adoption news
Welcome to your source for updates on our greatest success stories!
​Welcome, Cat Wranglers!
The most exciting part of our 2023 Kickstarter campaign for the Hissy Fit game has been the opportunity to sponsor cat adoptions through our "Get a Game, Adopt a Cat" pledge level. Over the course of the campaign, we had the great honor of sponsoring 5 families who adopted 8 cats, with their adoption and vet fees subsidized by this program.
​
We're thrilled that those families have chosen to keep us up to date on the progress of their adoptions here, on our adoption news web site! Thanks to ALL the backers at this pledge level, for helping these kitties find their forever homes!
April 24, 2023
[Editor's Note: While he didn't go into detail himself in his story, I wanted to let everyone know that Charles, the last adopter we sponsored during our campaign, took so long to finalize because Charles was waiting for a really special kitty, one that was so challenging that they were unlikely to be adopted by anyone else. The Hissy Fit team just wanted to give a shout out to Charles for his wonderful work and his big heart!]
​
While looking for a cat that needed a bit of behavioral help, I finally found one that no one had been able to handle. They even needed to feed him through a slot because he would attack anyone that opened the cage. I was sure I could teach him that people are okay, or if not, at least give him a comfy place to live, even if we ended up just being housemates that never hang out. But as soon as he was home, in a quiet room by himself, he started to calm down a little. Sadly, that's also when I noticed him sitting weird or hanging his head. It appeared to be dehydration or something, so I took him to the vet, and they found that he has triaditis, a serious condition that can be treated well enough to lead to a semi-normal life. For the foreseeable future, and possibly forever, I will be giving him meds and subcutaneous lactated ringers (providing fluids directly under the skin from an IV fluid bag) at home a couple of times a week.
Once I got the cat home, I decided to name him Freeman. Freeman has perked up quite a bit, so it seems he is feeling better. We are far from buddies yet; I can't touch him without a fight. However, he is fighting a little less over time. So hopefully he is starting to see that when I grab him, it leads to him feeling better. At least he does not go out of his way to attack me when I am nearby. That's the start of a friendship, I think.
​
- Charles
Freeman Settling In
April 2, 2023
All four kittens are doing well, we're in autumn and this is going to be their first winter. They'll play all night all over the house and in the early hours of the morning when they're done zooming all over the house, they'll bury themselves under our blankets where it's warm.
​
The kittens are so hard to tell apart, because as they've grown, their fur keeps changing. Little white hairs in certain spots would disappear, or there would now be several white hairs. We'll always know it's Indi when she plays with one of my old socks that I was going to throw away because she's the only one who likes socks. Luna is usually the one who will climb on your lap when you sit down. Or it could be Lucky too. Gigi is more likely to be the cheeky one who jumps where she's not supposed to. But when they're all being cheeky and playing all over the place, we can't tell who's who.
​
- James
Indi, Luna, Lucky, and Gigi
February 24, 2023
Mimikyu is settling in wonderfully. She likes to follow us around throughout the day and her favorite spots, when cuddles aren't available, are our tub and behind my dresses in the closet. She loves her snuggles and will curl up between my partner and I in bed to make sure she's getting all the attention. She has quickly become the love of Lance's life!
- Rose
The Cone of Shame
Mimikyu, Settling In
February 24, 2023
Saturday we took home Tigger (now renamed Leon)! The SPCA volunteers were all very excited to hear about Hissy Fit! Leon went straight underneath our bed but eventually decided to emerge. He slept on the bed with us the second night after we brought him home! He's still a little shy but he's ventured all over the apartment (and found out how to sneak into the closets, but not how to get himself out). He is a very sweet and affectionate boy who will chirp at us until we give him the attention he wants!
Leon required a LOT of dental work and medication while he was at the shelter, and even though the SPCA provides his first post adoption vet check for free, I donated $200 to support the shelter and everything they did while he was with them.
[Editor's Note: The Hissy Fit team is THRILLED to be able to fully support and reimburse Dani's donation in support of the SPCA and Leon's care!]
- Dani
Leon at the SPCA
Finally home!
