The Foundation For Homeless Cats

Sanctuary Cats

The Foundation For Homeless Cats manages 14 colonies with the help of our dedicated volunteers. All of our cats have been humanely trapped, fixed, vetted and returned to their outdoor home. Of course from time to time a new cat will show up, whether lost, dumped or somehow just found their way to the food source. Once a new cat has been identified, the cat is trapped, assessed for temperament and health. If lost, we make every effort to get the cat back home. If tame and no evidence the cat is owned, (tags, tattoo, posting on lost/found sites, microchip etc) the cat will be placed with one of our wonderfur adoption partners.

Many times a cat will show up at one of colonies that is somewhat tame, too tame to stay at the colony.  What we mean by too tame to stay at the colony means we fear they may approach a human and that could pose a danger to the cat if that person has bad intentions. Some of these cats obviously have been in a home before but are not tame enough for adoption. Perhaps they have trusted a human before, but it didn’t work out too well for them so they may never be lap cats, like to be handled, are skittish or we’ve even had biters. Those cats are pulled from the colony. We will work with them and if they become adoptable, and many do, we will get them into a loving, forever home. Otherwise they live out there lives at our sanctuary.

Then we have the medical/elderly cats. We do retrap cats that are injured or ill and treat them as best we can. This can be difficult as with many of these cats, you cannot give them daily medicine or treatment. We provide life long sanctuary for those cats in their golden years. Elderly cats are retired from their life on the street with their golden years filled with soft beds, age appropriate food and medical care.

Please choose a cat and offer to “sponsor” him or her. For a small monthly donation of $10, $15 or even $25, you will provide food, medicine, medical care and love to these formally forgotten souls. Just click on the donation button near your favorite kitty, and don’t forget to make it a recurring gift!

Toodles is a gray tabby female. She was pulled from a colony we call “coyote town”. She had no street smarts to keep her safe. She was determined not suitable for adoption as she does not like other cats and does not like to be handled. She becomes easily agitated and will strike out with claws and biting. She is our shower buddy and hangs out in the bathroom to get her petting as we emerge from the shower. She was pulled from the colony in 2013 she is estimated to be about 7 years young now. Toodles has developed health issues now we are addressing.

Leo has an interesting back story. 4 years ago at 4 in the morning the next door neighbor was banging on the door. I was a bit alarmed as that was not usual. I asked who’s there ? and she said “it’s your neighbor and I’ve got your cat”. I wasn’t missing anyone but opened the door with bewilderment. There is the neighbor in her robe, with a broom, and a wastebasket with a wet cat in it. She said, “here’s your cat. The dogs chased the cat into our pool, I used the broom to retrieve you cat and I am returning your cat, who appears unharmed”. I looked at the wet cat and told her, (at 4 in the morning), “alright, but that’s not my cat, I’ve never seen this cat before. Give him to me and I’ll figure this out later”. Leo was dried off, determined tame, neutered and now lives here. He’s a high energy cat, always in motion, then he crashes.

Otis showed up at the colony in 2017. We would see him at several of our colonies, and we felt Otis may be tame as he would greet us with a Meow until he fled as we approached. Basically we chased him around for a year. He finally integrated into a colony and we humanely trapped him. At the neuter clinic Otis was determined to be 8-9 years old, unaltered all that time. Tattered ears, scars and broken teeth, the vet said Otis had been a “boxer”all his life. He was neutered, received a dental, and although afraid, was very tame. So Otis was brought home to sanctuary. And that was a good thing as we discovered Otis is a seizure cat. Seizures are terrifying for us, for Otis and the other cats that witness the fits. With proper medication and regular check ups, Otis is doing well with only an occasional seizure.

Colby Jack was pulled from a colony we sometimes call “Coyote Town”. He would be across the street from this colony and cry. He was tame. It took us hours and 4 different days to finally trap him. Ya know, sometimes cats play “hard to get”. Once off the street, Colby Jack began to gain a lot of weight. He was diagnosed with low thyroid. He is a “mama’s boy”, and loves sleeping on me in my bed.

Scratch Just showed up in the yard on Christmas eve 2008. He was notin more an a kitten. I went and scooped him up, against his protest and asked the gang, “can we keep him?”. After a brief vote the answer was yes. Scratch is weird like most cats and has never become tame enough for adoption. I tell him, maybe his mama dropped him on his head when he was a kitten.

Dot is our resident “Vampire  Cat”, with those delightful vampire teeth. I named him Dot because of the white “dot” on his chest. Dot just showed up at the colony in the front yard one day and he was half bald, and obviously in need of our care. We feel he was dumped, but we are happy he was dumped here where he will receive the care he needs, and is an FIV kitty. Dot was diagnosed with Allergy Alopecia. With steroid therapy, his hair has grown back and he is a happy boy with a nice fur coat. Dot will be available for adoption soon……if we can part with him!

