What Happens When They Want a Kitten and You Only Have Grown Cats?

We need to be honest: we don’t save as many cats as a lot of the other wonderful rescues, groups that are real-life heroes and inspirations to us, like SALT Saving Animals’ Lives Together, Animal Love Foundation, Heavenly Hills Animal Sanctuary, and Animal Aide of St. Thomas-Elgin , but we do what we can. We don’t need to travel too far to find cats that need our help, and invariably, more often than not, the ones we find are feral.

Feral cats aren’t like strays, or litters of kittens; they come with their own set of complex issues that require more time and attention to successfully rehabilitate. They are, essentially, wild cats that don’t like people. You’ve seen them, and if you’re smart, you’ve stayed out of their way.

If you’ve ever heard the term TNR, that’s what most rescues do with feral felines – Trap, Neuter, Release. It controls the population, extends life expectancy, and helps curb disease in the wild cat world. TNR is a humane alternative to just leaving those animals to fend for themselves, fighting, reproducing, spreading diseases.

Since we do our rescue from our home, we have the advantage of being able to spend time rehabilitating these feral souls, and we have had much success in getting the wild out of them and domesticating them. Fix the body, nourish the soul, find the love.

It’s not magic, it’s pure patience and care. Eventually, every feral cat that we bring in transforms into a semi-normal house cat (is there even such a thing as a “normal” cat? hmmmm). Not all our cats came to us feral, but a good number of them did. We do our best to cure them of that.

our Current Adoptions page

Is it a second chance, or is it their last chance?

Here’s a truism: you can’t teach a cat how to use a litter box, you can only stand there and watch until they get it right. And they will, eventually. Without your help. The fiercely independent feline is a kitten only briefly, such a small part of a normal cat’s lifespan. It’s hard seeing one of your gorgeous, funny, and unique friends get passed over because they are past their kitten stage. Those few months when they are still growing into their oversized ears and paws are decidedly cute, but by no means define the best years of that creature. When the age issue becomes a dealbreaker that this soul is too old at 12 months of age, it gets disheartening. We know the truth: some of the gentlest, sweetest, transcendent personalities haven’t come into our lives until well into their later years.  

We do understand the cute factor when it comes to wanting to adopt a kitten and there are many of them out there in need of good homes! In many instances, we end up sending prospective adopters to other rescues. The kittens find homes quickly, the cats take longer. Our concern is that once the kittenness fades, the interest in caring and being attentive will fade, too..

Along with our feral cat population are the strays and the drop-offs – most drop-offs being cats that the family has lost interest in taking care of, or the kittens and young adults of cats that were not spayed or neutered. Through no fault of their own, these creatures pay the ultimate price for humanity’s selfishness and ignorance.

The Appin Cats Project finds it difficult to consider a rescued cat as having been given a second chance. If one of these poor souls ends up in our care, we are not giving him/her a second chance, we are their last chance at a humane life.  Along the line, their second, third, and eleventh chance passed them by, opportunities missed with each person they came into contact with. The life that they are living is unthinkable and cruel, infuriating and heartbreaking. We hope to give them an alternative, by your kindness.

We have excellent cats that need excellent homes. You are an excellent person. We’ve done the math, and you have room for one of our babes in your heart, but do you have room in your home to share? This could add up to something beautiful. Let us know if we can help solve your equation.  

“If you ain’t with us, you’re against us.” -Slim Dunlap