Rescue Stories – 4 Paws Rescue Foundation

I know I can't save every cat but if I can spay/neuter every cat that I meet, then I know that I am saving thousands!

Bluebelle

2/29/24

I got a call from Petco today that someone DUMPED this poor kitty in the store 🙁 Scared out of its mind as you can see 🙁 Kitty sat like this for hours, refusing food and water.  Kitty is decompressing and will go in and get all of its vetting done next week.  People! 🙁

Casper & Wendy

12/26/23

These two absolute sweethearts were dumped at a park in a HIGH coyote area with another sister on Christmas Day.  The other sister was adopted by a neighbor.  They LOVE to play, LOVE to purr, LOVE to cuddle and get along great with other cats.  They are a bonded pair and looking for their furever home together!

 

Goose, Blush, Mouse, Gum Drop & Jelly Bean

12/11/23

These adorable kittens were DUMPED in a box in a very busy parking lot where ANYTHING could have happened to them 🙁 They’re 4 weeks old and absolute sweethearts!  When they’re 8 weeks, they’ll go in and get all of their vetting done.

11/14/23

I received a call from one of my adopters that her parents had found four newborn kittens. I had them gather the kittens and place them in a carrier. I then brought some traps and we managed to catch the mama shortly after.  Once we had mama and the kittens, we set them up where mama took care of them until they were weaned.  The kittens were adopted in pairs and mama got adopted too!

Importance of Microchipping

11/3/23

This beautiful girl showed up at one of my amazing fosters’ work and came right up to them but then ran off.  We set a trap and she was trapped today.  I checked her for a microchip and she had been missing since August and found 25 miles away from her home 🙁 I was able to reunite her with her family because of her microchip!  Please microchip your pets and make sure you keep the microchips up to date!

Baby

10/20/23

This handsome senior (10+ years old) was living at a commercial site.  He was rescued and is now in a foster home.  He gets along great with other cats and looking for his furever home.

Chauncy - Adopted!

10/13/23

Some people heard cries and found this little sweetheart in a drain pipe!  After 20 minutes, they were able to get him out.  They called Petco who gave them my name.  Since he was rescued on Friday the 13th, I named him Chauncy which means good fortune!

Wednesday - Adopted!

9/25/23

I happened to be going to Petco in Canoga Park after my 200th adoption and saw a kitten run under a dumpster in the parking lot.  I ran home and got some traps as I had no idea how many cats or kittens were there.  Turned out, this beautiful girl was the only one as I’ve gone back several times to check.  Once she knew she was safe and loved, her personality has really come out!

200th Adoption!

9/25/23

I am so proud of this number!  Although I trap, neuter and return (TNR) several hundred cats each year, the adoptable cats and kittens that go into our foster program are the lucky ones!  Having placed 200 kitties in their fabulous, furever homes is the absolute best feeling!

Olivia & Sophia

8/31/23

These two sweethearts were dumped in a parking lot and left to fend for themselves 🙁 They were way too sweet and way too clean to have been living on the streets.  Red Barn Feed called me and I went and picked them up.  These beautiful girls were all purrs and snuggles once they knew they were safe and loved!

Backyard Rescue

7/7/23

One of my amazing fosters heard crying in their backyard and discovered these 5 tinies!  I had them scoop them up and put them in a carrier.  I then told them to butt a trap up against the carrier and within an hour, mama came for her kittens!  She stayed with them until they were weaned and then went in and was TNR’d and released back into the yard. (Adopted – Banshee, Nymph and Selkie (together), Pixel and Bogs)

Shrimp & Scampi - Adopted

5/12/23

After putting the box of four tinies in my car, I turned around and another person was holding a box.  He had caught these two in his yard.  I asked where Mama was and he said “she’s in the neighborhood”.  I told him Mama needs to be spayed or this will continue, I gave him my card and never heard from him 🙁  These sweeties were 5 weeks old when I rescued them.

The Sopurrnos

5/12/23

I was dropping off a bunch of donated items to one of the many Animal Shelters I go to regularly and someone was dumping these tinies at the Shelter.  I asked where the Mama was but they said they didn’t know.  These kittens were flea free and way too clean to not be their own cat giving birth inside.  I told her I would take them and find them wonderful homes and Mama needs to be spayed.  I gave her my card and never heard back from her 🙁  They were 4 weeks old when I rescued them and had to be bottle fed for another 10 days.

When first rescued 10/19/22
With lots of love and showing at Petco 1/31/23

Adopted!

10/19/22

This beautiful senior was at a feed site for several months.  I asked the homeowner where she goes at night and she said she would look out of the windows and see her on and under the cars 🙁 

I brought her in and had a complete blood panel done on 10/31/22 and everything came out fine!

What a little love, warmth and caring will do!

6/4/22 – 7/25/22

Although this pretty lady was already fixed, she ended up with mange.  I brought traps and the feeders who feed and originally trapped her, trapped her again.  I treated her at the site twice and as you can see – what a difference!   I did her third and final treatment 8/18/22 and she is feeling so much better and back to her beautiful self!

