This is a story from a woman who contacted CC4C through our hotline. We get many desperate phone calls daily about abandoned, homeless cats; injured cats; unwanted cats; people relocating; but this was a “happy endings” story thanks to a concerned citizen who cared about a lost cat …

“On a recent Sunday afternoon, an unbelievably emaciated, matted, weak cat hobbled up to my neighbor and me and asked for help. What was I to do?  I had to take her home. I have two other cats, so she lived in my bathroom for a week.  I bought expensive RX cat food for her. She ate 24 hours a day. She purred, a good sign. I called rescue groups, including CC4C and the East Bay SPCA. I searched Craigslist. I spoke with my neighbors. I looked for flyers on phone polls and in the window of the local market.

I contacted so very many cat rescue groups and CC4C was the only one to offer hope, encouragement and real, on the ground help, whatever it might be. Just the offer and the personal concern made a profound difference. The other groups could learn a lot from your compassion, tenacity, and interpersonal skills. I’ve spent the past year and a half dealing with breast cancer and unemployment. The stress was killing me. This was additional stress that I simply wasn’t equipped to handle emotionally, physically, financially.

Kay called and told me of a vet that would test the lost cat for Feline Leukemiasee FeLVFeline Leukemia Virus, FeLV, is a retrovirus transmitted between infected cats when the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions is involved, for example when sharing a feeding dish. The infection is responsible for more deaths among cats than any other infectious disease. There are three main types of the virus and FeLV-positive cats can be infected with one, two, or all three types including: FeLV-A causes severe immunosuppression or a weakened immune system. FeLV-B causes neoplastic disease (tumors and other abnormal tissue trowths). FeLV-C is the most rare and causes severe anemia. The virus replicates in the body once infected, then spreads via the bloodstream to other parts of the body, namely the lymph nodes, bone marrow, and intestinal tissues. – Feline Leukemia Virus and HIV. Before leaving for the vet, knowing that it could be her last afternoon, I took the kitty in my arms and sat in the sun. She purred. And then she perked up. I rose with her still in my arms and, like a feline Geiger counter, she perked up more, leading me down the street —to a flyer on a garden gate. The flyer had been posted that afternoon, a Thursday, and on it was a photo of the cat in my arms. The cat in the photo was in somewhat better shape but it was her, unmistakably so. It read:

Missing Cat: ‘Daisy lives on the corner of Washington and Scenic. She has been missing since Saturday morning. She is very old and ill. If you have seen her please contact us.’

My downstairs neighbor, Susan and I walked through the garden and up a flight of stairs where Daisy’s owner, Elisa, opened the door and burst into tears. Daisy is very old and frail. She eats all day without gaining weight and her fur is terribly matted due to her hyperthyroid condition. She really does look like she’s been trapped in a garage for 6 weeks.  She’s a character, she’s spunky, and she gets around, apparently, although my neighbors and I had never met her before.

It was the best outcome. We were all stunned. We were all in tears.

The next morning, my neighbor Susan knocked on my front door and said “Look who’s here.”  It was Daisy.  She strolled in, hobbled through the house, into my kitchen, and before I could stop her she ate my cat Boo’s breakfast.  I carried her back home.  She returned five times that day …

Thank you, Laura and Kay and everyone at CC4C, from the bottom of my heart.”

xo Sally

As soon as CC4C received a hotline call about a Calico cat that was starving and falling down near Concord Feed—a CC4C member immediately sprung into action. After searching for three days, the Calico was finally spotted on the Iron Horse Trail. The member brought food and water to the same location every night for two weeks, and when the cat finally trusted the volunteer enough to be petted—she ran home and returned with a carrier. That night, she bathed her and found she was covered head to toe in fleas. The following morning she saw the Calico was very sick—trying desperately to urinate and bleeding—and rushed her to the veterinarian. An X-ray revealed bladder lining was abnormally thick with swelling and scarring. The vet commented that she likely had had a severe bladder infection for many months and could have died. But after two weeks of antibioticsMay be prescribed by a veterinarian to treat eye infections, ear infections or urinary tract infections., lots of water mixed in with wet food, and an IV drip every day for a week—she improved remarkably. Gigi is a beautifully sweet, loving, trusting cat up for adoption who never wants to be abandoned and homeless again.

While trying to trap two other unfixed cats out in a field, a CC4C member instead trapped this beautiful big boy who had been hiding down inside a storm drain. She took him home and he immediately wanted to be petted and rubbed. The kitty was malnourished and alarmingly thin and dirty (nasty ticks!). Of all the strange coincidences … two weeks after being trapped, a co-worker approached his foster-mom at work with a couple “cat questions” because she’d never had a cat before but was thinking about it. Luckily for Simba, she took Simba home that same night and now his new owner says she’s been converted into a “crazy cat lady” she adores him so much (Although, if you only have one, you truly can’t be a crazy cat lady!).

One night Ella Bella, a one month old kittenA young cat under 1 year of age., appeared out of nowhere on the doorstep of a CC4C member’s back yard crying loudly for food. Fortunately, the member moved quickly into rescue action, trapping the kittenA young cat under 1 year of age., bringing it inside, setting up a cage, and feeding it. Within a day, Ella Bella became a trusting, loving, and affectionate kittenA young cat under 1 year of age., crying to be held, played with, and loved round the clock! Two months later, she was adopted to a wonderful older woman seeking a mate for her old 15 year old cat. Now the two cats are best friends and cannot be without each other!

While driving home from dinner one warm Sunday summer night, a CC4C member nearly ran over a 3-week-old kittenA young cat under 1 year of age. huddled in the middle of Bancroft Street. Panicked, thinking it was dead, she stopped—but found it alive and sleeping quietly as cars drove unknowingly over it. Putting it gently inside her sweater, she found five more siblings waddling nearby in a parking lot. She placed them one by one in her sweater, drove home, and returned with a carrier full of the kittens and a trap—to catch mama cat. Two hours later—success! Mama cat was trapped. And two months later—all were adopted to loving homes. The mama cat who is feral, is still called “Mama.” She’s spayed now and with her foster mom and dad in her forever home. They couldn’t bear to put her back outside in the cold again and wanted to give her the home she desperately needed.