February 23, 2023
Josie is doing wonderfully! She had her spay last Friday. When we picked her up the vet said she had been quite feisty, which made us laugh because Josie is usually the most timid kitty!
​
She is wearing her cone of shame with pride and usually just uses it as a pillow to rest her head against while she sleeps.
​
The day after surgery she gave us a bit of a scare. She was hiding under the bed a lot, which wasn’t unusual, but didn’t come out for pets when we entered the room, which was unusual. We got her out and she was running quite a high fever, but by the time her vet appointment came around to check it out she was back to normal! Since then she has been snuggling and playing like her usual self!
- Lindsay
The Cone of Shame
Josie, Happy at Home
February 11, 2023
Hi Chris, I have an update! Spencer and I were able to visit the SPCA today and met several lovely cats; it will still be a week or so until we can bring one home, so we will see by next weekend whether any of our frontrunners are still available to adopt. This is us with Tigger, Max, and Rafiki.
- Dani
Spencer with Tigger, Max and Rafiki
February 11, 2023
Hi! We started talking about getting a cat in December, and in January started looking for and meeting cats. Mimikyu was the second cat we met, and it was love at first sight. She was surrendered due to litter box issues from stress. She had been in foster care since November. We ended our first visit being gifted with all the slow blinks from Mimikyu.
We brought her home yesterday and she's quickly got accustomed to all the new space in her home and loves window watching.
- Rose
Mimikyu
February 4, 2023
Hi Chris,
Thank you again for the adoption initiative via the Hissy Fit campaign. With some of the money we're able to save, I will be running a raffle for the cat rescue that I've been volunteering for. I am in the process of purchasing a series of cat-themed games to donate as prizes for the raffle. These games will range from the very light filler type games to more complex games. So far I've bought Cat Crimes, Rat-A-Tat Cat, and a 3D jigsaw puzzle that assembles into a cat (of course). I've also found a game called Kibble Scuffle in which the box of the game works like a dry cat food box when you pour the components out from the top of the box. A major prize will be a copy of Isle of Cats. I must also thank you for your extremely generous offer to donate 5 copies of Hissy Fit to the prize draw (to be delivered to the raffle winners when it is available). With a major prize like this, we should be able to raise some much needed cash for the cat rescue. This is really a fantastic offer from you and the Hissy Fit team, thanks very much again.
Regards,
James
Luna, Gigi, Indi, and Lucky
Getting ready for the raffle
February 3, 2023
Josie is continuing to thrive! The consistent nutrition has done wonders for her - her fur is silky and full, you can no longer see her bones, and the various skin breakdowns she had from living outdoors are healing! She is starting to explore her new environment more and even starting to play! It’s an adjustment process for everyone (people and kitties!) when someone new comes into the home, and we are starting to see everyone become used to the new normal of Josie living with us.
Josie has no desire to try to go back outside despite never having lived indoors before. She is content to snuggle in blankets and on laps and sleep her days away in comfort.
- Lindsay
Josie & Lindsay
Josie settling in
January 28, 2023
Hi! My wife and I have had a family of beloved cats and dogs over the past 30yrs - Ren (a papillon/chihuahua mix), Keesha (jack russell mix), Jadey (tabby), and Atom (a black cat). We lost Ren and Keesha in previous years, Ren was 19, Keesha was 17, and for a while we had Jadey and Atom left. But two years ago we lost them both within the space of 18 months - Atom had cancer, he was almost 11 years old, and Jadey about 9 months later, she was almost 21 year old. It hit us pretty hard to say the least. Speaking for myself, it hit me very hard.
I coped with it by roping my family into volunteering on and off for a couple of animal shelters. In a lot of ways, it's really helped us grieve our loss by populating our house with an assortment of dogs and cats/kittens each with huge personalities and varying levels of cheekiness.
​
Here are pictures of our current foster kitties. The plan was that we would put three of them up for adoption, see who gets adopted first (whether it's one, or two, or three of them) and we’d keep whoever was left. I'd been joking with my wife about just outright adopting all four of them but she had been the mature, sensible one, insisting that we couldn’t take all four. That is, until last weekend. After we were unable to find suitable forever homes for the kittens, we began to seriously contemplate adopting them ourselves.
