Wendy's Place Cat Rescue

22/08/2024

Do you know who we are???

These 2 sweet cats, currently affectionately known as “The Orange Dudes”, have been hanging around our property for a couple of weeks. We live in an area where quite a few people have outdoor cats, so we were hoping they were pets and they’d find their way home. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened and apparently they both think they live here now.

The first picture is Original Orange Dude. He showed up here with his friend- a tabby with a fluffy tail. The tabby wanders the neighborhood though, and doesn’t stay here. I haven’t been able to get a picture of her. I’m positive that these 2 know each other and wouldn’t be surprised if they came from the same place. Original Orange Dude appears to be around a year old, and I’m 90% sure that he’s neutered.

The 2nd picture is New Orange Dude. He showed up on his own, immediately acted like he’s always lived here, and hasn’t left. He looks to be under a year old and is definitely not neutered.

Both boys are 2 of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met. New Orange Dude even likes belly rubs. They both seem to fully understand what “inside” is and they desperately want to go there.

We’re currently doing our due diligence in trying to figure out if these guys have a home. Yes, we’ve contacted SVASC to report them as found pets. If they aren’t claimed within 2 weeks, they’ll be fully vetted and listed for adoption with us. **If one of these sweet boys is your cat, proof of ownership will be required to reclaim him.**

This is also a good time to remind everyone that dumping cats is ILLEGAL and we do have cameras on our property. We are NOT taking in any new cats right now. We’re overcrowded, under funded and lacking extra time in our days. We simply don’t have the means to take more on right now. We understand there’s an unmanageable number of cats and kittens out there that need help. I encourage everyone to look into ways that you can help as an individual.

21/07/2024

You can’t see her, but I promise she’s in that carrier. Here’s Grace O’Malley on her way to her ! Thank you Louisa for welcoming this little pirate girl into your home!

15/07/2024

This post is about 2 months overdue, but our tiny kitten sized pirate girl Grace O’Malley found her back in May!

13/07/2024

Head on down to Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe! You can support Wendy’s Place while also supporting a local small business! And aren’t these Drats adorable? ❤️🐉

12/07/2024

When you’re just trying to look cute for a picture but your sibling wants to bite you.

08/07/2024

Check this out! You can support Wendy’s Place and the AND a local small business at the same time! Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe is selling Drat sticker packs and $2 of every purchase goes to Wendy’s Place.

Last month they raised $60 for us between their plush Drats (sold out) and the stickers. This month they’ve already raised $28 for us! 🐉 🐈 🐉 🐈‍⬛ 🐉

In our continuing support of Wendy's Place Cat Rescue we are delighted to introduce Sleeping Drats mystery sticker packs.

Original artwork by Dani Dakota.

Each pack includes 5 different stickers, 12 variations available.

$3.00 each, $2.00 donated directly to Wendy's Place Cat Place.

07/07/2024

The last, but certainly not least, of the is Deena the Dragonette.

A quick explanation about their names: We loved their dragon names that they arrived with. But as we got to know them more, there were minor issues like Drake sounding too masculine for the dainty princess that Diamond the Drake is. On the flip side though, everything about Dragonette just screams “my name is Dragonette”.

Dragonette isn’t a name with a complicated definition. It just means tiny dragon. And our Deena the Dragonette is indeed a tiny, spicy, little spitfire who would be breathing actual fire if she could. She’s the runt of the litter, and still remains significantly smaller than her siblings today. She’ll never willingly let you know that she’s a runt though. She tiny in size, but ginormous in personality and attitude.

Dragonette is a sweet little girl, who loves human attention. But she’s more likely to stomp around on your lap rather than sit still in it. She’s the hardest one to get a clear picture of because she never stops moving. She’s extremely food motivated and is always the first one to the food and the last one to finish eating. She’ll stroll around with a visibly full belly while she lies to you and tells you that she hasn’t eaten anything. She’s cute and playful and we can’t wait to see how her personality develops as she grows.

