Feral Paws Rescue has always been committed to save those kitties who are special, who have special needs: the seniors, the mothers in the shelters with kittens, and so forth. In this article, I would like you to meet Gray, one of those “special” kitties.
It's been a while since I have written about cats. I have adopted through Feral Paws Rescue, but this month I am honored to present two very special recent rescues to everyone. Both cats are black, rescued from the CCSPCA in July 2022, and scheduled to be euthanized there.
Shrimp is a very special kitty that has touched so many lives (human). Shrimp is a beautiful orange tabby boy now four years old. Shrimp has been CCSPCA shelter office cat since he was just a kitten and was dumped at the shelter. Staff fell very much in love with Shrimp at the time he came into the shelter. The shelter's past office shelter cat on the adoption side of the shelter had passed away about three months before Shrimp came into the shelter.
Each non-profit rescue has there own views on who their rescue will be saving. Saving lives from kill shelters isn't an easy decision in the world of rescue and has many heartbreaks and nights of seeing the faces of the ones we couldn't save. Some we have to leave behind knowing those we can't save will most likely be euthanized in just hours after leaving a kill shelter. Don't think the faces left behind don't haunt a rescuer every day; seeing them reaching out to us as we walk by the kennels, as if begging to have there life saved. Rescue work isn't for everyone!
Fosters are so important to rescue groups. They open there homes up to moms and kittens, cats, and kittens in need for special care. When a rescue group is so blessed with a foster that is amazing, its can be a life saver to a rescue group. Rescue work isn’t a forever one. It’s not cake and ice cream. It can be so ugly at times too often then we in rescue want to see. But we must remain strong and fight for the life that is in danger. Our rescue group has been so blessed with an amazing foster for one of our moms and kittens that are doing amazing well and are in the best care every. Thanks to our foster Arthur O'Brien Jr.!
Wednesday was rescued from CCSPCA High Kill Shelter as a one-month-old kitten with a sibling. They both went into foster care with the vet tech at Care Vet Hospital in Fresno. It was going very well while in foster care. When they became four months old, I got a phone call from the vet tech that was fostering them. She told me that she wanted to keep one of the siblings. A foster failure! That happens so much when kittens are in foster care and the foster parent becomes so attached to the foster babies in their care.
Our little Zubbe was rescued from CCSPCA, a high-kill shelter. When we pulled Zubbe from the shelter she was dragging her back legs, plus she was very sick with a URI (urinary tract infection). Her poor body was so cold and had become very dehydrated. I honestly was losing hope in considering pulling Zubbe due to her many health issues. Well, I did, and after many visits to our rescue vet and the assurances giving me hope for Zubbe’s well being, I brought her to the rescue.
Our rescue, receives so many emails daily asking for help in receiving cats and kittens. Our board has a policy of taking in only animals from high-kill shelters, because the cats and kittens in high-kill shelters have such a short period of time before being euthanized. Our rescue currently has pull rights at 17 shelters in California. As the CEO/Founder of this rescue, I can step up to help non-shelter cats and kittens depending on their stories. I honestly try not to override that policy because so many cats and kittens need help in kill shelters.
Coco is a very special kitty in our family. Awhile ago I took my granddaughter to CCSPCA, a high-kill shelter, to pick up kitties that our rescue was pulling. While bringing in carriers to pick up the kitties. My granddaughter was looking at the kitties in the stray cattery. She came running out of the stray area and telling me, “Grandma, I found a kitty, and I want to save the kitty’s life. Grandma, come look at the kitty. Can we save this kitty?” I told her let’s go look at the kitty. She grabbed my hand and told me, “Come. Oh, Grandma, come and see the kitty."
Peg and Micky were both rescued from CCSPCA, a high-kill shelter in Fresno. Both have medical issues which meant that they were both listed on the daily urgent list, and they would be euthanized at the end of the day they were posted. Sadly, when a medical issue cat is posted, they are overlooked by other rescues for the expense in having to deal with the medical issues, unless they have a private sponsor who will pay for medical procedures. When Peg and Micky were posted, I kept looking at their photos during the day.
