A Christmas Miracle for a Masked Vagabond

Cats are being dumped on the street for a myriad of various senseless reasons but what they all have in common are irresponsible owners who are not ready for a lifelong commitment to their pet. Being born as a purebred is no guarantee for a

happy, fulfilled and long life in a nice forever home; although it comes as a surprise to some people, even those supposedly "more valuable" kitties which have been paid a high price for can get abandoned and wind up on the street just like any other cat.

All alone out there, they usually don’t stand much of a chance as they are generally more delicate, naive and less able to fend for themselves than “ordinary” moggies. Some breeds like Persians and Siamese are paying the price

for their own popularity as over-breeding makes them almost worthless from the financial point of view, while both ignorance and imprudence of their owners do the rest. When the kitten's cuteness fades away, a fully grown kitty becomes a burden to

those pet owners who have gotten their pets for the totally wrong reasons and the door to disaster is standing wide open. More and more frequently, cat lovers who are rescuing strays are finding dirty, sad balls of matted fur and filth which hide beautiful Persians or starving,

mud colored fragile kitties with sparkling, blue Siamese eyes set in their dark bony faces…

Shalimar is one of these miserable kitties who had the misfortune of being in the hands of some very wrong, heartless people. I have no idea

how he lived while he had a home, which he must have had at one point but I found him maybe a week ago on the side of the road, near a garbage container. He had probably spent months scavenging for food and living on the street before we met and he clearly

wasn’t successful in adapting to the street life – he is frighteningly skinny, his sides and haunches are all sunken in and his head looks big for his body. He certainly wasn’t born to a stray cat and it’s scarcely possible that he somehow got lost so I

am more prone to thinking that he was intentionally dumped; had his owners wanted and tried to find him they would have, a long time before he'd gotten to this horrible state.

He is a Seal Point Siamese with striking sapphire blue eyes, a

pretty dark chocolate mask and points, and a loud and distinctive Siamese meow. Incredibly cuddly and affectionate and probably young, he’s latched onto me and moved into my bed the minute he was let out of his cage where he had been kept over the first couple of

days. So typical for a devoted Siamese! His previous owners didn’t neuter him, which is not a surprise, but I am not sure if he would be able to endure a total anesthesia just yet; he needs to gain some strength and weight back before he's ready for his

neutering surgery. His appetite is voracious, he loves everyone and gets along perfectly with other cats, he's just as sweet as can be.

I doubt I’ll ever know all of the parts of his story, like where he came from, who he lived with, what he

could’ve done so wrong to be chucked out into the street and so on... but it doesn’t really matter now, as the new chapter of his life is just beginning. This year is coming to an end and the holidays are just around the corner, but I’d say that for Shalimar, the celebration has already begun. He has been given the biggest and most precious gift that could be imagined – a whole new life and world of affection, care, safety and love.

A Silver Angel Reaches Paradise

This winter is going to be a tough one, maybe tougher than any before. Other than the dangers of a deep freeze, possible and probable snowstorms and frosty, stinging winds that chill the marrow of one’s bones, what really scares me is the thought of the oldest

shelter kitties. Already well into their golden years, they seem to be fading away slowly and it can’t be reasonably expected that all of them will see another spring. Losing a pet is a harrowing experience and not even the knowledge that the animal in question has lived a long and healthy life can make it any easier. We’re all well aware that our pets can't live forever, but when their time comes, it’s somehow always too soon. For some unknown reasons, most of the elderly pass away during the cold and depressing winter

months; I'm guessing it's just too much for their breaking down bodies to bear.

Sadly, Falsika is gone. Peacefully and quietly, she left this world, two and a half years after she finally found safety here. I’ll never know what she’d been going through until

she arrived at the shelter in the spring of 2011, but whatever it was it must have been scary, terrifying and horribly traumatizing to make her as desperate and utterly distrustful as she was. When she was returned to me instead of my own grey cat after the

worst adoption of several Felix kitties that could have been imagined, I tried to find out something about her but my search for her real owners or for anyone who could give me any information hit a dead end. No one could or would tell me anything, no one

knew a thing and yet here she was, with her short blue grey fur with silver tipping and beautiful, vivacious, beaming eyes of green, malnourished, unapproachable and absolutely terrified. During her miserable life before we met she probably never

experienced a friendly touch, she was never surrounded with love and care and all she wanted was to be left alone.

