Teddy says, vote Dr. T for Hero of the Year!

I have just nominated Dr. T for Hero of the Year on Animal Planet. I was surfing the Internet... OK, I'm lying... Mom was surfing and decided to nominate Dr. T.

However, my Mom is a smart one and I agree completely with her! I chose her after all since she is a smart one. I wouldn't choose no dummy! :) We gave a heartfelt message as well and we really, really hope Dr. T wins so she can continue to help my friends. I surfed...ok, mom did...and we saw that some of my friends are adopted too! Go TRISH and NEMO!!!! The rest of you are going to get new homes really, really soon, I just know it! Hang in there at Nine Lives where they are so good to you!

My mom and I spent all day today hanging out and she told me how special I am. I know that but I humor her and let her think she's telling me something I don't already know. I let her "zoom groom" me too and rub my belly. Everyone at Nine Lives knows exactly how much I like my belly rubbed! I'm rolling over, side to side, much easier now since I've shed the "shelter"weight and am eating a fine diet. I'm so cool that I don't even eat table food. Can you believe that? I don't even eat tuna or turkey or chicken. Dry food, thank you very much, is just fine by me!
So, Dr. T, thank you so much for saving me from the Martinez Shelter where my first "family" dumped me, claiming they couldn't keep me and named me a HORRIBLE name! (Who would name a kitty after a cop car? Duh.) Also, thank you for finding me a really great family. I am the happiest cat ever with a GREAT name! Yeah! Although I'm stubborn and ignore my name. I prefer when Mom calls me Kit Kat and Daddy doesn't like that. Oh well. Poor Daddy.
I'm also a frugal cat. When mom mentioned buying a "kitty condo" I said, "No way! I have the whole condo here for my kitty condo. Don't go spending the money on a smaller one for me!" That's just the kind of guy I am. Mom will send you more pictures of me loving my new digs.
We all love you! Mommy, Daddy & Me!
Go, Dr. T! Win Hero of the Year! YYYYEEEAAAHHHH!
Love,
Teddy

Cinnamon a Success Story

Dear Monica and all of the Nine Lives Staff,

We want to give you an update on the newest member to our family! We adopted one year old "Cinnamon" (we renamed her "Suki" because my children could not pronounce "Cinnamon") during that heat wave in June. She has been a wonderful addition to our home. She brings spunk and energy. She is also affectionate and patient with the children.

We thank you so much for taking care of Suki and all of the other cats that are waiting for permanent homes. We are so touched by your dedication and the sacrifices you have made.

Sincerely,
The Thomas Family (Micah and Kirsten, Abbie age 6, Andrew age 4, and Luke age 1)

Support Dr. Thompson for Animal Hero of the Year!

Dr. Monica Thompson, the founder of the Nine Lives Foundation and resident veterinarian, has been nominated for the Animal Planet Hero Awards! These awards, offered by the Animal Planet Channel, honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary service in time, effort and results for a cause that contributes to the welfare of animals. And there’s no doubt that our Dr. T deserves to be on that list! The grand prize winner will receive a $10,000 grant for their designated program and the Cat Hero of the Year wins $5,000. The biggest prize, of course, would be the publicity that the shelter could receive which would hopefully increase donations and adoptions. Dr. T is currently in the running to become one of the ten finalists. If she makes the cut, her nomination entry will be posted on the Animal Planet website for the first phase: the People’s Vote. We will need everyone - and their cat! - to vote for her to win!

Go to the Nine Lives website on the date of September 29th to see if she has been named a finalist and needs your vote. We will also place a sign on the front desk at the shelter. The People's Vote will run from Sept. 29th through October 13th. And if Dr. Thompson does become a finalist, please spread the word so we can get as many votes for her as possible... the People’s Vote will count for 25% of the total judging criteria.

To give you an idea of how much Dr. Thompson & the Nine Lives Foundation accomplish in our community, here are a few amazing statistics:

• Dr. T established the Nine Lives Foundation in 2004 and since then the shelter has found homes for over 2,000 cats! Each month, approximately 50 cats & kittens find loving homes through Nine Lives.
• 60% of the cats Nine Lives takes in have injuries or severe medical issues. Most animal shelters will reject these needy cats and not spend the time & money necessary to rehabilitate then, choosing instead to send them to ‘death row’ even though they would make good pets.
• Dr. T performs 1000+ spay/neuter surgeries a year, and also provides medical services to other local cat rescue organizations. She participates in the Trap-Neuter-Release program to help reduce the number of feral cats in our community.
• It costs $40,000+ a month to run the Nine Lives Foundation, with medical costs, food, utilities, rent, salaries, etc. Approximately 60% of the financial support comes from Dr. T’s private veterinary practice, 20% comes from adoption fees, and 10% from donations. But more is always needed!

So watch the Nine Lives website and the shelter’s front desk for more information regarding Dr. T’s nomination for Animal Hero of the Year - we will keep you posted! http://www.ninelivesfoundation.org/
Please Note: The Nine Lives shelter building currently has no insulation for winter warmth or ventilation/air conditioning to battle the sweltering summer temperatures. The recent heatwaves have been devasting and make it desperately uncomfortable for the cats and for the staff to work.
If you would like to donate toward this extreme need, or you know of a heating/cooling company that would consider doing the work as a tax write-off or for a reduced fee... please contact Nine Lives at http://www.ninelivesfoundation.org/ or 650-368-1365.

