Tom and Jerry’s Happy Tail Ending

Kashmire (previously Jerry)

Marie-Claire and her family were devastated when their beloved cat Cody went missing. After an exhaustive search they came to come to the realization that Cody was not likely to return and it came time to open up their home to another cat.

While on VOKRA’s website, Marie-Claire came across two bonded cats looking for a new home. After being adopted as kittens, Tom and Jerry were returned to VOKRA and they were quite stressed from the change in environment. The bonded siblings were six years old at the time and waiting for that special someone to come along.

Marie-Claire went to visit Tom and Jerry in their foster home. “I had fallen in love with them at first sight and I was so lonely without Cody that I couldn’t wait to have them come home with me,” said Marie-Claire. “We came back the next day to pick them up.”

Boxer (previously Tom)

After some vet care, patience and a lot of love, Tom and Jerry (now Boxer and Kashmire) are fully part of the family and living the pampered housecat dream. “It wasn’t long before they both slept with us, one of either side of me (I am never cold),” said Marie-Claire.

Boxer and Kashmire have become well-seasoned travelers, accompanying Marie-Claire and her family when they travel down south for the winter. They spend their days “helping” Marie-Claire and her family while they work in the home office. Marie–Claire says the kitties are, “very social and always join us when we entertain.”

We’re so glad Boxer and Kashmire have settled in and are so comfortable around people again. Thank you Marie-Claire for giving these sweet cats a second chance at a happy home!

Would you like to share your Happy Tail? Email us at [email protected].

Post written by Kim C.

Volunteer of the Month – July 2017

Dania with one of her kitties, Mouse

On the heels of celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday, we’d like to celebrate our Volunteer of the Month for July, Dania Sheldon!

Dania discovered VOKRA when she rescued a cat who had been abandoned in a burning apartment; the humans had an illegal grow-op and left her there when an electrical fire started. She thought the cat might like company, so she looked online for options. It seemed to her VOKRA was a good fit as the foster system seemed a much better approach to cats’ welfare than the shelter model. Dania also had previous experience of caring for unweaned orphaned kittens. She has been volunteering with VOKRA since 2005, when she adopted her first three bottle-feeders who had been discovered in a bag in a dumpster.

With Maximus and Thumbelina

Before moving to Gabriola Island, Dania was involved in the day-to-day running of VOKRA as the operations manager. She was in charge of many tasks, such as cat care, bringing kitties to new foster homes, picking up and delivering supplies, fundraising and developing publications such as our Mewsletter and annual VOKRA calendar. Since moving to Gabriola, she’s continued with the calendar through to the 2017 issue, along with facilitating and coordinating the adoptions of VOKRA cats who require safe indoor/outdoor homes that can be found on Gabriola. Dania also represents VOKRA on the Rescue Roundtable, which is a coalition of no-kill rescue groups in  southern BC, sharing education, experience and contacts to achieve the best possible outcomes for animals in need.

“My favourite part of volunteering is spending one-on-one time with cats, particularly those who are shy, frightened, semi-feral or otherwise in need of particular consideration and care,” says Dania. “There is nothing more absorbing, for me, than being entirely focused upon another being and trying to provide whatever will soothe their anxiety. If this means sitting in a room for hours at a time, pretending not to notice a cat while s/he assesses me, I’m up for it. What’s more amazing than the feeling you experience when a once terrified, wary cat decides to trust you? Nothing. That’s the best.”

We’re grateful for all the hard work Dania has put into volunteering with our organization for the past 12 years. She’s helped VOKRA grow and improved the lives of countless kittens and cats. A favourite story that has stuck with her is told below by Dania:

“A little male tabby kitten had been born with his rear left leg significantly shorter than the others. He required ongoing physio, as he also had some spinal deformity either due to or concurrent with the stunted limb. Given his need for indefinite specialized care, it could have been difficult to find him a home, but a family in which the parents were physios heard about him and were interested. As it happened, their boy had a similar condition with one of his legs. His name was Keegan, and he fell in love with this kitten, whom he named Keegan. VOKRA received a note from the mum, who said that this little cat had completely transformed her son’s life; his whole demeanour had changed now that he’d found his buddy, whom he talked to and hung out with all the time and kept up to date on daily events.”

With Lua, a kitty who survived a spinal cord injury. Dania’s written a book about Lua and you can learn all about it here

We thank Dania for helping with the rescue and rehabilitation of cats for the past 12 years and we’re sure the kitties she has saved thank her too.

“There would be no VOKRA if Dania had not stuck with me in my basement in 2005,” say Karen Duncan, co-founder of VOKRA. “We were pretty well done, overwhelmed by the numbers coming in. It was only through her determination and ability to get things sorted and written that we were able to pull through. We were sure we pulled it off with our wonderful glass magic wands which we zipped out every time we ran into a new impossible problem, waving them with desperate hope to find answers. We shared so many tears and much hysterical laughter over this time, and have been great friends ever since.”

Karen sums up our gratitude to Dania pretty well, so we just want to acknowledge and give thanks for every single ounce of work Dania has put into this organization. You have helped VOKRA take off and we couldn’t be happier to have you on our team!

Post written by Aurora C.

As a 100% volunteer-driven non-profit, we clearly couldn’t do what we do without our extremely dedicated and hard working team of volunteers. THANK YOU!

If you’re interested in volunteering with us visit our website at vokra.ca/volunteer.

We’re Walking for the Kitties!

WALL-E’s a typical feisty kitten who loves to run, jump and play. Except for one thing, he now only has three legs.

We were first alerted about WALL-E when we saw an advertisement for a kitten with a broken leg. Obviously we were very concerned so we checked things out and ended up taking him in when he was 8 weeks old. WALL-E’s left hind leg had clearly been broken at some point and had healed in a backwards position.

Here you can see WALL-E’s backwards hind leg

WALL-E didn’t let his leg slow him down one bit, but it was clear something would need to be done. After consulting with a veterinarian it was decided the leg had to be removed.

Today WALL-E’s recovering from his surgery and his foster mom Dawn is trying her best to slow him down. Sometimes she even succeeds! Soon his stitches will come out and he’ll be on his way to finding a forever home.

Kittens like WALL-E are just one of the thousands of reasons why we Walk for the Kitties.

Each year, VOKRA rescues more than 1,400 homeless cats and kittens from around the Lower Mainland. Unlike many other animal rescue groups, VOKRA is a volunteer-driven, no-kill organization. Our work is made possible through the generous support of volunteers, adopters and people like you.

Without your support we wouldn’t be able to pay for the veterinary care kittens like WALL-E need. Please help us help kitties like WALL-E this September 17 by joining us for Walk for the Kitties, presented by FirstMate.

Eventbrite - VOKRA Walk for the Kitties 2017

Walk for the Kitties is our largest fundraising event of the year. This 5k fun walk takes place at Jericho Beach and all funds raised go directly towards supporting our rescue efforts. Learn more here.

Can’t make it on September 17? You can still donate today!