Fabulous Felines NWA, Inc.: Cat Chow Building Better Lives Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

Helped cover adoption fees for deserving cats and people.

It lowered their adoption fees so senior citizens and lower-income potential adopters could afford to get an already spayed or neutered cat or kitten who was tested, vaccinated and microchipped.

How many pets did this grant help?

15

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Our first full adoption fee was given to Lynn, a 65-year-old who pet-sits for a living. She fell in love with Pookie, a 3-year-old declawed cat who was so extremely shy she wouldn’t come out or eat. Lynn worked daily at my house for two weeks, finally getting Pookie to come out, crawl in her lap, and lie on her back for belly rubs. She won’t even come out for anyone else. Pookie was taken in when her elderly owner fell and could no longer keep her, so she felt very comfortable with Lynn. Lynn had just lost her other cats and moved to a retirement community where they only allow one pet who has to be declawed, so Pookie fit the bill of providing company for her. Her adoption fee had been $100, as four-paw-declawed cats seem to be in demand. (We rescue them but don’t allow our cats to be declawed.) We had updated all her vaccinations, dewormed and microchipped her, given her flea medication and tested her for feline aids and leukemia. 12/20/14

Duchess, a four-paw-declawed cat, and her buddy, Prince, a longhaired front-declawed cat, were thrown outside in the coldest part of the winter for a week before Fabulous Felines NWA heard of their plight and rescued them. Their owner had a life-threatening allergic reaction when her landlord sprayed pesticides in her home without alerting her first. She went to the hospital, and her friend, who knew nothing of cats, started feeding them outside on the back deck where there was a large bag of crunchies and many open empty cans of cat food lying around. He had no idea this would attract predators, and two declawed cats had no means of defense. Their owner was reluctant to even touch the cats because she was convinced the pesticide was still on their fur, and just wanted them gone! Efforts to get Animal Control to come pick them up failed, but she finally heard about Fabulous Felines NWA and emailed asking someone to come pick them up. The cats’ only shelter had been under the deck during low 20’s and high-teens temperatures after being indoor cats all their lives.

Duchess and Prince, who had to be trapped he was so scared, were so thrilled to come inside to a warm bathroom to recover, they were purring and rolling all over in happiness! Prince was so easygoing, he let the Duchess eat all the food that week, and it took a while — and a lot of fresh-cooked chicken — to get his appetite back. He went on to his forever home first.

When Duchess was recovered, she went to PetSmart, where Nancy fell in love with her. Nancy was one year in remission from cancer, and was getting a doctor’s order for a therapy cat. Duchess just loves a lap to lie on, so she will be a great comfort to Nancy and love being queen of her new home! We thought Nancy was a great candidate for receiving a donation from Purina for most of Duchess’s adoption fee.

Rhett Butler was kicked out of his home through no fault of his own. The man just didn’t want a cat anymore and a friend took Rhett in briefly until they could get him into our Fabulous Felines NWA foster home. Rhett has the sweetest personality and loves people and to be with them. We thought he was ready for PetSmart and to find a new home right away as he was so loving. Unfortunately he quit eating, had to be taken home, and taken to a vet. He ran up $180 worth of vet bills testing him and trying to get him to eat again. Perhaps he was just upset at the changes in his life. Cats will do this. But eventually he came out of it, started eating again, and was adopted into a wonderful family. We donated $100 out of the Purina fund to help out with his vet bill so we wouldn’t have to charge his new family his past bills. As a follow-up to the story, the new owner was in a bad automobile accident, breaking a leg and arm shortly after Rhett’s adoption. Rhett took over being her cuddle buddy in bed, helping her recover.