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Macy  I was making a donation and decided to check the “successful adoption” area and there she was, Palamino, or should I say, Macy Day. Macy is now part of the family, and has been for over three years now, having two chocolate labs, Sadi at 14 yrs and Suki at 4yrs., for sisters. As this photo shows 
she is best friends with Suki although she is loved by us all. I am so very thankful that you were there to rescue her mother with her kittens so that Macy could become part of our family. Thank you so much. Merrill H.
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 Jubie I'm a handsome elderly gentlemen of 16 who has lots of life left and lots of affection to give. I lost my home of eight years last July due to some very unfortunate circumstances (still miffed about THAT!) and was returned to FFGW. I had to undergo a couple of surgeries for kidney problems, which FFGW paid for, and recovered nicely at McLean Animal Hospital. Luckily, a space opened up in foster care last November, and I went home with foster mom Mary Jo M to take up residence with the two house cats, Carmen and Kiley. We had a few hissy matches at the beginning but soon settled down---they realized I was the boss! I was fully prepared to live out my life at Chez M. I went to a couple of adoption fairs, but people tend to look at the young whippersnappers and overlook mature felines like me. Then, last month, a miracle happened! A very nice womn named Suzanna was looking for an older cat for her former mother-in-law, a lovely 90-years-young lady whose cat had recently passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Suzanna saw my pciture on the Web site and knew immediately I was The One! After all, who could resist a BOC (technical veterinary term for Big Orange Cat)? Suzanna came by and got me and my scratching post (I like it even though I have no front claws) and a couple of toys and took me to my new home. At first I was a little grumpy about being uprooted again. I hid under the bed for a day or so, but then decided maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. My foster mom had given me lots of affection, but she does, after all, have two other cats and a job. This new person, on the other hand, was home ALL the time and could devote ALL her attention to yours truly. Me likey! So I crept out from under the bed that night and slept at the foot of Mrs. Braun's bed. I even gave in and began to eat a little. By the third day, according to a report from Suzanna, I was really liking this, and Mrs. Braun was totally in love with me (can you blame her?) All the food and water and petting sessions I wanted----and I know I am here for good. I miss my foster brother and sister, but it is good to be the King! Guess you could say I've found my niche in life....sorry, have to go...time for another snuggle session with mom! Mary Jo M. |
Bud Our family has adopted a very lovable and personable kitty, Bud. We had lost a member of our family, Sporty, and we were still feeling the lose when we were alerted that the FFGW had a wonderful kitty available for adoption. Bud was rescued by a good-hearted shelter after he had been hit by a car.  Unfortunately, the surgeons had to remove his right rear leg from the hip but it hasn't doused his spirit! We visited the FFGW adoption fair and met Bud and were immediately smitten. We brought him home with us that very day. He has settled into our family wonderfully -- he sleeps with us, plays "toe monster" in the morning to wake us up, is continually curious about **anything** we eat, and is such an adolescent: one moment skittering around the family room with his favorite toy and then the next moment snuggling up to us for a relaxing and refreshing snooze. He had such a great personality and we are saddened to think that someone thought he was not worth keeping. But we're very happy that he joined our family. He's bright, inquisitive, snuggly, and playful. It's amazing how well he gets around and leaps about with only 3 legs! He gets along with all -- adults and children. Thank you FFGW for giving us such a wonderful new family member. The Reidy family |
Achilles Two years ago (November 6, 2004) I adopted my first pet and my best friend. In a year where I took a new job and turned 30, I felt it was time to get a pet. I had never owned a cat, but had been turned on to them by my younger sister who had three of her own.
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on Halloween of 2004 I went and met "Mr. Grey" at his residence in Adams Morgan. He was about 8 weeks old at the time, one of 7 kittens born to his mother Athena. Until that never, I had never experienced love at first sight, but that little guy made me melt. He crawled into my lap and I just knew we were meant to be together. 
Within a few months, another cat arrived in my life. My sister's cat Twinkie had a weight problem living with my parents in PA. She came to Virginia for a vacation/fat camp to help slim her down. Achilles took to her so well, that she has never left. With long work hours keeping me at the office on occasion the two darlings have each other during the day. Together they sit in the window and snarl at birds or play with the furry mice to pass the time. I could not be happier with the way this has worked out. 
