Adopted Cats Who Support The Rescue Community - Part 2 (Meet Shiloh!)

Hello everyone, this is Lexy checking in with another fab interview in our series. Today you'll be meeting Shiloh. Shiloh is a four year old Snowshoe mix who hails from Ohio.  He is the spokescat for Abandoned Angels Cat Rescue and he shares his tail with us today. 

Shiloh waiting for belly rubs!

Good morning, Shiloh, and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed today.  

Could you tell us what shelter you came from, and if you remember, how you got there? 

Good morning! Thank mew for having me. I came from Abandoned Angels Cat Rescue which is run by Lynda Walker in Hilliard, Ohio. She saved my life! I was living with other abandoned strays on a porch of an empty house. We slept in a turned over trash can and were fed by a kind neighbor. Miss Lynda eventually caught us all (I was the last and the most difficult to catch) and she had us spayed and neutered, got all of our shots and eventually found homes for us all.

Shiloh is on the bottom right, living with the other cats on the porch.
That's the trashcan they slept in. 

How old were you? And how old are you now? 

I was somewhere around a year old. I'm almost 4 now! My birthday is estimated to be in August. 

Can you tell us about the day you adopted your Mom? 

My mom found Lynda's ad on Petfinder.com about me. She kept going back to it several times a week. She said there was something about my picture that drew her in, so she finally called Lynda and came to meet me. I was very scared and shy but my mom and Lynda decided that I needed an environment with less cats. Turns out they were right! I do miss Lynda very much but I've come a very long way and doing very well now! 

How did you get your name and what does it mean?

My name before I came to live at my forever home, was Siam. Mom thought that "Siam" sounded too much like "Sam" which is what they usually called Samson. So she searched for a name that would fit my sweet, shy, personality and found, "Shiloh". Shiloh means peace. In Hebrew, it means, "he who is to be sent". It didn't take me long to learn my new name and I answer to it all the time. 

What is the best thing about being in a forever home? 

The best thing about being in a forever home is being loved. I am loved even though I have little quirks and I'm still somewhat shy and skittish, even after all this time. But I've come a long way and that's because my mom and dad have a lot of patience and love me very much. My dad is my best friend and you can usually find me wherever he is. And I'm inside and warm. It was so cold and scary before I was rescued. And the food! I have 2 meals a days! How awesome is that?!

Do you have any brothers and sisters? Do you get along with them? 

We just lost our ginger brother Samson in April. We miss him very, very much. We used to do nature studies together a lot. I have a sister, Sadie Mae who is about the same age as me. She is a rescue cat too! We like to play chase in the house and run up and down the stairs. She's funny and fluffy! 

Lola and I know that you’re the spokescat for AACR. That must be quite an honor! How did that come to be? 

Oh, it's a huge honor! Miss Lynda was mostly spending her own money to help others. Aside from adoption fees, she had only one other donation and she would have annual garage sales to help make money. My mom suggested that we start a Facebook page and we could try some fund raising and also raise awareness for spay and neuter and awareness that people need to take pet ownership very seriously; that it's a forever decision. Lynda would do the rescue work and I would do Facebook and fund raising. And that's how I became the spokescat for AACR!

Shiloh posting for his AACR Spokescat Role.

Do you have any special responsibilities with that position? 

Yes, I am the one who posts and schedules posts for our Cat of the Day, articles, rescue awareness information, spay and neuter information, shares our photo albums and any special announcements like when one of our cats gets adopted, what our donations are used for or if there are any special events! We share other cat pages and rescue pages and cats in need too. I am also the one who creates our raffles and works with Prince Pan Pan and others in our auctions. Even Sadie Mae helps sometimes too. It's really a huge group effort!

Can you tell us a little about AACR? 

Abandoned Angels Cat Rescue is not a shelter. There's no building to house homeless cats. There's no staff. Lynda runs AACR from her home in Hilliard, Ohio. Lynda started in cat rescue when a group of kittens showed up at her back door several years ago. She never even owned a cat before but she has such a huge heart that she didn't even hesitate to take them in and now she has about 20 abandoned angels in her home at all times, some that need daily medical care. She has a "cat room" with cat trees and cubbies and beds and a catwalk that leads out to the "catty shack" in nice weather. She also helps re-home cats for others who are in difficult life circumstances, works with TNR efforts when possible, has taken cats that are dumped in her yard, scooped them up off the streets and has helped rehab all that come to her. ALL cats whether at fosters, ones she is helping to re-home or that live with her are spayed or neutered and will be updated on all shots before being adopted. And we are very proud to announce that we recently acquired our 501c3 non profit status! 

This is the catty shack at AACR/Miss Lynda's.
 Notice the cat walk from the shack to the cat room!

We know you’re very involved in fundraising for AACR. What are some things you have done to raise money? 

Along with several of our friends like Prince Pan Pan who sponsors our auctions, Lola The Rescued Cat, Miss Dixie, Zoe Blue Mama's Designs, Smoky and many others who generously donate auction items, we have been able to raise several thousand dollars since November 2013! We would not be able to do what we do without them. I hold summer and winter raffles too. We have had others who have given us portions of their sales of their items. We have had others make and donate lovely mats to us as well. How awesome is that?! We have also had many generous donors and some have given multiple times and are we forever grateful for it all! We've been able to help countless kitties with spay and neuter, medical needs, vaccinations, dental work and have supplied our fosters and local no-kill shelters with food and litter.

How can people help AACR if they wish to do so?

100% of all donations go directly to medical expenses, food, spay and neuter, vetting and general care of current and future abandoned cats and kittens and for cats and kittens at our fosters or partnerships of AACR. Any amount is appreciated and even $1.00 can help save a life. The link to our current YouCaring account is here. 

You can also send donations to: Lynda Walker, PO Box 502, Hilliard OH 43119. Thank mew!

Do you have anything in closing you would like to say or share? 

Yes, on behalf of Miss Lynda and myself, we would like to thank everyone who follows our facebook page, encourages us, helps Miss Lynda from time to time and donates and helps with fund raising. Everything that you do makes a difference in a cats life! If you are interested in fostering or adopting, please send us a private message on our page or call (614) 535-5251. 

Thank mew so much! 

Our Facebook Page is Abandoned Angels Cat Rescue.

Thank you, Shiloh. This was a great interview.  Lola and I are proud to have you as a friend. 

Thank mew so much! We genuinely appreciate it and we are also proud to have you as a friend as well! 

If you missed Part 1, you can read about Zoe Blue here. 

Stay tuned, Lola will be up next with a great interview with a beautiful calico named Miss Dixie.