So Kerry is on vacation, freezing her butt off on her motorcycle in Canada or some such thing, and I’m trying to relax a little in my hammock at home by reading a book.  I get a frantic call from Janet.  It seems there are some kittens that were on a transport, headed for another shelter after dropping off some dogs to ours.  Janet was afraid that these skinny, flea-invested kittens would all die if we didn’t take them.  I told her that if she felt strongly about it she should take them.  She did, and so far all of them are still alive except the poor little one who passed away on the trip up.  Here’s a letter we got the next day (note: pictures are of OTHER kittens at Pets Alive and not the ones described below as those were too graphic to post here):
Hello,
I am writing to you on concerns of the transport that came up to Pets Alive on Saturday from Kentucky. A very thin mother cat with baby kittens coming from that shelter were supposed to come into our rescue but due to the very poor condition of the cat and the babies she was offered to stay there at Pets Alive because of her condition and fear of the babies passing due to being anemic because of the overwhelming amount of fleas. I am very upset of the condition the mother cat and kittens were in, and the other kitties we took into our rescue were nothing but skin and bones and of course flea ridden, thank goodness they all tested negative for fiv/felv but the condition of them other wise was appalling.
I am writing to you to let you know that I cannot express my appreciation on all what you do for all of these wonderful creatures, so many are in danger all over and it is you that give these poor creatures a second chance. I cannot express the wonderful experience all the staff showed us with this poor kitty, we just didnt know what to do, and all of your wonderful staff and volunteers all worked together on helping this mother cat with babies, I wish I could remember all of the names that were involved with this, because I would write each one a big thank you from us.
How is the mother with the babies doing, were they able to survive? The veterinarian care we paid for down there  was very substandard to say the least and we are so distraught over this but we feel our calling is to help this shelter.
Can you please keep me posted on them as I cannot sleep or rest knowing what happened to them, and we have to do some serious thinking of what to do with what shelters we can help with from now on, I know unfortunately none of us can save them all, but these poor helpless creatures need more people like all of us who care to speak up for the many in need. I hope like you all see one day that it takes a long time for anyone to find a animal in need of a home, and that no animals have to suffer and die needless deaths because of the ignorance of humans. I myself sometimes hate to call my self a human because of what goes on with the poor defenseless animals.
I am going to send you down a care package for kitties – they are my passion- and please keep us informed on the kitties mentioned above. We had no intentions of leaving a momma cat with babies behind on you, but the staff was so nice about the whole thing and offered to keep her due to her condition and her babies. I really want to know they made out and if any survived and how the remaining are doing, please if any survived can you keep me posted and please give them extra kiss and hugs from me, and tell them i did care for them as we did want to try to help them.
I am going to see what our rescue can do to support Pets Alive, if it is a care package once a month for kitties or something, I know it is a small thing we can do and nothing compares to what you and all your wonderful staff do everyday.
May God Bless You All,
Much appreciation always,
Sincerely,
Cathy
Saving Purrs One At A Time