Cat rescue is great, but it's definitely not easy....

My family and I decided that we wanted to volunteer somehow.   We figured, hey, maybe we could foster cats for a local rescue group?   We already love cats, so figured it kind of fit with things.  Myself, I have lots of cat/animal experience, so it sort of made sense to me too.

Quark - Resident Cat - Was born in our home to a foster.  She never left.. :)

We set about finding a rescue, Google helped us out, and we got set up.  The first year was really hard, we had a LOT of cats go through, and learned a lot.  We felt the need to move on, after a while, because of various reasons, but we still wanted to help cats.  I won't go into gory details, because I don't believe rescue should be about ego... just about the cats.   That about sums up my philosophy on things, and so, for a while, we just sort of did our own thing.  I felt particularly drawn to the plight of extremely traumatized, scared, formerly abused, neglected, feral, or otherwise neglected cats.  I found that I had something of an ability to gain their trust and help them to figure out their place in the world.  My family, too, are great with these cats, and even our own, resident cats, seem to sense when a cat is in distress and are supportive, in their own ways (even if it means just not bugging or pestering them for a while).  We sort of fell into it, but now most of the time when we foster rescues, it's because they need special help and attention to get into a place to find a forever home.

I share my experiences with others sometimes, but I don't want to just have that stigma as "the crazy cat lady"...  but.. I do know some people out there would like to hear the things I learn.  Maybe they want to help their own cat... maybe they want to help rescues.  Maybe they just care enough about animals that they are interested in hearing the stories of cats that get a new lease on life.  I don't know, but it feels like the right thing to do, and gives me something of a venue to share my stories without burning everyone else out.  Mind you, most of my friends that I speak to regularly are "cat" people on some level, but I would like to share things to others beyond that group.  Hopefully I can inspire just one person to do something that can make a difference.  Even one animal who's saved or helped is still one more animal not in a bad place.  That seems worth sharing to me.  So here I begin the story of my life in rescue, and the Diaries of all the cats who are subjected to Trauma, but come into my home for help.  I hope you enjoy.