Animal Rescue Stories

Felisha Rose Steals Our Hearts and Claims Her Home

I'm not a cat rescuer. I'm one of those cat mamas who provide a loving home so cat rescuers have space to rescue more. In fact, over the last twenty years, I've gotten all but one of my kitties from my friend Flo who rescues cats from the street. I was devastated when I lost my first California cat Danny Girl at 16 1/2 She was the smartest cat I've known and she got me through some harrowing illness that won my heart. I could talk about her forever but this is about Felisha Rose, not Danny. Danny was a bit of a bully and just tolerated her brother Pacey Jack living in her house. Years later when I brought in baby Mischief Kirk, she did better with him. I guess her mothering instincts finally kicked in. During our mourning period after Danny passed, I had it in my head to offer a home to a senior cat because it breaks my heart when older cats wind up in shelters due to death or age abandonment and don't understand what's happened to them. Mischief Kirk had been so bonded to Danny, it took a few months before he stopped looking for her.

So with me ready to adopt a senior, Flo tells me she has a year old kitten who's desperate for a family. She named her Felisha because as a tuxedo, she reminded her of Felix the Cat. Flo met Felisha at a feral colony she was feeding. Felisha kept following Flo around, wanting desperately to be taken home. Flo said there was nothing feral about Felisha and she had to be a cat who had just gotten lost or was abandoned because she's mostly a black cat. But she was extremely smart, loving, and curious. And with all her rescues, Flo said she didn't have the time to give Felisha that the feisty youngster needed.

I didn't want a year old, but Flo said she needed me. And Felisha showed how smart she was. First meeting with me, she was all cuddling in my arms and licking my face, convincing Flo I was the right person for her. As soon as I brought her home, she went to work on convincing my boys to love her. She licked them and groomed them and kissed them and played with them and slept with them. Poor Pacey who had no loving in 15 years with Danny, now had a cat to cuddle with and sleep with and every day they can be seen sleeping together. They even sit on top of each other on my lap. If Felisha isn't with Pacey, she's cuddling or or playing or sleeping with Mischief, with whom she is even more firmly bonded. And I've got the Three Cat-A-Teers bonded in a way I never thought possible. You should have seen how nuts Felisha and Mischief were when Pacey spent two weeks in hospital for his thyroid treatment. I added Rose to Felisha's name to honor my late friend Sharon Rose. And Felisha is often known as Nosy Rosey with good reason.

Crystal Ann Taylor
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA

The Day I Met Tiger

My friend and I went to the annual SpCA Pet adoption week-end. I was super excited that I had moved into a pet friendly building in SF. I was walking down the aisle and was looking at a kitten to my right. My back was turned when I felt a paw reaching out to tap my shoulder. I turned around and was met by a stunningly beautiful brown tabby named Tiger. I immediately fell in love at first sight. I asked the volunteer to get him out. He was very playful and was doing cat acrobatics. I said this is the one for me and took him home that day.

When I was filling out the paperwork, someone came and asked if they could borrow Tiger for the Purina cat show demonstrating how senior cats can be active and playful. The cat they were going to use was asleep. LOL. I said yes and went to watch the show. He was flipping through the air and was adorable. Many people were saying wow I want to adopt that cat. To the people around me, I said too late that's my son Tiger!

Lydia Kim
SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Hope to go on

My beloved husband died after a long battle with lung cancer. We had three kitties at the time: Melody, his kitty, a long haired polydactyl; Grayce, who loves everyone but is quite shy, a dilute short haired calico polydactyl and Phreddie, our gregarious red point Siamese. Melody mourned loosing Ron as much as I did. She was inconsolable, as was I.

I was able to reach through my fog of grieve to realize that if we were going to live, I had to really work at helping Melody through her grief. We cried together, we slept together with his favorite shirt, she was on the shirt and I held on to both the shirt and her. Slowly, very slowly, she started accepting my love. It took a full two years for her to finally accept me as her "person". I know if Ron where to walk through the door, she would abandoned me in a heart beat to be with him.

I became homeless for about six months after my husband's death. There were several places I could go if I didn't have my kitties, but they are my reason for living and my comforters. We lived in an aged RV most of that time. I now live in a very tiny apartment and it is all right because I have my Melody, Grayce and Phreddie, my three little fur loves. They help me get through everything.

Arleine von Wagner
SONORA, CA

My Fantastic Beast

Newt made quite a journey before I met him. He'd been picked up as a stray in Mississippi and taken to an overcrowded shelter where his days were numbered. Lucky for him (and me) an organization in New Jersey pulled him on a transfer. He traveled first to New Jersey and then to our shelter in very rural Pennsylvania. Now, I have never believed in love at first sight. I've had several adopted dogs in my life, all dogs that I loved with all my heart. But that love was never immediate. It was always built over time. Newt is the closest thing to love at first sight I've ever known. Something in his kind eyes just melted my heart. A week later, my closest friends paid his adoption fee as a birthday gift to me.
Now in addition to never having experienced love at first sight, I've also never really adopted an "easy" animal. As a vet tech, I've always been drawn towards animals with behavioral or physical problems that make them difficult to adopt out. Newt had neither. A small part of me felt some guilt about adopting such a wonderful dog. I balanced this by working with him and training him to be a therapy dog. If I could have such a loving and friendly dog, it only seemed fair that I share him with the world. He passed his initial evaluation with flying colors and became a hit at a local hospital.
Newt is named after Newt Scamander, the main character from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Like the character, he is gentle and kind, and I am so fortunate to have found my fantastic beast.

