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.

I never had cats as pets before. I learned through the Rescue that there was a gray cat that needed a place to stay for a week. Oliver was delivered with some dire warnings about bad behavior, expected mayhem and destruction.  What had I gotten myself into?  

But, Oliver did not ruin my curtains, rip up my furniture, or even attack me. The warnings were completely unfounded. Oliver quickly made himself at home and settled in. He sleeps on the bed, in baskets, and on my husband's shoes. He is friendly to visitors. He does value his alone time and has a healthy appetite. He is my first "foster fail" but not my last. 
Oliver is not a cuddly lap cat, but he is a funny, quiet guy who has warmed my heart as I have warmed his. He reminds me of a grumpy old man who can be gruff and standoffish with new fosters (and there have been numerous) but he is not violent, mean or scary at all. 
I highly recommend fostering. Getting to know Oliver has changed my mindset toward cats, and provided me with many entertaining antics. I am now a seasoned foster at the ready when the need arises.

We adopted Cleo from Hart 2 Heart at the Pet Supply in Southampton. I always go in there to buy my cat food and treats for our other cat, Caleb.  I always look at the cats up for adoption and fell in love with Cleopatra a beautiful tuxedo cat. I put my hand I the crate, she purred and had this little meow. I knew she would be a great fit for us. We brought her home and the rest is history.  She follows me everywhere I go. She gets along with our older cat. If you want to find Cleo you just need to know where I am, follows me everywhere I go. We love her!  

We are so happy that Rizzo adopted us a month ago! When our 19+ year old ginger tabby, Thumper crossed the rainbow bridge, our hearts were totally broken. Our house was so empty and we knew Thumper would not want us to be lonely. I went on to Pet Search and found pictures of Rizzo at Hart2Heart and knew she would be the little tuxedo I was hoping for. I filled out the application and sent my daughter over to Pet Supplies Plus to check her out since she lived nearby. Christa did a zoom meet and greet with us and Rizzo for 45 minutes! They played and cuddled and we knew she would be ours. We went up to Pet Supplies Plus on Saturday morning and scooped her right up and we have been snuggling and playing with her ever since. She is such a character lol. Our hearts are so healed and filled with love with this very loving, sweet little girl, Rizzo. We were sent home with a surprise of food, litter and toys when we adopted her! What a wonderful experience we had with our adoption and hope all your kitties get to find their fur-ever homes with you. We will be forever grateful that you all came into our lives just when we need you most.

Thank you!

Matilda’s story is one for the books. Hart2Heart was called to rescue several cats who were abandoned when their owner died.  The situation was dire; the owner was a hoarder. There were many cats, some alive, some dead and some barely hanging on. Matilda was rushed to a veterinarian where she received fluids and they began to assess her situation. She was severely malnourished, had a severe respiratory infection and a tumor in her mouth. She made it through the surgery and started her recovery, but not without battle scars. Millie is a long-haired cat, but they were forced to shave her fur because it was so matted. They described it as a “tortoise shell.”  Her entire bottom lip was removed along with her bottom teeth.  As a result, she drools, breathes very loudly and snores when she sleeps. Sharon texted, “Could you take her while she recovers? The other cats pick on her and won’t let her eat.” “Of course we will. When can we get her?”

When we first saw her, our hearts shattered. She ran under the bookcase in our spare bedroom, and we didn’t see her for days. We knew she was there - she was eating, using the litter box and if you were quiet, you could hear her labored and loud breathing. With some time, treats, and lots of coaxing, we finally got her to come out. The first time she let us pet her, we cried.  She was such an imperfectly beautiful creature. Had she ever known the love and affection of a human?  We moved her into MaryKate’s bedroom and that first night she awoke to Matilda standing on her chest sniffing her nose but managed to stay still so as not to scare her.  Three days after taking her in, she was spending every waking minute on MaryKate’s lap. 

While she’s many things, Matilda, Millie for short, is not a show cat. She still drools a bit, she has bald spots on her forehead, an abnormally long tail, and she snores. People who meet her think she is ‘funny’ looking.  However, her personality is unmatched. She loves people and warms up to anyone within minutes. Her favorite thing to do is push her face into your face, almost as if she wants a kiss. Not only is she cuddly, but she’s hilarious, too. She refuses to play with actual cat toys, but loves to attack clothes, paper towels, and headbands. She has figured out how to open doors by clinging onto the doorknob and pushing on the wall with her back paws. She’s the perfect cat, and anyone who gets the pleasure of meeting her is so incredibly lucky. Millie’s spunky personality and heartwarming story resulted in our decision to adopt her ourselves. She’s our ‘foster-fail' and each day we find another reason to love her more than the day before.