Clark Kent.

Many of our readers might remember a series of stories we published in the fall of 2011 about Clark Kent, an abandoned and starved cat found in Clark Park and rescued by our reader James. That story and the following stories were shared hundreds of times on our blog and by other media and animal rescue organizations, prompting people from all over the world to donate thousands of dollars for the cat’s expensive treatment (Clark Kent suffered from a severe kidney condition because he accidentally ate pieces of metal rummaging through garbage while trying to survive on his own for many days).

Unfortunately, Clark Kent lost his battle with the disease on Friday, as City Kitties, a local cat rescue organization announced on their Facebook page.

“He went peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, almost a year to the day after his adoption. We are thankful to everyone who allowed us to provide him comfort during the time he had left. We are especially grateful to Jackie for providing him with love, care and a wonderful home. RIP little guy,” the announcement reads.

Although we’re sad that Clark Kent wasn’t able to make it, it is comforting to know that he received so much support and had someone who loved and took care of him at the end of his life.

Evan Sweitzer (photo from Citykitties.org).

Evan Sweitzer, a 10-year-old boy who’s been helping a local cat rescue, is a celebrity after Reddit shared a story about him and The Huffington Post picked it up a couple of weeks ago. Now Evan will appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that will air today at 3 p.m. on NBC (you can watch the segment here).

Since 2009 Evan has been sending letters and his allowance money to City Kitties, a West Philly-based cat rescue organization. His family adopted a cat, Macha, from City Kitties and Evan wanted to help other cats. For 2012, Evan donated $110, which his parents matched for a total of $220.

Here’s Evan’s letter that City Kitties received along with his latest donation.

To read more about Evan and how he’s been helping West Philly’s stray cats and kittens, visit Citykitties.org.

Enid.

Enid and Alvie are two of the cuddliest, sweetest, cleverest cats you may ever meet. They were found as baby kittens a year ago in West Philadelphia by a City Kitties volunteer. They were adopted, but unfortunately their family fell on hard times, and now they are back in foster care in West Philly.

When these two are not curled up with each other for a nap on the bed, they are chasing each other around the house or wrestling on the floor. Enid loves to chase her feather toys and jingly balls around the house, then curl up on your lap while you read a book. Alvie runs to the door when you get home and when you kneel down to pet him, he puts his paws on your shoulders and licks your chin until you pick him up for a pet.

Alvie.

They are very affectionate, playful, and absolutely gorgeous. These two one-year-old cats have never been apart and adore each other – and will adore you!

If you have been considering one cat – think about two! With Enid and Alvie you will have two times the love, two times the fun.

For more information, go to their adoption profiles on the City Kitties website (Alvie and Enid) or fill out an adoption application here.

This information has been submitted by local feline rescue organizations, including City Kitties. This is an urgent request from people who are working hard to save lives of stray cats and kittens in this area. Animal shelters and foster homes are currently full. Please read this to learn how you can help.

Many people believe that if they drop off animals at the shelter or call ACCT about a stray, feral or injured cat or kitten, ACCT will find that animal a home with a “happy ever after” ending. This is rarely the case, and the sad truth is that any animal – especially cats- who are brought to ACCT run a high chance of being euthanized within a week due to a lack of space. There are many amazing people who work at and with ACCT trying to find homes for these animals, but the clock works against everyone. While West Philly rescues work with ACCT to “pull” cats from the ACCT shelter to prevent their being euthanized, the problem is larger than any one rescue or even city shelter can handle. It truly takes a community effort to stop animals from dying unnecessarily (both on the street and in the shelter).

While West Philly is lucky to have two amazing rescue groups working to reduce the number of stray and feral cats in our neighborhood, they need your support. The number of cats that they are able to help is directly tied to their resources. For example, all City Kitties foster homes are currently completely full, with a wait list (and has been for weeks) – which means that they cannot accept any new rescues until a current foster cat is adopted or they have a new foster home. Foster homes, adoptions, and donations are essential for these rescues to be able to help the cats on the streets and in the shelters.

Here’s how you can help:

– Have the cats hanging out on your block spayed or neutered. For about $25 and a few hours, you can single-handedly prevent dozens of litters of homeless kittens (City Kitties loans traps for TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) to individuals interested in this, and Project MEOW may be able to provide support with large scale TNR projects).

– Adopt from rescues or shelters. Buying pets from commercial vendors not only makes one less home for a rescued animal, many of the animals are sick, and most come from cruel breeding “mills.” For every animal you adopt from a rescue, you actually save two lives – the life of that animal, and the life of the another who gets to take its place in that foster home.

– Foster. Fostering an animal literally saves their life. Rescues like City Kitties and Project MEOW literally would not be able to operate without foster homes, and the number of cats that these organizations are able to help is limited by the number of foster homes they have available. Sharing your home with a foster animal is a great way to teach your kids about compassion and making a difference, and is great karma!

– Donate. Money cannot buy foster homes or forever homes, but it does allow rescues to provide necessary vet care to the animals rescued. Both City Kitties and Project MEOW provide medical care for rescued cats prior to their placement in a foster or forever home – they get them tested for common diseases, treat for fleas/worms, vaccinate and spay/neuter. These costs add up quickly and adoption fees only offset part of these costs.

– Educate. There are a lot of myths about stray and feral cats. For example, many people believe that if people did not feed stray or feral cats, they would cease to be a problem. In reality, proper care of stray and feral cats (TNR and ongoing feeding) is the only way to permanently to reduce the number of stray and feral cats. TNR and dedicated care of stray and feral cats reduces: the amount of cat fights, un-neutered males spraying their territories, the number of sick and injured cats, and greatly reduces the overall population of stray and feral cats. Removing or not feeding the animals only punishes those individual animals and does nothing to stop the problem.

– Share on FB, Twitter, etc. Even if you are not in a place to foster, adopt or donate, you can still help! Social media has been great for finding animals loving forever homes. Consider posting your favorite foster animal to your social media of choice to help spread the word that they need a home. Doing this helps rescues reach people that they are not able to rescue on their own.

For more information on how to help here in West Philly, check out City Kitties at www.citykitties.org or Project MEOW at www.petfinder.com/shelters/PA599.html. And be sure to stop by Baltimore Pet Shoppe (4532 Baltimore Ave.) and say hello to the cats in the window – Both Project MEOW and City Kitties feature cats and kittens who are in search of their forever homes.

Update (06/04): Grady was found and returned to the owner (see comments below).

A former City Kitty, Grady, is missing. He is a gray tabby male, approximately two years old, neutered, and is wearing a collar. He is very friendly. He was last seen on May 31 near 48th and Warrington. If you see him please contact Shari immediately (sharibones[at]gmail.com, or 510-772-8102) or contact City Kitties. Since he is so friendly, feel free to take him in before you call.

Charlie is available for adoption through City Kitties. She is 2-3 years old. Charlie was rescued by a concerned volunteer who didn’t want to see this sweet kitty on the streets this winter. Originally the rescuer thought Charlie was a boy, but a close look proved she was a girl, but the name stuck anyway.

Charlie always likes to be in the same room as people, so you won’t be lonely. She doesn’t like to be picked up, but will snuggle on the couch, in bed, on your lap, etc. like a champ! Charlie loves to play with fuzzy toys and will scurry after a laser pointer all day long. What she is really looking for is a quiet home with humans to give her lots of pets, food and chin scratches.

She gets along with other cats, but she would do best in a house with her people to herself. Charlie is spayed/neutered, FIV/FeLV negative, FVRCP and rabies vaccinated, uses the litterbox, and was treated for fleas and parasites as needed. To fill out an adoption application, go here. To contact City Kitties, visit this page.