Jackie, a black-and-white cat, was homeless for at least 5 years. She lived outside, with a group of cats not socialized to humans. At Thundering Paws, we often assist in caring for feral cats, helping with trapping, spaying and neutering.

Jackie acted like she wanted to be friendly, coming near to us and "talking," but was just a little too afraid to be petted. Being afraid is not always a bad thing -- it kept Jackie out of trouble all those years!

Enter Tomás and D'andra, two Thundering Paws volunteers who found us online (at volunteermatch.org). Over time, they befriended Jackie, and wanted to adopt her. And it worked! We took Jackie to the vet, to have her re-tested for feline leukemia and FIV (both negative), and she went home.

Jackie and Tomás

D'andra sent this note a few days later: "Jackie is doing great. At first she was a little skeptical about us. She lived in the sink for 2 1/2 days. When we went into the bathroom, she would hiss at us. I felt like a mom with a sullen teenage daughter. Now she follows me where ever I go. We love her!!"

Jackie, very comfortable in her new home

In the summer of 2006, a boat arrived for delivery in Austin with a surprise inside: a litter of seven kittens -- all tabbies. We took them to the vet, and one of the kittens was fostered by an employee of the vet clinic and quickly adopted. The other six were fostered by Thundering Paws volunteers and lived together for several weeks.

Isabel, a beautiful classic tabby, was the next one adopted, in January 2007. Two years later, we received this update:

"Isabel is amazing and I can not believe that it's already been 2 years. We have since moved from my very small apartment to a nice roomy house. My other cat, Moxie, is her best friend and I have never seen 2 cats get along so well! I have attached a couple of recent pictures of the two because they are inseparable cuddlers and it's too cute not to share! Isabel also has grown quite a bit. Weighing just under 16 pounds she is tall, long, and skinny. She is a weird little cat as well- she plays fetch like a dog!! We're not sure how it started, but it's her favorite thing to do! We love her!!!!"

Moxie and Isabel

Next to be adopted were Raul (in February 2007), Solange (in March 2007), and Raya (August 2007). We would love to hear how they are doing.

Victor and Solace were the last two "boat kittens" to be adopted, in May 2008. Their new "mom" sent this message in December 2008:

Victor and Solace

"I am attaching some recent photos of Victor & Solace. I took them with my camera phone so they are not the best quality.

These two kitties are so close to each other. I can't imagine not having gotten them together!! I'm so glad we got both!

Victor is just the biggest love bug ever. It's so funny because Victor is totally momma's boy and Solace is totally Daddy's girl. Solace loooooves her Daddy... truly a love affair I tell ya!

They are still loving the country life. Mostly they love napping in the loft of the log home we're living in. Both are sacked out as I type.

Victor still continues the "morning and nightly ritual" since we've had him. Every single night when we tuck our son into bed... Victor always immediately drops what he's doing to come in and walks all over him while we tuck him in .. and every single night I have to pick him up and escort him out... and every single night as I help him exit he puts his ears back as if to say, "Hey, I was enjoying that!"

Then every single morning when I wake my son up for school... Victor always beats me to his door... we open the door and Victor walks all over him again until he gets out of bed.

He hasn't missed a night or morning yet.

I know I've said this before but none of us can imagine our family without these two kitties. They are the most loving, affectionate, sweet, caring, funny pair ever. In my lifetime of cats I have said, "There will never be a cat better than this one."... that's one reason why we haven't had a cat in such a long time... but these two totally win the prize.

I'm still just singing my praises that we got both.. and to think we were only going to get Victor! I can't even bear the thought!

Anyway.. just wanted to say thank you again and thank you for who you are in life for all the kitties that are fortunate enough to come your way. You are truly angels in human form."

Solace

Victor

Thanks to these families for sharing these pictures and stories with us! We love to hear about our kitties who have found a happy home.

Rasputin, a long-haired black kitten, was dumped last night, Monday, at the site where we feed feral cats in Dripping Springs.

Whoever dumped him there knows we come there every day. He is four to five weeks old and was left in a box that a blender came in, along with a tiny empty nursing bottle.  With a cold front with rain threatening on the horizon, he was awaiting the night, when coyotes and other predators could easily kill a tiny kitten like him.

