Our family’s Hart 2 Heart Animal Rescue story began after our cat Kansas passed away unexpectedly from liver failure. A rescue kitty himself, Kansas brought so much joy to our home. What better way to honor his memory than to give another rescue kitty (or kitties) a fur-ever home? We cast out a wide net. We scrolled through different rescue websites. We reached out to friends who’d rescued kitties in the past. Nothing seemed to pan out. Then, we came across the Hart 2 Heart.

            My oldest daughter gets credit for finding Hart 2 Heart. She could have spent all day scrolling through the pictures of their adoptable kittens. I know. She forwarded a ton of the site’s pictures to me. But the instant I landed on a picture of Jasper and Pearl, I knew they were the ones. With their white and grey striped coats, they were the spitting image of Kansas! But we didn’t choose them right away. For some reason, we got it stuck in our heads that we’d adopt a calico next, and we’d already submitted an application for two kittens who fit the bill. When we learned they’d already been adopted, I immediately thought of Jasper and Pearl. I crossed my fingers and asked if they were available instead. I was overjoyed to learn that yes, Jasper and Pearl were still available! This time, I didn’t hesitate. I told our Hart to Heart liaison Jackie that we wanted them. Fast forward to a few weeks later when we officially welcomed Jasper and Pearl to our family.

Pearl and Jasper have definitely settled into their new environment. They love teasing their dog-brothers Hamlet and George, tormenting their cat-brother Arthur, cuddling with us (and each other), birdwatching through the windows, playing with their toys, and making biscuits. Lots and lots of biscuits! They make us laugh every single day. More importantly, they keep Kansas’s memory alive. I can’t imagine life without Jasper and Pearl, and I’m happy we were able to give them a fur-ever home. And I’m so grateful to everyone at Hart 2 Heart for bringing Jasper and Pearl into our lives.

She's doing great! I've been sending updates and photos to her foster mom, I'm thinking of naming her Nami.

Princess is a part of the family we didn't know we were missing. She has such a sweet personality, but she also shows the dogs she is boss. She loves to snuggle with us humans, one of the dogs or the older cat.  We keep her name Princess because she truly is one, but we added Coconut to her name.  Because of her white fur and her crazy personality.

Thanks for picking us to be Princess’ family. 

I had been fostering for Hart 2 Heart and had cared for 5 or 6 kitties over a year or so. In the fall of 2019, Cissy came my way. A very sweet, gray and white cat; I’m not even sure what her back story was, but now she was under my care. She had very sore teeth, as can be common with street cats.

At first, I had to chop up even her canned food, I heated it up, and she sat on my lap as she ate from the dining room table. It was the only way I could get her to eat. We scheduled dental surgery and had several of her worst teeth removed. What a difference! She could eat freely. This was all happening during the height of the pandemic, and adoptions were initially at a low, do I decided I would keep this little one.

Before long, her mouth pain came back. She would start to eat and then suddenly shriek in pain and run away when some food hit a bad tooth. So, we scheduled another dental surgery, and that did the trick! What is most strange to me is that now that she can eat without pain, she almost always goes for the dry food, even with only a very few teeth left. Because of Cissy’s bravery through all this, I wanted to rename her (she is no cissy!) I would always tell her she was such a Pretty Girl, then I shortened it to PG, which morphed into Peachy. Today Peachy is a sweet and happy companion.

In October of 2022, I was approached by H2H to take a feral cat. They told me that she had been born outside by a Wawa and been there quite a while. She had gone through some trauma. I was told she was “caught” and taken to a foster home. Unfortunately, the foster home was not ideal, and they needed a new foster. It took a couple of weeks to firm up the plans. They never told me her name. When I finally asked. I was told it was “Paula”. I laughed very hard.

I said yes and Paula came into my home. She had to stay in my spare room by herself. (I got her a night light) I was told AT LEAST a couple weeks. I laughed and said “yea, it will take me a day to socialize her”. Nope. It took Paula 3 weeks to come out from under the bed. She would definitely come out at night and eat but would not let me see her.  I started to take it personally. Lol. She was in the spare room for about two months before she would venture out into the house.

Very slowly, Paula started to let me at least see her. Then walk past her. Eventually, I could pet her, but NOT HER HEAD. Lol.

I was slowly falling in love. My other two cats, Zoey and Ollie, were not thrilled, but they tolerated our new houseguest.  Paula gradually learned how to trust and accept love.

Paula taught me the beauty of patience, trust, and love. We had an opportunity to have her adopted out and I was ready to do the meet and greet when I just started to cry. I could not give Paula up. She had become such an important part of our home. Watching her go from a frightened, lonely, skittish cat to a little beauty who wouldn’t leave my side was such a thing of beauty.

I am so happy Paula is now part of our home. She’s the best. Thank you, Hart 2 Heart.