Rose’s arrival at SAFE Haven was a little different than most our cats. She was trapped by a local county shelter as a feral and, unexpectedly, gave birth in the trap. The shelter was in a difficult position. They had to find an organization willing to take in a feral mom and her kittens who faced euthanasia if no commitment was made. Fortunately, one of our regular foster families enjoys the challenge of helping a feral mom and her kittens.

Rose and her 4 kittens arrived at SAFE Haven and we immediately noticed something odd. The newborn kittens were little hissy spitfires but mom was very subdued and allowed basic handling. She was clearly very scared but did not show signs of a truly feral nature. We sent the little family to their new foster home.

Rose’s kittens: (clockwise from the top left) Blossom, Shale, Brilliant, and Crush

Her kittens quickly matured into happy and healthy little ones and are now in their forever homes. Rose seemed to withdraw more and more once she was back from foster so the decision was made to send her back to one of our best behavioral fosters. Thanks to her time with fosters, Rose now loves attention; you can even hear her purr now. 

Because of her background, Rose would do best in a quieter home with no small children as she’s not really a lap cat. Her ideal forever family would be very understanding and willing to continue the behavioral work started with our fosters. Could you be that family?

See more cats, like Rose, who are waiting for you!

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. 

Sometimes it feels like cats find their way to SAFE Haven by aligning the Kharma of the universe to bring them the best life possible. This wise, spunky young kitty was no different.

Canobie before

One of SAFE Care’s regular feral TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) caretakers contacted us with an urgent request. She found one of her friendly teenage colony cats with a severe injury. His head was swollen, and he had a crooked jaw!

Once he was brought to the clinic, our team discovered he had a broken jaw and had likely been hit by a car. This brave kitty was put on pain medication and antibiotics. As he was a feral cat, his caretakers couldn’t pay for his care. We knew we had to step in and help.

After more examination, we realized his jaw was not only broken but also misaligned. He could not even fully close his mouth! Even with the pain of his intake exam, he purred the entire time we examined him. He was shy and nervous, but he seemed to know we were going to help him. We named him Canobie.

Canobie now, all healed

We sent Canobie to have his jaw realigned and repaired at one of our surgical veterinary partners. The surgery was a success, but he had to have his jaw wired until the fracture healed. It took six weeks for the injury to recover fully.

During his recovery, he slowly became more comfortable and confident. By the time we had his wire had removed, he was like a different cat! He plays and solicits attention from anyone walking by his cage.

Canobie had a long road to recovery, but he is wholly mended and ready for his forever home. Meet to this handsome gentleman!

If you’d like to start the adoption process for Canobie, please fill out this online form.

Cats that come to SAFE Haven are cared and loved for regardless of their needs. Extra medical care means extra love from our staff.

During Croissant’s intake exam, we discovered she has feline leukemia. Feline leukemia is a contagious viral disease that is present in saliva and other body fluids. “friendly” contact between cats typically spread it. This often means shared food or water dishes, grooming and shared litter boxes. While there is no treatment for feline leukemia, but with proper preventative care, cats can live for years.

Some cats that test initially positive for feline leukemia will revert to being negative in a few weeks. Unfortunately, Croissant’s definitive feline leukemia test came back positive. This test meant that she is positive for feline leukemia.

At SAFE Haven, we believe feline leukemia positive cats are “pawsitively” adoptable! Because the virus is contagious, we will only adopt her into an only cat home. She could not be around any other cats even if they are vaccinated for leukemia.

Thankfully, her perfect person came along quickly and she was adopted in September. Our beautiful girl, Croissant who loves to snuggle found her forever home with a caring family.

To save the most lives, we rely on foster families to open their homes to cats in need. We received a plea from one of our partnering county shelters to take a gorgeous mom and her newborn kittens. Thankfully a foster family was willing to take on the extra work and love on this cat family.

On her initial exam, mom was healthy but terrified. She and her babies had been through a very difficult 24-hours, but they were finally safe. Mom was a beautiful, but skinny, dilute tortoiseshell. We named her Moonstone. Her kittens were feisty for newborns. We decided they needed feisty names. So, we called them Ant-Man, Mantis, Moon Knight, and Phoenix.

Here at SAFE Haven, we can help our cats and kittens thrive and grow. Luckily, thanks to an awesome mom and foster family to support them, these kitties only need a little help, and after eight weeks in foster, they came to SAFE Haven to find their forever homes.

Open your home and have a profound impact on saving the lives of cats in the Triangle. Start your journey to your foster care future by completing our volunteer forms.

By Dr. Jennifer Bledsoe-Nix