Sparrow - Adopted!

5/10/22

This beautiful girl was not fixed, not microchipped and had a ruptured eye that had to be removed.  How long she was suffering, no one knows but she is not only beautiful but a complete love bug!  She will be available in a few weeks for adoption.

2/23/22 – 150th Adoption!

This sweetheart was dumped in a high coyote area but he was already fixed and microchipped! So I worked with the microchip company and not only was this guy an older gentlemen, the people never even named him! They contacted the “owners” several times and they could have cared less! He was transferred to 4 Paws Rescue Foundation and went to his furever home today!  He is 10 years old and will be spoiled and loved for the rest of his life!

2/7/22

A feeder has been feeding this feral for at least the past 6 years (he was fixed long ago).  His eyesight has been going and I brought him to the vet to have him checked out.  He is feral but the cataracts are bad and he can’t see so he had to come off the streets!  The neighbor nextdoor to the feeder also feeds him and we set him up in her home today and he is acclimating well!

RE-THINK FIP TREATMENT!
2/16/22
3/23/22
(34 days after treatment)
5/12/22
Done with Treatment and back to his handsome self!

It hurts me to say, but Kumquat passed 4/18/23 🙁 He was an FIP Warrior and supposedly “cured” since May 12, 2022.

For anyone considering FIP treatment, PLEASE re-think it! 

Kumquat came from a backyard of 17 kittens.  Of those 17 kittens, 10 were FIP!  Not only for the suffering I put these kitties through trying to cure them all, the monies spent was extremely expensive! 

This is a 501(c)(3) rescue and although I tried to save each an everyone of these kittens and cats, $16,000 later just crushed us as a rescue. 

Any donations to help build our reserves again would be very much appreciated to continue our rescue efforts of TNR’ing cats and kittens living on the streets.

Although I was told time and time again by the FIP group that I bought the extremely expensive meds from that FIP is not contagious, that is completely incorrect!  

You only can messenger them, not talk with anyone and I have several messages stating FIP is NOT contagious 🙁

FIP IS contagious and does and will spread between cats and kittens!  I have talked with several vets and they said bleach everything!

Several rescue groups as well as the vets say the treatment is a scam and the cats and kittens are only “cured” for a very short period.

I will never put another kitten or cat through the agony of bloodwork every 30 days, daily injections for 84 days and if you can afford the pills to switch them from injections, the price is outrageous!

For Kumquat to have gone through all of that and only live 11 months longer after being “cured”, I will always regret putting him through the torture of treatment 🙁

2/14/22

Although this poor kitty has already been fixed (his right ear is tipped), he has mange and has no fur under his chin to his chest. 

I took him in today to be treated and he was back at the feeders home that night already feeling better and eating like a champ!

11/16/21

Sometimes cats already fixed and living on the streets need to go in for medical treatment. This sweetheart lives on the streets because his owner refuses to bring him inside 🙁 A neighbor takes care of him and had him fixed years ago. He is at least 13 years old and developed an abscess on his face. I took him in and got it drained and then he was back on the streets but still coming around for dinner.

9/24/21

This guy has had an extremely tough life!  He showed up at a colony already ear tipped. I brought him in to be checked. The few remaining stubs that were once teeth needed to be drilled out. His paws and back feet showed signs of trauma.  He was either hit by a car or attacked by a coyote. And feeling along his side, he had a pellet lodged under his skin. The vet guessed him to be 12-14 years old. It’s a brutal life trying to survive on the streets.  The feeder who called me about him, took him in.

8/20/21 One month later

7/20/21

This kitty wandered into someone’s front yard three days ago and the poor guy had mange.  I trapped him and brought him to the vet the next day. He was not neutered and was treated for the mange. He will recover for several weeks with more treatment and will be released back to the new home he wandered into where they will feed and care for him.  Mange is very painful and cats will die if not treated!

Foxtail removed from a kitten's eye!

 

6/1/21

Living on the streets is a very tough life!  I trapped 9 adults (TNR) and rescued 6 kittens in a backyard. The kittens had horrible upper respiratory and eye infections. But one kitten’s eye was super red and something sticking out of it. Turned out, she had a foxtail embedded in her eye.  Had the upper respiratory and eye infections not been treated, the kittens would not have made it and/or would have been blind!

4/17/21

Another roof rescue!  I was planning on trapping at the site on Monday but with the heat and wind predicted for tomorrow, ended up getting the kittens and trapped mama.  Mama will be spayed, ear tipped and returned to the site after the kittens are weaned.  In this backyard, I ended up rescuing 17 kittens and TNR’d 9 adults.  One of the adult males had to have an eye removed.  The homeowner said this had been going on for years.  This house was on a busy street and 12 of the kittens were girls!  This site would have completely blown up!  Please spay and neuter!  It is truly heartbreaking out there 🙁

Bumblebee - Adopted!

3/15/21

There was a kitten stuck on a roof from Thursday through Monday when I got the call and she is now looking for her furever home!

Cooper - Adopted!

