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As seen in "I Love Cats" magazine: Caroline's Kids
written by Joyce White, Contributing Editor of I Love Cats [September/October 2009 issue]


In September, 1999, Judie Brown and her husband, Tom, visited a sanctuary in Utah.

"For the visit, we were spending a day volunteering in the cat area," Julie Brown says. "At that time we had an office cleaning business and cleaned windows, etc., for a living so what do we do? - the same work for our vacation... but, we met Caroline!"

"Of all the cats we met and interacted with, it was Caroline who attracted our attention, and in particular, Tom's, as she seemed to gravitate to him and wanted his attention. So, from room to room we went, but he kept going back to her room and she was always at the door looking up to him.

"He wanted her photo, so I took the one we now use," she says.

Caroline had been there about 10 years and she was old, incontinent, had hair loss and respiratory and digestive problems, and looked a mess. But to the Browns she was the most beautiful cat they ever saw.

On the trip home, Judie and Tom discussed how they would love to adopt her, but knew she had the best life and care possible with the people who had cared for her the last 10 years. Besides, at home, they had two special needs cats of their own.

"We had the photo of her enlarged to an 8x10 and copyrighted it. It sat in our dining room and every day Tom asked me to call and find out how she was, and every day we talked about the need for a no kill sanctuary here in Cleveland, Ohio, one for special needs and older cats fashioned after the shelter we saw," Judie says.

When she finally called to check on Caroline, she found she had died five weeks after they were there.

It was then that it became clear to the Browns what they had to do for all the Carolines in Cleveland.

"There are no coincidences in life; she came into our life for a reason," Judie says. "She chose Tom to get out her message. After the 10 years she had spent at the sanctuary, and all the people who she must have met, it was us she touched with her beauty and message."

So, in October 2000, the Browns got their 501 (c) (3) status and Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue was born.

Kids is short for furkids, and it is the furkids, like Caroline, with which they work.

"We are a totally free-roam, nokill sanctuary that works with older and special needs cats for the remainder of their life," she says.

"Our mission is to provide a home where they can live out their years and be loved and cared for. Our cats are not handicapped, they are handicapable. We house some of the most happy, well-adjusted, friendly cats anywhere."

Two Of The Lucky Ones
Goofy is a young black-and-white cat that hopefully will be available for adoption in the near future. His owner moved from Geneva and left Goofy behind, and a neighbor noticed the cat had what appeared to be a broken front leg.

The first medical assessment showed the cat needed orthopedic surgery, so Goofy went to the Cleveland Veterinary Clinic where an operation revealed an old gunshot injury. The entry and exit points had healed, so no one knew the cat had been shot.

Carefully, the bullet fragments were removed and the split bone was pinned.

Goofy, a sweet-natured cat, is recovering and will be on cage rest for three months. He will also need several rechecks and X-rays.

His surgery cost $2,116 and he will need follow-up care.

"There are so many stories," Judie Brown says, "But the most recent are still in our clinic healing, one with bad wounds to a foot and the other to all four, yes, all four, legs and feet.

The two cats are Chico, with a foot injury, and Charlie a 10-year-old kitty whose life, it appears, was horrible. But he is a big love and an eating machine now that he is fighting for his life.

"We are sure he will test positive for FFV, as his body is filled with old scars and new wounds, abscesses and all those bite wounds up and down all four legs and feet," Judie Brown says.

Pain meds help, and the shelter provides everything that he never had ... and the love he never knew.

Caroline lives on in all the little lives the shelter cares for in her name - cats that would otherwise be put down at traditional shelters now have a second chance at love and life.

How You Can Help
Volunteers and donations of food and supplies are always welcome as Caroline's Kids currently houses 196 cats. The wish list includes food, cat litter, paper towels, cat beds, and bleach, and brand preferences are on the website.

If you would like to donate to Goofy, or any of the cats at the Concord Township sanctuary, send contributions to Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue, P.O. Box 24068, Mayfield Heights, OH 44124. Add a note that the donation is 'For Goofy.'

"The sanctuary has now established a 'Roger Fund' to pay for future animal surgery or emergency care," Brown says, and donations earmarked for this fund will help care for our sick, abused, and aged cats.

Pets that have gone to The Rainbow Bridge can be posted on a memorial on Caroline's Kids Web-site.