Category Archives: Rescue & Adoption Stories

Fostering Mama Cat and Kitten – From Misery to a New Home

The deep satisfaction that comes with rescuing and fostering homeless, abandoned, and at-risk cats comes when you finally find the perfect match for their adoption. Fostering cats and kittens can literally save their lives. Here’s a happy ending for my foster cat and kitten.

Rescuing and Fostering Mama Cat and Kitten from Severe Neglect
Fostering Mama Cat and Kitten - From Misery to a New Home
Happy Mama and Baby

Two months ago I received a desperate phone call from one of my fosters. She told me the family across the street from where she was working had two litters of pit bull puppies (15 puppies in all) along with a mother cat who had a litter of kittens, and eight of the kittens had just been killed by the pit bulls. The last remaining kitten was weak, thin and vulnerable due to the dogs and the mama cat was showing signs of extreme stress having just lost her kittens. Thankfully, she was able to convince the owners to give the mama cat and kitten to her, since they were clearly overwhelmed with the dogs and had been very negligent with the cats. She then proceeded to bring the mama and kitten to my house to foster them and provide for their needed medical treatment and recovery. Continue reading Fostering Mama Cat and Kitten – From Misery to a New Home

Rescuing a Cat With Special Needs – A Story of Transformation

Rescuing a cat with special needs is gratifying, but when you see their transformation to health and well being, there’s no better feeling.

I remember the night well. It was winter—another dark, cold, rainy and windy night. But this night was different. A new cat appeared at our back patio doorstep—a big orange tabby male was hungrily eating our feral’s food outside. When he lifted his head from the food bowl, he saw me, and quickly ran away. Or more accurately, hopped away. I could see something was terribly wrong. But he was gone. He returned the next night for more food, and again I came to the window to see him, and as he was hopping away I saw that he was missing one of his hind legs. The leg was completely deformed and twisted backwards, and he was severely handicapped.

Well, they say the third time is a charm—and sure enough on the third night I was prepared. Trap was set, tuna fish inside, and I waited! Bang—I got him! Thankfully, he was not a trap-savvy cat! So I took this big, heavy boy upstairs in the trap to our bathroom. I could quickly see that he was friendly. Very friendly. I was relieved that he wasn’t feral, which would mean I’d have to release him back outside, but there was just no way that I would do that with this injured back leg. The next morning, as I was driving him to the vet, I named him “Piev.” I have no idea where this name came from, I had never heard of it before—but it sounded beautiful when I said it, and it seemed to fit him. He was masculine but gentle, and the name was as unique as this special boy was.

Continue reading Rescuing a Cat With Special Needs – A Story of Transformation

How to Adopt an Adult Cat

Adopting an adult cat through a foster-to-adopt arrangement is often a great option to make sure the cat is right for your home. Adult cats come with fully developed personalities and temperaments, they are mature, trained, better behaved than kittens, and know they’ve been rescued and will be forever grateful to you.

There are so many reasons to adopt an adult cat over a kitten, but in cat rescue, it’s often the kittens that get all the attention and get adopted, leaving the adults behind. But it’s the adult cats—the ones who have often been abandoned, are homeless, or have lived through loneliness, suffering, and maybe illness—that need the unconditional love of a committed home. Continue reading How to Adopt an Adult Cat

Homeless Cat Rescued With Life-Threatening Injuries

Alex is a beautiful tuxedo cat who has been homeless in our neighborhood for the past 10 years. He has survived freezing cold winters; scorching hot summers where the temperatures often reach into the high 90s and triple-digits; maneuvered and outwitted busy residential traffic daily; fought off countless feral and tom cats; avoided close encounters with raccoons, possums and skunks; and dodged all the other dangers and hazards that lurk outside ready to ensnare him. This is the story of Alex, a homeless cat with life-threatening injuries, who has survived against all odds, and was rescued in the nick of time.

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Handicapped Rescue Cat Finds Good Home

As a cat foster, and routinely taking cats to adoptions, finding a home for an adult cat can sometimes be a challenge, especially for the older ones, but finding a home for a handicapped cat can present an even greater challenge. After two years, this handicapped rescue cat found a great home!

Many people looking to adopt a cat are partial to young and healthy cats without any handicaps, deformities, or chronic illnesses of any kind. At adoptions, I’ve even had people ask me how my foster cat’s teeth are and when was the their last dental cleaning? One potential adopter who fell in love with one of my foster cats, who was very healthy, turned her down after I told her that I took her for a final routine checkup (she was adopting her from my home that day) and she had her anal sacks expressed because they were full. The adopter somehow misinterpreted this to mean that the cat was unhealthy! Continue reading Handicapped Rescue Cat Finds Good Home

Rescuing and Fostering Cats – The Story of Gigi’s Rescue and Rehabilitation

Fostering cats is a rewarding and satisfying experience that I am honored to have. By fostering a rescued cat you provide a needed home for a cat that otherwise would remain homeless, or stay in a neglectful or abusive home, or possibly would be euthanized at a shelter. But when you take in a new foster cat, especially an adult cat, you never really know how long it may be before they are adopted—or how long it will take to find just the right home for that particular cat.

Rescuing Gigi
Rescuing and fostering cats
Gigi’s first night at home, after her rescue – She was very, very sick

I found Gigi—a beautiful, graceful Calico—abandoned and living along the Iron Horse Trail in Walnut Creek between two busy streets–just after receiving a hotline call to the cat rescue group I belong to called Community Concern for Cats (CC4C). The caller was concerned about a calico cat that looked thin, sick, and weak, and was seen falling down outside of the local feed store near the trail. Living close by, I walked the trail to see if I could find her near the described spot. I started feeding every night—putting wet and dry food out by some bushes along with a bowl of water. Two weeks later, I finally saw her! She appeared from a ditch right beside me that was completely covered by tree branches, probably hiding while waiting for me. She knew it was feeding time. Scared, hesitant, but trusting me—she allowed me to touch her and pet her. Once her trust was gained, I ran home, grabbed one of my cat carriers, walked back quickly to where I had left her, and the rest is history.

Continue reading Rescuing and Fostering Cats – The Story of Gigi’s Rescue and Rehabilitation

Homeless to Housecats – Stories About Cat Rescue

It seems every day I learn something new about my cats, how to care for them better, improve their health, improve their quality of life, understand them better, and appreciate their unique gifts and personalities.

My cats have taught me so much over these last 20 years, that I wanted a way to share what I have learned. I love my cats so much that I’m constantly pursuing new ways to provide them with the best of everything — veterinary care, nutrition, comfort, contentment, safety — and yet with a multi-cat household this can be a challenge and there are big hurdles, but you just have to be willing to spend the time and make the commitment.

Continue reading Homeless to Housecats – Stories About Cat Rescue