Kitty Angels Saves 600 Cats Per Year

There’s no meow about it: for over 30 years, Kitty Angels has been a blessing to over 600 cats per year throughout Southern New Hampshire and Eastern Massachusetts. This purr-fect, ”no-kill” feline charity is dedicated to taking in stray and abandoned cats and kittens and placing them in loving homes. They also care for feral colonies, supplying cats with food, water and shelter. “Some feral cats show promise for socializing and we place those for adoption if it works out. Feral cats need extra attention, but the rewards can be spectacular,” said Steve Lionel, Webmaster for Kitty Angels.

Hello! I’m Felicia, a “love bug” who was adopted out as a kitten and was returned because my owner moved and couldn’t take me along. I’ve been an “only cat” and would prefer to keep it that way.Steve first became involved with Kitty Angels in 1997 after he and his wife adopted two cats. “At the time I was learning how to create websites and I offered to create one for Kitty Angels. I posted photos of adoptable cats and kittens, which also meant taking pictures of the cats. Of course, taking photos of cats meant that I saw a lot of them, and some of them would end up coming home with me. In fact, we adopted two more just within the past month, making them the 11th and 12th cats we have adopted from Kitty Angels over the past 21 years.” Joan Abbott, Kitty Angels Co-founder and Director, said she was surprised when she first moved to Tyngsboro, MA and found there was no local shelter for animals. “I had always loved animals and was constantly bringing home every stray cat I encountered—even as an adult.  This led to a problem: the number of animals living with me had reached epic proportions and all my friends and relatives had already been persuaded into adopting animals from me. I needed to find a way to place the endless stream of homeless cats I encountered,” said Abbott. As a result, Abbott responded to a local ad that was seeking homes for stray cats, and through this met another passionate rescuer, a former president of a Humane Society. “She would often bring the overflow back to her house and adopt them out under the name of ‘Kitty Angels.’  We joined forces, organized the necessary paperwork, and adopted her name of Kitty Angels for our combined shelter. Shortly after we organized, she moved out of state, but is still running a shelter of her own.”

Hi, there! I’m Franklin, and I’m looking for a loving home with lots of space for me to add love to my “forever family”.Abbot says that it is crucially important to spay or neuter cats to reduce cat overpopulation. Cats allowed to roam outdoors tend to have a much shorter lifespan than cats living indoors, since outdoor cats get lost, hit by cars, attacked by wild animals, catch diseases from other cats, and are even sometimes abused by humans. “We have treated cats shot with arrows, poisoned, pelted with rocks and worse,” said Abbott. It is for these reasons that Kitty Angels and its many volunteers work tirelessly to rehome cats and kittens, feed feral colonies, and check traps. Placing cats into loving new homes is something that is taken seriously at Kitty Angels. Potential owners are asked to fill out a questionnaire and a contract that specifies such things as cats not being allowed outdoors, not being declawed, and that the cat will be returned to Kitty Angels if it can no longer be cared for.

My name is Mowser and I am a gorgeous Tortie girl – at least I will be once my fur grows back from where it was shaved because it was so matted from living outside! I’m shy but enjoy being petted. Everything is a bit new to me right now, but I should settle in nicely over time.“We check vet and personal references and may do a home visit. This is to ensure that you are capable of caring for the cat over its expected lifetime (which may be 20 years or even more),” said Abbott. The current adoption fee is $135, which helps to pay for spaying and neutering, vaccinations, microchipping, and other types of medical care. Adoptable cats can be viewed on the Kitty Angels website at: www.kittyangels.org. The site also hosts an annual newsletter with helpful information for cat owners. Kitty Angels hosts adoption days on most Saturdays at Petsmart in South Nashua, from 11 AM to 4 PM, which is a great way to meet a selection of available cats. “We ask that you bring as much of your family as possible so that everyone can be sure that the cat and your family are compatible,” said Abbott. Donations are always in high demand—money, food, towels, litter and other items—and a list of needed items is available on the Kitty Angels website. “If you shop online, consider doing so through the links on our site (one for Amazon and one for iGive that works for hundreds of other online stores). The Amazon link is particularly helpful for us. We get a percentage of your purchase price and it doesn’t cost you anything extra,” said Abbott. We wish this paw-some organization the best of luck, and hope that we’ve purr-suaded you to check them out today!