I haven’t wanted to rescue any cats for a long time. In fact, I haven't been all that keen on rescuing cats ever again. Over the past 7 years, it’s taken too much of a toll on me in too many ways. Taking on Waverly, a filthy, pregnant cat and her two kittens into Kitten Associates was not in the plan. But after witnessing and working on the Waterbury Feral colony this past winter, I had to do something right to offset how difficult it was to see sick, pitiful looking cats racing through snow banks to get something to eat. I knew that vetting the ferals and providing food and shelter was the best we could provide. I got a handful of them off the property and into either a loving home or an open shelter where they had a chance to blossom, but there were another 40 cats left behind. Most were TNR’d (Trap, Neuter, Released), but it just never feels like it’s enough.

©2017 Robin AF Olson. February blizzard and the little calico who was so trap-savvy we could never get her trapped.

What’s odd is that this spring I’ve only gotten calls from people looking to adopt kittens, not any calls to help rescue them. March into April begins a usually very busy time rescuers refer to as “Kitten Season” here in the northeast. Due to a very warm January, followed by blizzards in February, it probably prevented any significant increase in the kitten population, which may be why my phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook.

©2017 Robin AF Olson. Waverly lived in a warehouse on the same property as the Waterbury Ferals. They manufacture pipes in the building and Waverly was covered with grime and she smelled so bad you could smell her across the room. Our Vet warned us she could not give birth because it would be too dangerous to the kittens. Thankfully, foster mom Linda, got her cleaned up enough right before the kittens arrived.

I’ve been busy working on other projects (and with the Kellogg's on Holly's case) and trying to get some things sorted out for Kitten Associates. Waverly is going to be spayed soon and soon we’ll be able to get to the bottom of her mysterious and distressing cough. She’ll get the dental cleaning and tooth extractions she’s in dire need of, along with her vaccinations and spay. After 14 weeks with us she’ll finally be ready to go to her forever home, along with, I hope, her daughters Willoughby and Weatherby (who are getting spayed today).

©2017 Robin AF Olson. What a difference good food and love make. Waverly shines and her kittens are getting ready to be put up for adoption. Waverly should be ready soon after her kittens.

It’s been rather calm here, which I cherish. My day-to-day routine with cat care is manageable. So why, when I got a text from a rescue partner in the south, begging for help, did I feel I needed to make my life crazy again?

Perhaps I’ve gotten used to the cycle of summers being busy and winters being more peaceful. Perhaps the big foster room needs to hold new life, new possibility, now that it’s not needed for much.

©2017 Robin AF Olson. The goofy twosome, Andy and sister, Annie.

Annie and Andy have been living among my cats during the day, leaving poor Mia by herself. Mia has always done great with kittens so maybe she’s ready for new youngsters to teach how to be big kitties? It’s not ideal to have her share the room, but I’ll make sure any kittens are vaccinated and tested first. I can’t let Mia roam the house. She might vanish into the basement and we’ll never see her again. It’s too dangerous for her and she has everything she could want where she is, it’s just in a 130 sq feet space instead of 2000.

So Joan contacted me about kittens in Henry County, Georgia. I used to help them, along with my very trusted (and missed) foster mom, Moe, who lives in the area. Moe has “retired” from fostering, but we're still good friends. Without Moe, I can’t do much to help save lives in Georgia, so I haven’t even tried. In fact, it was Moe who alerted me to Huggy Mama and her kittens, who later became the inspiration to start my own non-profit rescue where I could help more southern cats.

But Joan reached out to me with a sickening, heartbreaking fact:

There are 60 kittens that need placement. It’s Sunday afternoon. They will be euthanized Monday morning (today).

That’s it. No more time. All other rescues or shelters in the area are loaded to the gills. They're seeing one of the worst summers ever in the south and no hope in sight. That’s why they’re reaching out to rescues in the northeast, praying someone can help.

Kittens are going to DIE.

Kittens who are friendly, healthy, adoptable. Kittens who have no idea they have less than 24-hours left to live. I can’t take 60 kittens into my rescue, but maybe if I take a few, someone else will take a few and it will add up to enough kittens being helped that they don’t put any of them down.

It means sticking my neck out. It means hoping that we’ll get enough donations to cover their care. It means hoping they don’t arrive full of parasites or disease that harms my own cats. It means all the things I face every time I say, “Yes” to a rescue.

I told Joan she needed to find me a foster home for the two-week quarantine period and she'd have to find a way to get the kittens to Connecticut. If she could do that, I'd consider helping, so she got to work.

I also always ask Sam what he thinks about taking on more kittens because it effects him, too. I’m grateful he’s always of the same mindset: help anyone we can, however we can. He doesn’t look for “what’s in it for me.” He has a huge, compassionate heart and I’m lucky for that because if we take on a litter of kittens and one is sick, odds are I’ll have to medicate and/or vet each one and that can turn into a nightmare if he doesn’t help me.

