Sam has been adopted by a loving multi-cat family where he has become the Zen master of the household. He’s incredibly happy and greets the family every day and sleeps with his new family every night. He went from being rescued with a life-threatening illness to being cured and moving in to his new home. Sam says FFUR is the best!
Nora has been adopted by a medical student and they are now spending many happy hours together bonding over textbooks and interesting cellular structures on the computer. Nora thought she might miss her siblings, Clancy and Finn, but finds she enjoys ruling her own roost in Center City.
Finn has been adopted to a loving family where he is growing up with a little girl his own age.
Clancy has been adopted by an activist teacher new to the Philadelphia area who is giving him extra special love and attention. He and she are very happy!
Nigel has found a happy home as the single cat he has always wanted to be where he is being treated “like royalty” by his new mom.
Pinx has been adopted to a lovely couple who recently moved to Philadelphia and missed the cats who lived next door to them at their former home. He is their first cat and they are his first family. It’s happiness all around for Pinx!
Photos by Shan Ju Lin.
Many of you have called and contacted us regarding cats/kittens that are FLV or FIV (feline leukemia and feline AIDS) positive. While cats with these diseases can live for many years in a safe indoor environment, some people do not feel able to care for them. There is a hospice/no kill shelter for these cats in Harrisburg, about 90 miles outside of Philadelphia. You can contact them through their website at www.thebestlittlecathouseinpa.com.
To read more about FIV visit www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fiv.html.
In addition to rescuing cats and running our shelter, FFUR maintains several feral cat colonies in Philadelphia.
Many people contact us about homeless cats in their neighborhoods. Regrettably, the number of homeless cats and kittens in Philadelphia is epidemic. PACCA is forced to euthanize close to 50,000 cats each year.
If you see homeless cats or kittens in your neighborhood and want to know what to do, here are some suggestions:
There is nothing more important than getting these animals OFF the streets. It is better for a cat or kitten to be humanely euthanized than continue to live on the streets where they are subject to starvation, dying of thirst, abuse (cats are targets of children and teens as well as dogs), car accidents (many of the cats we have rescued have had broken bones from being hit by cars), disease, and constant pregnancies.
Whenever possible, capture these animals and take them to the nearest shelter. Don’t feel guilty--in taking the cat off the street you are saving it from a horrible existence. Cats are domestic animals, not wild animals. They have no means of sustaining themselves in an urban environment. Most street cats die of a combination of starvation and disease. The life expectancy of a cat living on the street is only two years. The average healthy housecat lives to be fifteen or more.
PACCA has have-a-heart traps for trapping animals. You should always use gloves when capturing a stray animal. If you do not have a trap, a pillow case is an excellent way to capture a cat and keep it until you can get it to a shelter. The cat cannot injure itself in the pillowcase, can breathe easily through the fabric, and cannot escape (as long as you don’t let go of the pillowcase). It also cannot scratch or bite you. It is easiest to get a cat into a pillowcase when it is eating.
If you decide to feed cats that live on the street, understand you must continue to feed those cats. It becomes a full-time commitment. If you cannot do that, don’t start. Don’t feed cats you don’t have neutered/spayed.
Most low-income neighborhoods like the one FFUR operates from have large numbers of homeless animals. Our best recommendation is to take as many of these animals as possible off the streets. Creating a feral colony that you are committed to caring for is another option, but it requires a large investment of time and money.
Please help homeless cats and kittens in Philadelphia by getting your own pets neutered/spayed, keeping them indoors, and encouraging others to do so.
Thanks for your help in caring for the homeless cats and kittens of Philadelphia. Your donation to FFUR will help further that cause.
--Victoria Brownworth, CEO, FFUR