-Shannon Walker

Natalie at home

Hello everyone who helped me at Nine Lives!
I was originally brought to the shelter in Jan-08 with lice that was itching me to insanity! I was really scared of people and felt so itchy 24/7 that I think that I might have accidentally taken that out on the nice people who were just trying to help me – I’m sorry about that! They were all so understanding though, and they took really good care of me. Dr. Thompson shaved me naked and all of the bugs were gone overnight! I was kept at the shelter and some volunteers pet me and eventually coaxed me out of my little tent that I would hide in all the time. One of the volunteers called me “naked little kitty” which eventually was changed to “Natalie” when they wanted to name me. I’m still somewhat naked, but my fur coat is starting to come back and my new mom tells me that it’s so soft, like baby fuss.
Eventually, one of the volunteers adopted me and brought me home 6 weeks ago. I live in her kitchen and there are 2 other cats who live in the rest of the apartment, but they don’t seem to mind me being in their kitchen (according to my new mom, they didn’t use the kitchen, anyway). We can hear each other moving around in the different rooms and see each other through the screen, but we haven’t actually met each other yet. One of my new sisters started letting me walk around the rest of the apartment today (my other new sister was outside, so she didn’t know:).
I have lot s of toys here and the staff of Nine Lives even let me bring my teddy-bear with me for the first week from the shelter to my new home…but I don’t feel the need for this “security” item anymore, so my new mom returned it to Nine Lives. My new mom is really nice and I just love it when she pets me, (she says that I’m a little attention piggy, but I don’t really understand that since I’m a kitty, not a piggy). She doesn’t seem to mind it when I walk on her legs or feet so I started sprawling across her lap to get more rubdowns.
She seems to like it when I play with her, so I’ve decided to humor her. Besides, it’s worth it, with all the kisses that she gives to me afterwards, so I let her wave a string in front of me that I pretend to try to grab. Sometimes I actually do grab it with my fingernails or teeth and pull out of her hand, just to keep her entertained. I was going to send you all pictures of my new home, but apparently, mom’s camera is broken from one of her other furry roommates, so I can’t use it right now. She told me that she’ll get her camera fixed soon, so I’ll send you pictures of all of us then. In the meantime, her computer’s still working so I wanted to let you know that I’ve unpacked and I have decided to stay here. She even bought me a necklace…it’s pink with white polka-dots and it even has a little gold heart with my name and phone number on it!
Thank you again for all your help and I’m glad that I’m not living on the streets anymore. She opens the window for me, and the fresh air smells good, but I have it TOO easy here to want to leave :)
Best regards always,
Natalie
(also known as “naked little kitty”)

April & May (to date) update

It's been a while since I've posted an update on how things are going at Nine Lives. It's been a very busy couple of months. April saw the reopening of the Dr. Thompson's Feline Well-Care Clinic with the proceeds going to support the cats and kittens of the Nine Lives Foundation.

April was busy, busy, busy as we adopted out 35 cats and kittens, kind of a small number given our more recent totals, but pretty good. The real work came as kitten season hit us hard. The Kern County Animal Shelter in Bakersfield was (and still is) getting in 4 to 5 moms with litters in daily and numerous pregnant cats. We pulled 16 nursing mothers from them alone during the month of April, I know, that sounds like a huge number but it would break your heart to hear how many beautiful cats and litters of kittens we were unable to stop from being PTS. We did all we could though and to our astonishment, we rescued an astounding 131 cats, 34 adult and 97 kittens, during the month of April (most of the kittens have been adopted or are still out in foster care).

We started the month of May with a huge Adopt-a-Thon, weekend long event that drew in a record number of people and found homes for 37 cats and kittens. We're so thrilled that we were able to get the help of so many wonderful volunteers to help us with this event! It is only because of their help that so many kitties find their forever homes.

The great news is that the May adoptions keep on coming! So far this month we've found homes for 48 cats and kittens with more each day!

Written by: LH

An update on cat formerly known as Got Milk

Can there be a success story in 1 night? Oh, yes I suppose there can if it's Teddy the Bear.
30 minutes with his new family in the "safe" room and he was ready to explore more of the condo. He's done a thorough job!

As I predicted, our ample windows are his favorite hang out and he loves a chair in the living room. He's king of the condo already and as soon as we allow him to be in the entire condo he'll officially become the emperor of the condo! :) He's such a sweet guy. He's given his belly to mommy and daddy for rubs already. Actually he allowed belly rubs within the first 30 minutes at home.He's so precious flat out on his back with his head thrown back! And he has lots of belly to rub, as you know! I knew he was our cat the very first time I saw him. I thank goodness I put him on hold immediately! He fits in perfectly! I felt so sad watching all of the volunteers and Dr. T hug him good-bye today. Almost guilty to take him. However, we're so fortunate to have gained this fine soul into our family! We selfishly accept him as one of our family. Thanks so much!

Cordially,
Dawn & Rich

Ginger and Pesto, a success story

Hi Dr. Thompson and the great staff,

I just wanted to write and let you know that Ginger and Pesto are both doing well in their new home.

You wouldn’t recognize them from the shy, scared little kittens they were when they were in the shelter, they have really relaxed and have become really affectionate and outgoing. They now rush over from wherever they are in the apartment when I come home from work and won’t stop meowing and chirping till they get lots of attention and tummy rubs.

They even come and fall asleep on me when watching tv, such a big change from avoiding people at all costs when I first picked them up. I’m so glad I came to the open house and gave these two little angels a chance.

Thanks!

Justin