May 2025

Inside this issue:

• Thank you to all who participated in and/or donated to our Paws For Hearts Walk-A-Thon to save cats with heart disease!
• Ladew welcomes Nassau County BOCES students to learn about cat care and more! 
• Come to our Senior Prom Saturday, June 7th from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m
• Vetting cats after the tragic fire at Happy Cat Sanctuary
• Happy Tails April 2025
• Become a Monthly Donor and help Ladewbies (like Caesar) all year long
• Join The Ladew Alumni Group on Facebook

Paws for Hearts Walkathon attendees stop for a pic on the scenic Oyster Bay waterfront

Thank you for attending and/or donating to our Paws For Hearts Walk-A-Thon!

Thank you to everyone who joined us or donated to our walk-a-thon to benefit our Have-A-Heart Program which covers the cost of echocardiograms for Ladewbies diagnosed with heart disease.  

With your support, we raised nearly $1,000 to help cats with heart disease.  Your kindness is making a real difference -- every step counted! 

Donations will help us help Berry (and other cats with heart disease)  by enabling us to pay for tests to monitor her heart so that we can help her live life to the fullest and when Berry gets adopted, her echocardiograms will continue to be covered by the program.  

Berry

Ladew Welcomes Nassau County BOCES Students 

The yellow school bus pulled up to the Ladew Cat Sanctuary twice this month, its doors opening to two groups of curious Nassau County BOCES students, chattering excitedly while the staff greeted the future feline experts.

Inside, the sanctuary was alive with quiet meows, soft purring and the occasional thump of a cat leaping from perch to perch. The students were introduced to their guide, Liz, who began the tour.

First up was a wobbly mama cat named Panda.  "Panda has something called cerebellar hypoplasia," Liz explained.  "It's a condition where the part of the brain that controls coordination doesn't fully develop. She might look a little shaky, but she's not in any pain, it won't get worse and she loves to play and snuggle."  The students watched Panda negotiate the room, sometimes stumbling a little, and all were fascinated and a little enamored!

Next, they were shown a cozy room with a red sign on the door that said Quarantine: Fungal Jungle, which is what we call the room when we have cats or kittens with ringworm. 

"Ringworm isn't actually a worm," said Liz, "it's a fungus, like athlete's foot.  It's treatable, but very contagious, so these kitties need some extra care until they are all clear." 

The group also learned about taking care of young kittens and were able to sneak a few snuggles.

The students asked a lot of questions and took turns petting the cats who were cleared for contact.  

All in all, it was a great experience for the students and the cats loved all the attention.  We're pretty sure we have some new feline experts who will enter the field!

Join us for our Senior Prom, Saturday, June 7th from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This adoption event, held at our beautiful, home-like sanctuary at 34 Hamilton Avenue in Oyster Bay, features a festive atmosphere, and highlights our Seniors for Seniors program (where we cover the reasonable future medical expenses at participating veterinarians for a senior cat 8 years old or older adopted by an approved senior citizen).

Cats of all ages will be up for adoption.

The health and mental benefits of having animals as companions are well known.  The Patricia H. Ladew Foundation's Seniors for Seniors program alleviates some of the worries that older folks may have when adopting an older animal -- affording the medical care and what happens to the cat if something happens to them?

Cats adopted through our Seniors for Seniors program, like all of our adopted cats, can always come back to the Sanctuary if their person becomes unable to care for them. 

Not looking to adopt? All are welcome to attend our Senior Prom for a tour (and snuggles from kitties!).

In addition to tours, visitors may wish to sponsor a cat to help us continue to provide housing and medical care for cats in our care. Sponsors will receive a hand-painted ornament with your sponsee's name (or your own cat's name if you prefer).

This isn’t just a real prom — it’s a celebration of love, compassion, and the joy that senior cats bring. Let the whiskers twirl, the tails sway, and the hearts melt at our Senior Prom! 

Helping out at Happy Cat Sanctuary

Happy Cat Sanctuary founder, Chris Arsenault

As most of you are probably aware, a tragic fire took the life of Happy Cat Sanctuary Founder, Chris Arsenault and approximately one hundred and fifty of his beloved cats.

Like the rest of the rescue community, we were shocked and deeply saddened by this turn of events and wanted to help in any way we could.

When we heard that Dr. Jason Heller was looking for veterinarians, vet techs and volunteers to help with the surviving cats, we signed up immediately.  On April 6th, Dr. Susan and shelter manager, Lynn Manno, met at the warehouse where the cats rescued from the sanctuary were being evaluated and cared for.

Dr. Susan and Lynn help out at one of the vetting tables

Approximately 150 cats that day were sedated, examined, checked for microchips (and chipped if they didn't have one), tested for FeLV/FIV, vaccinated and given flea treatment.  

Although there was a veil of overwhelming sadness, there was also a tremendous amount of hope and love flowing by the outpouring of support from the veterinary and rescue community and we were glad that we could be a part of it.

For more information, see pages 14-15 of the May 2025 issue of Long Island Press >>

Ladew's Lynn Manno writes all the pertinent information for each cat on a record.

Happie* Tails

*Fun fact:  The "H" in Patricia H. Ladew Foundation, inc. stands for Happie which was Pat's middle name!

We had some amazing adoptions this month -- two seniors found their happily-ever-afters and our sweet girl Tia found herself with a mom whose name rhymes with hers -- Thea!

Tia was found on the streets nursing a litter of kittens. When she met her mom with the rhyming name, they became a team -- Tia and Thea!

Prince lost his home after his owner passed away.  Through our Seniors for Seniors program, Prince and Peter have become the best of buds!

They say cats adopt you -- Brooke certainly made a beeline for Bob and through our Seniors for Seniors program, we wish them both nothing but happiness!

Become a Monthly Donor!

Caesar

Life gets busy!  Become an automatic  Monthly Donor and help us help cats until they find their forever homes.

Our friend, Caesar, was left in a carrier on someone's porch and wound up at Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter prior to transfer to us.  He's a sweet guy who may just qualify for the world record of longest whiskers! 

Your donation will help cats like Caesar until they find their forever homes!

Join the Ladew Alumni Group on Facebook!

Former Ladewbie Zeus (now Ziggy) has joined the Ladew Alumni Facebook Group!  He's also known as Ziggy Zoom Zoom for his zoomies!!

As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are pleased to introduce the Ladew Alumni Facebook group! A place for adopters to chat about their Ladewbies, meet one another, share stories about The Ladew Cat Sanctuary...or even about our founder, Patricia Ladew! It is a "closed group" meaning ONLY people who have adopted, worked, or volunteered at Ladew will be accepted to join. We hope to see you online very soon!