Feline Rescue Project of Central VT

Thanks for all you do!

Kitten season continues to flood our kennels with surrenders!
From barn cats and strays, to unwanted pregnancies and can no longer cater for - we've seen it all this summer and the season is still young.
We're hard at work getting each one vetted and fixed to find forever homes, but it's and uphill battle to say the least! Every unfixed cat is another litter that finds its way to a shelter and every kitten is a precious life in need of love, food, and shelter.
Thank you to everyone who is making this kitten season possible!
Your food and litter, toys, supplies and monetary donations are what make it all happen!

Want to donate to help our shelter kitties?
Visit our website for ways to help!
Www.kittykornercafe.com/donate

This is Moon. Moon died following what should have been a routine neuter surgery. He was only 12 weeks old.

We have spent a great deal of time deciding whether to share his story. Ultimately, we believe we owe our supporters an explanation for an important change to our adoption policy.

Moon survived his surgery, but he never recovered from the complications that followed. His family brought him home expecting to begin the journey every adopter looks forward to: introducing him to his new home, learning his personality, and watching him settle into the life they had planned for him.

Instead, they spent the next several days watching him fight to survive.

They sought additional veterinary care, hoping there was still a path forward. After careful evaluation, they were told that Moon's complications were permanent and that his suffering had become greater than the quality of life he was ever expected to have. Under the guidance of their veterinarian, they made the devastating decision to humanely euthanize him.

No family adopts expecting their first week together to end in euthanasia. No adopter should have to experience that.

Feline Rescue Project of Central Vermont refunded the family's adoption fee and covered the cost of Moon's euthanasia. While that was the right thing to do, it did nothing to lessen the grief they carried home. The excitement of welcoming a new family member became the trauma of losing him within days.

Their experience has stayed with us.

Pediatric spay and neuter has long been an important part of animal rescue, and we recognize the role it plays in reducing pet overpopulation. However, it is also true that younger kittens face greater anesthetic and surgical risk than older kittens. Until now, we had been fortunate not to experience a tragedy of this magnitude. Moon reminded us that those risks are not theoretical.

After careful consideration, we have made the decision that kittens adopted through Feline Rescue Project of Central Vermont under 4 months of age will no longer be spayed or neutered prior to adoption. Kittens over 4 months and adults will be spayed or neutered at no additional change to the adoption fee.

Instead, adopters will sign a legally binding spay/neuter agreement and provide a refundable sterilization deposit. Once proof of the procedure is submitted, that deposit will be returned. As outlined in our adoption contract, failure to comply with the agreement may result in the kitten being reclaimed. After that refund occurs, we are only keeping $115 per kitten. That hardly recovers the cost of supplies, vaccines and care they had while with us but we are not doing this to get rich; none of our volunteers get paid. We do this for the love of the animals that would otherwise suffer to the streets and wilds if we didn't step in.

We understand that this decision will not be universally supported. We respect that many rescues successfully utilize pediatric spay and neuter, and we are not suggesting that every organization should change its practices.

Our reality, however, is different.

We are a foster based rescue. We do not operate a shelter or a central facility where kittens can remain until they are four months of age. Our foster homes are continually making room for the next litter that needs somewhere safe to go. Holding every kitten until it reaches the preferred age for surgery is simply not possible within the resources we have today. We cannot reliably and consistently offload kittens to other rescues or humane society's- everyone is overflowed with animals, well over 100% capacity. There is an ongoing stray animal crisis, and we are doing everything we can to be part of mitigating that.

Every rescue must make decisions based on the animals in its care, the resources available to it, and the responsibility it has to the families who place their trust in it.

This is ours.

Moon's life changed the way we approach this part of rescue. While no policy can eliminate every risk, we believe this one better reflects the balance between responsible rescue practices, the realities of a foster based organization, and our commitment to protecting both the kittens we save and the families who open their hearts to them.

We will continue to evaluate our policies as our rescue grows. If one day we have the ability to house kittens until they are older, we will gladly revisit this decision. Until then, we believe this is the most responsible path forward.

Rest in Peace, Moon. Your life will not be lost in vain.

Thank you Cierra and James, for permission to share Moon's story and photos.

THE WAIT IS OVER! Available kittens now! (And a couple mamas from past batches)

The tiny freeloaders have officially been promoted to Adoptable Status™ and applications are NOW OPEN! 🥳🐱

This group ranges from 5–11 weeks old, which means some are polished little professionals, some are still figuring out how feet work, and at least one is almost certainly plotting crimes against your houseplants.