Jill Elston
EAST SMITHFIELD, PA

George Daniel

We had a family picnic at my younger brothers house. He lives on a farm and there was a litter of feral cats. All 5 of the kittens had bites and infection in those bites. I spent a couple hours trying to catch the kittens so I could help them. I finally caught a kitten. It was a fuzzy, long furred boy. I stuck him in the neck of my sweatshirt. My husband kept telling me I couldn't keep the kitten. He said " stealing farm animals was a hanging offense." In the end, he agreed I could take him home and heal him up ( I had to do it at the house. No going to the vet) I named the kitten George. I took him home. Time came for bed so I set George up in a little bed, litter box and food. I followed my husband to bed after about a half hour. Minutes after I crawled into bed, my husband was snoring. I was going to poke him to roll him over and he took a breath and whistled. I knew something was wrong. I jumped up, turned on the light. My husband was dead.... We did CPR, called 911. They never were able to revive him. I ended up taking George to the vet. It took several month to heal him up. The vet thought he'd have to have his front leg amputated but he finally healed up. I got him neutered. We added Daniel to his name after my husband. George Daniel means the world to me. It's been 3 1/2 years and George is my best buddy. ( Along with my dog Zip)

Tammie Braaten
AUSTIN, MN

Marley and me

After my best friend Joey, Australian sheepdog, went to play in heaven, I waited a couple years and felt the need to have another fur baby in my life. My mother and I went to the local Humane Society and looked at the kitty cats. I really liked a calico female in the bottom cage. I was playing with her and when I stood up I felt something on my neck. My mother saw this and told me later this story .... on the top shelf a black male cat had lovingly put both paws, one on each side around my neck. I did not want a black cat and I did not want a male! He continued to have his paws gently on me and jumped down to my feet from the shelf. He raised himself below me standing on his hind legs and looked adoringly at me! I think I fell in love immediately and we have been together for five years now. I have never received so much love from a cat before. I thank God for him every day ....

Val Joy
HOWELL, MI

Murphy,,, my rescue Kitty

A few years ago,, my oldest daughter called me and asked me if I still wanted a kitty,,, and of course I said yesssss !!,, She said she knew of a kitty that was older ,, and rest of the kitties were just kittens and she thought if he doesn't get rescued she feared hed be put down,, well I talked it over with my husband George,, and I said to him,,, I cant know about this kitty and not take him,,,,, I was crying knowing that the kitty needed a rescue, and of course my husband agreed that he needed a forever loving home and that it would be ours,,, I was sooo excited,, when I saw Murphy,, he was so thin,,, but he soon gained weight and thrived in our home ,, and he had a puppy sister to play with ,, whenever Murphy wanted food in his bowl,, he would go into the cabinet and knock only his cans onto the shelf LOL,,,, he was a wonderful kitty,, we had him for 6 years and he had a wonderful life with us,, I lost him almost 3 years ago,, a year after my husband George passed from cancer,,, now I have another kitty and she is a recue as well ,, her name is Sadie,, and she so sweet,, I love all animals,,, God bless the work you do ,,,

Martha Liptak
ROANOKE RAPIDS, NC

Stevie Nicks

My husband died in August, 2014. A friend kept on suggesting I needed a dog to keep me company. I either ignored her or told her I was too busy to get another dog...we had had several rescues previously. I just kept thinking that as soon as I completed dealing with all that goes along with having someone who had passed, I would just start doing some traveling.
One day, Jan, my friend, sent me an email with a picture of a cute little puppy. I was smitten, and even more so when I met her. She was about 5 months old. My friend's friend, while out walking her dogs, had found the puppy tied to a park bench. When she came back some time later, the puppy was still there. She took her to the vet to see if she were chipped...nope. The vet gave her puppy shots and the friend took her home, planning to keep her. Her husband said, "No more dogs." That's when she began to look for a forever home and that's where I came in. Jan & I went to check her out, and I just could not resist her. On the way home, Fleetwood Mac was on the radio, and the puppy was immediately christened with her name, Stevie Nicks!
She quickly crate trained AND potty trained. She walks well on her leash and loves being outdoors. She loves any person who comes to the door, and adores my grandchildren. She is delighted to be around other dogs and people. She is my heart. Much to the chagrin of some friends, Stevie sleeps with me every night...nice during the cold winter. She loves to travel and has her on special spot on the front passenger seat! The only time she's not with me is when I travel by air. I am so in love with MY Stevie Nicks.

Jean Middleton
PORT ORANGE, FL

A Nova Scotia Duck tolling what?

We found her at the local shelter. She by had been seized by the police when they caught her owner beating her with a garden hose. They pressed charges and not only did he have to surrender her, but he paid fines and did jail time. We named her Sugar Bear and she is the sweetest, most loving and oh so intelligent creature. She loves to cuddle, knows all of her hand and verbal commands and demands to see YouTube videos on iPad. She is quite the character and has been with us since 2010 . She will now begging travelling in retirement with us in our motorhome.

Karen Browne Fleck
NEWNAN, GA

The finding of Galavant

I went to PetSmart to get a few items for my Koi Pond and my other two pups (Lancelot and Gryphon). As I walked in I saw the dog adoption outside the entrance and a lady was holding a cute little ginger color puppy. He watched me as I walked into the store and I could not take my eyes off him. I figured that he was being adopted because a couple of other people we looking. When I walked out she was still holding him and there was no one around. So as always I stopped to make a small donation to the shelter. I saw him and just fell in love and it didn't help that he starting giving kisses, you could say it was love at first sight. So after a few moments of talking about how big he'll get, what he was and how she got him. He was found in the woods with his mom and brother, he was the runt and was 4 months old. I asked about how he would be with my other two. I just loved his color and look so I adopted him and he is now part of the family. My other 2 just love his, he gets along great and is so well behaved. So Galavant has his happy forever home and he is such a great puppy, housebroken at 5 months, dedicated and always at my side. No he's not spoiled like Gryphon and Lancelot (both Schnoodles).

Bob
DAVENPORT, FL