Author: Shadow Cats

In Memory of Hope    4/4/2011 – 1/8/2019

Hope was a street cat in San Antonio trying to eek out a living. She had already been infected with the leukemia virus but still, she managed. Fortunately for her, she was taken in by a local family who reached out to Shadow Cats for help. We were able to take her in and she slowly began to thrive. She lived her very best life with us – almost eight years – playing hard, living well and loving every minute of it. Hope had an extra advantage when swatting at a mouse – she was a polydactyl with six toes! She was also one of the sweetest cats at the Sanctuary, always looking for a lap and always ready with a purr. She was first in line at the food bowls and made sure she got her fair share, and then some.

This past year she began to fade as the virus slowly made its’ presence known. She told us she’d like to stay but her little body was just worn out. Today was her day.

Hope passed peacefully in loving arms and hearts.

Thank you to the volunteers and kitty nannies who cared for Hope each day, her sponsors who loved and supported her and all that cared for her from afar.

Rest easy, angel girl.

Hope had 3 Sponsors

Tracey Williams

Robin Katchko

“In Memory of Callie.”
-Steve and Joan Paine

In Memory of Phanny May    4/18/2016 – 1/2/2019

Our precious Phanny May is gone. Phanny developed breathing difficulties this morning related to feline leukemia and she passed in loving arms surrounded by all who loved her this afternoon.

Phanny May was just a tiny kitten when she was brought to the Bastrop shelter with injuries in 2016 and where she was found to be leukemia positive. Fortunately, her rescuers helped her find safe haven at Shadow Cats. Here she lived well and she blossomed. She was a bundle of kitten energy who bloomed into a sweet and loving adult. She had plenty of perches, playmates and sweet sunbeams to enjoy. Phanny loved to play with the volunteers’ hair and sit on their shoes. She was safe, had a full tummy, her choice of laps and was loved beyond measure.

Thank you to our volunteers and nannies who loved and cared for her each day and to all her sponsors who loved her from afar. You made all the difference for her and helped her live her best life.

Rest in peace, Phanny May.

Phanny May had 4 Sponsors

Stuart McKnight

Carol Calvery

Loren Allen

Wanda Bishop

In Memory of Venus    10/08/2009 – 10/4/2018

She is Venus – an unforgettable character who has graced our lives with her antics and her love. She may not have had as long a life as we would have liked to share with her, but she did have a life, and a full one at that.

This pixie spitfire brought us joy and laughter with her antics. Somehow, we think she was laughing at us, too. Sheila and Dr. Smith saw something special in her, so Venus moved into their bedroom where she was even more loved and adored. Venus was a bright moment in each life that she touched. We mourn her passing today, but that sorrow is tinged with a smile as we think about how she brought so much fun into our lives.

Thank you so very much to her sponsors. Thank you for giving her a chance to live and enjoy her life and to share that joie de vivre with those of us who served and adored her and played unwitting pawns for her games. When we think of Venus, it will always be with a smile.

Venus has 5 Sponsors!

Joani Tompkins

Lisa Salazar

Delonda Belanger

Pamela Martin Lind

Leticia Sedberry

In Memory of Frankie    7/23/2004 – 10/4/2018

Frankie lived the first three years of his life in an adoptive home but was returned later in life primarily because he urinated where he wasn’t supposed to. Despite medical work ups and behavioral therapy, he insisted. Frankie was gonna go where Frankie wanted to go. Fortunately for him, we can handle little issues like that. He spent the next eleven years as the reigning Best Hugger at Shadow Cats. His favorite place to be in the whole world was in your arms, his paws around your neck and marking you with his chin. He loved being loved and he loved giving love.

Frankie was a regal cat, and being a tuxie, of course, made that image even more commanding. A large cat in his prime, his size belied the gentle creature he was.

Frankie developed a liver mass and succumbed to the cancer. He passed in the only place he’s ever really known, surrounded by his kitty friends and many who loved him.

Frankie, we will miss those hugs and we comfort ourselves in knowing how joyous your life was, how well loved you were. Thank you to his loving caretakers and volunteers, his sponsors and all who loved him from afar.

Frankie had 3 Sponsors

Gail Takahata

Shauna Davis

Helen Sabin

In Memory of Sweetie Martini    5/31/2016 – 9/24/2018

Sweetie Martini came to us with the name Sweetie but because she looked very similar to Martin, we added that to her name and it stuck. She was Sweetie Martini and she was dearly loved. Sweetie Martini lived her life healthy and happy until the very end when the ravages of leukemia began to take its’ toll.  She lived for months in the sunroom until she was ready to live in Cookie’s. There, she stayed high on the ramps to survey her domain, coming down for lap time.

She passed from a leukemia related mass in her chest. The sweetest girl, she lived up to her name.

Thank you to all who loved her and made her life the best it could be. Thank you to her caretakers, volunteers and sponsors.

A live well lived, but you will be missed, dear Sweetie Martini. Forever in our hearts.

Sweetie Martini had 3 Sponsors

Amanda Curry

Michele Missner

Kris Safatinos

In Memory of Shane    8/01/2005 – 9/24/2018

Today we said goodbye to Shane.

