A retired teacher and housewife, I have volunteered as a foster with Furry Friends for 3 years.

Three years ago, my daughter brought home a senior cat she had adopted in college. When she moved out, her idea of giving that cat a happy home for its last years motivated me to become a foster. I started searching for shelters in need of fosters and Furry Friends was the first one that contacted me. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with every kitten and cat I’ve ever fostered.

“I’ve volunteered with Furry Friends since July of 2024,” Natalie says, “and I got involved through following their Facebook page.

“As a stay-at-home mom, I’ve been fostering kittens since the end of July. I love socializing them and learning all about their quirks. I also love getting to have them while they’re little and then I move onto a new batch. It’s the best! Goodbyes are a little hard sometimes, but it’s worth it.  

“I started volunteering with Furry Friends in September of 2024,” Nicole says. “My introduction to them was shortly after a sweet little stray kitten started showing up at my back porch. Furry Friends responded when I was looking to local pet rescues for assistance. Visiting the Halfway House to hand him off left quite the impression, and I reached back out shortly thereafter to ask about volunteer opportunities.

Tamara may have only started volunteering with Furry Friends in September of 2024, but she’s wanted to do so for several years. Why? Quite simply, she waited until she had retired.

“I learned about Furry Friends from my friend, Angela Reid, who’s a volunteer,” Tamara explains. “I retired at the end of May after working for 16 years in the Medical Records department of a pediatric office, and now spend my time quilting, gardening, taking care of my bird feeders and being with my grandchildren. I’m also busy this time of year with my husband who is a professional Santa Claus, playing the part of Mrs. Kringle!

I began volunteering as a foster for Furry Friends after retiring several years ago from my longtime position as a Medical Director with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.

 I have loved several darling moms who nursed and taught their beautiful babies the way of the world, which brought me tremendous joy and endless laughter. Then there was Sweet Potato, an obese 12-year-old orange cat with food allergies who shed constantly, followed by Nori, a petite, elegant, curious and utterly adorable black kitty with the most beautiful eyes, who endlessly ran after a red laser pointer on the floor. Although I cry every time they’re adopted, I know there will always be other ones for me to foster and to love

“I started volunteering in April of 2024, and I’ve loved being involved!” exclaims Morgan.

“I first heard of Furry Friends when I was looking to adopt a cat. I had just moved into my own apartment and my current cat seemed so lonely. Since he was alone in the apartment, I started looking at shelters for a friend and new member of my family. I found FF through an adoption website, where I saw so many adorable kitties. When I visited the Halfway House I fell in love with a black cat named Rascal (now Sirius).

Simply called Libby, I began volunteering with Furry Friends after finishing high school five years ago. I work from three to four hours at the Halfway House on the Monday PM shift.

 I became involved because I was looking for something constructive to do, and since I love cats, it was a perfect fit. Besides my assigned work, I’m also the go-to person for administering medications and handling the “feistier” cats that others are less comfortable being around. This is what I enjoy most: interacting with them because I understand them.

Kathy, who has been volunteering with Furry Friends for the past year saw us in Petsmart on 192nd Avenue and read the literature about us.  

“I had been feeding some feral cats in a field near an apartment complex in which I once lived,” Kathy says, “and although I moved several blocks away, I still feed them. When one of the pregnant kitties was found having her babies, she was trapped and taken to Furry Friends. (I had already emailed them about her). They contacted me and asked if I would be willing to foster her. I agreed and she came to me with kittens in tow. Every kitten got adopted and I kept the mother who fits in perfectly with the cats I’d rescued myself and kept from that field.”

I have volunteered with Furry Friends for nearly a year. The reason I did was because my co-worker and friend is the volunteer coordinator, and she was always talking about the cats. It made me want to get involved too!

 I volunteer every Sunday for about two hours, depending on how much there is to do. What I love most, beside cat cuddles, is seeing cats get more comfortable, friendly and confident over time. It breaks my heart to hear about the sad circumstances they sometimes come from. But, on the flip side, seeing their resilience and their willingness to open themselves up to new people touches my heart.

