Everyone keeps telling me I need to tell y’all about myself so here it goes.
My name is Kristen Petroff. I am the founder of Furever Feline Cat Rescue.
California: In 1976 when my parents divorced, my mother remarried and bought a small farm in Hidden Hills. Horses, a cow, sheep, a goat, chickens, geese, and a pig. Add in a few dogs and cats.
My mother taught me to rescue. The first animal Mom rescued, that I saw, was a cow on the 101 freeway. It was going in the wrong direction.
The Founder and her prized goose.
The Founder and Hope the Cat
Not my cow.
Gorgeous White Cat at Grandmas
Billy and Baxter Bunny
Cats growing up were outdoors. We were on a farm. The cats stayed put, we didn’t worry about diseases.
Fast forward to when I was pregnant, and my first rescue cat found me. She was a gorgeous white cat that ended up living in luxury at my grandma’s house.
I have dumped a cat myself. I take responsibility. It has plagued me for more than 3 decades. It happened in Minnesota as I was leaving/running home to California. It was NOT my choice. But it was my responsibility.
Years later, my first husband and I went to the pet store, as we did in the day, and got a bunny, then one more, both boys. Let me tell you I was not prepared. We learned all about bunnies the hard way.
I got it. I woke up.
We started protesting bunnies being sold at pet stores. Billy and Baxter stayed with us until they took off for the Rainbow Bridge. At one point I had 12 rescue bunnies in my home.
But cats were always my passion and, as it turns out, I am horribly allergic to bunnies.
So, we adopted a kitten, who we named Hawk. After Tony Hawk because my kid was into skateboarding. It spiraled from there. I got the cats in the divorce.
Four cats and I fell in love with a guy from PA, so we moved there and dozens more cats graced my doorstep. Or I graced theirs.
On my way out of the Willow Grove, PA Office Depot, an orange cat sat outside the door. I inquired within. A rescue lady from Animal Lifeline in Warrington was trying to catch this cat they said. I contacted her but I was the first to see the cat again. It let me pet it, pick it up and put it in my car. No microchip of course.
That is how I met Denise Bash.
Back to Office Depot. Apparently, there was a whole feral colony living there and when I paid attention, I saw them...all of them.
Well Denise knew about that colony and she and I, along with other volunteers and staff, trapped 17 cats. One was reunited with its owner.
One was a mother with 4 bottlefeeders. We brought the rest of these trapped cats to my home in Abington, PA. Denise parked a Mobile Spay Neuter Clinic in my driveway and on a Friday, in the pouring rain and we fixed 11 cats.
Denise is my girl crush. My idol. I want to be her.
Spike
When we moved from PA to FL, at our first rental in Lake Worth, another orange cat came up to me and plopped itself down on my feet. Ah, my first Florida rescue.
My husband and I transported hundreds of cats for the Broward County, FL TNR program and Saving Sage Animal Rescue Foundation.
While living in Florida, we personally rescued about 30 cats. Got them fixed, got them shots, got them adopted.
Then we moved to Hawaii. Florida physically damaged me so I am unable to move cats anymore but since I still thought I could I went on a feeding run to a feral cat colony in Hawaii Kai at the Marina.
When I heard about the problems there, when I saw all the trash and all of the cats, that is when this project came to me.
Now I spend my days trying to find someone out there who has the money to help us build this so we can care for our feral cats the way they deserve to be treated.
Some of my success stories!
