Stray Cat Blues, Inc.: Senior Pet Adoption Assistance Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The grant funding was used to purchase insulin and syringes from our veterinarian to support the adoption of diabetic senior cat Beetle. The funds also subsidized his adoption fee, making a senior cat with medical issues more attractive to an adopter.
Beetle receives daily insulin injections to manage his diabetes. The supplies purchased through grant funds incentivized his adoption and he is now happy in a great home!
How many pets did this grant help?
One senior cat
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Beetle was rescued as a senior cat with diabetes. Pulled from [an open-intake] shelter by a Stray Cat Blues volunteer, he received necessary medical care, including a dental workup, bloodwork, and medication to stabilize his diabetes. He was available for adoption for some time. Marketing a senior cat is tough enough, let alone a senior with a lifelong medical condition. The medication purchased through this grant helped to incentivize Beetle’s adoption, and he is now happily adopted and flourishing in a furrever home!
From Facebook, June 16: “I don’t have to tell you that Beetle is a Very Good Boy! Beetle has passed the tail sniff test from five extremely picky female cats in his foster home. The first day he arrived, his foster parents found him upstairs under the bed cuddled with the two grumpiest ones! There hasn’t even been one hiss! It’s as if cats know things we humans will never know about Beetle’s story.
“He was abandoned on the streets of Philadelphia, and was found emaciated, dehydrated, dirty and matted. He looked as if he had been on the streets for a long while. Just when the weather finally got warmer, Beetle was about to have his first saving grace, and he was brought into an Animal Care and Control Team shelter by a good Samaritan.
“Next, the veterinary staff at ACCT performed extensive bloodwork on Beetle when they noticed that he continued to drink excessively, and it was confirmed that Beetle was diabetic.
“A few weeks passed. Beetle’s chances of being adopted were dwindling, and his time was running out. Then a Hail Mary pass arrived, and Beetle was posted by the ACCT Life-Saving Team as at-risk, and only available to local rescue partners. Many kittens, especially bottle babies and medical-needs cats, are considered at-risk and are pulled from the shelter to be able to live in foster homes with more attention and care.
“The day Beetle was scheduled for euthanasia, Friday, May 7, 2021, became Beetle’s lucky day. The ACCT transport team drove Beetle from the city shelter to a Stray Cat Blues adoption center in the suburbs.
“Beetle is a gentle giant who greets you with a tiny kitten ‘me-you.’ He is still young at heart, he has collected every catnip toy in the house to roll around and do bunny feet with, and he has not stopped purring. His favorite things are belly rubs and snuggles.”
From Facebook, Aug. 30: “Beetle has been adopted! Beetle is a 12-year-old diabetic gray-and-white domestic shorthair. He was time-stamped at ACCT. Luckily, a foster home was found for him.
“He was adopted at his foster home today. He now has a family of four who will give him the best care and lots of love! They recently lost their 15-year-old diabetic cat. When they saw Beetle, they knew he was the one for them. Beetle will have a kitty ‘sister’ — also a former Stray Cat Blues kitty — to welcome him to the family!”
