New Beginnings for Cats

07/10/2025

Hi! Hansel and his friends wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who donated, shared the post, and/or sent good wishes for the catio that will be built off the leukemia building!
I (Jenn) have volunteered for over 8 years with the FIV and leukemia cats, and it has always been my wish to give the leukemia cats a safe place to enjoy the fresh air. They are the only cats at the shelter that currently do not get to go outside. Thank you so much for helping us make this dream come true for the kitties!
Once the catio is up and the cats are out enjoying it, we will post pictures! As I always say, we cannot do this without the love and support of our community - thank you from the bottom of our hearts! ❤️🩵💙
PS... Here's a recent picture of most of the leukemia cats who reside at Harry's House. They can't wait to get outdoors! 😊

07/04/2025

Today is an extra special day at New Beginnings! Hansel, our blind leukemia positive kitty is celebrating his 5th birthday! What makes this so special is that Hansel has been leukemia positive from birth, and most leukemia positive kittens do not always live to see their first or second birthdays, due to the disease process. Hansel is our miracle baby and we cherish every single day we get to spend with him! He is one of the sweetest, happiest cats you will ever meet! 🥰

Hansel has one small request - we are in the process of getting a catio attached to our leukemia building, so that those kitties can enjoy some time outside in the fresh air (like our main shelter cats get to do). We are about $500 short in buying the necessary building materials. (The labor is being done by volunteers and we have a wonderful person willing to help fund part of the catio). We appreciate any donation or sharing of this post to help make Hansel's birthday wish come true! Thank you, always, for helping us to support these wonderful kitties that are in our care! 💕

07/02/2025

We would like to introduce you to a wonderful young man named Nathan. Several times a week Nathan comes into the shelter with his mother and he volunteers. He especially likes to hang out with the FIV+ and leukemia positive kitties. He makes sure that they have lots of love and attention each time that he is here! He even likes to read them books! 😊
About a week ago, Nathan had his birthday party and instead of asking for gifts for himself, he made sure to tell his guests to bring food, treats, and toys for all of his shelter cats! Because of his generosity and kindness, the kitties will have lots of things to enjoy! 😻
Nathan, you are a joy to have at our shelter and you are a shining example of what it means to be compassionate, selfless, and kind! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you do for our kitties here and for all the love that you show them! YOU ARE AMAZING! 🥰

06/30/2025

Hi! I'm Leo and back in February I was surrendered because my owner could no longer take care of me. And while I don't mind living at the shelter (because the people here take really nice care of me), sometimes I get a little overwhelmed in my surroundings here.

I am looking for a quieter home and someone who will give me some love, some attention, and, of course, lots of food! I don't think I would mind living with another quiet cat or two. I can sometimes be a little shy around men, but overall I love attention and being pet by humans. I'm just looking for somebody who understands a little guy like me! Perhaps, your home might be perfect for me? I would love for someone to come out and meet me, get to know me, and perhaps even take a chance on me - I promise you will love me! 😻 🥰

05/31/2025

The staff and volunteers at New Beginnings for Cats extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers of Dale, who was the office manager at Bradley Animal Hospital (our wonderful vet clinic) for the past 40 years.
Whenever we brought our shelter kitties to the vet, Dale was always there to greet us, ask how our kitties were doing, and have good conversations with us. She adopted her beloved black kitty from us and gave her so much love! Dale was the heart of the vet clinic and we will all miss her very much.🩷
We would like to sincerely thank Dale's family for choosing our shelter as the recipient of memorial contributions in Dale's honor. We are very humbled by this act of kindness and generosity.

Share Memories and Support the Family.

05/18/2025

Join us today at Rhubarb Fest! Feel free to visit our booth and say hello. You might discover a special souvenir to bring home.

04/26/2025

Hansel (our cute, blind leukemia positive kitty) wants to remind you of the birthday party celebration for the FIV+ and leukemia positive kitties. It's happening tomorrow, Sunday, April 27th from 1 - 4 pm at the Bourbonnais Municipal Center building.
We will enjoy an ice cream sundae bar and cake! We will also have raffle baskets at this event.

