5,000th cat finds hope at unique sanctuary

How do you save five thousand cats? One at a time.

This is the mathematics of mercy of Tabby’s Place: a Cat Sanctuary, a cage-free haven for cats from hopeless situations. As the shelter welcomes its 5,000^th cat, baby Violet, each meow is a milestone.

​Tabby’s Place opened in 2003 with a mission to rescue the cats “nobody else wanted,” and the belief that each life is precious. Facing the death of his cat Tabby, Founder Jonathan Rosenberg turned his grief into the power to change the world. He left his seminal position as the first Chief Technical Officer at CNET to create a sanctuary where forgotten cats would be cherished. As Rosenberg and his small, dogged team nurtured each desperate arrival, it would be like caring for Tabby.

Five thousand cats later, Tabby’s Place is known worldwide as the champion of the individual feline. Tabby’s Place prioritizes the most vulnerable, from paraplegic and diabetic cats to frail orphans and abandoned seniors. As a haven for the least, the last, and the lost, Tabby’s Place welcomes cats from as near as New Jersey to as far as Beirut, Lebanon. Its alumni include blind Polly, the survivor of a war zone, and jubilant Carrot, an injured stray who waited a decade to be adopted.

Step into the Tabby’s Place lobby, and you will meet a crew of much-loved “misfits” who were rejected elsewhere. Paraplegic Olive, a ten-year resident, will shimmy up to your shins with sassy bravado. Berry, born with spina bifida, will hurry over to purr ecstatic figure-eights around your ankles. Out of the corner of your eye, you’ll glimpse the sprightly Prescott, a galloping silver tabby who once suffered injuries deemed “not compatible with life.” If you sit for more than a moment, paralyzed Peabody will vault into your lap, defying gravity and the usual rules of hardship and happiness.

Far from tragic, Tabby’s Place cats live free from self-pity, thanks to unmatched veterinary care and unconditional love. Each of the sanctuary’s 120+ residents lives within the “Tabby’s Place promise” that they will receive everything they need to thrive. This ranges from specialized treatment at the sanctuary’s in-house medical facility, to the tender care of a trained Behavior Team. Whether a cat has suffered trauma to their body or their spirit, they find a path to healing at Tabby’s Place.

The road ahead proceeds one purr at a time, beginning with #5,000 herself. It’s fitting that the “big” milestone cat should be small and needy: Violet, a bashful Siamese kitten born outdoors. Without Tabby’s Place, Violet would have been as helpless as a wildflower in the wind. But now, she becomes the 5,000th story of feisty love against impossible odds: the ragged baby has been adopted.

Violet is just one cat, but to Tabby’s Place, she is the world. For, it is by saving one cat at a time that you get to love 5,000 extraordinary individuals … and beyond.