Satchmo

"Satchmo" is a wonderful, handsome big black panther-like boy who has found Niverna!

He is living in an absolutely fabulous home with many people around who dote on him and treat him like the prince that he is! He listens to classical music every evening, often serenaded with a violin by one of his "humans", while reclining under his enormous gazebo-like coffee table! It just doesn't get any better than this! What an incredible life for this very special guy!

Chauncey

"Chauncey" (now Desmond) is a very lucky young gray and white kitty! He was adopted by two married veterinarians and their 2 small sons.

He's an extremely gentle and intelligent kitty, just right for his new home, and has fit right in! His immediate adaptability has been so impressive, and everyone loves him dearly!

Babe – a F.U.R. Success Story!

Babe's experience with Susan and F.U.R. began, as most rescue stories do, in a most unfortunate way.

Babe was my mother's beloved kitty, whom she had adopted four years ago from the humane society while living in Atlanta GA. In 2006, Babe made the move with my mom up to Silver Spring, MD into a retirement community to be closer to my brother and his wife and son. Soon they had settled in quite nicely to their new space. My mother had proudly put her picture of Babe on the display case outside of her unit's door in the hallway – along with pictures of my brother and I, as she did not consider Babe just a kitty, he was one of her children!

In both GA and MD, Babe provided my mother with companionship, happiness, affection, entertainment, security, and love. And she did the same for him. He was a big furry teddy bear who had started off as a scraggly (and rather homely) rag-a-muffin kitten, growing from just a handful, to 15+ lbs in four years. My mother had seen the potential in this little (at the time) guy and both she and Babe had both just blossomed under their new found friendship filled with love and devotion.

In December of 2006, our mother had to undergo brain surgery – her third. Babe had already been placed in a kennel for what we thought would be a few weeks while my mother began her initial recovery. Mom's new life required many long, painful hours of physical and occupational therapy, learning to use her arms and legs again. "Getting home to Babe" was her dangling carrot - one of her primary motivations in sticking with her challenging program and starting to see progress. He was what helped her to persevere through those tough first weeks. You see, in the midst of starting her life back over again, my mother worried constantly about him being in the kennel, fearing that she had let him down and that her baby believed that HE had to start all over again too. It broke her heart.

And then came the very sad day that Babe DID have to start over again. In January of 2007 our mother passed away suddenly - unforeseen complications from the surgery. We were all at a loss….stunned, shocked, and completely distraught. As my brother and I started to put the pieces of our lives back together, we determined that he (with debilitating allergies) and I (with three less-than-agreeable cats already) could not offer suitable homes for Babe. As much as we wanted to fulfill our mothers wishes ourselves, we determined that ultimately, neither home would have been that peaceful "forever" home & family that mom would have wanted for Babe.

I had to head back to Boston where I lived and we decided to keep Babe in the kennel for the time being until we could figure out what to do. My brother and I tried word-of-mouth and fliers to find a home for Babe, but with no network or knowledge we were getting nowhere fast. Not only were wasting time, but without proper background checks or research on candidates, we were actually putting Babe in what could have been a very dangerous situation.

Thankfully, we were pointed in the direction of Susan and her organization - F.U.R. Immediately, she stepped up and offered her extensive services in helping us to place Babe in just the right spot. It seemed, miraculously, that for the second time in his life Babe had found another guardian angel. Four years after my mother rescued him, Susan and F.U.R. rescued him again.

From the get-go, this was a tremendous relief. Susan monitored the current kennel situation – determined Babe's comfort and care – looked for foster home alternatives for him in the event that he did become too stressed to stay in the kennel atmosphere. Her program was extremely thorough and complete. We had many lengthy conversations about Babe's personality and disposition, medical background, likes and dislikes…and what his relationship with my Mom had been like. The placement process was very thoughtful and considered every aspect of pet ownership – showing compassion for both the kitty AND the new family. Her concern (and her new nickname for him - Babelicious), meant to me that she "got it". She not only understood Babe, she also understood what this placement meant to my brother and me, and most importantly to my Mom. I knew from there on out that we could rest easy, we were in great hands.

Although I'm sure this was not included in Susan's far-reaching ad campaign for him, Mister Babe was a pretty persnickety fella. I'm sure he ranked at least a 7 or 8 on difficult placements. For instance, although Babe was a large as a wild raccoon, he was as skittish as a mouse…possibly even more. He was easily startled and would flee the scene at loud noises or quick movements, taking rugs, lamps, chairs with him if they were in his way…it was decided that Babe would do best in a quiet and peaceful environment, without children. And while his disposition was very sweet, he was shy and a very "slow warmer"….he would need an owner with patience to spare. Babe's coat of long-hair was daunting…he would need a new family with the time to groom. Babe was a little chubby….he would need someone who wasn't afraid to say no to big green eyes pleading for snacks. I was amazed at the empathy that went into these placements and that all of these quirks of Babe's were being taken, very seriously, into consideration.

