Saved by a Whisker is a not-for-profit, cat rescue helping abandoned, stray and feral cats in Abington, Solebury and Kimberton, PA.

Our mission is to decrease the overpopulation of outdoor stray and feral (unsocialized) cats through spay/neuter, adoption, TNRM (trap-neuter-return-management), barn placements, education, and advocacy.

~ Spay/neuter:  reduces the cat population in shelters and outdoors.  most kittens can be altered at 3 months old. Spay/neuter reduces unwanted behaviors such as spraying as well as greatly decreases the risk of reproductive cancers.

~ Adoptions:  matching of right cat with the right home thru an application; history of excellent vet care for prior and existing pets.

~ Retention:  decrease returns and shelter surrenders by lifelong follow-up with adopters for questions/concerns, proactive counseling for potential issues i.e. new baby, new pet, moving.

~ Lost Cats/Microchipping: assisting cat owners to find lost pet cats because every cat returned home is one less who needs one!  If you have lost or found a cat, check our  Resources link on how to find your cat.  Facebook also has several Lost Pet pages for most counties (Montgomery, Bucks and Chester all have one) as well as some towns and townships. Every cat adopted thru our rescue is microchipped to ensure their safe return should they be brought to a vet office or shelter.
*All cats should always have current ID and microchip with a current photo as the percentage of lost cats returned to owners is an abysmal 2%.

~ Trap-neuter-return-manage (TNRM):  rescue of cats and kittens for adoption with TNRM for unsocialized (unadoptable) cats.

Every cat deserves our compassionate care
regardless of age, temperament, or health status.

Our rescue values each cat for their unique spirit and considers the needs of each cat as an individual.  As our cats for adoption have already been abandoned once, we are extremely discerning in evaluating and matching the right cat with the right home at the right time to ensure loving, life-long adoptions for both the cat and their new family.

Pets: Because of the high number of outdoor cats needing help and limited foster space, we do not accept owned pets for surrender.   However, we will assist in addressing issues that might help keep your pet in your home.  We can also place a courtesy posting on our Petfinder site if your cat is currently completely vetted.  It is expected that cat owners have made every effort to resolve all medical/behavioral issues.  **If you adopted your cat from a rescue, please contact that rescue first.  Most rescues have adoption agreements requiring the cat is returned to the rescue than taken to a shelter or given away.

All Life is Sacred and Interconnected

Helping cats and wildlife

Outdoor cats kill mice, birds and other small mammals by nature.   While cats are not the main cause for the decrease in song bird population (per the Audubon Society, the major causes are man-made: environmental degradation, pollution, habitat loss, and window strikes), reducing any impact on the environment is vital, which is why Saved by a Whisker is committed to decreasing the free-roaming cat population through an indoor-only policy or outdoor enclosure for all pet cats, TNRM and microchipping.

Policies for trap and kill or removing to sanctuaries of mass numbers of outdoor cats, as proposed by many nature and bird conservancy groups, are neither humane nor feasible.  It is impossible to build and fund enough sanctuaries for all of the cats.  There is not enough money or resources for a trap and remove policy from towns that are already reducing or completely cutting out their animal control budgets.  Trapping is time and labor intensive.  Critter control companies charge about $90-100 per cat for remove and kill. Furthermore, the majority of residents do not want tax payer dollars put toward killing cats. Killing one species to save another is neither compassionate nor humane.

Ongoing research into a contraceptive method for outdoor cats is still in the testing phase.  Currently, TNRM is the only humane method of controlling outdoor cats. All adoptable cats and kittens are removed from the environment for foster/adoption, thereby immediately reducing the number of cats outdoors.  Feral (unsocialized, unadoptable) cats who would continue to breed or be euthanized are fixed, vaccinated and returned to live their lives with caretakers who provide food, water, shelter and medical care as needed.  After tracking our data for a 5 year period, we found about 87% of rescued cats were adopted to indoor-only homes, 11% were feral cats returned to managed colonies or placed in barn homes and 2% euthanized for medical necessity.  While these numbers may not translate to every setting, the fact that cats are removed for adoption and the remainder are sterilized creates an immediate and significant decrease, nearly 90% in this case, of cats in the environment.

See HSUS Position on Cats for more great information on how you can help!

*If you find abandoned or injured wildlife, contact these rehabs first:

PHILADELPHIA: Schuylkill Wildlife Center, Roxborough
BUCKS: The Aark, Chalfont
CHESTER: Diamond Rock Wildlife Rehab, Malvern
OTHER PA COUNTIES: PA Assoc of Wildlife Rehab

Indoor-only Pet Cats

We are 100% committed to pet cats indoors only or an outdoor enclosure or catio
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates there are more than 70 million owned cats in the U.S. yet only 60 percent live safely indoors. Keeping pet cats indoors is healthier and safer for our cats and lessens the impact on the environment and wildlife.  As a rescue, we work ridiculously hard to rehabilitate our cats, spend countless hours and dollars to restore them to optimum health. We consider them precious members of our families and do not want them outdoors ever again at high risk of disease, injury, predation, and death.

Just recently I saw a handsome, well-fed orange and white tabby just been hit by a car when another car came the opposite way and hit him again, and another car and another while I screamed and tried to stop them.  Clearly, he was someone’s pet.  The man in the house next door to the owners said the cat was always outdoors and supposedly never left their backyard.  Except when he did.  Cats are routinely hit by cars, both intentionally and unintentionally poisoned, attacked by other cats, dogs and wildlife, subject to cruelty.  Then there are the natural dangers - there have been positive coyote sightings in each of our 5 counties as well as attacks from barn owls and large hawks hunting for food.  A friend and her children in North Penn watched in horror as their family cat in broad daylight was picked off by a barn owl and carried away.

**In general, we do NOT advocate leash walking as cats used to going outdoors soon learn to sneak out unnoticed. Outdoor cat enclosures, catios, or cat fencing provide a much safer alternative for both your cat and wildlife. If you allow your cat to free roam, your cat absolutely should be microchipped and belled to alert birds and other small mammals to their presence. 

Please join our life long mission to save our beautiful cats!!!