(These pictures are a month old, so keep that in mind. The Drats are around 10 weeks old now and I’m trying to catch up here. I’ll post updated pictures soon.)

**The DratPackKittens are NOT yet available for adoption. We’ll let you know when they are.**

Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe

06/07/2024

Next up of the is Willa the Wyrm! Willa is…a LOT. She’s a tiny cat who makes up for her size with energy and personality for days!

This is a kitten who will get into EVERYTHING and will likely need to go to a home that’s been completely cat-proofed. If you can climb into it, climb on top of it, jump over it, climb up it, dig your claws into it, scratch it up, get stuck in it, chew/eat it, make a mess of it, etc etc etc — Willa will be there figuring it out.

We’ve noticed that she “practices” things as she figures stuff out. She’ll do something over and over until she gets it right. Sometimes this means she’s learning how to jump over an obstacle in her way on the floor. Sometimes it means she’s learning how to leap from the floor onto a human shoulder while that human is standing up. Once she figures it out, she’ll move onto the next interesting challenge.

Willa is probably the most personable of the bunch. She seeks human attention and will bite at us if we don’t provide that attention immediately. She’s lucky that she’s sweet and adorable, otherwise she’d drive us crazy! We’re looking forward to moving her into the space with the bigger cats soon, with the hope that they’ll manage to teach her some manners.

Today’s dragon lesson: a Wyrm is a dragon or dragon-like creature with no legs and no wings that has the appearance of a worm or a snake. A sea serpent is considered a wyrm.

(These pictures are a month old, so keep that in mind. The Drats are around 10 weeks old now and I’m trying to catch up here. I’ll post updated pictures soon.)

**The DratPackKittens are NOT yet available for adoption. We’ll let you know when they are.**

Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe

05/07/2024

Next up in the intros is Betty the Basilisk!

Betty the Basilisk has all the you’d expect her to have, but she’s full of sweetness too. She purrs more than any of her siblings. Betty is an explorer, and she’s extremely smart. She was the first of the group to figure out how to use a cardboard scratcher, the first to figure out how to climb, the first to do pretty much everything. In the room these littles are currently in, we have an old mattress set that’s been leaning against a wall for years now. Betty was not only the first to figure out how to get to the top, she was also the first to figure out how to climb back down - something no other kitten has ever figured out in this history of those mattresses.

Betty’s favorite toys are sparkly puff balls, and her favorite color seems to be red. Whoever eventually adopts Betty will have to have an endless supply of these balls. She likes to bring them to us, and we’re hoping that she’ll learn how to play fetch with them.

Betty loves people. The purrs will start as soon as someone touches her. But she’s more interested in playing than cuddling. We think as she grows she’ll remain personable, but she doesn’t seem to have a lap cat personality.

Dragon fact of the day: What is a Basilisk? The internet tells us that a Basilisk is a mythical creature in European legends, commonly depicted as a serpent-like beast that can turn people into stone when they look into its eyes, and can wither plants with its breath. In the natural world, there are several species of lizards native to Central and South America called basilisks.

(These pictures are a month old, so keep that in mind. The Drats are around 10 weeks old now and I’m trying to catch up here. I’ll post updated pictures soon.)

**The DratPackKittens are NOT yet available for adoption. We’ll let you know when they are.**

Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe

04/07/2024

Decided to introduce the in size order (biggest to smallest). Next up, meet Diamond the Drake! Miss Diamond is actually the reason why we added names to their given dragon names. Diamond is a dainty little princess who does life with much more caution than any of her siblings. Drake honestly sounded too masculine to fit her personality.

Diamond is a sweet little girl, who loves attention, but also loves to get lost in her own little world. While she loves to snuggle with her siblings, she’s more likely to be found playing by herself while the others run wild. She’s very chilled out and is the least likely to get into something she shouldn’t.

If you’ve followed us for a while, she reminds us so much of Sylvester from : sweet, chill, full of love, and absolutely adorable. How can you not love her fancy little tuxedo?

