Thankful Thursday | Safehaven for Cats

The reason I am starting off with Safe Haven for Cats for my Thankful Thursday is sitting here driving my nuts in the best way possible.

Please meet our newest family member, Miss Kaylee River (her name is from 2 characters on Firefly - both whom she favors the personalities of - Kaylee is sweet and innocent but smart - River is smart, mysterious and a bit crazy - combined is our newest kitty).

I guess I should start at the beginning... sort of.

After moving down to NC in 2006, we missed not having cats. We had a new baby and all, and we always tossed around the idea. One day I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted a cat and I didn't care if my kids didn't like animals (not didn't like but didn't care if an animal was there or not). So we looked a little but nothing fit. I did an online application for Safe Haven for Cats. They were having an open house July 4th weekend of 2009 and we decided to go.

C walked in stating (loudly I might add) how he hated cats and he didnt want any. We looked around, told them about us, and they recommended a cat. Her name was Halo. She was an immediate hit and we all knew she was part of our family. C left Safe Haven saying (again loudly) "I love cats! I want to take more than one!" We transformed  him into a cat person!! So July 5th is when Princess Zoë-Girl was added to our family. (coincidentally Zoë is also a character from Firefly).

taken December 2010

Then in August we were going to PetSmart to get some goodies for Zoë-Girl and there was a lady who was trying to get rid of kittens. She had captured, spayed and released 1 feral cats and was waiting on doing a 2nd, and these were 1 of the litters (hopefully the last) from the one she wants to spay. Anyway, she didnt want them to go to a "pound" so she was trying to find them good homes. Sweet story but we went in empty-handed. Tom mentioned how black cats are soooo much more likely to passed over for adoptions. Ok, he had me. We went and held that little black girl cat and that was it. She was ours all 8 weeks of her tiny self. We named her Sushi Roald (said like Sushi Roll but named after the wonderful author).

I was content with my 2 girls for awhile.... by end of summer 2010, I was starting to itch for #3. W were looking for a cat who would actually prefer Tom but that is never going to happen while I am at home with the cats all day. They like me and I like it t y. Anyway, we went to Safe Haven the day after Thanksgiving and looked and debated but nothing hit. We scoured the Safe Haven website waiting for a kitty. They were having another open house January 1st where adoption fees were reduced to the year ($20.11). They had a few kittens that were females that we were interested in. I asked to see one I was leaning towards and that was it. She was a part of the family! Tolerated all 3 kids, never hid, purred up a storm and she was ours! It took a few days but we came up with her name Kaylee River.

Other 2 cats are still adapting but it has been only a few days and Sushi & Kayle play and Zoë is being less crotchety and not hissing anymore. In a few more days she'll be cleaning Kaylee and we'll all be 1 big happy family.

All 3 cats eating 3 days after introduction

For anyone who does not know, Safe Haven is awesome!  SAFE Haven For Cats is a no-kill shelter for cats in North Raleigh, NC. They are a community-based animal shelter. In addition to providing adoption services for cats and kittens in need of good homes, they also manage a foster program for animals requiring a little extra love and care. They further assist the community in providing feline spay and neuter services in connection with SAFE Care Feline Spay Neuter Clinic. They have 2 awesome places (1 for adoptions and 1 is the hospital part) and they do a lot. They save a lot of cats and they adopt out a lot of cats (and they are thorough with applications).

I am thankful for Safe Haven. They showed my son how wonderful cats are. I am thankful for Safe haven. They saved Zoë from a high-kill shelter in Franklinton and made her available to adopt for us (after she was a wet nurse and saved lots of other kittens). I am thankful for Safe Haven. They completed our family by giving us Kaylee River.

I am thankful to all the volunteers and donors who keep Safe Haven going. They are an amazing place with a very special place in all our hearts. they are truly worthy of my first Thankful Thursday blog post.

SafeHavenForCats.org