These aren’t breeder kittens with fancy pedigrees- they’re babies born to feral mamas who never asked to start life on hard mode. Several arrived sick, underweight and malnourished and watching them fight their way back has been nothing short of incredible. Every late-night feeding, medication, worry, and celebration has led to this moment.

And let us tell you… this is hands down the most lively, affectionate, hilarious and entertaining group of kittens we’ve ever had. They’re fearless, endlessly curious, ridiculously playful and absolutely overflowing with personality. If you’re looking for a kitten who will make you laugh every single day, this bunch has you covered.

A few important things before one of these manipulative bandits steals your heart:

🐾 Applications are processed in the order they’re received. Completed applications receive preference, and a completed application includes a records release from your current or most recent veterinarian. You must have an established veterinary clinic to be approved to adopt.

🐾 Our spay/neuter policy has changed. In light of recent tragic experiences, we’ve made the decision to no longer spay or neuter kittens under four months of age to reduce the risk of complications. Instead, adopters will sign an agreement to have their kitten spayed or neutered when age-appropriate. Once we receive proof that it’s been completed, a portion of your adoption fee will be refunded.

🐾 We do not host meet-and-greets. Our kittens are raised in foster homes, not a shelter, and protecting the privacy and safety of our foster families is important to us. We promise there are enough photos and videos of these tiny weirdos to help you find “the one.” 😻

These kittens have already beaten the odds. Now all they need is a family to write the next chapter with them.

Applications are officially open and kittens will go home when they are healthy and old enough! Applications being open gives us time to do our due diligence on applicants to make sure these kittens go to great homes! Link to the application here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDg1q4RqI01J_VyxI0I1RwoBs4ErI6sloo2r3limNhCF-77g/viewform

🚨 A Tiny Public Service Announcement Before We Post More Kittens 🚨

We absolutely love sharing these little gremlins with all of you. We spend countless sleepless nights bottle-feeding them, cleaning up things we’d rather not identify, playing amateur pediatricians, and convincing kittens that they are, in fact, supposed to eat food instead of our fingers.

That said…

If your favorite hobby is zooming into photos looking for a crusty eye, a bad hair day, or a reason to start drama in the comments, we’re going to save everyone some time. You’ll be blocked and banned from adopting from us.

Not argued with. Not debated. Just… p**f.

These aren’t designer kittens. They’re not bred for show rings or Instagram perfection. They’re little mutts who were born under porches, in barns, in junk piles, in abandoned houses, or wherever their exhausted mothers happened to survive long enough to give birth. We often have no idea what Mom’s nutrition looked like during pregnancy, what diseases she was exposed to, or what these babies endured before they landed in our hands.

By the time you see them, they’ve already beaten the odds.

We are a tiny rescue with no facility, no paid staff, and a budget that’s held together with duct tape, caffeine and and self neglect. Every kitten represents hours of medication, bottle feedings, laundry, vet appointments, tears, and more cleaning than any human should ever have to do.

So if you see a little crusty eye bo**er, a funny ear, a kitten who was clearly fighting something and is currently healing or a kitten that’s still growing into its oversized satellite dishes, congratulations! You’ve spotted a rescue kitten.

What we hope you also see is a kitten who is alive because someone cared enough not to give up on them.

We welcome questions. We welcome learning. We welcome kindness.

We do not welcome keyboard veterinarians looking for a fight or people whose only contribution is negativity.

Life is too short, rescue is too hard, and our block button works beautifully.

Now… back to posting adorable little trash goblins who somehow keep convincing us they’re worth all of this.

Photo: Worm, who has been adopted, eye bo**ers and all.

These two males were just surrendered. They are in good health, were very loved, and will be available after their neuter.

New Kittens!! 😻😻

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July! 🇺🇸

The good news? Most of the kittens from our first group have found amazing homes! 🎉

The even better news? Batch #2 is getting ready for their debut.

The bad news? They have collectively decided that sitting still for photos violates their constitutional rights.

We’ve tried treats. We’ve tried toys. We’ve tried making weird noises that would get us committed if the neighbors were watching. The kittens remain unconvinced.

So bear with us while we negotiate with a room full of tiny terrorists. As soon as we have photos that don’t look like cryptid sightings or blurry potato blobs, we’ll start introducing everyone.

If you’ve been waiting to adopt, keep an eye on the page. They’re coming… whether they’re willing participants or not.

We got 5 cats fixed, vaccinated and felv checked today. Please consider donating to these homeless adult cats. If anyone is interested in adopting any of them, they will become available in a week or so- once they are all healed up from their spay. 
We spend about $125 per cat on these procedures. This does not cover the flea and tick medication, the dewormer, the litter and the food. If you would like to make a donation, follow us a photo of my Venmo. That or you can send a check, please message me for info on that.