Last night, I received a tearful phone call from an elderly woman whose life had drastically changed in a moment’s notice. She has 4 older cats and found herself losing her farm and having to move in with friends as she sorted out her life. Her husband had recently passed and she said she posted online begging someone to take all of her cats until she could get back on her feet. A lady responded immediately and said she would help her out. But, when they went to drop off the cats, she realized the home was not the best place for the cats to be. The woman put all four cats into a small, cluttered non-ventilated room. The owner of the cats had no choice but to leave them, but as time went on, she said she could see her cats changing and not doing well. She said she was at the local feed store and she heard some people talking about my sanctuary and could I please- please- take her cats temporarily?
I’m listening to her story and hearing the desperation in her voice. I told her I needed to pray about it and think about it and see what I can come up with. When I said that, she replied she knew that because I was a believer, I would help her.
I called George and we bounced some ideas off each other trying to figure out how I could bring four older cats into the sanctuary. In our main enclosure there are now only two cats who frequent the area. Chappy and Andie and generally both of them stay inside the tunnels leading to the house. So George built a wire endcap to the tunnels and closed the opening leading to the main enclosure off to the house kitties. The four cats will stay in the main enclosure and Zulu who is still in the introduction cage would also be out there.
I called the woman back and told her our decision. She was so grateful and brought the cats right over. Hopefully, these cats will not be permanent residents here. She said she is trying very hard to find a place to rent that accepts cats but four cats in this area in a rental is almost unheard of without a huge pet deposit. But initially when she explained to me the condition of the house the cats were staying in, we knew it wasn’t the best place for older kitties. Plus, with all this hot weather and no ventilation- things could go south quite rapidly.
Here are three of the four cats newly arrived:
They carry names like “Precious, Pretty, Buddy and Kiki” so let’s hope that their owner can find a home for all of them to grow old together- time will tell. Precious immediately went into one of the cupboards and is in hiding- she is a mackerel tabby about 9 years old.
poor little ones, hate when the elderly get displaced and is so hard on their humans as well. Glad they are in your hands and not in that horrible house, With you they will thrive until she is able to take them home with her.
Can we do a fundraiser to help if she finds a place that will take her cats but with an exorbitant pet deposit? We did it before, we can do it again…
I believe we can do this again. Truman is still with his human and Sam Sam is still with George. I will wait and see what she finds out as the days go on. She said she put her name into a rental company that looks only for pet friendly rentals so we shall see what happens. Her cats are quite sweet and I can tell they are loved.
I have a local fundraiser running now to try and knock down the vet debt which is over a thousand dollars at the moment. But, I have no problem running another fundraiser to keep this family together. I will let you know
Her kitties do look lovely, and poor things.. they can ‘t understand whats going on. Hopefully things will work out.
As the years go by, I worry about such matters…that the day may come I would not be able to care for a cat…my worry is more physical than financial.
That is probably why I just have one now…and her name is Precious, too (The name came with this five year old meezer/burmese mix.)
Count me in if the fundraiser is launched. My heart goes out to this dear lady and her cat family – thanks for helping them!
The one kitty not shown has come out of hiding. A beautiful mackerel tabby girl with blue eyes- she is about 8 years old. All of these cats were original rescues.
The woman was lucky to have heard your name, and the cats are lucky, too. They may suffer fright and confusion, but they will be safe, and won’t regress under your care. I don’t suppose in her situation, the woman was able to provide financially for their upkeep? Losing her farm must be a terrible blow to her.