Here at Your Cat Backpack by Travel Cat, we strongly believe that being a “cat person” means more than loving to cuddle and care for our furry friends. It means advocating for and supporting all cats around the world, whether they live with a loving family in their forever homes or in a colony on the streets.

We are strong supporters of the importance of encouraging people to adopt don't shop and appreciate the work folks do to help cat populations in their communities. 

Since we started, throughout the year, we offer our biggest discount to individuals and organizations who help cats by fostering, doing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and working with and for animal shelters and non-profits.

We launched our "Forever Home Heroes" program in 2019 as a way to continue supporting cat welfare advocates with our words and wallets!

We asked our catstomers and community from around the world to vote for their favorite animal welfare organizations and individuals, who deserve recognition and financial support for the work that they do. We were blown away by the amazing nominations we received.

We are thrilled to present our grand prize winner, second and third place winners, and 3 other runners up.

Don't forget, get 10% off with code FOREVERHOMEHEROES2021 thru Nov. 14th at 11:59pm ET!

RSVP for the Forever Home Heroes Virtual Awards Ceremony this Sunday, November 14th @ 1pm ET

Come celebrate this MASSIVE giveaway where we will:

🏆 Highlight the winners of Forever Home Heroes 🏆

🎉 Announce $500 Travel Cat Gear voter prize winners 🎉

 

Forever Home Heroes $2,000 winner: Alana Miller of Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary based in St Pauls, North Carolina

"Blind Cat Rescue was started in 2005 in St Pauls, NC (USA) by a mother and daughter team to answer the need for a safe place for blind cats that were deemed not adoptable by regular shelters. They were going to be killed just because they are blind."

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Forever Home Heroes $1,000 winner: KAT Charities based in Pearl City, Hawaii

"KAT Charities is a new non-profit born out of a dream to unite children with disabilities and animals with caring, loving people. We believe when people help animals, the animals help the people. It's a win-win for everyone."

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Forever Home Heroes $500 Winners:

Steel City Adventure Cats based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Our mission is to reduce the number of homeless, abused and abandoned cats in our community and to educate the public on the importance of spay and neuter. We provide medical care, love and a safe haven for cats until a permanent home is found."

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Cat People of Oahu based in Oahu, Hawaii

"Cat People of Oahu has a mission to help people help cats. We established our non-profit in December of 2018 and have 501c3 IRS designation. Cat People of Oahu provides information, education, and resources for individuals who own or care for pet, feral, and free-roaming cats. We advocate for spay and neuter, rescuing, fostering, adoption and trap-neuter-return. We believe in providing a well-organized and well-maintained group for cat lovers and those new to the cat world - where they can post pictures and videos, ask for and receive reliable advice, advertise foster cats and kittens available for adoption, and much more. Additionally, we provide opportunities to fundraise as a group for cats in need in order to cover things such as medications, feral/pet/foster cat sterilizations, and hospitalizations and surgeries for sick and injured cats."

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Puppy Kitty NYCity based in New York, New York

"Puppy Kitty NYCity (PKNYC) focuses rescue efforts on cats and kittens that are sick, injured, or homeless and on the streets of NYC. Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is one of our primary focus areas in order to control the feline overpopulation problem in NYC, Long Island, New Jersey, and sometimes as far as Connecticut. All animals who come under the care of PKNYC receive quality medical care. Feral cats are trapped, fixed/vaccinated and returned back to their home outside. Friendly cats or young kittens are socialized and then placed in loving forever homes. Our adoptive homes are also thoroughly screened to ensure the best placement for our animals. We have partnered with other organizations to rescue other animals including dogs and birds."

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Feral Cat Warriors - Kingman based in Kingman, Arizona

"Feral Cat Warriors in Kingman, AZ traps cats from colonies where people are already feeding and taking care of them and asks for a donation to help get them spayed/neutered. Our volunteers then return the cats to the same property from where they were trapped, along with a signed agreement from the property owner, who will continue to feed the colony.

We are not a rescue and have no facility to house cats, nor do we relocate cats. We are not a county entity. We consist only of volunteers who give our time, use our own gas money and hearts.

We buy supplies (like mackerel) to attract cats to the traps, gloves, garbage bags, food and more. We feed and care for the cats until clinic day arrives, and work with local veterinarians and vet techs who also donate hours to spay/neuter and vet the cats.

We then ensure that the cats are returned to the property from where they were trapped."

 

Other Top Nominations:

Conquer the Colony based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Conquer the Colony was started by three proud cat ladies: Kelly, Elizabeth, and Erin. It started with a kitten... and a kitten... and another kitten. We originally thought we had a small TNR job to do and we just be "done". We quickly realized the colony was huge and in need of a lot of neutering. CTC works alongside local animal rescues and utilizes local low-cost spay and neuter clinics."

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Kittens and Barbells based in New York, New York

"Cat connoisseurs in NYC dedicated to rescuing animals in need."

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A post shared by Kittens and Barbells Rescue (@kittensandbarbells_)

 

Abby and Layla's Angels Cat Rescue Inc. based in Newfoundland, Canada

"This is a cat rescue to help the cats in need on the Burin Peninsula because of the overwhelming number of stray cats in the area. We need help and foster homes and anything that anyone can help us with. We are firm believers in the TNR program."

A big thanks to everyone who voted & nominated their community's cat people!  

Don't forget, get 10% off with code FOREVERHOMEHEROES2021 thru Nov. 14th at 11:59pm ET!

We know this is a very difficult time for everyone. If and when you're able to provide support to cat heroes, search for local people and organizations and consider donating your money or time to make the biggest impact!