We very unexpectedly lost our cat Frosty to a heart disease in March and decided that a life without a cat is not a good one. After viewing some pictures and information on different cats on the SAFE Haven site, we decided to adopt two and went to the shelter. It turned out that night was not an adoption night so we had to come back the next day. When we came back, one of the volunteers recognized us and told us that she noticed the day before our son playing and being interested in one of the cats that was just being ready to be adopted. Her name was CC and when we asked our son if this is the one, he said yes. I guess, it was “love at first sight.” After we brought her home, CC turned out to be a perfect cat for our family. She is very affectionate and a “purring machine.”

From the start we wanted two cats, we decided to bring CC a friend but we were worried that an older cat might overwhelm her, since she has such a sweet and loving personality. So, we decided on a kitten. Again, we went to SAFE Haven and came back home with Bethel (now Cleo, short for Cleopatra). We were still worried how the two will get along but, after initial hissing and checking each other out, we think they are friends already. When I think of Cleo, I think of Tigger from “Winnie the Pooh” and “Well, I gotta go now! I got a lot of bouncing to do! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!” We know we found our BEST friends!

While I have often been referred to as “catty,” I was never really a “cat person” until I was introduced to SAFE Haven for Cats. It was Christmas of 1994 and my lovely wife, Joyce, had been hinting of her wish for a cat to join our family that already included a sweet rescue dog, Bandit. I cannot remember how I learned of SAFE Haven, but I did some research and made a call to speak with Pam for more information. I learned about Pam’s love of cats and her commitment to rescue, rehabilitate and place abandoned, abused and neglected cats in homes where they could find love, security and happiness.

I made a visit to SAFE Haven to meet Pam and some of the current residents, at that time, cared for in her garage/shelter. I was impressed and touched by what I saw and the felines I met that day. I left with a gift certificate Pam was willing to prepare with the intention of surprising Joyce on Christmas Day. I wrapped the certificate and put it under the tree with other gifts. When Joyce opened the box and saw the certificate, it took a few moments for her to realize what she was reading. Once reality set in, Joyce let out a yelp and wanted to go straight to SAFE Haven, however, since it was Christmas Day, we had to delay that trip. When we arrived at SAFE Haven a few days later Joyce was in a state of cat euphoria. I wondered if we had enough carriers and litter boxes to adopt all the cats Joyce fell in love with that day, but eventually, we selected a sweet, gentle black and white tuxedo kitten named Skipper (our Mallory).

Our family fell in love with Mallory and that love expanded and led to the adoption of four additional SAFE Haven cats over the years: Madison (formerly Honey), McKenzie (formerly Jigsaw), and this year Dorothy (formerly Princess), and Zuzu (formerly Vanna White). These precious SAFE Haven rescues have given us affection, smiles, entertainment, warmth and, mostly, love. They have converted a catty guy to a cat one. Joyce found delight and personal reward as a volunteer adoption counselor and foster mom for SAFE Haven. Thanks, Pam!

We adopted Flicka (formerly Geico) in May 2018 after losing our cat Sterling to aggressive spleen and liver cancer. It was love at first sight for us (and him)! He is so sweet and playful, despite being FIV +. He purrs ALL THE TIME! He’s very smart and will pantomime what he wants to do, whether playing red dot or playing mousie on Mom’s iPad. (I have a video of the latter, which is pretty amazing. How can I share that?) In the meantime, here’s a pic of our beautiful boy. He and our older cat are best buds, except when it comes to sharing grub. (Flicka’s middle name is Piglet.)

C.B. came to us as Vibrava to foster and never quite went back. We felt qualified as she had had her front leg amputated due to an injury she sustained as a hoarding survivor and we already had a black cat who was missing his back leg. Both cats were black and as we had helped Hank adjust to life as a 14 pounder with 3 legs we figured we could help C.B. adjust as well. She was elderly and tiny but definitely a force to be reckoned with. It took me months and multiple wounds to coax her out of the tiny carpet covered round cat house she occupied at first in our sun room away from the other 3 cats but once she came out it was on. Her world was on the couch on her heated pad, with her food nearby and better yet when she could have someone rub her belly, constantly if not more often.

She made huge strides from when we brought her home and even survived a long plane trip to her new home in Oregon. We had 4 people and 4 cats on that trip and C.B. and I had to take a hit for the team and travel first class as there was already another dog in economy and they would only agree to 3 more animals. She made the trip without a problem and remained calm the entire time. She charmed the guys we had helping us fix up the house we bought in Oregon and every morning they would come and say Hi to C.B. and pay her some special attention. She was definitely a big part of their day and even inspired one of the guys to adopt a senior cat from the shelter and give her the best possible life for the time she had left.

C.B. only had 4 teeth left when she arrived and they left scars on my hand from the early days before she discovered she liked being adored but nothing anywhere near as deep as the one she left on our hearts when we lost her to cancer at probably 15 or 16. She may have been little but she was a fierce survivor and a sweetheart, as long as you kept the hand on her belly 🙂

Floki (the black and white kitty) was adopted just after Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina. He was the youngest of three as I already had 2 eleven year old’s back at the house. Floki was 4 months old and just wanted play, the older cats didn’t want anything to do with the new playful kitten. Mom finally bought in and just before the snow storm of December 2018 Little Rascal (formerly La La, the orange tabby) was adopted into the family. Since that day, these two have been inseparable… Now a little more than a year old, they still manage to fit in one cat bed regardless of how many lay unoccupied around the house.