I found Amber in a cage at Faithful Friends in Newport, Delaware. I grew up with Maine Coons and absolutely love them, and when I saw her, I fell in love. She was huge - 11 pounds - and she was shy, scared, and lonely. I adopted her and brought her home to meet Matt. For the first month, she hid, was scared all the time, and peed on all of our furniture. Eventually she mellowed out, got to know us, and over time she became a trusting, cuddly, quirky, hungry cat. We loved her to pieces.

Amber loved to chase the laser pointer, get high on catnip, and chirp at birds. For about a year, she even played fetch with us! She loved to hunt crickets in our house and she was incredible at catching flies. She loved "people food" - chicken, turkey, eggs, vanilla ice cream, yogurt, shrimp, crab (but ironically she hated lobster!) - and she would beg for food like a dog.

I named Amber after the color of her eyes; they changed from amber orange to moss green depending on her mood and the light. Everyone who met her said she was the most beautiful cat they had ever seen. Even my vet in Delaware was amazed at her beauty and how long her whiskers were. Though she was mostly Maine Coon, her tail didn't look like a normal coon's - instead of fluffy, her tail was long and whispy and silky - so long I would sometimes sit on the couch with her and braid her tail.

When we made the decision to move to New Zealand, we found out quickly that it would be near impossible to take Amber with us due to the red tape, cost, and timeline. Plus, we didn't want to put her through the flight, which was dangerous to her health, and the long quarantine. So instead, we took her to Happy Cat Sanctuary and donated a considerable amount to Happy Cat in order to board her. I cried the whole way to and from the sanctuary, and cried on the plane to New Zealand. I cried for weeks and weeks. It was the hardest thing I ever did.

About a  year before we took her to the sanctuary, we started to notice a change in Amber. She was less energetic, started to have major bathrooms issues, and she lost a little bit of weight. We got her checked out but we never did a CAT scan or do blood work. Three months after we brought Amber to Happy Cat, she started to lose more weight. In March 2014, Chris Arsenault, Happy Cat's CEO, took Amber in to be checked out, and her blood work showed the worst - stage 3 kidney failure. My educated guess based on her past symptoms is that Amber had cysts on her kidneys, which is hereditary in some Maine Coons and other Persian breeds, and not curable. There's no way we would have caught it without a CAT scan, but we never got one. We decided to ease her suffering, and on March 27, 2014, Amber passed peacefully with Linda, Happy Cat's star volunteer. I will regret every day for the rest of my life the fact that I could not be there.

If it wasn't for Amber, I would not have met Chris, Linda, and Happy Cat Sanctuary. When Amber was at Happy Cat, I did everything in my power to help the sanctuary - redesign the website, do fundraising, manage the Facebook page, and write grants.  Now, with Amber gone, my resolve is stronger than ever to see Happy Cat Sanctuary succeed and the cats at the sanctuary stay fed, happy, and healthy.

Your donation to Amber's Memorial Fund will go 100% to the cats - Amber's brothers and sisters - at Happy Cat Sanctuary. Most of the cats at the sanctuary were victims of hoarding, of shootings, and of neglect and abandonment. Though I lost my baby, I feel I have gained 250+ new fur babies to take care of and love at the sanctuary.

Thank you for your support of Happy Cat, for loving Amber, and for helping the cats.

Love,
Melissa Cox
Volunteer Director of Communications & Development
Happy Cat Sanctuary

Having trouble paying online?

To donate by phone, please call Happy Cat's Director of Communications, Melissa Cox, at (302) 463-8731.

Or, please mail a check made out to "Happy Cat, Inc." to:
P.O. Box 688
Coram, NY 11727