Four of the Felix kitties were adopted to a woman who sounded credible, even nice, in the spring of 2011, but

just ten days later it turned out that the only reason she took them in was to sell them as purebreds. After dozens of phone calls and a couple of difficult, stressful weeks, I finally managed to get them back, all but one - the skinny grey cat which arrived at the shelter

was not the same one I gave up a month earlier. My own kitty, the one that disappeared without a trace was young, healthy and loving; this new girl was not only bone skinny, but also skittish, vigilant and extremely cautious. She was in very bad shape, so

her age could not be easily determined and I was reluctant to do anything that would make her more stressed than she already was.

Over the next two years Falsika had mellowed a little but still remained very wary and shy; she had

recovered physically but her memories of bad times obviously could not be erased and the question arose of how would I catch her if she ever got sick and needed to be taken to the vet. The time came last summer, when I noticed that she had one fang tooth

sticking out of her mouth in a totally unnatural position. I had no idea what happened, if it was the result of an injury or if her tooth simply grew like that, but I somehow managed to put her in a cage and take her to the vet after days of luring her. Being

uncooperative as she always was, she pretty much freaked out in the ambulance and the vet said that her tooth had to be pulled out. He also told me that she was very old and that’s why all of her teeth were in such rough shape, with a lot of plaque and tartar

build up on them. The surgery went well and the dental cleaning was also done, she quickly recovered and to my great surprise, she began to cuddle with me after that. Maybe she somehow knew she wouldn’t live much longer and wanted to see how it felt to love and trust a

a human, even for such a short time...

Falsika passed away peacefully and without pain, calmly accepting that her time had come to move on. Exhausted by the years of a tough life in an unmerciful world, after countless disappointments and

many days of pure despair, she found love in the end. With no sorrow and with nothing to regret, she crossed over into the blinding yet irresistible light and I can only wish that her happy and carefree time on this earth had lasted longer. She's ascended up the path

I can't follow just yet, where she is finally free, young and whole once more.

Spread your wings and fly, my little darling, until we meet again. You’ll be held close, forever in our hearts and very sadly missed.

The First Snow

Snow and sleet are not really a surprise at the end of November but it seems that winter always comes too soon and somewhat unexpectedly… The weather we’ve had since yesterday is just an ominous sign of what lies ahead. Kitties welcomed the

first snow with mixed feelings – most of the youngsters looked excited, almost thrilled for a while, until they realized that the fluffy white stuff is also cold and wet. At that point their enthusiasm rapidly vanished and all they wanted was to get back to their rooms as quickly as

possible. Older kitties were definitely not impressed, to the extent that they hesitated at the very thought of stepping in fresh snow which remained on the higher objects in the yard, luckily it was too wet to stick to the ground.

In spite of all of our efforts, we haven’t quite managed to get the shelter ready for the cold months ahead. I guess all of you remember our excitement and sheer happiness when we received a very generous donation for the roof replacement back in September,

but due to the totally unpredictable and rainy weather, it simply wasn’t possible to find a construction company that was willing to start replacing the roof of the auxiliary cat rooms then. The only thing we can do is strengthen the existing structure the

best we can, put a nylon cover under the old roof and wait for spring to come. We're relying on pure luck once again, and anxiously hope the upcoming winter won’t be too harsh and snowy. With the extra support, the old roof should be able to withstand the snow

load and the roof replacement will finally begin in the spring, as soon as the weather gets nice.



The herpes outbreak that’s been sweeping through the shelter for months now is not slacking off yet. However, the everyday struggle to

try to quarantine and isolate all of the sick kitties and to boost the immune systems of those who were still healthy did give some encouraging results – almost all of the cats who had gotten sick first have recovered nicely and only a few of those recently affected ones

are still on the mend. Elderly cats and delicate youngsters are always at particular risk when a virus starts making the rounds through the shelter but all of them have put up a valiant fight up until now and I dare to hope that the near future will bring us

some relief. At this point it’s impossible to say if all of the kitties will be strong and lucky enough to make it through the winter, but we’ll do everything we possibly can to at least give them a fighting chance to see another spring.

