Every cat has a story to be told. Whether they’re young or old, healthy or sick, brave or scared, no journey is quite the same. This year, we’re hoping to help 300 cats get adopted, and while we couldn’t fit every story of every life changed by your donations into this post, here are a few of our staff favorites.
These are some of the cats whose lives you helped save in 2020.
“Mostly though, I think of my team working together to cure them of ringworm, giving them meds everyday, keeping their room clean, and twice a week antifungal baths. ”
Andrew’s Pick
Effie
Effie is a big, beautiful calico who got surrendered to the shelter by someone who couldn't care for her anymore. She reacted strongly to the shelter environment, and would start growling as soon as anyone entered the room. When we tried to interact with her in her kennel, she would hiss, lunge and strike. Shelter staff put a big “CAUTION !!!!” sign on her kennel. The shelter veterinarian had to sedate her to safely handle her, because she was so big, and so reactive, and that's when we learned she had a painful skin infection. When we came to move her to a Cat Town foster, we had to sedate her again, just to get her out of the kennel. With a cat like Effie, who had such a negative response to being put into a shelter cage, there's no way the shelter could make her available to adopt, and even if they did, who would take a risk on a cat like that? Cat Town got her into a home with an experienced foster, who gave her space and time to decompress, and interacted with her on her own terms. She had weekly weigh-ins and we got her weight under control, and her skin infection healed up. It took time, but Effie relaxed and showed us her sweet self. She still expects people to respect her boundaries, but we found the perfect adopter for this special lady!
Marie’s Pick
Heidi AND BUTTERS
Heidi and Butters were special cats to me this year. Not only were they undersocialized kittens, but we quickly discovered they had ringworm too! When I think of them, I see their sweet faces and how as they gained more confidence, they fought their antifungal baths more and more. Butters would climb onto my shoulder to get away, then shake himself splattering everything, and Heidi would pretend to comply — then surprise-attack us and run away. Mostly though, I think of my team working together to cure them of ringworm, giving them meds everyday, keeping their room clean, and twice a week antifungal baths. It makes me so proud of the Cat Town team, and Heidi and Butters for being so strong and not afraid to love people even in difficult circumstances.
QUINN’s Pick
Gatsby
I think a lot of folks believe that senior cats with medical needs like Gatsby's wouldn't have much luck getting adopted, but seeing how his new family loves him to pieces makes me grateful that Cat Town helps cats like him. Gatsby was a ten-year-old stray with terrible teeth, a bad eye, skin issues, and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). We got him out of the city shelter and into one of our foster homes, where he immediately settled into indoor life. Cat Town fixed his teeth, removed his painful eye, and started him on a limited ingredient diet while we got his itchy skin under control. In just about a month’s time, he recovered, was ready to get adopted, and got scooped up by a couple who had fallen for him hard and could scarcely wait to bring him home. Now he enjoys safely exploring the outdoors from inside a special backpack. His adopters even incorporated this one-eyed cutie into their Halloween costumes this year! It’s clear that this sweet little tuxedo is the center of the Universe to his new family, which is the best outcome anyone could hope for.
Thank you for making it possible for us to help these cats — and so many others!