After surviving the unthinkable, my spouse and I bought a little house on a mountain that came with a big surprise - more than 40 sick, unfixed & starving cats and kittens - and we need your help!

To catch you up, my husband and I met by chance after he saved my life by chance during a Colorado mountain blizzard almost a decade ago. We traveled the country together, working and seeing many national parks, and getting married along the way!

In 2020, I got to return the life saver favor when my husband survived an extreme traumatic brain injury, a coma, multiple brain surgeries, seizures, and a stroke, after being accidentally shot in the head at a home renovation.

When he finally woke up, this true CatDad asked for a red Mountain Dew, a pack of new underwear, and to rescue a LOT of cats! There was just one problem.. He was completely paralyzed except for his right thumb, and they told me he would never leave the hospital.

I told them ‘you don’t know us” and promised him we’d find a way.

Being disabled myself with arthritis, a connective tissue disorder, a heart condition and others, CatDad’s recovery was an uphill battle for us both - but we persevered.

Not only has he beaten the odds by living through an injury that has a 1% survival rate, but even partially paralyzed, today, he can walk.

Through more hard work and dedication, we managed to scrape together to buy the perfect little house - on top of a mountain, in the middle of a national forest - where we could build both a cat sanctuary and the small handicapped accessible farmstead we’d dreamt of.

It wasn’t until we moved in that we found out the previous owner left us a little surprise! More than 40 starving, sick, and unfixed cats and kittens running wild and no food or water in sight.

With the help of our donors, our first GoFundMe campaign to trap, spay, neuter, and shelter all of the cats here was a success. This means together we prevented potentially hundreds, if not thousands, of unrequested kittens from being born!

Our next big project here is to expand the colony’s living quarters. The porch is too small for all of the cats and between animal predators and humans with guns, it’s truly not safe for them to roam free outside. We’re currently assembling a catio inside the back yard with the plan to expand it to the entire fenced in yard down the road. With larger predators like bears hanging around, we have to make double sure they’re going to be safe.

We’ve also helped TNR locally, including in our own neighborhood, and the feral cat colony that was taking over our local post office.

We also have a few other projects planned for the future; expanding our merch line (Shirts and stickers available now!) including adding a 12 months of Meemaw calendar), converting our school bus into a mobile pet rescue & pantry to expand help to our rural community, and becoming a recognized 501c3 and official cat sanctuary.

That means that no matter what, every click, share, and donation goes to the health and well being of a cat in need and we are beyond grateful for your support.

Help us help these beautiful cats today and be the difference in their new lives while we turn Sunshine Pines property into the sanctuary these 40+ formerly abandoned cats truly deserve.

You really do make the difference.

Love,

Sunshine Pines Rescue