Purrrfect Fit: Forgotten Felines of Corbin finding ‘Vintage Felines for Vintage Humans’

At some point, we’ve all likely heard at least one unfortunate story about an animal having to be put down because they were too old, needed specialized care due to an injury, or had some sort of a physical deformity. For Ashley Day, making sure that cats dealing with these issues don’t have to suffer that fate has become a personal mission.

Day is the director of the non-profit organization called Forgotten Felines of Corbin, KY Inc. Since 2016, and with the support of the local community, she has been on a crusade to combat the overpopulation of stray felines in the area by providing low-cost spay and neuter clinics to cat owners. The group will also humanely trap strays, and then spay or neuter them in an ongoing effort to cut down on the problematic local feral cat population.

Recently, Day has come up with a new idea that she hopes will help to save many of the older, special needs cats that were previously mentioned. She calls the program Vintage Felines for Vintage Humans, and the idea behind it is to pair up senior cats with senior citizens who are in need of companionship.

“This is an all-new program focusing specifically on seniors and the elderly,” Day said. “Our goal is to pair senior cats with senior people, and we will cover the cost of certain veterinary services, as well as a good amount of supplies, so they won’t have to worry about that.”

Day is an employee of the Corbin Animal Clinic, located at 1220 Cumberland Falls Hwy., and although all of the vetting will be done there, Forgotten Felines operates as its own, completely separate entity. With donations from supporters, and proceeds from fundraising efforts throughout the year, the organization comes up with the funds all on its own to ensure that senior citizens who adopt a cat will not have to incur the costly expenses related to initial healthcare, food stocking and basic supplies.

However, Day says it is important to know that certain criteria must be met before Forgotten Felines will release an animal to a home and provide these free goods and services.

“We do have an application process,” Day explained. “We want to make sure that the person adopting is both physically and mentally able to care for a cat. The cat will also need to stay indoors, and there can be no more than two other pets in the house already.”

Day also mentioned that volunteers will be following up regularly to make sure that all criteria continues to be met, and if problems should arise, the person who adopted the cat will be contractually obligated to return the animal to Forgotten Felines.

The first cat to be adopted out from Vintage Felines for Vintage Humans was Dr. Gilbert Blythe, or just “Gilbert” for short. The lucky new parent is Mary Snyder, of Corbin, who has taken care of many cats (and dogs) over the years.

“I am an animal lover,” Snyder said. “I care for them, but they give back so much more.”

Snyder said that she is very excited to get to be involved with the first adoption to take place in this new program, and she is confident that Dr. Gilbert will fit in just fine with his new family.

“I have one cat in the home already… Miss Kitty,” Snyder said. “Once she approves of you, then you’re okay. It may take a day or two for her to welcome Gilbert into the fold, but once she does, everything will be fine.”

Dr. Mary Morris, who also works at Corbin Animal Clinic, was on hand for her fellow doctor’s farewell recently. A strong proponent of Forgotten Felines, she was thrilled to see a senior cat getting the chance to go to a loving home. She commented, “The best thing about this is, it’s not just benefitting the older cats that are harder to get adopted out, but it is also benefitting members of the community, like Mrs. Snyder.”

“Having an animal is one of the most rewarding experiences,” Morris added. “They have done studies that show it can lower blood pressure, and even lead to an increased life span. It is just wonderful, all the way around. My hope is that this program will benefit our community as a whole, as well as these cats.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Forgotten Felines of Corbin and Vintage Felines for Vintage Humans can go online and visit www.forgottenfelines40701.org to get the application process started. The website also provides information on how to get pets spayed and neutered, as well as several other helpful resources for pet owners.

Director Ashley Day can be reached by e-mail at forgottenfelines40701@gmail.com, or at the official Forgotten Felines of Corbin, KY Inc. Facebook page.