National Feral Cat Day

It's National Feral Cat Day! Now in its 11th year, National Feral Cat Day was launched in 2001 by Alley Cat Allies, the national advocate for feral and stray cats and a recognized authority on Trap-Neuter-Return (T-N-R) — the program wherein cats who live outdoors are humanely trapped and brought to a veterinarian to be evaluated, spayed or neutered and vaccinated.

Friendly cats and kittens are put up for adoption. Feral cats that have undergone the procedure are released back into the areas from which they came, with volunteer caregivers providing a managed food source and monitoring the colony to aid sick or injured cats. And because they are spayed and neutered, the feral cats don't have to deal with stuff like mating and pregnancy, and no new kittens are born.

If you'd like to learn more about National Feral Cat Day, Alley Cat Allies, and/or how you can help feral cats, please click HERE.

Leo is Looking for Love

Looking for a PURRfect family pet? Then Leo may be the cat for you! This super sweet and extremely handsome mancat has lived with children and dogs, and gets along well with most other cats.

"Look at me, up in a (cat) tree!"

Leo is about 3 years old, and is neutered, microchipped, current on all his vaccinations, and has tested negative for FIV and FeLV.

Easy Like SUNday - Sammy

Happy SUNday, everybody!

Our own sweet Sammy is taking it easy (with his statue buddy) today.

What do you have planned? :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Bella and Victoria

Bella and Victoria are just two of the many wonderful PAWS cats waiting for forever homes. :)

Bella

Victoria

We LiveStrong!

Our Angel Cats Maggie, Lady Madonna and Graphite, who lost their fights with cancer

Sammy, Moosey, Mom Tracey and Dad Kevin join in love and support of all those whose lives have been touched by cancer.  We remember our family and friends who lost their fight, and rally behind those for whom the battle continues.  LiveStrong!

Please visit the Cat Blogosphere's special WE LIVESTRONG TODAY blog to see posts by individual members in an effort to raise awareness of cancer for LIVESTRONG DAY 2011.  And be sure to check out the SPECIAL SLIDESHOW of images from members and friends of the Cat Blogosphere to mark this special day.

* LiveStrong Day-themed header courtesy of our wonderful and talented friend Ann at Zoolatry. :)

** LiveStrong images courtesy of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

A GREAT Anniversary Gift :)

Many of you who’ve been following our blog for a while know Tracey and I share a love of animals that brought us (independently) to volunteer at PAWS, where we reconnected (we had worked together years ago) and fell in love.  Last Thursday, on our fourth wedding anniversary, we received one of the best gifts ever when we learned that longtime PAWS residents Buddy and Bebe had been adopted! The BEST part is that their adopters are the SAME PEOPLE who heartbreakingly had to give them up more than a year ago amidst financial and physical difficulties.

Buddy

As we spent time every week with Buddy and Bebe, it was clear they had been well loved by their people, and it made us incredibly sad to imagine how difficult it must have been for their owners to have to give them up. The shelter’s cat care coordinator told us that Buddy and Bebe’s parents called regularly to see how they were doing, but just weren’t in a position to take these sweet kitties back.

Happily, all of that changed recently.

From the accounts we’ve received about the reunion, Buddy RAN to his dad, and practically jumped into his lap before he even had a chance to sit down! The volunteers who were there said there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. :)

Bebe

How wonderful it is that Buddy and Bebe ended up at PAWS, where they were loved and cared for by the volunteers and staff. And how wonderful that lovable Buddy and Bebe weren’t adopted before their mom and dad were in a place to take them back home.

We’ll really miss our pals Buddy and Bebe, but we’re over the moon that they’re back home where they belong. Congratulations to the whole family ... have a wonderful happily ever after! :)

FURever Home Friday - Maggie 2 and Friends

Maggie 2

Hooray! Our adorable little pal Maggie 2 has been adopted! And that sort of reminded us ... a whole bunch of our feline pals have been adopted since our last "FURever Friday" post. Just check out the list of the newest PAWS graduates:

Aspen

Augusta (from foster)

Bandy

Bayley (from foster)

Candy

Celeste

Cha Cha

Charleston

Clara

Cookie (from foster)

Flamenco

Fritz

Irving

Josh and Zach (together)

Karma

Levi

Luisa

Maggie 2

Nathaniel

Reese and Royce (together)

Sunny

Willow

Willow 2

Yoshi

Zackary

Be well, kitty friends! We love you, and are so very happy you've found forever homes of your very own. :)

Have a great weekend, everybody!