(NOTE: Hansel's birthday is actually July 4th. He will turn 5 years old this year! Hansel has been leukemia positive since he was a young kitten, and sadly, most of them do not live past the age of 1 or 2. We are blessed to have had Hansel outlive the expectations. We never take this for granted! He is a joy to be around!) 😻 🥰 💕

04/20/2025

Just a reminder that our birthday party celebration for our beloved FIV and leukemia cats will be next Sunday, April 27 from 1 - 4 pm at the Bourbonnais Municipal Community room!
On a daily basis, we care for nine feline leukemia positive kitties and 13 FIV positive kitties. Although our goal is to find loving adoptive homes for each of them, we do realize that many of them will live out their lives in our care. We are blessed to have them and we are committed to making them feel loved, wanted, cared for, and spoiled! They truly are some of the nicest cats on the planet! 😻
We hope that you will consider joining us in our celebration next Sunday. We want to celebrate these wonderful cats' lives and we are so grateful that we got another year with each of them! 💕🎂
(Pictured below are a few of our amazing cats!)

04/08/2025

Hi! My name is Flow and I'm a sweet FIV+ kitty who just arrived to New Beginnings on March 30. My journey is quite a long one. You see, I was found on the streets of Miami by a wonderful lady named Brenna. She knew I didn't belong in a feral colony so she found someone to temporarily foster me. She took me to the vet and I had a few health issues going on (including being FIV+).
Brenna began reaching out through social media to try to find a shelter that could give me a home. My time in foster care was running out and no shelter could take me. Jenn from New Beginnings happened to see a social media post about me and contacted Brenna and said that I could have a nice home with them! So, Brenna and I took an airplane ride from Miami to Midway airport!
I was a little nervous on the plane and nervous when I got to the shelter, but I'm fitting in very nicely! I have a nice, soft bed and plenty of food to enjoy! I'm even starting to make friends with the other kitties!
I'm a lucky guy that someone as kind as Brenna would work so hard to find a shelter that would take me! She is my hero! ❤️

04/02/2025

SAVE THE DATE! We're having a birthday party celebration for all of our FIV+ and leukemia positive kitties on Sunday, April 27, from 1 - 4 pm, at the Bourbonnais Municipal Center building.
This event is to celebrate the lives of these extra special kitties! We are so thankful that they continue to survive their diseases and are happy and healthy! We love caring for this group of kitties and never take their birthdays for granted!
Please see the flyer below with all of the details and consider joining us for the best birthday party ever! (Note: the pictures below are some of our wonderful FIV+ and leukemia positive kitties).

03/30/2025

Hi! We want to give Kaden, from Boy Scout troop 361, a big thank you for all of your hard work on our kitchen renovation project! Kaden and his amazing team spent all day and evening on Saturday putting in a new kitchen for his Eagle Scout project. (They are even coming back to put in a new back splash)!
It turned out so wonderfully and will make it much easier to help us stay organized, serve up our kitties' food, and prepare our med treatments! From the bottom of our hearts, we sincerely thank you and are very grateful for you!
And, lobby cat Pollyanna is happy to report that it passed all inspections! She approves! 😻

03/28/2025

Hi! We wanted to give a happy update on our three new kitties that were surrendered a few weeks ago. If you recall, the man who surrendered them shoved the stroller they were in at one of our shelter techs and stormed out. The kitties were so frightened at first. But after a couple of days they realized that we were there to help them feel comfortable. We promised them that they would only know love from here on out.
Below are a few recent pictures showing them settling in. They seem to be very good friends and love to be with each other, so we hope that when it comes time for adoption, a special person or family would be willing to adopt all three of them! They have been through so much together and we intend to let them stay together for life!💕
PS... We also want to thank everyone who donated towards their care or shared their post. We were able to get all of their vet work done and they are healthy, happy kitties! 😻