My Nonprofit Reviews

My daughter and I were first introduced to Sheila Smith and Shadow Cats Rescue about 6 years ago when we had a very sick kitten, Calcifer, that was dying from FIP. We were at the vets office daily for several weeks with our kitten. Dr. Smith of Central Texas Cat Hospital who also happens to be Sheila's husband was also caring for a litter of kittens that all had upper respiratory infections so bad that many of them had scarring of their eye's and other lifelong eye issues. They were called the "eye" kittens and every one of them was given a name that started with the letter "I". Needless to say, we played with our kitten there and also played and spent time with the "I" kittens. The last two weeks of our Calcifer's life were spent being closely monitored by Dr. Smith and his wonderful staff to ensure he was never in pain right up to the end when there was no hope for a recovery or cure. We were devastated! But it was during these last couple of weeks that we met Sheila as she would come in to check on her "I" kittens also. That is when we learned about Shadow Cats Rescue and all the wonderful things their organization does for cats. We fell in love with her and Dr. Smith!

We went home and thoroughly cleaned and bleached all the surfaces we could to make sure our other two kittens wouldn't come down with FIP. During the two weeks it took us to disinfect our house, my daughter and I kept thinking about those poor "I" kittens and their plight. We didn't think they had much hope of ever being adopted with their lifelong eye issues that they would have due to their illness not being treated properly by the original owners. We decided we would adopt "Iggy". Sheila came to our house to inspect it and our other kittens and to see if we would be good parents to her baby. Then came the day when she approved our adoption and we went to Central Texas Cat Hospital to pick Iggy up and bring him home. We played with all the kitten when we were waiting for Dr. Smith to finish his exam and release Iggy. I happened to be playing and holding Isabeau when she suddenly calmed down, looked up at me, put her paws on either side of my face and pulled me down gently to touch noses. I was a goner! I, who have never owned a cat (all the kittens were my daughters), decided then that Isabeau would be totally "my" cat.

That was our beginning with Shadow Cats Rescue and Sheila. Since then we have adopted several more and fostered several hard down-on-their luck cases for them. Some of the stories about the lives these cats lived before being literally rescued, makes a person wonder about the humanity of mankind. Shadow Cats is a blessing and I hope you will visit their website to learn more about them and their mission. Help support one or two, or more of the cats that live at the Sanctuary by sponsoring or donating food and medical supplies. If you live in the Austin area, consider adopting one or two, or more and be a god-send in their lives. http://shadowcats.net/

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