Putting Marshmallow's Best Foot Forward & More

Forgotten Felines of Culpeper is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) rescue. We take in, care for, and find homes for over 200 cats a year. If a cat needs help, we are there. Today we are asking for your help...

Marshmallow came to us in January hoping for a new start to the new year. He was dumped on an out-of-the way, rural property a YEAR ago. He was frightened and, despite trying to get into the home on the property many times to feel safe and have shelter from the cold, the owners would not let him inside.

Marshmallow never left their property. He slept on their porch furniture, followed them out in the yard and time and time again tried to get inside. A year had passed and the homeowners were unrelenting. Sometimes they would put food outside for him, but they were busy and did not have time to care for a lonely cat.

Last September/October, Marshmallow's front paws began to swell and bleed, a condition called Plasma Cell Pododermatitis. His paws were very painful but he had no place to rest. He continued to roam the property, pleading for help. Because the weather was getting colder and because the cat was found in their garage - again - trying to gain shelter and annoying the homeowners, they contacted us and we immediately took this sweet boy into care.

Marshmallow immediately visited our vet. He is 5 years old and is a lovebug. Both front paws were (and still are) actively bleeding. The vet said it is the worst case she has ever seen in her 30+ years of practice, probably because it was left without care for so long. He has broken teeth, probably due to an unknown trauma years ago. Life has not been kind to him. He is FIV+ - no biggee, but it means it may take him awhile to get better. Blood work continues to look okay.

Marshmallow sees the vet once a month for a steroid injection to keep the swelling at bay. He will need surgery on his paws to remove the bad tissue and it is hoped that new, healthy tissue will grow. There has been much success with this surgery. The cost is $800 - $900, including his neuter.

But that's not all...

Annika was adopted as a young kitten a year ago. Her adopters signed a contract to care for her and spay her. When the couple broke up, Annika was returned to us. Prior to being returned, Annika was placed on Prozac and another medication (something that I personally do not believe in, as I believe that this is a behavioral issue and Prozac literally changes the brain of a young cat/kitten.) because she was not using the litter box in her home. She was also placed on a special diet and now had difficulty getting her weight up and weighs less than 5 pounds.

At the time of her return, we were told that Annika was not spayed because she had tumors on her right eye. The tumors were never taken care of, and as I looked into Annika's eyes, it appeared that she was possibly blind in the left eye. Little Annika will see the vet this week and we will see if surgery will be required. We expect it will.

We are asking for your help. As you can imagine, all our expenses have exponentially increased this year. Vet visits, medications and procedures are more expensive. Wet and dry cat food is hard to find, and when we find it the price on that has increased as well. We know it has affected us all, but part of the issue is that there are even more abandoned and dumped cats this year, most of whom are unvaccinated and unspayed. Instead of finding one female stray, we find her and five to six kittens. Each cat costs us $150+ to vet, and that is if they are healthy. As you know from our stories, there have been A LOT of sick and injured cats this year.

Donations are down, and as a non-profit rescue, we are really feeling the pinch. We love our community and we feel blessed that we are the first people you think to call when there is a stray cat or kitten. This is why we are here, however, we can’t do this alone-we need you.

We have started this Go Fund Me to raise money for the cats in our care who need immediate attention and the upcoming kitten season. We mean it when we say every donation matters, because it does. Whatever you can give will be appreciated. If your place of work does matching donations and you send us the paperwork, we will fill it out. Also, please share with friends, family and Facebook, so this fundraiser can get as much exposure as possible.

In the words of Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

Thank you for your love and support in caring for the abandoned and forgotten cats in our community so they can find the homes they deserve.

Forgotten Felines of Culpeper,

Rescuing the abandoned and forgotten, with no cat left behind.