Rafiki's Rescue
Across the Rainbow Bridge
This is our special place where we honor the lives of the special souls who were gone from us far too soon. Each life that crossed our path has made a lasting impact on us and we want their stories to be told and their time spent on this earth to be honored. Across the rainbow bridge lives a handful of of the most special intakes we've had and we know that their spirit will forever live on and guide our rescue efforts. This is all for you, little ones! We miss you...
Ocean was adopted by the most loving family and renamed Fig. We were devastated when we learned that he had developed the life threatening, FIP. We helped Fig and his family to get him immediately on board with the new FIP treatment trial and to give him every fighting chance we could. His family fought so hard for him and loved him even harder and we were heartbroken when we lost him to this horrible disease. We are grateful he had the opportunity to try this treatment and know that, because of it,his death was not in vain. One day soon, we hope that this trial will become more readily available and know that Fig's journey played a part as being one of the cases on board. Rest easy, sweet boy...
Linlcon was a special little soul that was loved so dearly by his foster mom. At nearly 4 months old, sweet Linclon still had hardly grown past the size of a 4 week old. Despite our vets and his foster moms best efforts, Lincoln's body eventually shut down and we had to part our ways as he ventured into whatever the universe had in store for him next. Some are not meant to be with us for all that long, but leave the greatest impact none the less, just as Lincoln did on his foster mom. We love you Lincoln and you are missed terribly. Until we meet again...
Georgia was a beautiful kitten full of so much life and love. Georgia sadly lost her battle to the deadly panleukopenia despite our best efforts to save her. Georgia was hospitalized and started on antibiotics after having caught her diagnosis early, but sadly this virus is fast acting and vicious and took her from this world far too soon. We remember her for the spirited, bright light she was and always will see her that way. Rest in peace, sweet girl...
Sarah came to us in a very alarming state after some good samaritans found her lifeless on the side of the road. Clearly having endured severe head trauma, we rushed her to emergency where she spent two days in our wonderful vets care who worked tirelessly around the clock to save her. In the end, Sarah began to decline and we knew it was time to say our goodbyes. Thanks to these good samaritans, Sarah was offered not only the chance she deserved, but the peaceful transition she needed. We are sorry we could not save you, beautiful girl. We will see you healthier in another life...
MJ came to us in a truly horrific condition. So sick she could hardly breathe through the congestion & at the very same time, she was in labor. We rushed to get her on a nebulizer & had to help her deliver her babies. We could not believe her incredible willpower, she made it through! She was a wonderful mama to her 4 babies until they were all adopted out, but MJ was diagnosed with mycoplasma and we knew she would need a special adopter who would accept her as she is with this chronic condition. She found that perfect person in Rosa, who fell in love with her quirky, adoring personality and knew she was worth it all. Rosa gave her the name Mirai and Mirai knew endless love. Sadly, only a few months later, she declined quickly and we discovered a mass, unrelated to her mycoplasma, on her liver. We had to make the difficult decision to let her go peacefully, as her body had been through too much and was done fighting. Mirai, you were so very loved and will never be forgotten. We will miss you always...
Boogie came to us a 2 week old kitten with his siblings, Disco & Beegee, and was absolutely adored for all 3.5 months of his life. He was the most special, affectionate kitten. Sadly, Boogie suddenly declined just hours after his third kitten vaccination. He had a plethora of testing done that all came back inconclusive, so we will never quite understand what exactly took him from us. We do believe something flared up in his body following the vaccination, something we had never experienced before in this fashion. Boogie sadly passed 2 days later on his way to the hospital. We were heartbroken, but we know the universe must have had greater things in store for him & that we will see him again in another form. His siblings went on to be adopted together and we know he is watching over them today. Rest easy, sweet boy.
Junebug, Ladybug, & Jitterbug were 3 of a litter of 4 kittens who sadly were diagnosed with the dreadful panleukopenia. This case came to us just near the end of COVID and we strongly believe that the lack of resources for vetting of community cats during the shut down allowed for this virus to change its face into an even deadlier form. This case was nothing like the panleukopenia we had seen before and each of them declined within hours despite our best efforts, their perfect bloodwork, and lack of typical symptoms. Everything about this case was strange, but it also immensely challenged and strengthened our ability to treat this viscous virus. We reached out to our friends at The Little Lion Foundation and were able to save the last remaining kitten in the litter, Bugsy, thanks to their support and knowledge.
This was one of the most heartbreaking weeks we had in rescue, but their passing will not be in vain. Moving forward, we feel far more confident in our understanding of the many faces of panleuk and how to successfully treat it. We aim to learn in each and every one of our cases, but this one hit us very hard and led to some important skills needed to move forward. It also was a great example of the team effort in rescue and we are thankful beyond words to our friends at Little Lion! We are thankful that we get to share this new knoweledge moving forward. Rest easy little bugs, you were so loved and your passing will surely save even more kittens like you...
Ragnar was a very special community cat that had been in and out of our care for an entire year. We first met Ragnar when The Trevor Foundation needed help fostering a feral cat while he healed from a major neck wound. Being experienced in working with feral cats, we were happy to help give him a safe place to heal for a few months (it was a nasty wound that took time). A few months after his release, we got word that Ragnar had lost his feeder and that his environment was becoming increasingly dangerous. We agreed to properly relocate him to our own feral colony where he would have a safe, enclosed catio to spend the nights in.
During the transition, Ragnar still appeared his typical, feral self. But upon release, he quickly turned into an extremely loving and affectionate cat - surely in need and capable of a forever family. We worked hard to find a foster willing to take in a previously feral, adult, visibly scarred, black cat. This was not an easy task, but eventually we found someone willing! Sadly, just weeks before Ragnar was scheduled to go into foster care, he was poisoned... His feral nature prevented us from getting him to the vet before it was too late and we were left truly heartbroken. He had become a beautiful, special part of our colony and we has such high hopes for his future. We hope that his story encourages others to foster an overlooked cat like Ragnar and that enough people will honor his life so that it may not be in vain. We loved you Ragnar and are so sorry that help did not come soon enough...