In closing, we have wonderful news to share – thanks to the incredible generosity of a few caring, kind-hearted supporters and friends of Felix kitties, we finally have enough money to purchase the first tank of gas for central heating which will enable all 115 of the

shelter kitties to be warm and consequently healthier over the next two months! Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others make all the difference in the world and there are truly no words to describe the depth of our gratitude to our friends for all

of the kindness shown and support given in times of crisis. We'd like to extend our warmest wishes to all of our devoted donors, followers and their families over the holiday season. Without your unconditional support through thick and thin, our work would

not be possible and we wouldn’t be where we are today. May your thoughtfulness and compassion be returned to you a thousand fold!

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

Life on the street is tough and dangerous, particularly for such delicate and small creatures as stray cats. Their life expectancy is short, and their lives are stressful and of poor quality; they are enduring summer heat, winter cold, rain and heavy snowfalls

while rummaging through garbage, existing on bugs, rodents and lizards and facing all kinds of danger. The major threats are from other animals, people, cars and the risks of deadly diseases, just to name a few. If they are lucky enough to have a caretaker, someone who is keeping an eye on their well-being and providing them with regular meals, vet care and a protected place to sleep in, their chances to survive are slightly better, but even then they are safe only while inside. Unfortunately, every time they

leave their haven wishing to explore the big outside world their lives are at risk and they are frequently getting killed by cars, dogs and evil people. This is not to say that a stray can't spend years living on the street but it’s usually the toughest and fastest, the most

cautious, skillful and distrustful who survive. Friendly and amicable stray cats often die horrible deaths as they are lacking fear and wariness and care-freely walk right into the trap, with terrible consequences.

Sneska has always

been and still is one of those unsuspecting, credulous and affectionate kitties who obviously believes that life is a bed of roses, that there is no viciousness and cruelty in this world and that accidents never happen. She has always loved people

and used to cuddle with everyone she met, she would approach total strangers without any reservation or hesitation and she was either incredibly lucky or had a guardian angel watching over her as nothing bad has ever happened to her in all

those years of street life. She came to me as an adult, a fragile, tiny and delicate tuxie girl who had the habit of rearing up on her hind legs while trying to nudge me with her head and cheek-rub my face, while her emerald eyes were sparkling with confidence, sheer

happiness and absolute trust. She looked so innocent and was so touchingly sweet that the minute I met her I knew I’d do everything I could to prevent anything from shattering her illusions.

Later on, it turned out that before coming to me, Sneska had spent years living in a joint yard with many other kitties where a friend of mine was taking care of them. I don’t really know why and or how Sneska decided to make a move but she didn’t come for a visit,

she came to stay. And she did. When my shelter was finally finished, she was one of those 50 something kitties I initially took with me.

Up to this year, Sneska has never had any serious health problems. Although she was never very

interested in food and consequently was quite skinny, she looked healthy otherwise. She has always been a picky eater and it usually took her ages to finish her meal - instead of swallowing her food, she would carry it around until she finally ate it, or more

frequently, some other cat would grab it away from her. But in the late spring, inexplicably and unexpectedly, she began to lose weight and waste away continuously, even though she was still eating, unwillingly as always. By August she already seemed just a

shadow of the kitty she once was, horribly thin and light as a feather, just skin and bones. Her ribs could be seen, her spine, shoulder blades and hips were protruding, her tummy looked empty and her beautiful eyes were almost too big for her bony face. Except for

being slightly anemic she had no other symptoms so the nature of her problems remained unknown and no one was overly optimistic about the final outcome.

She was so heartbreakingly thin that she seemed

almost transparent, like one of those size zero models and just a mere ghost of her former self and the only thing I could do was to feed her separately, to give her vitamin supplements to help boost her immune system and to hope with whole my heart for a

miracle. And then, surprisingly, she started gaining weight little by little, her appetite was increasing and she was getting chubbier with each passing day. Her sunken cheeks filled out, she’s become nicely rounded and her fur is now shiny and soft.

She is prettier than ever before, a charming, loving and caring kitty that never misses the opportunity to head-bump my face.

Sneska must be 10 or 11 years old now, but hasn’t change a bit in all these years that I have known her. She

stills loves everyone and approaches whomever she sees, but since she’s been living in the shelter she is finally safe no matter what she does. Just like the phoenix, she rises to life again, triumphant, sparkling and more brilliant than ever.