I was alone, and then the cats found me

My misadventures in cat rescue started like most things in my life — accidentally.

And also, because of my best friend.

There I was, sitting at work one afternoon, when my phone rang.

“Oh my god, Angie, there’s a kitten!”

Those seven words would change my life in profound and unusual ways, some good, and some bad.

One day I was nothing more than a newspaper journalist by day and romance novelist by night, trying to figure out what it meant to suddenly be 40, single, and feeling alone because my dad was dying, and the next, so quickly my head was practically spinning, I had been drafted onto the board of directors for Feline Lifeline, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Greenville, South Carolina. Suddenly I had a new makeshift family, one made up of misfits from all walks of life with one interest in common — helping homeless cats.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I also found myself unemployed, battling depression and anxiety (who isn’t, right?), and with a houseful of foster cats, many of which I accidentally rescued from the streets myself. There was Buffy — previously nicknamed Buff Uncle because we could have sworn she was a he — and her four newborn kittens I plucked out of the grass from behind a Dollar Tree store. Not long after, I heard three different kittens screaming at each other from across a fast-food restaurant’s parking lot and ended up with Jamie, Lee, and Curtis, aptly named after the scream queen actress of “Halloween” fame.

Speaking of Halloween, I pulled into a gas station on Halloween night and spotted a tiny black kitten running around yelling at anyone who would listen. Fortunately for Memphis, I was the only one listening and scooped him up before he could become roadkill. There are more, but I’ll save their stories for later. I will say that I had, at one point, 22 cats sharing my living space. I don’t recommend that, to be honest.

Seriously, it’s as if cats have a radar that reads “Sucker in the area. Go get her!” whenever I’m anywhere.

I never expected to have a house full of 20-plus cats, or to help run a cat rescue organization, or to be unemployed during a pandemic, but here I am. Over the past 13 months, my best friend and I have fielded phone calls, emails, and social media messages from people in similar situations, all of whom are desperate to know what to do when they happen upon a stray furball with claws and an attitude. All I can tell them is what I’ve done, which is what I’d like to share here in a series of articles targeted at people interested in TNR, cat rescue, or simply, cats.

I’ll be honest: I initially imagined writing a book on cat rescue, based on my experiences, both good and bad. As a writer who is unemployed because of COVID-19, I saw it as a possible way to earn income and educate people. Lord knows I field numerous inquiries a day — the most popular being “I found a kitten! What do I do?!?”; “There’s a hurt cat in my neighborhood! What do I do?!?”; or “What is TNR anyway?” — and having a resource already put together would be nice. Yes, I know Jackson Galaxy exists and The Kitten Lady is awesome, but cut a girl a break. I’m an unemployed writer during a pandemic who has spent the majority of my time over the past three years rescuing cats.

Of course my first reaction is going to be to write about it, even though I absolutely hate being in the spotlight and cringe at having to share personal information about myself in the process. I’ll refrain when I can, but the truth is, it will be hard to tell you how to help cats without explaining a little about myself in the process. I don’t want pats on the back, and I want to stir up conflict even less, but donations to the cat rescue group of which I’m a part are always welcome. Our website can be found here: www.felinelifelinesc.org.

My main goal is to help you help cats, but I also simply like helping people if I can. Mainly, I really like helping cats, who have been dealt a rough deal by the humans who’ve domesticated the tiny gods, only to expect them to survive off of scraps because “that’s what cats are supposed to do.” Yes, I’ve had someone tell me that, and yes, I wanted to punch them in the face.

Cats are, indeed, incredibly resourceful creatures, and we humans as a species could learn a thing or two from them, but that does not mean cats are creatures who should or can survive on the streets without help.

So, as I mentioned, I pitched a book — part memoir, part how-to guide — about cat rescue, but I was told over and over again I didn’t have a large enough social media following and therefore my experiences were of no value.

I happen to disagree, so here I am.

I am likely not, by far, the best resource on cat rescue you’ll find, but I have learned a lot from my time crawling through snake- and tick-infested shrubs to reach frightened kittens. From the instances when I sat alone or with my friend in a dark parking lot at 3 o’clock in the morning waiting for an injured cat to go into a trap so we could take it for veterinary care. From the kittens I stayed up around the clock bottle-feeding, and the cats with cancer to whom I administered chemo.

I don’t know everything, but I know what I know. You may find it valuable. You might not. If the information I offer helps even one cat, good. Because I love cats, probably more than I love people, but that’s only because cats have always comforted me when people failed me. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing it’s the same for you, too.

So, get comfortable, prepare to take notes, give your furry companion a kiss on the head, and follow my page. I’ve got lots to tell you about our feline friends. …