Pablo was a regular at one of the 14 colonies we manage. A volunteer favorite, he would come very close, but would not allow touching. We began noticing Pablo was not feeling well, was drooling and had some difficulty eating. We retrapped Pablo to get him the necessary medical care. He received a dental, many teeth already missing and 9 teeth removed. So Pablo is our newest Sanctuary Cat! With few teeth left we could not return him in case another cat decided to be a bully. Pablo does like to be petted and have his ears scratched, but on his own terms.

Biscuit and Luna our married couple and the two are very bonded. I say married, because Biscuit will come to me to get a reprieve as she can be clingy to him, and sometimes ya gotta get a break. Luna was found at a colony, afraid, skinny and tame, but not tame enough for adoption. I can pet her, until she becomes uncomfortable and flees. Biscuit showed up at the outdoor colony here at my home. Biscuit is such an easygoing, sweet guy, totally adoptable, loves his “sink bed”, but we could never separate the two.

Socrates was found hiding in the flower bed of a neighbor 7 years ago. It took a few days of feeding him to earn his trust. Socrates is very vocal, with ideas, theories and opinions which he expresses very often. That’s why he earned his name. Socrates is our chronic cystitis cat. It’s a condition that will “flare up” and make him feel he constantly needs to urinate. We manage this condition with CBD oil, antibiotics and Orbax. Socrates is another “mama’s boy”, but his antics of following me around the house complaining, when he’s feeling good, is quite entertaining.

Slate showed up at our colony and was neutered in 2017. Estimated 7 years old, we noticed his tail hung low and during neuter surgery Slate’s tail was Xrayed, revealing an older, already fused fracture near the base of his pelvis. It was determined not much could be done and the old injury wasn’t causing pain so Slate was returned to his colony. Over the years Slate became quite tame and was always the first to greet our amazing volunteer caretakers. 

We always wanted to get him off the street so we could closely monitor the tail, but his colony is very safe, Slate was so happy and so bonded with colony mates Prince and Pumpkin.

One day we noticed Slate’s face was very swollen and he had an abscess on the side of his cheek. This was the opportunity to pull him. Slate was vetted and brought to the Sanctuary to live out his days. He is a favorite, so sweet, happy, loves to be brushed and petted. Slate is our babysitter when we have younger cats or kittens. Slate is a calming force for the traumatized or shy little one.

 

Scat showed up at the fast food restaurant colony, seemed tame but afraid. One volunteer wanted to take him home, and began to make friends and pet him. We do not touch or pet our colony cats as, if the cats feel human hands are a good thing, it may put them in danger. If we can pet them a human with bad intentions may be able to pet them. So our policy is, if you pet, them you must take them home. She was unable to take him home when her cat developed medical issues and she was unable to provide Scat with the attention and care he required. So he came here. Scat had severe stomatitis and all of his teeth were moved, (that’s a secret too). He is very skittish around people he doesn’t know. He hates to be brushed so tends to always have patches of mats. We’re working on that. He has ongoing ear infections and unfortunately must be netted in order to be taken to the vet, however, once he gets there into a room he loves to be petted by the staff.

Phoenix was found at one of our colonies along with his brother. The boys were just little kittens. A manufacturing business in an industrial, this is no place for the little ones. We promptly nabbed them. They were a bit unsocialized so our organization spent many, many hours working with them. Phoenix just never became tame enough for adoption. We can pet him and give him love and he reciprocates, but that could be because of the familiarity of those he knows. Phoenix’s brother was adopted, but Phoenix may live out his days here at the sanctuary, unless one day he decides he is adoptable.

Uno was part of a TNR job we did in our neighborhood-a Momcat, Dad and 3 kits. Mom and Dad were altered and returned and the kittens were all adopted. After a month in her new home, Uno was returned due to chronic loose stools. After discussion we found out the adopters had never had her to the vet over the issue and “the children lost interest in her”. We are happy to have Uno here. Uno suffers from  IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). She has special food and a treatment regimen. Uno is delightful and is everyone’s friend.

Sidney was found at one of the 14 colonies we manage. He is a BIG boy of 18 pounds! Tame and meowing at us, we tried trapping him 4 times. Our young volunteer, Cassie, 16 years of age, just picked him u and put him in a carrier. Sidney was adopted out twice…. and returned twice, due to inappropriate urination. Medical issues to address that have been ruled out, so it’s probably behavioral, and that makes him unadoptable. So Sidney sometimes pees. We have all tile here at the sanctuary and we just clean it up and sanitize. We love him just the way he is. 

Spice just showed up at the fast food restaurant colony one day. The manager there called us and said she was talking to everyone that came through the drive thru and he feared for her safety. So of course we went out to get her. It took hours and hours to trap her. It was as though she was very traumatized. We were finally successful. Spice is a BIG girl, weighing in at 17 pounds. She is long and lean and a scardy cat. We noticed she had a nasty hematoma on her ear. Since we are unable to handle her, she does come for pets though, but NO PICKING HER UP, our vet had to fold in the dissolvable suture, as we might not have had a chance to get her into a follow-up visit in a timely manner. So you can see her ear is a bit disfigured, but we think she is quite beautiful.