Dear Friends and Supporters,

 As 2025 comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the extraordinary journey we’ve been on together this year. What a year of hope, healing, and miracles — all made possible because of you.

 Thanks to your dedication, compassion, and generosity, Furry Friends Cat Rescue saved over 1,200 cats and kittens this year. Kittens born in cold sheds and alleys. Seniors left behind when their owners moved away. Injured cats struggling just to eat or survive another night. Every life that came through our door represents a story of courage, resilience, and second chances — all this is made possible because you chose to act.

As the year ends, please consider making a donation to Furry Friends! We are here to assist you with your charitable giving! To receive the best possible service and help ensure your donations to Furry Friends qualify for a charitable income tax deduction in the 2024 tax year, please keep this information in mind:    

 Gifts of complex assets such as real estate, closely-held business interests or stock, and planned giving vehicles may require input from Furry Friends leadership as soon as possible for potential closure by the end of the calendar year.

It can be hard to talk about but so important to plan and we get many people asking how to do this or how to make sure their cats will be cared for.

August is National Make a Will Month — the perfect reminder to take care of something that’s easy to put off but so important: making a will. Creating or updating your will ensures your wishes are carried out, your loved ones are cared for, and the causes you hold dear are supported for years to come.

Furry Friends focuses on saving cats in need. This is just one of the many stories about how cats find a new life once they are rescued by us.

When Zephyr arrived at Furry Friends, he was in rough shape—his fur was patchy, his skin was irritated, and he couldn’t stop scratching. It was clear he was uncomfortable and in need of immediate help. After a thorough veterinary exam and skin scraping, the diagnosis came in: feline demodicosis, caused by Demodex gatoi mites.

Diego had been living on the streets, possibly abandoned, and life on the outside had taken its toll—he was ragged, worn, and tired in a way that went beyond his years. When a kind person finally brought him to a local pet emergency hospital, it was clear Diego was in rough shape. But due to laws regarding stray animals, the ER couldn’t treat him. Instead, animal control had to be called.

Furry Friends: A Love-Filled Lifeline for Cats

By Diane Stevens, Furry Friends Marketing Director

 Founded in 1999 in a volunteer’s home, Furry Friends has grown to become the largest "cat-only" rescue organization in the area. What started with a small group of passionate individuals has blossomed into a full-fledged shelter supported by 200 dedicated volunteers. Over the years, Furry Friends has made significant strides, adopting out 725 cats and kittens in 2024 alone, setting a new record for the organization.

As we approach the end of 2024, it’s a perfect moment to reflect on all that we’ve achieved together. This year has been full of both challenges and heartwarming successes, all made possible by the dedication and generosity of our community. Thanks to you, Furry Friends has continued to be a safe haven and fresh start for so many deserving cats and kittens in our area.

I hope this letter finds you and your Furry Friends happy and healthy! We have had many amazing things happen this year within Furry Friends and have saved a lot of kitties! As of this writing we have 115 kittens and 69 adults under our care, which is a record for us. We are also on track to break last year’s adoption numbers, creating another record for Furry Friends growth. To think we went from around 200 adoptions in 2019 to 700 this year is a crazy number to wrap your head around. Many things have contributed to this growth:

Wow what a great and challenging year Furry Friends has had! I will share our many amazing accomplishments in 2023 in this letter. First, I would like to send out a very heartfelt THANK YOU to all our supporters, volunteers, sponsors, and donors! Together with our Board of Directors, Leadership, Staff, and YOU, we have made a difference in so many lives and in many cases, we have saved lives! Give yourself the credit you deserve!

What an amazing year 2023 has been for Furry Friends! We have faced many challenges—and many successes-- throughout the year, but the one thing that has always shined through is our commitment to the cats in our care.

I know it seems really contradictory to say not all rescuing is responsible rescuing. Rescuing, by definition, means “to save,” so how can anyone rescuing an animal not be doing what is right?

Furry Friends is a nonprofit no-kill cat rescue and adoption organization based in Vancouver. Serving the greater Vancouver-Portland metro area, Furry Friends seeks to provide local cats in need with proper medical and emotional care while waiting for a forever home, rescuing abused, abandoned, or otherwise unhoused or unadopted cats with a safe place to stay while searching for their perfect human companion.