My local animal shelter maintains a list of wanted items on its web site. (Perhaps yours does too!) Some themes from that list:
- new toys, collars, and litter pans
- durable equipment (not required to be new): leashes, beds, heating pads, nail clippers, pens, etc
- towels, blankets, and small rugs
- food (check with your shelter for any specific requests about flavor, brand, or form)
- electronics: cameras, printers, scanners, etc
Given a choice between donating money and using that money to buy something else to donate, I always donate the money -- I assume that they can get better bulk discounts on things like food than I can so the money will go farther. But if I already had something that I couldn't use, I would check whether the shelter would take it.