Success Stories
Of all the cats that are rescued, black ones usually have the hardest time finding new families, because people put them in the category with broken mirrors, spilled salt, the number 13 and other signs of bad luck. Jennifer M. will wholeheartedly tell you that they are anything but bad luck.
She adopted Roxy and Lucy as tiny kittens and in the 6 years that she has had them, they have filled her home with love and joy. She enjoys them so much that she volunteered to foster two more cats, Cowboy and Willow, and ultimately adopted them too.
Anthem Pets rescues hundreds of dogs and cats every month and naming them all is challenging. Our volunteers stretch their creativity to the end and beyond to think up new names… and occasionally they get it hilariously wrong. Linus is a good example of this. He was dubbed Littlefoot by Anthem Pets, but there is nothing little about him!
Thankfully, Melanie S. adopted him and when she noticed that he had a favorite blanket and teddy bear, she promptly renamed him Linus. Linus positively adores his daddy, lovingly tolerates his mommy and has a lot of fun with his furry sister, Noel.
Mother cats have an average of 2-5 kittens per litter. Sometimes the whole litter needs rescued and all the kittens are sent to the same foster home. Many of the kittens are then adopted separately but a few lucky ones, go to their new home with a littermate.
Polly (formerly called Sammi) and Goliath were born together, abandoned and rescued together, and now they live together with Kimberly H. To her delight, they spend their days romping, wrestling, cuddling and basically proving that in this case, two is better than one.
A few rescued cats and dogs have special needs in the form of behavior and/or emotional problems. It is impossible to tell whether these problems began when the animals were abandoned or whether they were pre-existing. Whatever the case, these dogs and cats need to be adopted by people who are extra loving, patient and perseverant – people like Siw J.
Siw J. adopted Cadi the dog and Sparkles the cat, both of whom had special needs. She admits that helping Cadi and Sparkles adjust to her home and overcome their problems took a lot of work and patience, but in the end it was worth it. Today Cadi and Sparkles live in Germany with Siw, because they are part of her family and couldn’t be left behind
Rescued animals often appear to be mean. They bark, growl, hiss and even bite, but this is not true aggression. It is fear. A small mixed breed named Gladys had especially deep-seated fears. She barked and threatened to bite so much that no one wanted to adopt her. Then Sherri B. heard about Gladys and decided to give her a second chance. Sherri took her home and worked gently with her. Gladys’ progress was slow, but little by little she learned to trust and love humans again. Today Gladys is called Tinkie. She follows Sherri everywhere and earns her favorite treats by being a faithful loving girl.
Just like humans, puppies and kittens can be born with congenital defects. In 2014, we rescued a litter of kittens that were born with flat chests. This flat chest syndrome causes the rib cage to be deformed and it can affect the kittens’ ability to eat and breathe depending on its severity.
We began calling this litter of flat-chested kittens the “pancake litter” and gave them all the love and veterinary care that they needed. With time, two of the kittens outgrew the syndrome and went on to be adopted. AJ, now called Ivy, was one of these two survivors. She has tons of personality and enjoys a happy life with Chalice M
