Sweet Stray is Safe and Off The Street!

This handsome fellow is Ian, one of the many sweet tame cats our feral team has been monitoring at our feeding stations. Ian is friendly and affectionate but has been left outside due to a lack of foster space even though we could see his condition detiorate due to the cold.

However, last week we picked up another lovely tame stray from the same location, Meggie, who sadly tested positive for Feline Leukemia. So, we decided to try and get Ian off the street too, in hopes we could prevent him from suffering the same fate.

Ian is now safe off the street and boarding at Victoria Vet clinic, where he will be neutered shortly. We are very, very happy to report that he is negative for both Feline Leukemia and Feline Aids!

This is one cat that we were able to rescue in time, thank goodness. Now we just need to find him a loving forever home - but with his good looks and charm, that shouldn't be a problem!

-Alanna

More Poly Babies!

These adorable kittens are Gradie (fluffy grey) and Sadie (fluffy white), 12 week old babies recently rescued from a cold garage where they were sheltering and now safe and sound in foster care.

Sadie and Grady are the 2nd set of polydactyl (six-toed) kittens that we've rescued this fall - we also have Thumbs and Bigfoot, brothers who were rescued struggling in the cold as well.

All of these kittens are super sweet and snuggly, and tons of fun. They are also all up for adoption through PFA! Oh, and so is Lunette, the adorable tortie kitten snuggling with Grady.

-Alanna

The Plight of The Tame Stray

Meet our lovely Meggie, a sweet tuxedo girl with beautiful markings and perfect little white mitts. Meggie is another tame, affectionate cat who somehow became homeless and ended up living on the street and depending on a PFA feeding station.

Despite our ongoing lack of foster space, our volunteers decided to take Meggie off the street after noticing that she had suffered some bite wounds. She went to Victoria Vet clinic to be spayed and await a foster spot. While there, we had some testing done to ensure that Meggie hadn't suffered any adverse effects from living outside.

We were heartbroken to learn that this beautiful cat tested positive for Feline Leukemia, a terminal illness that is commonly linked to cancer, blood disorders, and that may lead to a state of immune deficiency that hinders the cat's ability to protect itself against other infections. It can take many months or even years for a cat to exhibit signs of the illness, but once it does become apparent, the cat's health will progressively deteriorate.

Feline Leukemia is communicable so we could not place Meggie in a foster home with other cats. Fortunately, our caring feral team volunteers were able to locate a fantastic foster home for Meggie where she can enjoy life in a safe, warm environment and she can receive the TLC that she needs to help her remain healthy as long as possible.

So far she is a healthy and happy cat grateful to be off the street. We are so pleased that she has this opportunity to live the life of a cherished pet. We just wish we'd gotten to her sooner.

-Alanna

The Heartbreak of Abandonment

Cruelty can take many forms. PFA volunteers regularly encounter cats suffering the obvious physical effects of abandoment, malnourishment and starvation and abuse, but cruelty doesn't need to be physical to have a devastating effect.

This week PFA got word about Edsel, an 18-year old female cat whose owners took her to a kennel for boarding and then refused to take her back, abandoning her and leaving her fate in the hands of strangers. Naturally, poor Edsel is very stressed and scared and isn't eating. What animal wouldn't be stressed to be in that situation after a lifetime in a home?

Peronally, I can not understand what would compel the owners to have Edsel for so long and then just dump her like that. They may have had reasons for not keeping her, but their method of dealing with it is heartless. Maybe they thought they were doing her a favour by not taking her to the humane society! But, they have caused immeasurable stress and fear to a vulnerable senior cat who was their pet for many years (18 cat years equates to about 88 human years).

These people have also caused stress and heartache for the staff at the boarding kennel. They are not in a position to keep people's unwanted animals and are now faced with trying to find her a home or being responsible for sending her to an uncertain fate at the overcrowded humane society where euthanization rates are high.

Finally, Edsel's owners have caused stress and heartache for PFA as we struggle to find a way to help this cat when our foster homes and volunteers are already overloaded and our adoption rates are extremely low. We have no room in foster care, but no-one wants this poor cat to live out her last days in a cage or to be responsible for sending her to an early and unnecessary death.

Maybe, if enough people make enough calls and put out enough pleas, we will find a way to help Edsel. But it won't be thanks to the actions of Edsel's owners. Edsel must now rely on the kindness of strangers.

-Alanna

Little Hobo Has a Happy Home!

This adorable cat is Hobo (now Bella), a sweet stray we rescued in the early spring and placed into PFA foster care.

Hobo was a very friendly and gregarious cat who instantly made herself at home in her busy foster home, and she quickly won over her adoptive family, too!

Now, her days as a stray are over and our little Hobo has a forever home. Hooray!

-Alanna

Update on Scrapalina

PFA is thrilled to report that our sweet stray, Scrapalina, is off the street and is safe, warm and happy in her new foster home.

Check out our little Scrappy snuggling with her new foster mom and looking quite content. It couldn't have happened to a sweeter cat.

Special thanks to Paige and Kevin for giving this beautiful cat a 2nd chance for a loving home!

-Alanna

A Much Deserved Happy Ending for Angel

Last spring PFA volunteers were horrified to discover that a tiny kitten rescued nearly frozen to a driveway had not only been abandoned, but also deliberately beaten. We wrote about poor little Angel a number of times to report on her progress as she recovered from severe injuries and underwent two surgeries to fix a broken tail and damage to her jaw.

Angel's loving foster mom, Cherilyn, nursed her back to health and she became a happy and healthy little kitten. We were thrilled when little Angel found a wonderful forever home. Her new family recently provided an update and sent some pics of Angel and her brothers, Tiger - one of Jade's kittens, and little Red.

We are so happy that our sweet girl landed so well!

-Alanna

Petsmart Adoption Blitz

People For Animals has recently partnered up with Petsmart on Quance St and now have a spot available to help us adopt out our foster cats! This is truly exciting as the more exposure we have the better chances of our little critters finding homes!

In just a few short weeks, Garfield has found himself a home and now pretty Isis is there waiting for her lucky day!

This upcoming weekend (Nov 13-15) we are able to bring in an additional 3-4 foster cats into Petsmart with an information table and give our little guys some much needed exposure!

We will have volunteers with their foster cats come out in between the hours of 12 noon and 4pm to show off their wonderful fosters! We will have posters and lots of PFA information available and volunteers on hand to answer questions.

Come on out and support People For Animals this weekend!

-Michelle

Sabrina, Michelle and Alanna visited some students in Grades 1-4 at Montessori School Nov 4th along with Michelle's foster kittens, Batman, Thumbs, and Bigfoot - and Meadow, Michelle's daughter and resident cat whisperer who helped show the other kids how to play nicely with the kittens.

As you can imagine, the little guys were a huge hit. I've attached some photos from the visit.

The kids had been our our website and knew the names of many of the cats. Each one had their favourite cat. They had done up some artwork for us and had done up a little play box for cats that little Thumbs is enjoying in one of the pics.

They students will be collecting donations of money and supplies over the next several weeks and we'll be going back at the end of the month again to receive them.

The kids were very sweet and it was a lot of fun.

A View on Why Animals are Better Companions than People!

Naturally PFA volunteers are all die-hard animal lovers and we are often discouraged and disheartened when we witness the effects of human neglect, cruelty or even apathy when it comes to treatment of animals.

Check out this great article by novelist and animal lover Rita-Mae Brown on why she prefers animals over people. She makes some great points, including, as PFA volunteers and supporters all know, the joys of unconditional love that only animals can bestow upon their people.

-Alanna