Cats for Adoption: Gracen, 10 Years in the Rough

December 1, 2014December 2, 2014 Bernadette

long-haired gray cat for adoption — Gracen

All cats are special and deserve the most loving home, but some cats have been through so much they almost deserve more to make up for how humans have made them live.

dilute tortie cat — Gracen is a very sweet girl.

As rescuer Debby Nicola (Nomad, Cookie and Jelly Bean) walked her dog on a road near her home she found a neighbor with a cage in an SUV, and a small female cat with a litter of tiny kittens. Identifying them as belonging to her neighbor she convinced the neighbor she should come back later to pick them up, foster the kittens and find them all new homes since the neighbor was moving and really didn’t want them.

Going back to pick up the little family she found yet another kitty living outside, a thin and matted fluffy-haired gray female cat. Yes, she belonged to that neighbor as well, and had lived outdoors for 10 years, declawed but not spayed, having kittens that were killed by cats and dogs in the neighborhood. This was Gracen.

Debby offered to have Gracen spayed if the family was to keep her outdoors. Gracen went to Debby’s house as well. Cat Around Town, a grooming salon owned by Justine Cosley specializing in cats with a very cat-friendly interior, just right for a timid kitty, donated a spa day for the delicate dilute tortie, and Debby fed her well prior to her spay and kept her while the family was moving and then on vacation. They stalled a few days when they returned, but did eventually take Gracen back, though a week later they called to say Gracen wasn’t getting along with their dogs and was urinating around the house.

Debby found that the litterbox was in a vulnerable area so Gracen was afraid to use it because the dogs could get to her there. The family was unwilling to try any other places for a litterbox. Debby took Gracen home once again, where Gracen has proved to be 100% perfect in litterbox use.

After all that, Gracen really needs a loving home of her own. She’s not fond of dogs and likes nice, quiet cats, and she’d no doubt most appreciate a quiet home where she can just be a quiet indoor kitty.

Gracen is located in the Pittsburgh area and can be adopted through PittsburghCAT. She has been spayed and is up to date on all her vaccines. Visit their Facebook page or contact me for more information or an adoption application.

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Photo courtesy Debby Christy Nicola.

And read about other kittens and adult cats who are looking for homes.

Opportunities to Help Cats

cat shelters — Cat shelters made from styorfoam coolers wrapped in plastic and insulated.

Help Feral Cats This Winter

We not only provide spay and neuter surgery as well as vaccines for the community cats we care for, we also provide emergency veterinary care, food when necessary, and we make shelters for them to live in over the winter. We’ve had a few shelter-making parties with Rubbermaid containers and styrofoam coolers, but we are running short of supplies. Right now we need $188 to buy tape and plastic so we can convert coolers into shelters this weekend and a few weekends in the future, so we can distribute shelters to as many cats as we can. Anything you’d like to donate would be greatly appreciated, though these donations are not tax-deductible. You can PayPal to [email protected].

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ResQwalk, now for Android AND iPhone!

Download the app for Android or iPhone and record your walk to raise money for your chosen rescue.
Of course, choose “Homeless Cat Management Team”!
The kitty pictured above is “Hope” rescued just this past summer, and the image was custom made for HCMT by ResQwalk.
Choose Android or iPhone.

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Amazon Wish Lists

amazon wish list for kittens — The Amazon Wish List for our group’s foster kittens.

I’ve lost count of the number of kittens in foster among our volunteers, and August is usually the month with the highest surrender numbers at Pittsburgh shelters. Part of the mission with TNR is to not return the kittens—once we’ve rescued them we socialize them and put them up for adoptiont.

Many rescuers pay out of pocket for veterinary care and food but the costs of raising even the average litter of four healthy kittens is more than many people have, and many rescues have greater needs, like Auntie. If you can help with just one purchase from the kitten wish list on Amazon.com you’d make some kittens and a rescuer very happy.

We have two wish lists at the moment, the one hosted by Margo which several of you have donated through already and a new one hosted by Tarra that includes items for adult cats.

Original Wish List

Summer Wish List

Autumn Wish List

Can’t adopt? Foster! Can’t foster? Donate or volunteer.

There are so many ways you can help cats who need homes and care. You may not have room to adopt another cat, but can foster a cat or kitten for a few weeks. If not that, you can volunteer at a shelter or with a rescue, or donate. You do this because you love your cat, and by doing so you help all cats. No matter which of these actions you take, you help to save a life, and make life better for all cats.

Adopt one of the cats I’ve posted here, or from any shelter or rescue near you, or from Petfinder, to open up a space for another cat to be rescued and fostered.
Offer to foster cats or kittens for a shelter or rescue near you.
Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
Find a group of volunteers who work with homeless cats and help them with their efforts.
Donate to a shelter or rescue near you.

If you can foster kittens or adults cats to help prepare them for a forever home, please run to your nearest shelter and find a cat who needs you! Anyone can help with this effort at any level, even if all you do is donate to a shelter or rescue so they can help to pay for the food or medications needed for their foster, or the spay/neuter/veterinary care during a clinic.

Need to know more? Read Fostering for Your Shelter and Fostering Saves Lives

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Holiday Cheer for Rescued Cats

Donate a gift card to Homeless Cat Management Team or Pittsburgh CAT and I’ll send you a gift certificate to my Etsy shop.

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.