As most things worth having, this took a little time, but the spirit and enthusiasm of her search never wavered. Several people came to meet Babe in his kennel situation and didn't feel a match. Babe was a little grouchy and very confused as to where his mom had gone and how exactly he had gotten into this noisy and bustling place. Susan checked on him frequently and called and emailed with updates on his mood and manner. Eventually her persistence and dedication to Babe's well-being paid off – a hundred fold. The day came when her update was an enthusiastic "I think we've found THE ONE!" and she was right…she had indeed found the perfect home and family for Babe.

Susan put me in touch with Gay, the woman who was considering adopting Babe – and I knew instantly that she would be a wonderful new mom for this kitty. Gay was inquisitive of his history, complimentary of his beautiful coat and precious face, curious about his personality and expressed genuine concern for our big boy – all the things a great mom would do. So it was done. Babe was going to live in a beautiful, serene home which doubled as a yoga studio – is there anything more peaceful than a yoga studio? Susan did a home visit and reported back that the environment was quiet, soothing, plenty of hiding nooks and big windows, and no loud noises. Babe's new family would consist of three loving, patient adult care-givers ready with big hearts, brushes to groom, and a no-nonsense approach to healthy eating to boot. Babe was finally going home.

At the end of this journey, I realized that I've seen lots of passions for money, material things, careers, advancement, and so on…but rarely do you come across something as good and as pure as the passions and efforts of the people who make up F.U.R. I am eternally grateful for the diligence, heart, determination, compassion and knowledge that was shown as we found THE PERFECT PLACE for Babe – one that, were she here to see it, would erase my mother's worries and make her heart whole.

In awe and sincerest appreciation for your work,

Kristi, Brett, Lucy (Mom), and Babe

Emmylou

We didn't know it at the time, but we were looking for Emmy.

Our beloved 19-year-old calico Quinn had recently passed away from a chronic degenerative kidney disease, leaving us and our male Siamese Templeton despondent. Knowing that we would eventually have to make such a decision, we had already agreed that Templeton would need another companion. And within a few weeks of losing our precious Quinn, I saw a poster for "Babe," a cat who needed a home, on a bulletin board in a local grocery store and figured the timing was just right.

Upon calling the contact number on the poster, I spoke with Susan about our situation and the fact that we were hoping to offer a home to Babe. To my initial dismay, Susan told me that Babe had been placed in a new home just days beforehand, but that if I was willing to tell her some more about our household and the personalities of the people and of course Templeton, she believed she had one or two other cats in her care she thought might be a good fit in our home.

So I described how Templeton and Quinn had been together for about three years; Quinn had come to us from my brother and his family after one of his daughters developed allergies, and Templeton was a rescue. They were about ten years apart in age, but Templeton found her presence comforting and they did play together when Quinn was able to summon the energy and interest. I assured Susan that Templeton was completely non-aggressive, although he a good-size cat, he mostly needed company and a playmate hopefully closer to his own age.

Susan then told me about Emmylou – a female cat she had been fostering for quite a while, who needed just the right people and home situation. She described a sweet, timid, gentle-natured cat that would probably do well with another cat as long as the other cat was not an aggressive, domineering one. We couldn't wait to meet her, so we made arrangements to visit that weekend.

Susan runs Feline Urban Rescue, and she is truly devoted to finding just the right home for her fosters. We met Emmy, who was indeed a very shy but beautiful grey/brown tabby with sea foam-colored eyes and a teeny tiny meow. Emmy allowed us to pet her gently for a few minutes as we asked Susan about how we could best make a good, comfortable and comforting home for Emmy. Susan wanted to come see our home and cat-living arrangements, meet Templeton and get a feel for how she thought Emmy might like moving in with our family, and she came over the following day. I think after assuring herself that Templeton would not be an aggressive and/or territorial house mate, Susan told us she believed Emmy would indeed be happy in our home with us all.

We couldn't have been happier, and we made arrangements to have Emmy join our family the following weekend (mostly to give us time to get even more cat beds and toys). We didn't think Templeton would last much longer without a companion!

Emmy's introduction was slow, but she was so brave. She and Templeton came nose to nose on the first day, but she decided she felt most comfortable under a bed. We kept her food bowls, water dish and litter box where she could see them, and visited her room frequently so we could talk to her. Several times a day, we would lie down on the floor to reach under the bed to pet her or simply to see her beautiful face while we talked to her. We always knew she was eating – even if we didn't actually see her come out to do it. And she used her litter box without fail.

One morning, a few days after Emmy joined our household, I was getting ready for work and called her name as I always did, and she came head-and-shoulders out from under the bed! From then on her courage grew by leaps and bounds. She loves Templeton (and he, her). They play chase and love their catnip time. They both love chasing a laser light and carrying toy mice around the house in their mouth.

The very best part is that Emmy's youth and playfulness has healed Templeton's sadness and loneliness. Templeton's gentleness has helped heal Emmy's shyness. And having two happy, loving cats that make us laugh constantly has helped healed our grief over losing our beloved Quinn.

Emmylou is our little miracle. If Susan hadn't fostered and nurtured her and kept her for us, we wouldn't have her sweet little soul in our family right now. And that would be our loss indeed.

Read about Emmy's success story in her own words

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