Dragon lesson of the day: the internet tells us that Drake was originally just the Teutonic word for dragon. But J.R.R. Tolkien took the term further, to describe creatures in Middle Earth that were like dragons, but smaller, lesser creatures. Modern authors generally agree that drakes have 4 legs, but no wings. Apparently, in the natural world, a Komodo dragon is considered to be a drake.

(These pictures are a month old, so keep that in mind. The Drats are around 10 weeks old now and I’m trying to catch up here. I’ll post updated pictures soon.)

**The DratPackKittens are NOT yet available for adoption. We’ll let you know when they are.**

Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe

03/07/2024

It’s time to meet all of the ! First up is Wyatt the Wyvern.

Wyatt is the only male of the bunch. He’s the biggest one and he’s the spokesman of the group. When these little ones first arrived, Wyatt was extremely hissy and angry. He stood in front of his sisters and loudly let us know that they weren’t happy about this new arrangement, and how dare we try to touch any of his sisters. Thankfully, it took him only a day to understand that we had food, and food made him happy and friendly. He also melts into cheek scratches. His hisses have turned into endless purrs now that he’s learned that he absolutely loves human attention.

As we learn about dragons while caring for these Drats we’ll share that knowledge with you. And so, what is a Wyvern? According to Wikipedia: The Wyvern is a type of mythical dragon with two legs, two wings, and often a pointed tail which is said to be a venomous stinger. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada). It is a popular creature in European literature, mythology, and folklore. The wyvern in heraldry and folklore is rarely fire-breathing, unlike other dragons.

(These pictures are a month old, so keep that in mind. The Drats are around 10 weeks old now and I’m trying to catch up here. I’ll post updated pictures soon.)

Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe

25/06/2024

Meet the ! This is an extremely overdue post as these little ones arrived here on May 25 and these pictures were taken on June 9 when they were around 6 weeks old. If you don’t know what a Drat is, check out the Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton and Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe for more information on these cat sized dragons! The wonderful people who run those local businesses are the ones who found these kittens.

The Drats arrived here when they were somewhere between 4-5 weeks old. We have 4 girls and 1 boy. They came with dragon names that we’ve updated a bit by adding to them, but they still have their original names that we’ll share in upcoming posts. I can say that we’ve learned a lot about dragons over the last couple of weeks as we read up on their given names!

We had to clear up some goopy eyes and some congested noses, but otherwise, these guys seem pretty healthy.

The Drat Pack is NOT available for adoption yet. Please don’t send us messages asking to adopt them. We’ll let you all know when they’re ready to find their furever homes. They’ve seen a vet for an initial exam but still need to be fully vetted and spayed/neutered before they can be adopted.

Stay tuned for individual introductions over the next several days!

14/06/2024

We took in some new kittens a few weeks ago that I haven’t had a chance to introduce yet. So let this be a brief introduction to our ! The wonderful people who own the Medieval Fantasies Company Gyfte Shoppe and who run the Dragon Preservation Society of Staunton found 5 little Drats (domestic, cat sized dragons) that they brought to us. I’m hoping to have their introduction photos posted by the end of this weekend!

In the meantime, check out these new Drats that they have available for adoption in their store. As you can see from these photos, these adoptable Drats looks very, very similar to the real live Drats currently in our care!

09/06/2024

Over the years of hosting tea events we’ve had many people ask us if we ever do a tea for Father’s Day. The answer until now, was no. This year we’re trying something new and inviting you all to join us at the for tea on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16.

Tea is $20 per person and includes;
~Your choice of tea (hot or iced), coffee, or hot chocolate
~3 courses of light eats
~The chance to meet and interact with the adoptable cats at Wendy’s Place Cat Rescue.

Reservations are recommended, but not required, and can be made via Ticket Tailor (link in bio) or by calling 540-885-4220.

All proceeds benefit Wendy’s Place Cat Rescue.

07/06/2024

Charlie Chaplin says THANK YOU to everyone who donated to his birthday fundraiser! He was very excited about his wishlist deliveries and I say that completely seriously. He knows what Churus look like and he gets very excited when he sees them!