2/17/21

Bathtub rescue!  I was getting ready to take 8 ferals to the vet and I get a call that someone just bought a house and this handsome boy was abandoned by the previous homeowner and was in their bathtub. I got there and saw that he was just scared (as you can tell from my pictures) so I was able to scruff him and get him in a carrier and he went to the vet too. They guessed him to be about 3 years old, not fixed and got all of his vetting done.  He is a HUGE sweetheart and one handsome boy!

Delta - Adopted with Timmy!
Charlie - Adopted!
Timmy (who fell into the wash)
Adopted with Delta!

2/2/21

I was set to start trapping at a commercial location with three 10 week olds, two 8 month olds and the mama of both litters. But one of the kittens ended up falling into the wash. The feeder and another gentleman in the building next door got an extension ladder and both guys went into the wash with one of my traps and got the kitten! The three kittens are at a foster’s and up for adoption!

Ladyhawke
Isabeau
Ladybug - 8 hours later, all tucked in
Ladybug - 4/1/20

12/29/20

100th Adoptions! Not only were all three adopted together but they are the 100th Adoptions! 

Both adult sisters were dumped at a feed site and the daughter/niece was born at the site.

One week later
One month later - getting transferred to his new home

11/3/20

Sometimes cats that have already been fixed (TNR) still need to be brought in for medical issues. This poor kitty was already ear tipped but something was going on with the right side of his face and his paws were bleeding. He went into the vet today and they removed two probable squamous cell carcinomas from around his eye and his paws were infected. This guy is an older cat that they guesstimated his age at least 8 years old. It’s a very tough life on the streets for the cats and kittens. He had not hissed or growled at me at all and I was trying to place him in a furever home. I just could not put him back on the street with this going on. A month after being rescued from the street, he found his furever indoor only home who he shares with other furry brothers and sisters!

Gatsby & Maestro - Adopted!
Miso - Adopted!

11/1/20

These three cats were dumped on a deserted road in the Palmdale desert today!

All are super, super sweet and went into the vet and got spayed/neutered and had all of their vetting done. 

They are 2 years old and looking for the loving homes they deserve!

Ruffles - Adopted!

10/12/20

This approximately 7 year old sweetheart who was dumped at a feed site that I have been trapping at for 6 years, crying in the middle of the street at 11:30 at night, matted and filthy was up for adoption and found his furever home getting all of the attention and love he deserves ❤

9/23/20

I got 2 calls for kittens in car engines in a two week period! This sweetheart was adopted by the person who’s car he was in ❤

9/21/20

I got a call that a kitty had lumps all over it! When I got there, sure enough, she let me take her picture! She was already ear tipped (spayed/TNR) so I trapped her, brought her to the vet the next day and they were fluid filled cysts! They drained and sutured them and she recovered with me while her hair grew back. She was released back to where she was at a commercial site, feeling a heck of a lot better and looking beautiful again!

9/2018

These cuties were dumped in a box at night in the Target parking lot on Fallbrook. One sister went to live with a big brother dog and the other three siblings were adopted together!

11/2017

This lovebug was dumped after having kittens and had very swollen mammaries. She is now getting much deserved love in her new home!

9/6/2018

This adorable bunch was left in a box at a feed site by a gardener when they were about 4 weeks old. Luckily, the feeder saw him leaving the box and was told that the homeowner said “to dispose of them”

8/2017

These four beautiful sisters were rescued out of the back of a work truck (all under 1 pound).  Both sets of sisters were adopted as bonded pairs!

I also trapped their mama, spayed and released her (TNR’d)

6/2015 – 8/2015

This was a very sad site that I found out about in Oxnard.  The old landmark, Wagon Wheel along the 101 Freeway was being torn down.  There was 64 acres behind Wagon Wheel with mobile homes and they kicked the senior citizens out and most left their cats.  This was in April before I got there and there were tons of cats that had to be moved off of the site because of apartment buildings being constructed.  The bulldozers came and bulldozed over mamas and babies inside of the structures.  It was a heartbreaking situation.  I would drive out to Oxnard on Saturdays and Sundays and spend all night there trapping cats to bring to the Camarillo Shelter.  These cats were going into their barnyard cat program for industrial types of areas.  Not the best situation but they needed to be saved from this construction site.  It took the developer another two years to start the project.  Why they had to rush and kill so many cats in the beginning before rescues could come in and trap the cats still haunts me.  It was a very dangerous site with drug deals going on and one of the first weekends I was there, a guy came up to my car with a gun and wanted my SUV while myself and another rescuer were sitting inside.  Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to be done with that site. In the month and a half that I drove out there, I trapped 26 cats and got them off of the site and into the Camarillo Shelter.  Normally we do not bring ferals to the Shelters as they will be destroyed.  However, the Camarillo Shelter knew what was going on at Wagon Wheel and was putting these specific cats into the barnyard cat program. 

We receive no government funding, our rescue is funded only by your contributions.

100% of your tax deductible donation goes to lifesaving rescue efforts to spay/neuter (TNR) cats and kittens living on the streets!