Fortunately for "Razz," D'Andra, our volunteer who feeds the feral kitties on Monday evenings, hadn't come yet.  When she got there, he, not being the least bit feral, ran up to her, meowing his sad tale. She scooped him up and called me, and I asked her to bring him to the sanctuary, which she did.

I put him in a cage in the laundry room, one closed door away from the bathroom where there is a family of four who were all -- unbeknownst to me -- coming down with a cold (they'll be put on Amoxycillin this evening).  When I discovered their condition this morning, I started calling volunteers to see who could raise this baby away from a possible source of infection.  Melinda, a vet tech, said she could.  I told her I would bring him to her this morning.

In the meantime, I fed him an entire Fancy Feast-sized can of kitten food.  He gobbled that up, ate some Science Diet kitten kibbles, drank a lot of water, and crashed like a ton of bricks.  Poor, hungry, thirsty, tired, frazzled kitten! When I picked him up to check his sex (he's definitely a boy), he purred like a motorboat, smiled, and snuggled into my chest.

This morning, I had a meeting at 9:15 and an appointment at 11 in South Austin.  Melinda lives in North Austin, so I planned on driving from Dripping Springs to South Austin, which is closer, going to my two prior commitments, and then taking Razz to Melinda.  It was warm Monday and I was afraid that it might be too warm for him to be in the car (in a cage with food, water, bed, litter box), so last night I asked Michele, with whom I could rendezvous before my meeting,  if she could drive him to Melinda's while I went to my appointment.  She said she could.  However, Michele was in a traffic jam on the way to the planned kitten transfer.  When she called to tell me this, I told her not to worry, that it wasn't hot or cold and he could stay in the car while I went to my appointment.

My appointment was for Jin Shin Jitysu, a wonderful acupressure technique, by a woman named Lisa.  I have been seeing Lisa for years for Jin Shin Jitysu.  Until last year, she had two dogs and two cats.  Her cats, 22 year old brother and sister, died within a few months of each other, leaving her without feline companionship.  Since she knows what I do, I just told her to let me know when she was ready for a kitty.

When I drove up to Lisa's, she was in her yard, or I would never have called her over to the car.  But she was, and I did, and she oo'ed and ah'ed, asked if he had a home and, when I said no, she surprised the heck out of me by saying, "I'll take him."  Since I see Lisa every week, I can watch him grow, get documentation of his tests, vaccinations and neuter surgery.

When I left after my appointment, Lisa was wearing him in her t-shirt, he was purring like crazy and reaching his tiny front paw up to touch her face.  I wish I had had a camera. 

We had him approximately 18 hours, which is a darn good turn around time!

Since the last update on China the (formerly) feral cat in February, this kitty has completely moved in to my house. She has made incredible progress in the eight months she has lived here. The physical change has been drastic -- she has gone from somewhere between 3 and 4 pounds when she arrived to about 11 pounds at present.

As amazing as it may seem, she actually has gained too much weight and her food intake is going to have to decrease. The vet says that the steroid she has to take for the stomatitis condition contributes to her weight gain. Steroids tend to do that, but part of it is that she just likes to eat constantly.

The other big change is that she just gets tamer and tamer. She sleeps in the bed with me and several other kitties routinely now, keeps me company on the couch, and follows me from room to room with her tail up in the air, indicating how happy she is. She loves head bumps more than anything. A year ago, she would have lashed out at me if I had tried that. Now, she expects the head bumping multiple times per day and often initiates it.

In the last update I told you about China's friendship with Athena. Now, she has become friends with several of the other cats, and enjoys frequent grooming sessions with them. Her second best friend seems to be Sadie, a large gray tabby who was once feral herself, but tamed up within months of being found about 7 years ago.

China's medical situation hasn't been a smooth ride.

For the most part, especially in the last month, she has done well. Her biggest crisis was in early August when I found her one morning with an overwhelming infection in her mouth, related to the stomatitis. She was a very sick kitty. However, with strong antibiotics and a temporary increase in the frequency of her medication, she bounced back and has been fine ever since.

Here is a recent photo of China relaxing with Snuggles, one of her friends.