In late September, the team at SAFE Haven became aware of a dire situation in the Triangle concerning 22 young cats and kittens.

The story is a common one, but nonetheless, unfortunate. And one we have seen repeatedly in our community. Sometimes, well-intentioned people think that penning up stray cats outside is a way to protect them from predators or other harm. Because they are not sterilized, they are exposed to the elements and are overcrowded in a small space, the animals end up suffering terribly.

Bonsai and Kabuki cuddle into warm beds 

That was the case when SAFE Haven intervened in October. Twenty-two kittens under the age of 9 months were rescued from the property thanks to the efforts of many volunteers. Over the course of eleven days, all of the cats were transported to SAFE Haven and received the first medical care they had ever had. For the first time in their lives, they were inside with heat and air conditioning, had plenty of fresh food and water and clean, roomy beds to sleep in.

One by one, once they were old enough, they also were spayed or neutered and given all the protective vaccines they needed. The only noticeable effect of their earlier experiences comes at feeding time: they all still act as if they are starving and will jump all over anyone with food. We are working on that behavior but, given their history, it’s completely understandable!

Since coming to us in October, Morocco, Oslo, Paris, Geneva, Granada, Casablanca, Frankfurt, Finland and Seville have been adopted. Prague, Barcelona, Monaco and Pamplona found homes more recently. The youngest kittens: Earl, Bonsai, Countess, Kimono, Duchess, Count, Duke and Kabuki recovered from common kitty viruses they caught; none of them had immunity because they had not received any vaccines. But happy ending – they too found homes during our Black Friday Adoption Weekend. Just look at the before and after photos so you can see the amazing results of this joint effort!

Thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this rescue possible. You helped save 22 lives!

Before    

After

In early fall, we were contacted by a rescuer who had found a litter of kittens. They were very small and very vulnerable to starvation, accidents and predators. We knew we had to step in quickly before something terrible happened to them. Two days later, they arrived at SAFE Haven.

They appeared healthy on their initial exam but they were only 6 weeks old and skinny. Kittens that young are at much higher risk of diseases in a shelter setting and desperately need a foster home. Our amazing foster families provide love and care to young kittens. During their time in foster, kittens are socialized, receive regular preventative care and are given time to grow. Once they come back from foster care, they are ready to be spayed or neutered and find their forever homes. We sent the kittens (Legume, Quinoa, Soy and Tofu) to a wonderful SAFE Haven foster family and we’re happy to say that the quartet did great!

When they came back from foster to find their forever homes, one of the kittens, Tofu, developed a mild upper respiratory infection that quickly worsened into life-threatening pneumonia! She was rushed to Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas for emergency respiratory care and immediately placed in an oxygen chamber. The doctors started aggressive therapy and by the next day, she was feeling much better; she purred and kneaded every time someone came by her cage. Once she came back to SAFE Haven, she had to stay on a very strong antibiotic for over a week. During that time, her two brothers (Legume and Soy) were neutered and immediately adopted. They are doing wonderful in their new home together.

Brothers Soy and Legume play around at SAFE Haven before heading to their forever home.

During her recovery, Tofu just wanted to purr and play with her sister Quinoa. Two weeks after her life-threatening crisis, they were ready to be spayed and now these two beautiful girls are settling into their forever homes!

We are very lucky to have wonderful foster families at SAFE Haven. Fostering can be a hard job, but our volunteer fosters help us save twice as many lives. Fostering also helps reduce euthanasia at county shelters by opening extra cage space. We are always looking for wonderful people to become foster families. If you think you are up to the rewarding challenge of fostering, fill out a foster application on our website. With your help, we can help save even more of the Triangle’s cats and kittens!   

Learn more about fostering with SAFE Haven.