Happy New Year

The new year is upon us. 2025 was a big year for everyone at the sanctuary - we relocated to a new home in a new city. We traded rural, island living to be closer to amenities and live “smaller” in a progressive city. Because I can no longer take in any additional sanctuary residents, and am at my physical limits caring of the current residents, I wanted to continue to give to the feline rescue community but in a different capacity. Hence, our new mission, which includes granting small nonprofits funds for spay/neuter and vital medical care.

To date, we’ve donated to 23 small organizations. They work to get feral adult cats altered and vaccinated so they can comfortably live out their lives in a colony, and then get the kittens adopted into homes once they are medically cleared. These folks are truly heroes who regularly save lives. One grant paid for an air conditioner and kennel system for a permanent foster area at Homeless Animals Rescue Team (HART) in AZ, which will help so many kitties for years to come. (My mom volunteered with HART before relocating and founding Flower Feline Sanctuary with me.) Some of our grants helped kitties in Hawaii, where access to medical care and adoptive homes is very limited. The kitties need to be flown to the main island for veterinary treatment and then to other states to be adopted.

Our feline only grants also saved cats in California, where rescue teams pull cats kittens off death row every day. These kitties may have upper respiratory disease or ringworm, both of which are treatable but it can take time and a dedicated space. Or they may be underage and the shelters don’t have a foster system in place. Pictured below are a few of the precious kitties who were fortunate enough to make it out of the San Bernardino municipal shelter and were adopted out after being altered and vaccinated.

There are clearly cats in need everywhere. Fortunately many communities these days have lower costs spay/neuter options, but for some folks the hurdles are still too great. Often a cat slips outside and gets pregnant; “next time” turns into three litters a year. The cats may end up living  outside, so their suffering is mostly unseen. Sadly, unscrupulous “rescuers" often scoop up kittens but don’t address the breeding adults. Some people are intent on purchasing cats and dogs from breeders, when a perfectly lovely shelter animal could have been adopted instead.

We need animal shelters in our communities, but we cannot rely on them to solve the problem of feline overpopulation. We can all work together to help alleviate the situation, one cat at a time. Start by seeing cats - does the cat need help? Step up. Adopt/don’t shop of course. Foster. Volunteer. Donate. We can all contribute to the world we want to see in the future.