Poor Buddy and Bubba were living a comfortable life with their owner for 5 years until things suddenly changed for the worse. Their owner had a death in the family and lost his job, abandoning his home, all his possessions, and his beloved cats.  Fortunately for these two cats a Homeward Trails volunteer heard about them and came to their rescue.  When they were found, the boys were living in utter squalor with old used litter and without any food or water.  Aside from being very hungry and thirsty, they were very frightened and confused.

Poor Tommy 2 Toes was removed from a dog hoarding situation in West Virginia by the Wetzel County Animal Shelter. He is missing a rear paw because his leg was snapped in an animal trap that his former owner had set around his property. When he was found, Tommy was very underweight and covered in fleas and worms. He tested positive for feline leukemia (FeLV) too so he cannot interact with cats that are feline leukemia negative. While FeLV is highly transmittable between cats, it poses no risk whatsoever to humans, dogs, rabbits, or any other non-feline animal.  Despite Tommy's rough start, he is a very friendly boy and loves everyone - humans, dogs, other FeLV+ cats.  For this reason, Tommy would be a wonderful friend to your cat-friendly dog or to your resident FeLV+ kitty.

We were beyond ecstatic when we received an application for Bunny's adoption, a feline leukemia (FeLV) positive Manx kitty.  Upon notifying our partner shelter in Wetzel County, West Virginia of this news, we learned that Bunny had a best friend and cage-mate, Freda, a lovely FeLV+ tuxedo kitty.  The thought of Freda alone in her cage was painful to fathom so we decided to bring her up to DC with Bunny to find a foster home for her.  Our initial excitement was quickly topped when Bunny's potential adopters suggested that they would consider adopting Freda as well!!  Freda, a fluffy purring machine, quickly won their hearts just as Bunny had, and these kind people were the proud parents of a two new FeLV+ cats.  These two kitties are now living in New Jersey, snuggling with two small canine friends and another resident FeLV+ cat named Brandy as well!

Fluffy, adorable, and one of the friendliest cats around, this poor little 3 year old grey and white manx kitty named Bunny has been spending most of her time in a cage ( as have 5 other kitties with FeLV) at a small rural  shelter in West Virginia for a very long time.  The shelter staff absolutely love this sweet girl and are trying their best to keep her alive for as long as they can in the hopes that she will be adopted.  Her chances are slim though - poor Bunny is being overlooked because she is positive for the feline leukemia virus (FeLV).

Patch arrived from the same shelter as Stripes.  He is a very affectionate, small Tuxedo... and a bobtail Manx.  He loves to play with Stripes, so we want them to be fostered and adopted together. They are often seen side-by-side on a chair, watching Sue's hamsters. Patch has a very endearing trait: He loves to be picked up and held with his paws draped over your shoulder.  He purrs and purrs while rubbing his head to yours.  He never wants to be let down, so we just carry him all around Kitty City.

Patch is very playful and dashes about trying to catch all the toys. His little bob tail wags back and forth when you bring out the string for play.

Poor Angel is feeling kind of stressed out. A sweet and delicate kitty, Angel really needs a stable home environment in order to thrive. To make things worse, she now has a bad tooth that needs to be removed. While she is very lucky to have been pulled out of a high-kill shelter with her four kittens, Angel really needs sponsorship to help cover the costs of her oral surgery.

Homeward Trails recently learned about 4 young kittens living outside in Haymarket, VA. To our astonishment, in addition to the 4 kittens, the rescue who went down to pick them up found approximately 30 adult cats in the same place, living outdoors in the cold. None of these cats are spayed or neutered or vaccinated, and most, if not all, are sick with fever and living off of bread and dry food. While they technically have "shelter" in a couple of small wooden shacks and under a house, this is hardly sufficient given the bitter cold nights of recent (and for 30 cats!). Surprisingly, all of these sweet animals are friendly, reaching out to humans for help from their heart-breaking ordeal.

Lovely Isabella is a plus-size declawed calico kitty that was rescued along with 6 other cats from a high-kill shelter around Labor Day.  Dubbed the "Sniffles 7" by the rescue team, Isabella and her friends were given a last-moment reprieve from death (they were being put to sleep just because they had a cold!).

Kiki was 5 years old when she was abandoned at a shelter by her owner. She spent a week at the vet after being rescued by Homeward Trails and had a flea infestation so bad that she required iron supplements for three weeks. Kiki’s foster parents showed compassion for Kiki and were patient with her - they took excellent care of her. When I met Kiki, I could see that they loved her as much as I knew I would.

I wasn’t looking for much in a cat before I adopted Kiki. All I had wanted was another cat to love, and of course I’d hoped that this new cat would get along with my other cat, Reese, and vice versa.