my best friend and making my existence more meaningful because of the joy this little guy has brought me. Never in my life would I have guessed that I could be such a cat lover, but charming little Achilles has made me a better man. A friend of mine at the office once said referring to cats, "sometimes the best people in life are fur people." And my little fur people are just that; the absolute best! FFGW, keep up the great work!  Nyssa Nyssa came to us through FFGW. My cat was 6 1/2 and depressed because his buddy across the hall had recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He still visited with the family every day, but didn't eat for 3 days after Smokey crossed over. On the advice of his therapist, we decided on a female 2-3 years' younger, so his dominance wouldn't be tested. I tried cats through FFGW and newspaper give-up adoption ads. None worked and back they went. Then, Feline Foundation sent me a photo of a 2-year-old snow white female with a traumatic background. Her first owner almost completely tore off an ear to teach her a lesson. She was in a foster home for love, treatment, and healing. A young couple adopted her and kept the name given by her foster mom - Nyssa, to avoid further trauma. After a year, they decided that she was alone too much. I later found out the husband didn't like her nervous vomiting. They brought her to us June 30, 1996, put her carrying case on the floor and opened the door. Thump, thump, thump went Meli's heart - Instant love!! They were frequently cuddled on her chair like an old married couple. We were a happy family. In October 2005, Meli had surgery for bladder cancer. It recurred this year and metastasized. He had no pain and was still going after Nyssa, but he began fading. He was put down at home on July 17, 2006 with Nyssa and his human friends surrounding him. Fortunately, she's the comic relief.. And she is dearly loved. Sylvia T Arlington, VA |
And she WAS beautiful. He tried to go in the case, but she was terrified. I told him to leave her alone. He understood exactly what I said. It killed him, but he sat there and watched her explore, until she hid in the bedroom closet. After a total separation while I was at work, free roaming when I got home and overnight, all was fine. She began to accept Meli as a playmate and was impressed with his good looks. Despite being neutered, he knew a female when he saw one. And she was a babe. The indignities she endured; but she truly loved him and would kiss his face which misread. 
He was 16 1/2. She still looks for him in his closet and calls him, but is enjoying all the attention she's getting. She is 12 now, gorgeous, and still cannot be picked up and held - that's how long her fear has lasted. I don't know if I'll get another cat for her because she loves having no competition. I'll know if she has the need for a feline pal, just as I knew Meli would let me know when he was ready to cross over. We're still adjusting to life without him, so now is not the time - the pain is too fresh.| Paddington and his Baby Brother!  Paddington was rescued with his 5 siblings in June 2004. Although the kittens had been fed and watched over by a concerned caretaker, they had never been handled by people until the day our volunteer went out to bring them into foster care. They were pretty shocked at the move indoors and took a few weeks for them to decide that being hugged and kissed wasn't terrible after all. Paddington was the shyest of the group and was in foster care for almost a year before he found his person.
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| DUFFY LOVES HIS NEW LIFE -- INDOORS!!
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In September 2000, I adopted a feral kitty from FFGW then named Duffy, a 10-month-old buff tabby with a deformed rear right paw. Duffy, his mother, and his littermates had been rescued in Oxon Hill. Duffy decided that he liked the soft life indoors. When I met him, he was living with his kind-hearted foster mom, Alena, and her two sweet kitties. He was already a big boy. His first greeting to me was a hiss. | MOLLY AND COSMO ARE FRIENDS... NOW!  (In both pictures: On the left, Cosmo (six years old) a graduate of Arlington Animal shelter and on the right, Molly (three years old and formally know as Aldie) and a graduate of FFGW.) |
A GREAT NEW LIFE FOR MOM-N-DAUGHTER TEAM! In September of last year I brought home a skittish, waif-like Lucia (formerly Elsie) and her young daughter Sabina (formerly Sunshine). Lucia was maybe a little more than a year old, and her young daughter was just over 4 months.  Lucia had been rescued months earlier, abandoned in an alley. And she was pregnant.By September all of her kittens, except one, had been adopted. She was too bonded to her for them to be separated. So I happily took them both. The entire way home in the car they both struggled like mad to find any possible way out of their carriers. And when I let them go in my small apartment, they both huddled under the couch, both making sure that the other was alright. A conciliatory gift of yogurt was grudgingly accepted by Sabina, but Lucia remained hidden all that night and well into the next morning. Now, 7 months later, when I walk into my apartment, I am greeted by the now happily chubby Lucia and her distinctive meow--which is really a cross between a bark and a squeek. Although I am not sure that Lucia will ever be a "lap cat", she goes well out of her way every day to make sure that I know that she appreciates and trusts me. As soon as the alarm goes off in the morning she is right there for her morning rub. And on the weekends she likes to lie in bed with me, kneading my arm with her paws and purring. She also spends a lot of time on her back on my pillow when I am not in bed. She  looooooooooves the bed.Sabina, not having endured the hardships of her mom and also still being a kitten, is, well...a kitten. She enjoys shredding toilet paper and stalking anything that moves. Including her mom (both human and feline). Both mommy and her kitten are well adjusted and happy. And nothing could make me happier. Jessica MacKenzie |
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At eight weeks old, China and his two brothers had been rescued from a parking lot in Northern Virginia. Their father was an infamous stray cat in the area. The mother was no where to be found, but she'd left an unmistakable mark on her feral kittens, the notion that humans were downright scary.
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LITTLE CHINA GUY...
ping inside a toiletry kit in the bathroom. Their dog, a rottweiler princess named Gbatu, took tiny the little China doll in as her baby and refused to leave his side. China thought this was just fine, and with a little patience and a lot of tender loving care from Kitson, Guy and the dog, it wasn't long before China was tearing through the house attacking the laundry and any knitting bags he could find. Within days, he turned into quite a snuggler.