We’ll be thanking all donators individually, but we don’t know who sent some of the items. Chewy doesn’t tell us who a donation came from. If you sent us the litter and 2 boxes of food from our Chewy wishlist please let us know so we can say thank you!

You can still donate to Charlie’s birthday fundraiser for a little while longer. You can donate via PayPal or Venmo. Or by choosing an item from our Amazon and Chewy wishlists. All links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/WendysPlace

Charlie also wants to let you know that we’ll be hosting tea at the on Father’s Day, June 16th. All proceeds benefit Wendy’s Place. Info can be found on our page, and I’ll have the info in the link in our bio here on Instagram shortly.

21/05/2024

Instagram vs Reality. 52634 attempts later, Charlie isn’t sitting on the chair like I wanted him to be, but he’s looking right at the camera, and he’s mostly clear, so I’ll take it. Swipe to see what most of my photo attempts look like.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us celebrate Charlie’s 1st birthday by donating to his fundraiser, sending him gifts from his Amazon wishlist, or by visiting him on his birthday this past Sunday! We couldn’t do this without your continued support. We appreciate all of you so much!

Charlie’s fundraiser will run for another couple of weeks. Your donations help us pay for Charlie’s continued medical care and everyday needs. We also have many other cats in our care with constant expenses (Severus is heading to the vet today for a full workup), and support from our followers is essential for keeping our organization running. Links to donate money or items from our wishlists can be found here: https://linktr.ee/WendysPlace Thank you all for everything!

20/05/2024

18/05/2024

**Don’t forget that Sunday, May 19th, we’re having an open house in honor of Charlie Chaplin’s 1st birthday. Swing by to meet Charlie,and wish him a Happy Birthday, between 1pm-3pm! Grab some free cake and visit our main cat room too. We’ll also be giving short tours of the Frederick House for anyone interested in seeing what we have to offer here.**

Charlie Chaplin Appreciation Post #4: There’s a lot going on in Staunton right now so we’ve been super busy at the Frederick House and I’ve fallen behind on our Happy 1st Birthday Charlie posts. It’s almost midnight on a Friday, and therefore not even close to being , but I just took this picture a few minutes ago and decided that a whisker appreciation post was necessary. Personally, I’m a fan of his eyelashes 😻.

We’re running a birthday fundraiser for little Charlie! You can donate through our Instagram account, or via PayPal or Venmo. We also have an Amazon and Chewy wishlist. All links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/WendysPlace The Amazon wishlist has been rearranged to make sure that Charlie specific items show up first. The SwheatScoop litter, Blue Buffalo canned food, and Churus are things that we use specifically for Charlie. However, everything else on the list is also needed for the rest of the cats in our care!

14/05/2024

Day 2 celebrating Charlie is ! Charlie ate his first when he was hospitalized in July ‘23. Apparently, they fed him lots of Churus while he was there & he loved them. Thinking that he didn’t have much longer to live, we decided to spoil him & feed him all the Churus he could eat, in all the different flavors. Fortunately, he continued to live. Unfortunately, we created a Churu monster in the process. He now begs for the treats and refuses to eat his regular food unless he gets a Churu first. And honestly, it’s adorable. We still spoil him because he just deserves to be spoiled!

As for health updates, we have amazing news!! If you’ve been following along, back in December Charlie was retested for Feline Leukemia (FeLV) & to our surprise he tested negative! Admittedly, we didn’t trust that test result. We had hope, but we were still suspicious about it. We patiently waited a few months & then retested him again with an IFA test (more reliable than a SNAP test). We’re absolutely shocked to tell you all that the IFA test also came back NEGATIVE!

There’s an extremely likely possibility that his body has fought off the FeLV infection. But we’re absolutely shocked! He was so sick in July, & IFA tests indicate that the virus is in the bone marrow. It’s not remnants of the antibodies leftover from his mom. His original IFA test was positive. The most likely scenario is that he has a regressive FeLV infection. His body MAY have completely rid itself of the virus, but a regressive infection is more likely. This is still great news though as cats with regressive infections can go their entire lives without the virus ever becoming active again. And being negative on the IFA test means he isn’t shedding the virus and isn’t contagious to other cats. We’re going to do one more round of testing in a few months & then accept whatever that result is.

