"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened" -- Anatole France

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About Us


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Adoptions


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Lost & Found


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Short On Luck


Bunnies, Etc.
Bunnies, Etc.


New Beginnings
New Beginnings


Petunia Says
Petunia Says...


pagetitle   Services & Programs



F.F.F. Programs & Services




Have Cat, Will Travel


Driving Cat

On The Road

FRIENDS OF THE FORMERLY FRIENDLESS Embarked upon a new and unique part of its Mobile Adoptions Program (M.A.P.) ... HAVE CAT WILL TRAVEL *.

This unique program expands the opportunities for adopters to meet and get acquainted with cats/kittens that they see on our websites and/or adoption site(s) in the privacy of their own homes. Since most of us these days live increasingly mobile lives, it made sense for FFF to become more mobile to provide opportunities to meet and get to know our "formerly friendless felines". What better place than in the prospective home where they might live!

This unique opportunity gives FFF and the prospective adopter the benefit of seeing the potential new, furry, family member in their "home environment".


HERE'S HOW IT WORKS...


Beginning May 17, 2010, FFF began making appointments for this new service. People would make these appointments by contacting FFF at (925) 808-8364 or via [email protected]. A prior interview is required to mutually select the best match for the living situation, client's preferences and prospective cat/kittens' personality and needs. FFF will then bring up to two cats/kittens for selection and a "home visit" to the prospective home. Then a kitty "trial sleepover" is usually scheduled for 5-7 days, after which it will be determined by the client & FFF to proceed with adoption or to make another selection. All FFF cats/kittens are spayed/neutered, current on their vaccines and have been combo tested. All FFF cats/kittens on "trial sleepovers" will need to be kept inside ONLY for safety purposes. For the health of all, resident cats in the prospective homes will need to be current on vaccinations and tested also prior to the "trial sleepover".

We look forward to meeting you and helping you find that new, furry, feline family member(s) that melts your heart!

Hope to meet you soon,


FFF


* This service is dependent on Covid-19 restrictions


Short On Luck (S.O.L.)

Short On Luck

 

...is an emergency foster program for needy cats.

...working in cooperation with community rescue groups and Animal Services Departments.

 

will purr for food

A new phase of the Short on Luck Program was launched in February of 2004. The Safe Place component of the S. O. L. is being developed to provide a temporarily safe place for cats that are caught up in a domestic violence situation and/or at risk of violence from their environment. The concept is to provide a temporary sanctuary through a network of emergency foster homes.

We hope to work cooperatively with local law enforcement, Animal Services and battered women's organizations. If you would like to participate in this new and unique program, please contact us via our website or at (925) 808-8364. For more informaiton on current S.O.L. kitties, please visit our website at www.fffcatfriends.org.

If you would like to provide T.L.C. and shelter for a needy cat...

 

Contact:

FFF at (925) 808-8364 or [email protected]


S.O.L. RESCUE!



MEET SISTER
Our Featured S.O.L. Cat!


Little Sister Face

Sister Baby Face

Sister is a plucky, energetic, determined, mischievous kitten that entered our Program after being brought to us from a neighboring ranch by a concerned neighbor who she had been "visiting" for several weeks. While leery, she was not feral, and warmed up to his attention ... and free food! Unfortunately, his resident cat was not amused ... and kept chasing her off the property!

Sister made the transition inside nicely.  She was still enjoying her free food, getting lots of attention, and ripping and running with another kitten friend.

Little Sister

Siste, teren-ager


 

Once settled in and she accepts the attention of people in a new home, she should be a wonderful, entertaining, and affectionate family member.

 

While she gets along with a friendly, playful young friend, she prefers people’s attention!  She is curious and mischievous.  She loves stealing my sandwich off my plate when I foolishly turned my back. 

Little Sister

Younger image of Sister

She is spayed and combo tested and has current FVRCP vaccines.  She is also house trained. Sister is currently up for adoption. Should you like to know more information about this plucky, young cat, please contact us at [email protected].




You can see all of our adoptable animals at our adoption pet list here.


Visitor(s) In Fur


Sally and Petunia

Sally, founder of F.F.F., with her cat, Petunia.

Petunia helps with humane education in schools and serves as a therapy kitty in the Visitor(s) In Fur Program

Petunia is also an official staff member, holding the title of cat liaison.


Due to Covid-19, we have temporarily placed this program on hold.


It is with great sadness and disbeleif that we announce the passing of our beloved PETUNIA,... our muse and our heart and my life companion. Our Visitors in Fur Program will have a MORATORIUM in loving memory of Petunia.

 

As any animal lover can attest to, the unconditional love that an animal can give provides a unique type of therapy and support that "modern medicine" is only just now learning. At its inception, F.F.F. has been committed to helping provide this type of unique therapy and support to those in need via our "therapy cat", Petunia. Petunia has been visiting home and hospital students, Alzheimer's homes, nursing homes, schools and preschools, FREE of charge as part of F.F.F.'s commitment to Community Service since the inception of F.F.F. in 2001.