Our beloved Shane passed. We knew his cancer was reaching its end game, but that does not make it easier.

Shane lived his entire life with us. He was trapped as as a young teen from the Blessing Park area and while he never found his own home, he owned, along with the rest of his gang, the Downtown area. He was the essence of Shadow Cats.

We will miss you dear, precious Shane.

Thank you to all that loved him and shared his life and enriched his life. Thank you to his caretakers, our volunteers and his sponsors and all who loved him from afar.

Shane had 4 Sponsors

“I am a sanctuary volunteer at Shadow Cats and desperately love the kitties.  I think Shane is so gorgeous and a sweet cat.  He is a little shy but I am trying to develop our relationship.  There are all sorts of wonderful places for a cat to go in Downtown and I know Shane really loves living there.  I also know that anything I give to Shadow Cats, be it time or money, will directly benefit these special kitties.  OK Shane, watch for me.  I may have treats.”
-Penny Peerce

Helen Sabin

“We picked Shane because he looks like our Nite-Nite, and behaves the same way.”
-Norma & Bob Huffman

“Shane is an angel, he is a lovely reminder of our beloved Taz”
-Cathy & Randy Woodward

In Memory of Lexi    11/22/2006 – 9/10/2018

Today was a very sad day at the Sanctuary. We lost two of our precious cats. Both Lexi and Iris passed peacefully today in the loving arms of their caretakers.

Lexi was originally rescued by a dear friend, Cathy Ramsey. Cathy was a tireless advocate for animals and was responsible for saving many little lives over the years. Cathy passed away in September 2012 after a long struggle with cancer. Lexi came to Shadow Cats at that time and she was almost always the first one to jump up to claim a lap whenever a volunteer sits down on the couch. Lexi has a very special quality –she was universally loved and accepted by all the other cats. She loved everyone – cats and human – and was especially good at making friends with a shy kitty and helping them to become more confident and outgoing. And every time we reach down to pet Lexi, we see a little bit of Cathy looking back at us and smiling.

The leukemia virus had been advancing this last year and a few days ago she became partially paralyzed and today we knew she was asking for that final gift of release.  Rest easy, baby girl, you were loved beyond words.

Lexi and Iris didn’t know each other in life – one had leukemia and one didn’t- but we believe they are making that trek to the Bridge as life-long friends, healthy and strong. The world is a little dimmer without their presence but we know the path they travel is brilliantly lit.

Lexi had 3 Sponsors

“I have lost three cats to FeLV so these kitties have special meaning to me.  Thank you for taking care of them.”
-Rachele DiTullio

Kristin Reed

Jeni Johnson

In Memory of Iris    3/15/2007 – 9/10/2018

Today was a very sad day at the Sanctuary. We lost two of our precious cats. Both Lexi and Iris passed peacefully today in the loving arms of their caretakers.

Iris came to us in 2007. She had lots of brothers and sisters who were all critically ill when they first arrived. Everyone got much better and eventually found their own home, all except Iris.

Iris was the tiniest of the litter and had medical issues. She never found her forever adoptive home and lived all her life at Central Texas Cat Hospital as a free roaming clinic cat until last year when she  came to Shadow Cats and made a whole new set of friends in the Uptown area. She had her pick of laps and spent plenty of time in them.  She got plenty of chin scritches, had her fur stroked, all the food she wanted, plenty of friends and so much love. We think that is what she focused on – all the love.

Iris developed a cancerous tumor that spread throughout her body and today was the day she let us know it was her time. She passed in loving arms.

Lexi and Iris didn’t know each other in life – one had leukemia and one didn’t – but we believe they are making that trek to the Bridge as life-long friends, healthy and strong. The world is a little dimmer without their presence but we know the path they travel is brilliantly lit.

Iris had 3 Sponsors

Michael Skalka

Ivan Maucuit

Amy Juried

In Memory of Daphne    4/1/2018 – 9/5/2018

Leukemia shows no mercy, has no favorites, spares few. Daphne’s life was short – a mere five months – just a baby still, when leukemia paid its final visit. Our comfort comes from knowing she did not die in a North Carolina gas chamber in her infancy. She passed this day held in loving arms, surrounded by caring hearts.

In her brief life, Daphne knew endless laps to cuddle in. She flew across the high ramps in Cookie’s chased by her sister, Birdie. She made kitty friends galore, always the rascal at pouncing on an adult’s tail or curling up with her Mom. She oversaw countless squirrels foraging for nuts and chattered at the birds as she maintained high watch over Brushy Creek. She was a happy kitten who lived her best life.

Leukemia is especially hard on kittens and we know when we have them at such an early age that few survive. Our hope is always that this one will make it, that this one will survive, that this one will beat the odds. Sometimes that does happen and we rejoice. When that is not to be we celebrate the life that was, the little ones that tried so hard, their joy and verve. We focus on what they did have in life and we are grateful their lives crossed ours.

Thank you to all that loved her – her first rescuers, her sponsors, our volunteers and staff and all that loved her from afar. Thank you for helping to give her such a wonderful life.

Daphne had 3 Sponsors

Gary and Yolanda McAninch

Pat Heltke

Starr O’Neal