WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO:
Cali’s Kitty Cottage is a cat rescue room that houses, cares for, and nurses back to health homeless kitties until they find their forever homes. Cali's Kitty Cottage is in my home. I spend a lot of time, energy, and money to ensure the best care possible for my foster babies! I get all sorts of personalities and special needs that come through the room. Some are sick, n
eed medical care, and extra attention. Some are feral, not friendly but still just as important. And some are friendly, healthy and only need a warm place to stay for a short time until they find their forever homes. I get kitties of all ages. From newborn kittens all the way up to senior kitties! And all get the care, help, and attention they personally need and deserve. WHERE WE GET OUR FUNDING:
Almost all medical care comes from the amazing Whiskers Utah. Without the help of Whiskers, Cali's Kitty Cottage wouldn't be able to exist. Check out the Whiskers’ website for more info about this great organization: https://whiskersutah.org
I also spend a lot of my personal money on these kitties. Buying needed supplies and funding feral kitties to get fixed and vaccinated. It adds up quickly so we are always asking for donations! Food, litter, toys, and other supplies are donated and/or purchased by me. Again, we are ALWAYS looking for supplies and help for our kitties. We need litter, food, toys, beds, cat trees, traps, kennels, and cleaning supplies. We need volunteers’ help cleaning kennels, food bowls, litter boxes, and cat trees. We need funding to put towards building a designated foster room (which is my ultimate goal). We need help with getting our feral kitties fixed and vaccinated. If you would like to donate your time, items, and/or money to help us, please message us here on Facebook or call/text 801-725-8617! Check out our Amazon Wish List of all the things we are currently in need of: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2XOL83FOKYHW7?ref_=wl_share
WHERE WE GET OUR KITTIES:
Most of the residents in Cali’s Kitty Cottage are kitties that I have trapped myself. I help with many local feral cat colonies and community cat colonies. Additionally, I've pulled kitties from local shelters and/or Whiskers will reach out to me with kitties they have gotten. Unfortunately, there are ALWAYS too many kitties needing help! HOW WE CAME TO BE:
Anyone that knows me, or has even spent 5 minutes with me, knows that I LOVE all animals. I have wanted a rescue room my whole life. When I was a child, I would draw up my future home floor-plans and all the houses would always include a large rescue room for animals in need. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen health issues, this dream has been delayed and is on a much smaller scale than I originally wanted. But I'm hopeful that with more volunteer help and funding, it can get to the scale I always dreamed of! When I was a teenager, I started fostering animals. I would find dogs and cats that were homeless and/or sick-or more like they would find me! I had to sneak them into my home so that my parents wouldn’t know! Then, when I met my husband, we began to rescue/foster them together. Taking on homeless/sick animals that needed help here and there as the opportunity arose. And then, after 15 years of health issues and finally getting diagnoses, 6 years of infertility, and losing 3 human babies, I decided it was time to set up my rescue room-like I always dreamed of! This has helped to fill the void I have been feeling for so long. HOW WE GOT OUR NAME:
Cali is the first kitty that my husband and I felt a deep connection with and couldn't fathom living without her. She is a beautiful Calico kitty. She is now 12 years old and doing very well. She does have some health issues but we are treating them and she is living a great life. But that wasn’t always the case... One December (when Cali was around 3 or 4 years old), she was found in a pile of snow in the dead of winter. It was a very cold and snowy night. She was severely underweight and nearly frozen solid. She was covered in scabs, cuts, and scrapes. I spent 5 hours holding the stiff and sick Cali in a heating pad and towel until her temperature finally got back into the normal range. At that point, I offered her some food. She could barely even hold her head up to eat it. The next morning, I rushed her to the vet. Cali only weighed just over 3 pounds (at 3 or 4 years old! Most healthy adult kitties weigh between 8 and 10 lbs for reference). She was obviously severely underweight. She, also, had frostbite on her ears and paws. The vet kept saying over and over how lucky she was to still be alive and that she couldn’t believe that she actually WAS still alive. It took her a long time to trust me and my husband. But she slowly came around and started to enjoy our company. She ended up having to have emergency surgery about 2 months after we got her. Turns out she had eaten a bit of plastic trying to survive out there on her own. After many weeks of rehab and lots of TLC, I noticed that Cali would do something unusual with her little head. She would quickly tilt it from side to side when she got excited or when she was playing. Much like you would see a bobble head bounce on a car's dashboard. Concerned, we took her back into the vet. She was diagnosed with brain damage from almost losing her life in the severe cold. Other than the occasional "bobble", as we like to call it, she lives a totally normal life and it doesn't affect her at all. The frostbite healed and even though she does have an autoimmune disease, she is now a happy, comfortable, and oh so loved house kitty and member of our family.
