SuzziQ (was Doozy) was many firsts for us and SAFE Haven. She was our first stray that went to SAFE Haven, and, subsequently, our first foster for and adoption from SAFE Haven. She was the reason we volunteer at SAFE Haven (for 11 years)

As a kitten, Suzzi showed up by a local gym in late fall. We fed her…but when the forecast was below freezing, we grabbed her and put her in my gym bag….Now what? We already had 4 cats!!! Suzzi went into the spare bathroom and we searched for no kill shelters. SAFE Haven called us, and we took little Suzzi in.

We were impressed by the cleanliness and order of SAFE Haven and how caring the staff and volunteers were. After touring the shelter, we applied to be volunteers also.

Suzzi did OK at the shelter, she was adopted a couple of times, but returned. She would hide in her new homes. So, SAFE Haven asked if we could foster her for a month – to give her a break from the shelter.

Of course, she never went back. The staff said that Suzzi liked other cats. One of our other cats, Nemo, also liked cats, so we introduced them. It was love at first sight. Within a day, they were sleeping in the same box. With Nemo as her mentor, Suzzi blossomed….and we ended up with a fifth cat…..

Suzzi learned one humorous skill. She loved to chase strings – that was her big joy. She learned to toss a string over her head so that it would land on the base of her tail. She would then run in circles, chasing the string, like a dog chasing her tail.

We are still part of the SAFE Haven family and are happy that SuzziQ brought us into the family

We were volunteers and foster parents at SAFE Haven for a couple of years and when there were two kittens, Eveyln and Clark, who tested positive for ringworm, we took them in for recovery and treatment. We figured it was much easier to maintain quarantine in our home rather than the shelter, especially with my background in microbiology.

While one kitten was outgoing and rambunctious (and extremely adoptable, she was only in the shelter for 3 days after getting a clean bill of health), the other was poor Clark. Between being yanked out of the feral colony he was found in and the ringworm treatments, he never really seemed comfortable around anyone but us. Coupled with that, our resident elder and foster socializer, Chester, had become rather fond of his much younger buddy. So, in spring 2014, we made Clark’s adoption official.

Fast forward a few years, and the rather large, shy kitten had become somewhat of a house bear, with all the size and clouds of fluff for days. He can frequently be found passed out under, on, or over whatever is around, and never too far from his older brother. He is still frequently scared of his own shadow, but has gained the confidence to bully a German Shepard who’s 8 times his size. He has yet to win a fight with Chester, though not for lack of trying, and has finally come to accept that not everyone is quite as scary as they might first seem.