Tails High

We're ready to make 2025 our best year yet, but we need your help! We believe every cat deserves an advocate and miracles can happen. This often leaves us to step in and say “yes” when other rescues have unfortunately had to say no. Our cats come from all walks of life and some have had a very sad beginning, which means we only work harder to give them everything they deserve. We root for the underdog – well, cat – and oftentimes go far beyond what a standard animal rescue might have a means to do when it comes to saving a life. Are you ready to help us save more kittens and cats in need in Alexandria?

2025 has already brought us challenging medical cases, ranging from cancer diagnoses to limb amputations and eye enucleations. No expense is spared to get these cats and kittens healthy, happy and on the path to the life they deserve. During Spring2ACTion 2024, you helped us raise $34,000 which allowed us to take in over 400 cats and kittens throughout the year. We're hopeful to surpass that astonishing amount to reach 500 cats in 2025 and we know we can do it with your support!

The tiniest souls can also be the bravest. Though Hurkle Durkle has just opened her eyes, she has faced such hardship within just a matter of days from being born. This little miracle embodies the hope we aim to bestow upon more kittens and cats in need, with your support, this Spring2ACTion. It’s heartbreaking to imagine the scene in which Hurkle Durkle was found. Her little body, lying burrowed into her mother that had sadly been struck by a car and passed away while crossing the street. Mama cats battle unimaginable dangers while caring for their little ones, and it’s so unfair that Hurkie’s mother had to die this way. Hurkie was found by a Good Samaritan and only appeared to have suffered some road rash on her legs. She swiftly came into our care, to a neonate foster, and quickly showed us that something wasn’t quite right. Hurkle Durkle, if you didn’t already know, is a Scottish term meaning to lounge about. Our sweet little princess earned her name, as she absolutely loves to burrow in a soft blanket and snooze. But Hurkie’s foster mom noticed that she was exhibiting a very strange tick, as her body involuntarily twitches while she is awake and she slowly circles to the right when she tries to move around. We shared videos with our neurologist who suggested this could be related to a Traumatic Brain Injury, when her mother was struck by the car that killed her. Hurkle Durkle will see Dr. Kaiman on Friday and we’re hopeful to get answers for her. Veterinary medicine for neonates this age can be very challenging, but we have faith in the team that we’ve brought many extreme cases before. The money we raise for Spring2ACTion allows us to get Hurkle Durkle the expert care she needs, to hopefully give her the best outlook for a bright future

In true Tails High fashion, we started 2025 with a very special medical case intake, Aurora Borealis. This starry eyed girl was abandoned and ended up in a rural Arkansas shelter where the staff knew she was in need of more help than they could provide. Luckily, a family member of our Director, volunteered at the shelter and asked Tails High to help. Rory traveled with her rescuers over 1,000 miles just after Christmas and she was such a happy passenger. While we knew Rory was likely to be a fospice kitty, we had hope that we could seek the best veterinary oncology support for her and aimed to give her everything to get more time. Rory saw our vet team the day she arrived in Virginia and underwent biopsies and a surgery to address her nose wound caused by the aggressive cancer. She was diagnosed with nasal adenocarcinoma, and later when seen by Oncology, squamous cell carcinoma. Rory's CT scan showed that the cancer had metastasized to her mandibular lymph nodes and while we worked tirelessly to get her to the best doctors for a radiation treatment plan, the cancer grew so very fast, and we were given a grim prognosis for our girl. The Oncology doctor told us we had limited time with Rory, as she was in pain and there was no radiation that could manage that curatively or palliatively at the late stage. Ultimately, Aurora Borealis was able to spend 6 amazing weeks with her foster turned forever family, as she was adopted by Acacia and Evan, before she crossed the rainbow bridge surrounded by love. We were so grateful to have the support of our followers to afford her vet care, so she could have a chance at a life she deserved. While we couldn't cure her cancer, she didn't die alone in a shelter without an advocate. She had a forever family that loved her until her last moments, as every cat deserves. Aurora Borealis's medical care was covered by our Carrot Cake Fund, which is donations specially designated to critical medical cases that we intake, knowing that they will need urgent care, specialists, and ongoing vet support during the time with us. We don't just intake to help adoptable cats, but hav…