Every Cat has a story. If you’re a feral, abandoned, seriously injured cat or kitten or a feline member of one of the many homeless encampments around Rio Linda and you found medical help or got spayed or neutered, it was likely through the loving hands at Rio Linda FERAL Help Group. RLFHG helps feral, community, and abandoned sick or injured cats and kittens not only in Rio Linda, but in Elverta, North Highlands, Antelope, Del Paso, and surrounding areas. Their outreach to the local homeless camps helps insure kitties there are spayed or neutered, and healthy. The truth is, no injured cat is turned away. Most recently, RLFHG has jumped in where other public shelters have closed their doors because of COVID. Harvey, a big red fluffy kitty, was found with extensive face and neck injuries. The local shelter thought he was feral and planned to euthanize him. RLFHG took Harvey under their wing, paid for his surgery and medical care, and nursed him to health so he could be adopted by a loving family. Then there is Theo, who was found after being trapped in a storm drain for weeks. When rescued, he had mangled back legs and was thought to have been hit by a car. They thought this scared, injured boy would lose both legs, but he was brought to RLFHG who got him top veterinary care; only one leg was amputated! RLFHG nursed Theo back to health and he now lives happily with a volunteer who found him the love of her life. Just this past July RLFHG responded to a home that had been reported abandoned with cats and kittens starving on the property. When RLFHG arrived, it was a scene most of us would turn from. Sadly, 5 kittens had already perished. Many of the remaining kitties had respiratory infections, and all of them had serious cases of ringworm; in these times of COVID, most shelters euthanize ringworm cats because of lack of room, but RLFHG immediately rescued 9 cats and 15 kittens and build a special isolation catio for them all. They treated the ringworm kitties with medication consistently for 6 weeks, always using isolation procedures to protect other animals. To date, all of these kitties are cured, vaccinated and fixed, and all but 6 have found their furever homes; these are just a few of the many success stories at RLFHG. RLFHG takes in litters and litters of kittens, pregnant cats, sick, injured, or abused cats. In the last year alone, RLFHG has helped over 600 cats and kittens. They feed them, treat the sick and injured, bottle feed orphans, and pay for veterinary care. They lovingly tame the kittens so they can go to loving families and not live the hard life of their parents. Not one leaves without being spayed or neutered, and all are found a home right for them, whether it be as an indoor cat, a barn or garden kitty, or a feral returned to their colony. RLFHG has weekly adoption events, vetting families to insure their cats go to loving, safe homes. RLFHG can do so much more if they win this grant; they can rescue and treat more, shelter more, educate the public more, and bring a FRESH START to the lives of cats and kittens who need us most.