Charlie is still positive for FIV, but we’d much rather deal with that than with FeLV. He also has some small things off in his bloodwork that we need to figure out, along with tapering down the dose of steroids that he’s currently on. So we’re still in the process of getting all of his medical issues sorted out and managed, but his negative IFA test is the newest development and the best news we could have gotten about him at this point! We’ve talked to vets, and to a few sanctuaries for FeLV cats and it does seem that this is extremely rare. While HEALTHY asymptomatic kittens might fight off the virus at a young age, Charlie wasn’t healthy and he was definitely symptomatic. He’s stumped a lot of people. If anyone seeing this post has ever experienced a turn around like this with an FeLV cat, we’d love it if you’d reach out to talk with us. We still have a lot of questions and would love to hear about other experiences like this out there.

You can donate to Charlie’s birthday fundraiser through the link on our Instagram page or via Venmo or PayPal. You can also choose something from our Amazon or Chewy wishlists. All links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/WendysPlace

13/05/2024

Join us on Sunday, May 19 any time between 1pm-3pm to celebrate with us! This is the milestone we never could have dreamed we’d see! Our little Charlie Chaplin will celebrate his first birthday in a week! This little miracle kitten, who was on the brink of death when he was only 10 weeks old, has surpassed expectations, shocking both us and the vets who treated him by his survival story!

We don’t know the exact day that he was born, but we decided that May 19 is a good estimate.

Therefore, on Sunday, May 19, we’ll be having a birthday party and open house to celebrate this miracle kitten! Charlie doesn’t live with our other cats at the moment, so he rarely gets visitors. On Sunday, you can swing by to meet Charlie in his own space, eat some free cake, and visit our cat room. We’ll also be giving short tours of the Frederick House to anyone interested in seeing what we have to offer here.

We’ve set up a birthday fundraiser for Charlie. If you’d like to donate to his ongoing care, you can donate through the link in our Instagram post, or via PayPal or Venmo. We also have an Amazon and Chewy wishlist. We’ve rearranged the Amazon list to make sure that the specific items Charlie uses are at the top of the list. All links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/WendysPlace You’re also welcome to drop off any donations at the Frederick House if you’re local.

Stay tuned as we feature Charlie all week long. We have some exciting updates about his health that we’ll share in our next post!

06/05/2024

I’m a firm believer that feral cats aren’t lost causes. From experience, I know that not all ferals will become lovable lap cats. But I do believe that given time, feral cats will calm down and trust the humans who care for them. You may never be able to touch them, but they’ll understand that you provide food and shelter. On the flip side, I’ve seen quite a few ferals become friendly, lap cats.

I need to check our records, because off the top of my head, I honestly don’t remember how long ago we took Gigi in. I think it’s been about 4 years. Gigi is an old lady, probably 12-14 years old, who’s had most of her teeth removed. And Gigi was an ANGRY feral when she first came here. After years of trying to untangle her constantly matted fur with a brush on a long stick and sedating her to have her professionally shaved a couple times, Gigi woke up one magical day and decided that she liked us. For about 2 years now, Ross has been able to pet her. She definitely prefers him because It’s only been about a year for me. We still struggle to brush her, but at least the long stick isn’t needed anymore. (And she still gets feisty and causes us to bleed at least once a week.)

Just this past week, we’ve had another advancement in the world of Gigi’s socialization journey. The cat who once wanted to kill me, the cat who has left more bloody scratches on me than I could possibly count…has now taken to sitting on my foot while I get her food ready.

While this may not be overly exciting for friendly cats, this is definitely an odd, yet welcome milestone for Gigi. We might just become best friends one of these days after all!

Gigi is one of our sanctuary cats, who is currently deemed unadoptable. However, we’re open to discussing adoption with someone who understands her behavior and has experience with feral cats.