“I started volunteering with Furry Friends in the summer of 2024. I was looking for a volunteer opportunity in the area that allowed me to give back, and since I love cats, the decision was easy. A Google search introduced me to Furry Friends, and once I saw it was a no-kill shelter, I sent them an email asking how to volunteer, and a few weeks later, I was at the Halfway House!

“I began volunteering for Furry Friends in July of 2024,” Jessica says. “I work the Friday PM shift for two hours a week at the Halfway House, usually deep cleaning the green section and helping out with the dishes and laundry. 

“We adopted our cat Felicity (formerly Coraline) at a Furry Friends adoption event, and because I love cats and was very impressed with the organization, I signed on as a volunteer. I love spending time with all of the cats. It’s so much fun playing with them and watching them blossom. I also get to work with a great group of people.

“I’ve been volunteering with Furry Friends for the past 14 years,” Michael says. “I got involved when my wife, Tanika, came home from work one day and told me that we were going to volunteer at an animal shelter. My response was ‘umm.’ Then she said, ‘It’s just petting cats, helping them socialize in order to make them more adoptable.’ My ‘umm’ quickly changed to ‘ok.’  

I have been a Sunday PM Halfway House volunteer since May 2022 and spend from one to two hours there a week.

 My tasks involve feeding and medicating the cats, making sure their rooms are cleaned up and that they have fresh bedding and clean litter boxes. Then I get to enjoy socializing with them (this is the best part), while learning each cat’s unique personality and quirks. My proudest moments are seeing long-time residents being adopted, knowing that they’re getting well deserved forever homes!

“I began volunteering with Furry Friends on May 30, 2024,” says Jaden. “I come in weekly on Tuesdays and Sundays to sweep out the catios, help organize and stock the kitties’ dry and wet food, clean the cat trees, mop and sweep the hallways, and do and fold the laundry. I also help with medicals whenever needed.

“I’ve been a volunteer with Furry Friends for about 15 months,” Connie says. “I got involved when I visited a Furry Friends booth in Camas and learned all about volunteering.

“At the shelter, where I volunteer every Sunday morning with the best crew ever, I work in the blue and green rooms, and help take care of the kitties there, cleaning the rooms and so on. My favorite part of volunteering, besides my work crew, is seeing cats who have been at the facility for a long time finally get adopted: like Caspian, for example.

“Although I’ve only been volunteering with Furry Friends since August of 2024,” Dawnell says, “I’ve been aware of what the organization does for over 20 years.

“I only work part time now due to a rare, invisible disability. Volunteering with Furry Friends allows me to help the kitties in our area and ‘gifts’ me with some much-needed quality time outside the house, which is difficult for me. Right now, I substitute at the shelter whenever I’m needed -- whether it’s once a month or three shifts in a single week – and because I live only a few blocks away, it’s more than do-able.

“I’ve been a volunteer with Furry Friends since September of 2023,” Lance says. “The reason for my getting involved was because I decided that it might be an enjoyable experience to use a little of my spare time to volunteer at a cat shelter. Furry Friends appeared to have a more laid back atmosphere than places like the Humane Society, and so I sent in an application.

Debbie and her family moved to Vancouver in 2016, and one year later, she began volunteering with Furry Friends.

“There was an agency in Vancouver that coordinated and tracked volunteer help for various agencies,” she explains. “I made an appointment to talk to a staff member who showed me a list of agencies requesting volunteers, and I promptly picked Furry Friends, working from between five to six hours a week.

Alli Miller who goes by “Alli Cat” has been volunteering with Furry Friends for three months.
Working at East Padden Animal Hospital as a veterinarian nurse, assisting vets, handling and performing treatments on in/out patients, she heard about us through her job. “Sometimes Furry Friends brings sick kittens in to be seen,” she explains. “At other times, we’ve contacted them in situations where a kitten or cat either needs help or is being surrendered.

I have been volunteering with Furry Friends since August 2023, but I previously volunteered with them for a few months back in 2016 or 2017, when I was still in high school.
Always passionate about animals, I had been looking into some local shelters and animal organizations to get involved with, and I happened upon the website for Furry Friends. I’m so glad I did!