Stray Cat Alliance

Cat Tales 2004

Farm Cats

People frequently drop cats off at my organic vegetable farm outside of town. I leave food and blankets for them. I have been trapping, fixing and releasing the regular visitors but sometimes cats are already pretty far along in their pregnancy when they get dropped off. Last season two litters of five kitten appeared in early January. I took the five boys and their mom in to the vets to get fixed. Stray Cat Alliance made a generous contribution to the cause of their spay/neuter.

— M.S., January 2004

Birthday Kittens

My daughter and son each got kittens in March. Without help from Stray Cat Alliance, we could have never been able to afford to neuter one much less two cats. Thanks so much.

— M.S., Januray 2004

Mattie

Mattie was a little ball of fur when I first saw her in my rock garden and still depending on her mother for food and protection. Mellow, her mother, is a feral cat that appeared about a month before I saw Mattie. The Stray Cat Alliance helped me with funds to spay Mellow after she weaned Mattie. Mattie comes in for food and decided to stay inside when it was so cold and the snow was falling. Her bright, yellow eyes are constantly checking me out and she will talk to me on occasion. Mattie has found a home with me and my other two cats.

— D.C., February 2004

Tux

First, thank you so very much. Tux is a 7-month old cat, she started to get in heat and we asked for help and you gave us the help.

— P.B., February 2004

Sick Kitten

My kitten was in need of care for an intestinal tract problem. I found the Stray Cat Alliance on the Internet and called them and they made it possible for my little kitten to go to the vet. My kitten would have suffered a lot more but because of Stray Cat Alliance he has gotten better.

— M. M., March 2004

Baby Kitty

Thank you Stray Cat Alliance for helping us with "Baby Kitty" a neighborhood feral cat who was pregnant. She tested positive for FELV at the vet and had to be euthanized. You are an angel.

— L. S., March 2004

Tigger & Semeco

Dear Stray Cat Alliance, we are very grateful for the help you have given us toward our cats Tigger and Semeco. We love them both as our children. Tigger was found badly hurt outside our apartment about 9 months ago. You all helped us to get him fixed. Every since he's been loyal and loving. We got Semeco as a companion for Tigger. Thank you for helping to get her fixed. Semeco and Tigger are a real joy to watch--they bring joy to me and my wife. Without the help you gave us, the cost to treat them would have strained us very much. We are grateful you all were there for us, Thank You!

— V. and B. B, March 2004

Little Mitsy

Little Mitsy was a baby stray cat that spent most of her time curled in a ball on a vacant porch chair. Although she didn't have any attention given to her, or food, she tried to keep dry and rest. The Stray Cat Alliance helped Mitsy get spayed so she didn't make more kittens. Now she is loved and has a good home. Thanks.

— S.G., March 2004

Panther & Sophie

With the help of Stray Cat Alliance, I rescued Panther and Sophie and Smokey. I had them spayed and neutered and shots. They are beautiful sweet animals. Thanks so much for your help!

— J.F., May 2004

Cali

We had three cats already, but Cali showed up on our patio. She was just a very young Calico kitty. Thanks to Stray Cat Alliance we were able to spay her and give her a good home.

— M.M., Janurary 2004

Rain

I have a limited income so when I got Rain, my kitten, I looked everywhere to find a way to get her spayed. I found the number for Stray Cat Alliance online. I called and was able to get Rain fixed. Now Rain lives with my friend out in the country with two other spayed females and is very happy. Thank you Stray Cat Alliance.

— W.H., May 2004

Gizzy

My cat Gizzy was throwing up for about three weeks. I called Stray Cat Alliance to see if they could help. Yes, they could. He had hairballs and needed to have fluids due to dehydration. Within a few days he was well. Thanks to Stray Cat Alliance and the vet.

— S.B., June 2004

Tabby Cats

I took two cats in to Q Street to be spayed/neutered. The female was already spayed and I had the male neutered. She has become affectionate and the male tom tabby shows up from time to time. Thank you for the assistance--it's a great organization.

— M.G., June 2004

Simbad

Simbad was hanging around my roomate's house when I moved in. He looked very malnourished and poorly groomed. I felt sorry for him and contacted Stray Cat Alliance who so graciously paid for his basic exam. I had the wonderful people and Dr. Samsell examine him for feline leukemia--he tested negative, but had two infected teeth. Within three days on antibiotics and a new richer diet, flea treatment and daily brushing he looks like a handsome, well-cared for cat, not an old, forlorn, forgotten stray. He has put on weight and his fur is fluffy and shiny now. I brush him and love him every day. Thank you so much.

