Hello. Yes, I know. I don’t exactly look like a cat, do I? That’s okay because I’m not really one. But there are times that it sure feels like it! You see, my mommy is Elizabeth. She founded Central Texas Feline Rescue (CTFR) back when I was just a handsome lad (I think it was about 10 human years ago, but I am not really all that good at counting.)

Anyway, I feel like this is my story, too. You see, she rescued me as well. My life hasn’t always been so cushy. When I was just a puppy, even more human years ago, I caught a nasty disease called Sarcoptic Mange. Mommy says that it was actually little bug type things (eww) crawling under my skin. I know that it really REALLY itched so badly that I scratched lots and lots of my fur off. It was so bad that some sad people didn’t think that I would make it and I was put on something called a euthanasia list at a place full of other puppies and kittens. Now being a puppy, that sounded important, but I wasn’t really sure. It did feel nice to have a warm bed and good food, even if the people always seemed to look sad when they came to see me.

Then one day some SUPER nice people came by to see ME! Just ME! I heard them say they were from Australia, no, wait. Oh yeah, from Aussie Rescue, that’s it. They got the sad people to let me go home with them so that they could help me get rid of the itchy stuff and get all my fur back.

That’s when Mommy heard about me. She saw an article that said “BALTO IS SAFE!” There were pictures of me (not looking too good yet) and she just fell for me. She wanted to help take care of me, but she already had two BIG dogs and nowhere to keep me so that they wouldn’t catch the itchies. But she did offer to take care of me once I was better, until somebody decided to adopt me. She drove way down to the other side of a big city called Austin and met up with the nice Aussie people. I was so little that they brought me to her in a kitty carrier! That’s a little embarrassing, but I got over it finally.

Then the day came for her to take me back. She sat there crying and so did I. I really wanted to stay with her. And so she asked the nice Aussie people and they said it was OKAY for me to stay with her FOREVER!

A few years later, she decided that she needed to help the poor kitties, too. That was alright with me, but I decided that Mommy and her friends really needed me to go along to help. That is a very important job and I knew I was the ONLY one qualified! So here I am still today! She says I am her "adorable boy”. That must mean she is warning people how big and strong and tough I am! I get to ride along in the CATMOBILE whenever she goes out to trap kitties for TNR (that means trap, neuter, and return - we won’t talk about the “Neuter” part though, if you don’t mind… shudder). Most of the time, my aunt Carol yells “shotgun” and makes me ride in the back seat. But sometimes she isn’t fast enough and I get to ride in MY official seat up front! I may be getting old, but I am still faster than she is!

Together my team (yes, it is mine) help get the kitties to not have to keep having more and more and more babies. We have helped hundreds and hundreds of kitties (and a lot of people, too). We also help take care of the kitties after the TNR, by setting up feeding stations where other volunteers go EVERY DAY to leave food and water and to check and see that everybody is doing okay. If anybody is sick or hurt, then we take them to see a special kitty and doggy doctor.

It is a lot of work and it is hard sometimes, too. And it costs a LOT of money. Mommy says that we need nice people to help us by sending something humans use a lot when they need stuff. I think she called it donations. So every year, she and her volunteers sign up for this thing called STRUT YOUR MUTT. It is put on by the very VERY nice people from a place called BEST FRIENDS. They help us and other places like ours to raise those donation things. I decided to tell you my story to see if I could help my mommy get some of those.

Will you help me? Please?  You can see some videos about my Mommy and her friends and all the work that CTRF does at these links!

Sorry, you have to cut and paste these links, but it really is worth it!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=P9SaTtfNMXE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6IutvYWzpUs