Rescue and Success stories
~ This page contains graphic photos ~
Please read our stories, and consider making a special donation to "The Faith Fund". The Faith Fund is a special fund set aside to help our most severe rescue cases with surgeries, aftercare, and to save thier lives. Please read about Faith at the bottom of the page and learn about our first rescue cat that the fund is named after. Not all of the cats listed here received Faith funds, but the ones that did are very thankful.
Picasso 2008
In October another call came in from the Police Department for an injured kitty, who had been attacked by something. We went over immediatly and the caller had already gotten the kitty into a kitty carrier and he was waiting for us.
Picasso was a stray that nobody claimed, and was found huddled in a back yard by the alley. He had no owner and no chance of surviving without treatment quickly. His entire tail had been chewed off, and his leg had a very bad wound.
The wound was fresh, and he seemed to be stable. By morning when he arrived at the vet, the infection had already started and the smell was strong. The leg was not able to be saved, and the remaining tail needed some repair.
Picasso recovered very well, and adapted quickly to only three legs. After recovery, Picasso was transferred to another adoption group, and found his new home fairly fast, even though he was a timid cat.
Gary 2008
In July the local Police Department called us about a wounded cat that nobody could catch, and asked for our assistance. When we arrived at the home where the cat was reported, he was no where to be found. The tennant said that no one could catch him and that he was a feral in the trailer park whom she thought had been attacked.
I did set a trap in the spot where he had been seen last, and before I made it out of the park, the phone rang and he was in the trap already. Gary was thin and had quite a face.
Gary had one eye completely swollen shut and an ugly wound, which we believe was either an abcess that had burst or self inflicted from scratching earmites. Gary was the biggest love of a cat, and just wanted lots and lots of attention. I have no idea how nobody could catch him, since he was so sweet. He was tested for fiv/felk, neutered and vaccinated right away.
Gary spent a long time in a collar to prevent scratching; He wore it for over three months straight and he was the best sport about the whole thing. The wound just didn't heal very fast.
Gary loved the kittens and would snuggle up with them all and would even let them nurse on him if they wanted. When he was ready, Gary found a wonderful home with a kitten friend.
Macy from Motel 6
January of 2007, I was trapping the Motel 6 colony which is just off I-5 in Springfield. I trapped several ferals there and relocated them to a country property. The motel sits about 20 feet off the freeway, with another busy street about 15 feet away, and a small field nearby.
Hampton
March 2007, I was driving home around midnight, and in front of me there was something crossing the highway, and its a cat. A black and white cat, miles from any homes or civilization. I turned around at the next spot and headed back to a pullout where the cat crossed. I shine the flashlight into the ditch, and call "kitty, kitty", and the cat responds and meows and heads towards the car.
I was unable to get close to the cat, but with tuna in hand, the cat is willing to eat ravenously within about 5 feet from me, and meows, and has a collar on!!!!! Its thin, and obviously isnt eating much. It appears to be a tame cat that has turned slightly feral. I attempted to get it into a cat carrier, but it would not go all the way in... and when I made my move it got away.
Day two, I stopped along the highway and looked for the cat again, but no sign of it, so I left some dry food in the same spot and went to work. On the way home, the can was empty, and I knew the cat had eaten. I planned to return with a trap at dusk. I headed out and set my trap in the dark along the highway. I waited about 20 minutes, and then left for the night, leaving the trap behind. Hoping....
Day three, I stopped to check the trap, and kitty was in there, yay! Headed to the vet, and then I opened the trap, and he was totally tame, just melted in my arms. He is underweight, and had a front incisor that was busted off half way down, collar still on, and unaltered. We tested him for fiv/felk, he was neutered, vaccinated, had a tooth removed, then headed home with me for fostering.
Hampton was less than 7 pounds when trapped, and his collar hung loose. After several months here, his weight was over 13 pounds and the collar had to be extended. Hampton was adopted in July to a loving home, and sadly, has recently been diagnosed with heart disease.
His adopters write:
"Hampton is already fully integrated in our home. Gets along with every critter here. Loves to play. Loves toys. Is not afraid of the dog. And is enjoying our back yard, hanging with the other cats (when we are home ). It could not have been easier and we could not be more appreciative of the little guy. Well, big guy I suppose. He weighs 15 pounds! Can you imagine? A far cry from the 6 when you found him. What a great job you did of getting him back to himself.
Marcola cats
I was alerted to abandoned cats in Marcola, and drove out there to an abandoned farmhouse of filth to retrieve some. Tenants of the home had been evicted in mid November, and the house was left in shambles, vandalized and a complete mess. The home owners left the house as it is due to no money for repairs and clean up, and have not returned until last week.
These cats had been at the empty house since before Thanksgiving, and were only discovered by the home owners last week. It is now after Christmas. There is a garage full of garbage, and that is most likely what they were eating. No houses around for miles, no water source on the property, and food source as far as hunting would be limited. We found one cat was dead in the garage, and since the windows in the house were broken out, the cats could come and go indoors, and we found several on the front porch and two hiding in the upstairs bedrooms.
10 cats were rescued, and 8 of the 10 were diagnosed with Giardia. 9 of the 10 have were spayed/neutered immediatly, vaccinated and treated for other ailments including the Giardia. One was too ill for surgery for several months.
Update: These cats have all been transferred to adoption groups and Pebbles the calico was adopted in two hours!
They were traumatized, and unable to adapt to a tame lifestyle, so they were fostered until big enough, spayed/neutered and vaccinated. They were then released to a differant feral colony in August of 2005.
The colony where these kittens came from is now a well under control, altered colony, and it has had no new kittens so far in 2006.
Faith
Faith went through three surgeries to repair the tissue damage, she recieved over 60 stitches in her underarm area, and had two tubes inserted to drain the infection. She was on three differant antibiotics and pain meds. She tested negative for Fiv/Felk and was spayed and vaccinated. She regained full use of her leg, but the muscles are somewhat deformed. She recovered for approx. 7 weeks prior to being put up for adoption. Her care through all this was paid for by donations from our friends.
She was semi-feral and really did not trust humans very much, so finding the right home was hard. Faith was adopted on May 28, 2006. She now lives indoors only, in a house with a feral cat named Mookie, and gets to play all day. Her adopters live in Portland and they were also contributors to her medical bills, and routinely update us on her progress. At the last report, they had still not been able to touch Faith, but admired her beauty from afar.
