More ‘tornado cats’ found in Pleasant Grove, AL

Two new kitties have started showing up at Joni Crowe’s feeding stations in Pleasant Grove, AL. If you know someone who lost a pet in the April 27 tornadoes, please share this link with them; we’d like to reunite them with their families!

This small kitty has light grey fur underneath his body and on his legs and paws; his flank has darker grey stripes. He is young and neutered with green eyes. Joni says he is very sweet but still afraid.

The second kitty is a large, intact male who is solid grey in color with big round eyes.

Searching for her best friend …

Patches has been missing from the Drive-Inn Road area of Guntersville, AL since mid-April. He is 10 years old and neutered. May be much thinner now than what photo depicts. Contact: chastitynicole@hotmail.com with any information.

Patches the kitty and his owner, Nicole Afzal, have practically grown up together. A surprise gift from her parents, Patches was a tiny kitten with an even smaller ‘meow’ when the two were introduced. It all started one day after school … Nicole was sitting in her bedroom when she heard a pitiful little ‘meow’ sound. She searched the house until she found a little kitten hiding in the bathroom. He seemed so afraid that she let him sleep in bed with her that night. It was the start of something big, as Patches continued to sleep next to her or on top of her every night!

Nicole has fond memories of Patches as her alarm clock each morning.

“Every morning when he was ready to eat he would sit on my night stand staring at me and then he would take his paw and gently claw at me to wake me up. When he did that I knew he was ready to eat.”

And what kitty experience would be complete without the attention-grabbing ‘lay-on-top-of-important-paperwork’ trick?

“When he wanted attention he would do his best to get it no matter what,” Nicole says. “I would be trying to do my homework and he would get on top of my paper or book and lay on it so I would pet him. He loved to have his chin rubbed, but he hated it when I rubbed his stomach.”

Patches soon got a ‘sister’: a small dog named Buttons who became his best friend. The two of them loved to chase each other and play together.

According to Nicole, Patches was always very playful but had a loving side to him as well. He was an indoor kitty but one day he managed to sneak outside. Nicole has not seen him since and desperately wants to bring him home.

“I miss him so much. I also know his little friend Buttons, also misses him. He is like my best friend and my child. Patches is my baby boy and always will be.”

Kitty returns home 92 days after the 4/27 tornadoes!

Barbara Miller lost everything she had during the 4/27 tornado that swept through Pleasant Grove, AL. Imagine her excitement, then, to be reunited with both of her cats!

Kit Kat, a grey/blue kitty, was found a few days after the tornado, but “Trouble” was, well … a bit more difficult to find. He was first sighted over a month after the tornado but it -understandably- took some time to gain his trust. With the help of Joni Crowe, who has been faithfully setting up feeding stations for pets in the Pleasant Grove area, Trouble the kitty was captured in a humane trap a full 92 days after the tornado!

Trouble’s first stop? To the vet, of course! After spending a couple of nights at McAdory Vet Clinic and receiving a clean bill of health, Barbara took him to their new residence where he’ll be reunited with his pal, Kit Kat.

Reunited! 78 days later

Meet Jack … thanks to Joni Crowe, he’s now enjoying the company of his people!

Jack’s family lost their home in the April 27th tornadoes that tore through the state of Alabama. Efforts to recover their belongings were fruitless; even their furniture was never found. Although Jack was inside the house when the storms hit, everyone assumed he was dead.

Joni Crowe set up a feeding station across the street from the home, which is now a mere concrete driveway. Seventy-eight days after the tornadoes struck, there was Jack – waiting for Crowe to replenish the food and water!

“I had never even met Jack and he ran to me and started purring and meowing,” she said. “After a good meal, we called [the family] with the good news.”

First up on the agenda was a visit to the veterinarian for a check-up. The owner’s son, Jimmy, kept the news a secret from his dad. He picked Jack up from the vet, took him home, and let him out in the house where his dad was reading the newspaper.

According to Crowe, Jack walked straight over to the dad and jumped in his lap. He was so excited that he cried; he just couldn’t believe Jack was home!

The family had two more cats in addition to Jack. His sister, Kitty Kat, was found last month, but his other sister, Blackie, is yet to be found. The family is asking for prayers that she will find her way home as well.