If you know someone or a facility that could benefit from

a "Visitor(s) in Fur", please contact us. We usually conduct a preliminary visit to plan for the best possible introduction experience. Our "visitor(s) in fur" are current on their vaccines, have been combo tested for feline AIDS and Leukemia, temperament tested, and have current flea control. They are not declawed.

Appointments for Petunia's visits can be booked through our VISITOR(S) IN FUR Program by contacting SALLY via phone at (925) 808-8364 OR email [email protected], type in VISITOR(S) IN FUR in the subject line. Please make sure that you leave a contact person's name and phone number.

F.F.F. is continuing to expand this Program by inducting more "visitor(s) in fur" ambassadors. We have at least one other "cat in training" that was rescued from euthanasia from a "high kill" Shelter. You can meet our "ambassadors in training" periodically at our new mobile sites, to be listed on our websites.

FFF

Beloved Petunia, Cat Liason, Emeritus 11/29/2017.


IN MEMORIUM

Sally and Petunia

Lost and Found

lost cat

LOST A PET?
FOUND A STRAY?


Please check our
Lost and Found
page here.

sockfip

FELINE INFECTIOUS PERITONITIS

... F. I. P.

The worst three letters a cat-lover could ever hear.

 

FRIENDS OF THE FORMERLY FRIENDLESS is proud and excited to be a founding member of the new S.O.C.K. FIP research project. S.O.C. K. is the acronym for Save Our Cats and Kittens.SOCKFIP is a group of cat-lovers, breeders, rescuers, shelters and vets working together to generate essential funding for FIP research at the UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health. Virtually 100% fatal, FIP strikes 1 in 100 of all cats. We know that most cats acquire the FIP virus early in life, though actual disease signs may not occur until weeks, months or even years later.


Right now, there's no prevention and no cure for FIP. It's time to change all that - and it can be done! Through the very exciting and promising work at UC Davis, we hope to learn how to prevent FIP or find suitable treatments, and spare future generations of cats and cat-lovers this nightmare. Because very little government funding is available for companion animal studies, we are relying on the vast community of cat-lovers to help.


HISTORY OF FIP RESEARCH


After devoting a half century of his life to studying feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a deadly feline coronavirus, Dr. Niels Pedersen now finds himself in the unusual position of responding to media inquiries about SARS-CoV-2, the human coronavirus that causes COVID-19.


The drug he discovered to be highly effective in curing FIP, known as GS-441524, turns out to be a close antiviral cousin of remdesivir—the first drug found to speed people’s recovery from COVID-19 in clinical trials.


“While coronaviruses are found in most animal species, they don’t attract a lot of attention unless they are particularly virulent or deadly,” said Professor Emeritus Pedersen. “This COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the parallels between human and veterinary medicine that hopefully will help the public LEADING VETERINARY MEDICINE, ADDRESSING SOCIETAL NEEDS understand the critical connections between human and animal health.”


Pedersen has a soft spot for cats after growing up with them on his family’s poultry farm. When he came to UC Davis in the 1960s, FIP was still a mysterious disease with an unknown cause that killed the majority of infected cats. Over the decades, he and other scientists discovered the feline coronavirus behind FIP but finding a vaccine or an effective treatment proved difficult. That’s where Pedersen poured his research endeavors—finding a cure for FIP.


Dr. Brian Murphy joined the UC Davis faculty in 2007 and after Pedersen semi-retired in 2010, took over the feline coronavirus program. Murphy was first author on the groundbreaking 2018 article in Veterinary Microbiology showing GS-441524 had been successful in curing all 10 FIP-infected cats in a small study. A follow-up field trial of 31 cats had a high success rate as well.


The study results seemed to herald the breakthrough that Pedersen had been seeking for decades. But for desperate pet owners seeking a cure, obtaining this new drug would prove elusive. Gilead, the biopharmaceutical company that developed GS-441524, withheld the rights for its use in animals because it might interfere with FDA approval for a prodrug form called remdesivir. The hope is that remdesivir will be approved by the FDA for general use in human viral diseases like COVID-19, thus paving the way for approval and legal use of GS-441524 for animals by veterinarians.


Read the full article here
published by
The Center of Companion Animal Health.





S.O.C.K.F.I.P
PRESENTS...



Merideth

Meet Merrideth ...
Our FIP Heroine!


MEREDITH is one of the FIP kitties that was cured from wet FIP and Dr, Neils Pederson's landmark study that discovered a viral treatment\cure for FIP! Dr. Pederson, "The Father of FIP Research" approved the adoption of all the kitties used in his landmark study. FFF's founder, Sally, was honored to be approved to adopt Meredith. Meredith has now become our FACE OF FIP SUCCESS.

 


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