Joan asked me what kind of kittens I wanted since there were so many to choose from (thank God she didn't send me photos of all of them). I said to please choose colorful cats since if I can get the most adoptable, friendly kittens, I can move them out fast and help take on more. I said please no black or gray (very sorry if that’s your favorite cat color), because they are the harder ones to place. I said I could take 6 kittens.

But then I thought about it more. I could really take 8. It would be a bit much to handle, but I could do it. It would literally save their lives, so I wrote her back and said I changed my mind and to get me 8 kittens.

She sent me photos…

…of the gray, black, gray and white, black and white kittens. Really?

They are friendly and healthy (so far). So what if they’re not the easiest color to place? I believe there IS a home for every cat. Some just take longer to adopt out. These little ones are going to die.

If I say yes, they will live.

Can you imagine what that feels like? It’s both heartbreaking and thrilling twisted together into a big painful knot in my gut.

What could I say?

I said, “YES.” Of course I said YES!

So we’re rescuing 8 kittens.

So everything is going to cost times 8.

And we are going to have to find probably 4 to 8 families to adopt them some day. That’s a lot for a little rescue, but I couldn’t turn them away.

But as most stories go, things change in ways we can’t predict.

As I was adjusting to the idea of 8 kittens coming here in a few weeks, Joan contacted me again. There was an error.

Error?

I immediately feared the kittens had been euthanized before she could let her contact know to put a “rescue hold” on them. Thankfully, that was not the case with the kittens I agreed to take, but I did learn that they hadn’t waited regarding some of the others. The sick and feral kittens had already lost their lives, being put down ahead of schedule.

I was completely heartbroken by this news and afraid of what Joan needed. Joan said she was sorry there was a mix-up. Apparently, of the 8 kittens (one litter of 3 and one litter of 5), there was an additional kitten that was missed because she’s a twin to her sister.

There was a 9th kitten—a little female tuxedo with medium length fur. “Could I please take just one more?”

It was bad enough that I knew this little one could be left behind to die based on my decision, but that she was a twin, too? You know what I said.

“Of course. We’ll take her.”

So now we are 9. I’ve said yes to 9 kittens.

It will be our single, biggest kitten rescue (though 3 years ago when we rescued Laney, we ended up taking on 18 cats and kittens over a longer period of time).

I saved these little lives because I believe that you guys will have my back. It’s no joke that their care will be quite costly between vaccinations, spay and neuter, parasite treatment, FIV and FeLV testing, food, litter, vet exams and whatever else they may need times 9.

I can’t do this rescue without you, so I’m asking you to become part of our rescue team by giving a life-saving gift. It will help us provide everything these kittens need until they find their forever families.

The #SweetSuperheroes basic care will cost at least $1500-$2000, as well as provide for Waverly, who has a very painful mouth in need of tooth extractions and testing to find out what is causing her horrible coughing. Between her care ($1100 -$1500) and the kittens, we need to raise a total of $3500, with at least half of it needed ASAP.

Things to know before you give:

• We’re a 501c3 non-profit cat rescue. Your donation is tax-deductible.

• Our EIN (tax number) is 27-3597692

• We’re a 100% volunteer rescue organization so your donation goes directly to the cats and kittens, not a fundraiser or any paid staff members.

• Give a gift (of any size-every dollar matters) by going to our PayPal Account HERE.

• OR USE THE DONATE TODAY BUTTON WITHOUT A PAYPAL ACCOUNT (can use your debit or credit card)

• You can mail a gift to: Kitten Associates, 5 Commerce Road #354, Newtown, CT 06470. Make checks out to: Kitten Associates

NOTE: We are NOT going to use any fundraising web sites because they take between WEEKS and MONTHS to give the donation to our rescue AND they can take a portion of the donations, or they ask you to pay a percentage. If we don’t use fundraising web sites, more of your donation goes to the kittens right NOW.

We’ll be posting updates on our fundraiser, along with updates on the kittens, on our Facebook page. As always, if you have any questions for us about the kittens or the fundraiser, please contact me (Robin) at info@kittenassociates.org

How does it feel to save a life? Become part of our team and find out! We can't save them WITHOUT YOU!

Meet our #SweetSuperheroes!

Oh and...they're arriving in two weeks, on Sam's birthday.

UPDATE 6/14/17: We've only raised about $500 of the $3500 we desparately need to save these lives. But the exciting news is, we were able to contact a rescue partner to save an extra THREE KITTENS, which raises our comittment to ONE DOZEN kittens lives saved! What does that do? IT PUT A STOP TO EUTHANIZING ANY FURTHER KITTENS for now! Please consider making a gift of even $2 or $3 per kitten. It all adds up and makes it possible for these kittens to have a chance to live a full, loved life. Thank you!