pan Tilt and Zoom to a nearly custom angle of any part of the room. several times a year we run interactive games and events on the stream, starting with the SuPurr Bowl, Saint Catrick’s day, and now Catmas an intercative Christmas experience allowing viewers to decorate a kitty theme Christmas scene (more info: https://cuteavalanche.com/catmas-guide)
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being fosters of young kittens, we’re constantly flirting the most volatile period in a kitty’s life. Shelter animals and strays almost always have worms and or fleas and sometimes worse.
We’ve honestly been very lucky to have no had worse things happen more frequently compared to what we seen other foster friends go through, but that being sad you can’t foster this long without dealing with some heartbreaking losses. From an early devastating battle with the deadly virus panleukopenia to a more recent outbreak of ringworm that never seemed to leave.
In the past year, we took on one of the most emotional cases in a little kitten named Goose, part of our Top Gun litter. Goose was one 4 bottle babies that we took in and he wouldn’t eat, so Amanda (who is the real foster, while I’m more tech and social media master) took to learning how to Tube feed the kitten.
Goose was featured on Kitten Rescues Instagram (KR is who we foster through): https://www.instagram.com/p/CgXwdI3PNZR/?hl=en and a follow-up post for his adoption: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiRYlk5uWiD/?hl=en
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
On a personal level, I’ve always been drawn to not only storytelling but online video and have had several successes in that field starting with a YouTube channel that became very popular in the early years of YouTube and garnering just under 10 million views youtube.com/samproof as well as live streaming through stickam.com
Taking my success and knowledge from that, I made a career which led me through jobs in traditional Hollywood working for reality tv and entertainment news shows and ultimately crossing over to work for startups like Mobcrush.com and Super League Gaming where I put my knowledge of live streaming to use, both in front of the camera creating live events like Mobcrush 24/7 8-bit Christmas which allowed users to interact with a retro fireplace scene, roasting virtual marshmallows, or hotdogs on a stick, playing 8-bit carols and more. It became the inspiration for the Catmas experience now on Cuteavalanche.
Bring all those worlds together I created an interactive game on the kitten cam known as the Spookitty Halloween, which takes place in the month of October allowing viewers to find hidden treats, and then giving those treats to either new visitors to our stream or random “TrickCat Treaters” that show up on stream. In its 2nd year running it achieved over 100,000 user interactions.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think our success come from a combination of love, empathy, and a desire to just be fun and entertaining in what we do
Pricing:
- a $10 donation during Catmas will create a custom Tree Topper to look like a kitty friend the donator has
- We’re looking to raise $500 to prepare for fostering in 2023
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.twitch.tv/cuteavalanche
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cuteavalanche/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cuteavalanche
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cuteavalanche
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cuteavalanche
- Other: https://cuteavalanche.com/blog
Image Credits
Sam Proof
