Tenth Life volunteers are temporarily unavailable for contact.  If you attempt to contact us, please understand that we will not  be able to respond to you in a timely manner. 
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Winston and Oliver were completely unrelated, but were extremely similar on the inside as well as on the outside.

What is Tenth Life?

Welcome and thank you for your interest in Tenth Life.  We are a not for profit cat rescue organization operating in and around Waldo County, Maine.  We officially organized in early 2008 and have helped hundreds of cats.  We work with stray, surrendered and feral cats.
When a tame cat enters Tenth Life care, they are tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV.  They are then vaccinated against rabies and distemper and spayed or neutered.  After sterilization, they are available to be adopted.  We have successfully adopted more than two hundred cats into loving homes and have lots more who are ready for their new families to find them.
Feral cats go through the same first few steps, but instead of going to loving homes, they are adopted into barns, where they can live their lives with minimal human contact while providing a valuable service to the owners of the barns: rodent control.

 

.Our Beliefs
At Tenth Life, we believe that every cat, regardless of age, size, sex, color or level of tameness, deserves to live a happy, healthy life.  We believe that the best way to control the overpopulation of cats is through sterilization.  We believe that cats can provide valuable benefits to individual people, families or the greater community.  We do NOT believe that it is ever acceptable to allow cats to procreat indiscriminately or to dispose of cats in an inhumane manner.
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Zoey, one of our first rescues. She was a four year old stray with a heart murmur. Now she's living the good life in a wonderful adoptive home.

Our Mission

The mission of Tenth Life is to reduce the number of feral and stray cats in and around Waldo County.  To accomplish this, we have started a  trap-neuter-return program as well as trap-neuter-adopt for cats who we are able to domesticate.  Further, we train other community members in effective, humane cat trapping techniques and often provide  them with the tools they need to manage feral cat colonies.
While Tenth Life started with a goal to focus on feral cats, we quickly learned that the Waldo County community had an equal need for a group to help tame cats.  We further realized that one of the best ways to prevent feral cat colonies from starting is to provide a safe environment for tame stray cats while they await permanent placement in loving homes.  We expanded our mission to help cats from all backgrounds.
To accomplish Tenth Life's goal, Tenth Life:
               -Traps and alters feral cats.
               -Places adoptable cats in appropriate homes.
               -Releases undomesticatable feral cats in safe, sutiable locations.
               -Sterilizes all cats who enter our care.
               -Accepts stray and surrendered pet cats.
               -Provides all cats in our care with necessary veterinary care and vaccines.
               -Works to educate the Waldo County community about feral cats, sterilization and proper
                    care of cats.
               -Works to impprove our knowledge of issues facing homeless cats and find innovative ideas
                    to better help those we serve.
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Salem, a feral born girl who has found happiness in her forever home.

Our Cats

There is no single profile of a Tenth Life cat.  We have taken in kittens as young as three weeks and cats as old as seventeen years.  We have helped sweet-as-sugar lap cats and we have taken in and placed the wildest of feral cats.  Whether they were dumped at a farm or their families had run out of money for their care, every cat who has come to Tenth Life has had one thing in common; they needed help.
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Claudia and Gabrielle - born in a feral barn colony, these two girls have both come a long way in their trust of people. Gabby is much more outgoing than Claudia, but both are great little ladies.

Our Impact

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Nai, the adopted feral cat of one of our volunteers.
Tenth Life began with one simple goal: Reduce the number of homeless and feral cats in Waldo County.  While there are still many, many cats in our area who are in need of homes, we have helped more than three hundred.  When you consider that the average female cat can have up to three litters per year and that most litters average six kittens, you realize that by spaying one female, we have stopped up to eighteen unwanted kittens per year from being born to her alone.  Of course, the estimates of kittens eliminated over a seven year period varies from one source to another, but the low number we found is around seventy five hundred, while the high number is four hundred and twenty thousand.  One of the most common estimates is around one hundred thousand.  That is the impact of just one female.  All of the cats we help are sterilized, preventing their further contribution to overpopulation.  That impact is one that will last for years to come!
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Charles, a five year old cat. He waited just over a year to find his forever home.
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Waits is a five year old cat who is patiently waiting for his happily ever after. You can check him out on our Adoptables page.

Our People

Everybody who works for Tenth Life does so as a volunteer.  We have no paid employees.  Our volunteers do everything!  Some of the tasks our volunteers perform are: trapping, transporting, cat fostering, fundraising, adoption management, administration, and of course, website management.  Without paid employees, our funds can go 100% to the cats.  And that's what's important to all of us. 
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Yes, our photographer is a volunteer!

Disease Control

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Aslan is enjoying the good life in his forever home!
At Tenth Life, we recognize that ensuring a healthy population of cats is every bit as important as reducing the number of those who are homeless.  That's why every cat who enters our care is tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV.  It's also why we vaccinate every cat against rabies and distemper.  To avoid overvaccinating, which has been linked to cancer in some animals, cats who are destined for a permanantly indoor home do not get vaccinated for Feline Leukemia, while those who will be outside do.  We believe that by vaccinating our cats, we are not only ensuring their health, but the health of other animals and people to whom they will be exposed!