Mango should be the poster child/cat for feral adoption! I volunteer for Forgotten Felines, a feral cat rescue group in Alabama. This handsome, super loving orange boy caught my heart and we adopted him 2 years ago. Mango was a tear you up/hate people feral who was causing a nuisance in a neighborhood and Forgotten Felines was called. He was trapped, neutered, his left ear tipped so he could be identified as a "managed cat" and returned to his area (TNR -Trap, neuter, return) where a volunteer caretaker fed and looked after the colony daily. Six years later he was re-trapped in an effort to move cats from a McDonald's where the manager threatened to kill the cat colony. From having to wear hawk handling gloves to even get near the cage, Mango smartly decided that staying inside where it was warm, with good food and lots of attention was much better than being on his own outside. He gentled up quickly and became very demanding for love, head butting you if not paying enough attention.
Mango loves everyone and is the picture of health, although he has a serious heart disease and a bullet in him from his days on the street.
Now he gets excellent health care and we hope to keep him a long happy time. He runs everywhere - we call him The Orange Flash and he hums as he flies by. He is so happy to be an indoor, adored Hickam cat! Our China, Maxx, and Flopsy are rescues also. It seems like the down-on their luck shelter rescued cats know and appreciate that they have another chance. They make wonderful pets, please give them a chance for their forever home inside where it is safe! My thanks to the many volunteers who do this work, for the good of the kitties.
© Linda Hickam
Although Forgotten Felines doesn't have a shelter yet, adoptions from cat rescue groups certainly fit in the spirit of the Shelter Cat Adoption Success Gallery. Many of these groups actually get their cats from "kill" shelters, often snatching them from the jaws of certain death.
You may submit your own adopted shelter cat photo and story by following the Photo Submittal Guidelines. Be sure to use "Adopted Shelter Cat" as the subject of your email.
