Purrfect Pals volunteers traveled to New Orleans to help at a rescue facility set up by Pasado’s Safe Haven and ended up bringing back three dozen cats made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Among the cats they brought back were two mom kitties and their litters, all born on the day that Hurricane Katrina hit. The mamas were named Katrina and Rita in acknowledgement of the devastating natural disasters.
After the kitties came to the northwest, there was much hard work left for our staff and volunteers. Many were very sick from their experiences. Despite the best foster care possible, several of the kittens died, their little bodies never quite recovering from the horrible ordeal of the first few weeks of their lives. Other kitties stayed in intensive care and medical isolation at Purrfect Pals while they recovered from a whole host a maladies picked up in the swampy, wet atmosphere of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Pasado’s Safe Haven worked hard to identify as many of the original owners of the relocated pets as possible, and we were thrilled when the family of three of the kitties, Brennan (pictured here), Carondelet, and Emeril, was located two months later. Using a special donation program to pay for return flights, we were able to return the kitties to New Orleans for a very happy reunion with a family who had lost everything but missed their beloved kitties most.