The timing with your KS couldn't be better, it's certainly helped cement the idea of adopting all four of these little sisters outright.
- James
​
[Editor’s Note: James and his family volunteer at this shelter in Melbourne, Australia: https://www.meowrescue.com.au/
And you can see some of James’ AMAZING, award-winning animal (and human) photography on his gallery page here:
http://www.theatomengine.com/personal ]
Luna, Gigi, Indi, and Lucky
January 27, 2023
Hey! I was lucky enough to snag the very first Get a Game, Adopt a Cat tier slot, let me tell you why I was eagerly waiting for the KS start so I could be that lucky!
I moved into an apartment in 2013 and was not allowed to get a cat. I was still living in that place when I met Spencer in 2016, and when he and I got married in August 2020. For the entire length of our relationship, we've been talking about how much a cat would complete our family, but despite a change in ownership the apartment remained a no pet property. We had to content ourselves with cat cafe visits and our friends' pets for six entire years.
Right before Christmas 2022, I was offered a new job at Cornell University. The number one criteria for our new home was that we'd be allowed to get cats! We finished moving in on January 27, 10 days after the start of the Kickstarter, which I had backed literally as soon as I got the email about the campaign going live because I knew that finishing our family with a kitty would be a high priority by the time the campaign finishes.
As soon as we get settled in, we're going to make an appointment with the local SPCA to meet their available cats. I'm trying so hard not to fall in love with any of the cats listed on the site until it's closer to the time when we can bring one (or maybe two) home!
- Dani
spencer at the cat cafe
January 24, 2023
Thank you to all the backers for opening up another adoption spot! We took a young mama kitty in off the street and will be able to keep her in our home because of this!!
​
We’ve always been cat people. Michael and I both grew up with cats in our house, so when we got married it was a natural step to add a cat (Luna) to our family. A few years (and kids) later Molly joined our crew. Now, Michael has a firm rule that cats can’t outnumber the number of adults in the house. I accepted that limit and was content with two kids and two cats. When I saw Josie’s picture, though, I knew she had to join our family.
I was scrolling Facebook mindlessly when a picture of a calico cat popped up. Intrigued, I read the post. Josie (formerly nameless) was a young cat that had been living under a dumpster in an apartment complex for at least a year. In that time she had birthed two litters of kittens. A young girl in the complex had been setting out food for her and the other ferals for some time, but due to the no pet rule she wasn’t able to take Josie in. She did, however, find homes for the kittens when they were weaned. This girl (named Josie herself) had gotten word that animal control was planning a visit and wrote a desperate post asking someone to take in this cat. She was assumed to be pregnant again. I couldn’t handle the thought of Josie and her kittens living outside in the cold (our temperate reached -33 a few weeks ago), let alone what would happen if animal control did indeed make a visit. I instantly reached out to the girl and told her to bring the cat inside and I would be there in less than an hour.
From the first time I held her to put her in the travel carrier Josie was so sweet. She purred and nuzzled me and ate the food I offered. She was so thin and malnourished - her shoulder bones jutted painfully through the fur on her back. She wasn’t pregnant; rather, she had a belly full of worms that were taking all of her nourishment. Her ears were so filled with wax and mites I doubt she could even hear my assurances that she has a home while we drove.
I got her home, brushed her fur and cut out the mats, cleaned out her ears, dewormed her, and got some food into her. She instantly owned the room she was in, making herself comfy in my laundry basket. The first night she snuggled up under my chin and purred while she slept - the first night in her life, I imagine, she could let herself sleep without keeping one eye open.
Since that day Josie has blossomed. She is gaining weight and filling out nicely. She loves to come sit in my lap when I’m reading, or snuggle under my chin when I lie down to sleep. Despite having lived outside for years, she has no fear of humans and seems genuinely grateful to have a place to call home. We have an appointment to get her spayed and vaccinated. Even Michael, with his cat rule, overrode it for Josie because she is a natural fit for our family.
- Lindsay
Josie