— A.U., June 2004

Miss Wiskers

Miss Wiskers was outside playing and disappeared for 4 days. She showed up with her back paws broken. We called around different veterinarians for help. We are low income and Cat Care Limited referred us to the Stray Cat Alliance. Because of both agencies, Miss Wiskers is doing great. Thank you Stray Cat Alliance for all your help!

— R. and C. S, December 2004

Nellie

Nellie must have been hit by a car on his tail as it was fractured and cut up. We were unable to afford the needed surgery for him and it was a God's send to be able to get the surgery and see Nelli running around happy again. Thank you so much!!!

— S.S, December 2004

Mimi

Mimi Mimi came to us with her brother. Some cruel person had thrown five kittens in a bag and tossed them into a big drop box that had cardboard in it. It came to the place where I work and they were the only two survivors when someone found them. A co-worker was set to take Mimi and we were taking the boy (Chococat). At the last minute the other person could not take Mimi home so we took them both knowing that another person wanted to take Mimi home. On Monday I would need to return her. They were only 3-4 weeks. We took them in to Q Street Animal Hospital and they gave them a check-up for free and some worm medicine I think. Said they looked pretty healthy for what they had been through. Over that weekend we bonded hard with the kitties and named them both. It really hurt that we would have to give up Mimi. Then when I was at work, I was so attached to her that I got to keep her and that was wonderful. This picture is Mimi around when we got her and then five months later.

When she was old enough Stray Cat Alliance helped get her fixed at Q Street Animal Hospital. The silly girl ripped her stitches open so we had to take her to the emergency veterinary hospital to get fixed up, she had a little bit of an infection so they put her on antibiotics and stapled her tummy.

Now sadly, a year has gone by and we noticed something wrong with Mimi, when petting her back you could feel her spine and her coat did not look as good as her brother’s. We took her to our vet and they ran blood tests, something was wrong with her liver, this was last Saturday. Wednesday we did an ultrasound and there was fluid around her liver. They had to retry to get liver cell samples the next day. Overnight she got worse and then we decided to send a sample to be tested for FIP. I brought her home on Thursday night and we thought she had some fight left in her. I left for a few hours and when I came back she was seizing. I took her to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital and had to say goodbye to Mimi less than a week after first taking her in. She was such a sweetheart, so loving and never mean. A blessing truly and that is why her passing is that much harder!

We will have the results of the FIP test (which is not really a 100% test) in a few days that will help us to know if she may have had that, if that could have caused her liver failure. I think I will always be a little haunted that if I had noticed the subtle changes in her sooner, maybe there was something I could have done . . . if it was FIP then there is nothing that could have been done. We had eight cats at one time, we think someone stole our Siamese. Then two were strays that we finally took to Greenhill because we did not manage to find homes for them. So we were down to five when Mimi got sick, but you realize how hard it is to know the health of your kitties when you have so many and it makes it that much harder to provide proper care individually. We now have four kitties and this is NOT the way I wanted to reduce the numbers, but hopefully we will be able to be more attentive to their needs.

Just wanted to say thanks to Stray Cat Alliance for the help they gave us and also to Q Street Animal Hospital. Because of the circumstances with these two kitties they helped a lot and gave us very reduced or free care when we did see them. Chococat is very fat and sassy and hopefully Mimi’s brother will be with us for a long time!

— A.V.
November, 2004

Twitch

I am a single mother of 3 children and could not afford to get my cat fixed on my limited budget. SCA was able to help me. Thank you very much; it was greatly appreciated.

— M.N.
April, 2004

Cats With Distemper

Thank you for trying to save our two cats who had distemper. The other two cats lived and are fine.

— S.B.
January, 2004

Cali from the Alley

Cali We had three cats already, but Cali showed up on our patio. She was just a very young calico kitty. Thanks to Stray Cat Alliance we were able to spay her and giver her a good home.

— M.M.
January, 2004

Stitch

The cat was a stray and a neighbor boy named the cat Stitch. I called the SCA for information on neutering the kitty since he decided to be part of our household. SCA advised me and helped with the funding. Thank you.

— W.C.
January, 2004