I've loved all animals (including wildlife) all of my life, but have a particular love for cats. Kitty (my furever baby), was a very special gift from a friend. She found Kitty but couldn't keep her, and wasn't able to find her guardian after trying for several months. So, I was blessed with the honor of being Kitty's guardian for 13 years. Kitty died on 08/23/2005.

I volunteered with animals during the years prior to Kitty's death, but since then, volunteering with animals has become a major focus of my life. Currently I volunteer for Acadiana Humane Society, Possum Hollow Wildlife Center, and hope to volunteer for Lafayette Area Animal Control soon. Special areas of interes include: humane education; low cost spay/neuter programs; TNR of feral cats; fundraising events; adoption events with post adoption follow-up; legislative action to help end inhumane animal treatment; short-term foster care and transports as finances, etc. allow; improving lives of sheltered/fostered animals; and more....

I adopted Tabitha, a siackly Calico kitten, not long after Kitty died. She had major Cattitude, which I'd never dealt with before in a personal pet. Once I accepted Tabitha exactly how she was, Cattitude and all, she accepted my love, and returned faithful and unconditional love. Tabitha died when she was only 1 1/2 years old, but taught me many lessons in her short life.

Tabitha's short life taught me to open my doors and my heart to any pet in need, and soon my life became filled with an interesting bunch of cats. I've always loved feral animals and wildlife, but my heart totally opened up to them. Now my care of animals goes beyond just caring for tame pets.

My husband and I now find ourselves being guardians to a crazy mixture of cats. Two (Suzie and Peanut) were stray. Peanut was only 4-5 weeks old when we found her in our yard, and had never been introduced to solid food. Max belonged to our neighbor, but decided to live with us (he has been missing since August 10th, 2008). Fred is semi to mostly feral, and comes home intermittently. Buster was semi-feral, but has decided to be a love muffin and has moved into our hearts and our home. We feed Timothy, a feral cat, on a regular basis (Timothy was not healthy, and we were never able to do TNR. The last time we saw him, I knew he would not live much longer. I took pictures, and never saw Timothy again. (At least he did not go hungry or thirsty, did not become infested with fleas, etc., and did receive antibiotics and pain medicine for his abscess).
We feed any feral cats that come to our rural home, and do TNR and ongoing care to the best of our ability.

Just two days ago, I released Dave (a dove who was in wildlife rehab for a month). It was such a joy to be his guardian, and I hope to see him again..

In 2008, I coordinated the "Tom Cat Special" (a Spay Day USA event) in our area in conjunction Acadiana Humane Society and Best Friends Animal Society. I'm very happy that a vet participated, and neutered 10 cats for $10 (for people who otherwise could not afford the surgery). This experience was great, and humane education was provided as needed. As a result of this event, Acadiana Humane Society received a grant to be used for spay and neuter surgeries. It was decided to continue assisting low income households with S/N surgeries (callers were screened using the low income criteria from the Tom Cat Special). Our 2009 Tom and Mom Cat Special was not a success, but was a good learning experience.

I'm currently  interested in working with others in my area to help reduce the number of homeless pets through: humane education (including education to reduce owner surrenders); low cost spay/neuter programs; TNR and ongoing care of feral animals; adoption and fundraising events; and animal advocacy (including improving the lives of sheltered/fostered pets and lesgislative activities). I would like to continue doing occasional transports and short-term foster care as finances, etc., allow.

My husband and I enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities, and love to travel. Thankfully, we have a wonderful pet sitter and a great stand-by pet sitter. I play violin in a symphony orchestra, and spend a lot of time practicing (Peanut, one of our cats, loves to listen to me play).

In 2007, I toured Best Friends Animal Sanctuary while my husband and I were vacationing, but it did not work out for me to volunteer. My trip (in spring 2008) to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was wonderful, but way too short. I hope to go back soon.