All for the love of felines

May 19, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

WASILLA - The petite calico cat and her litter of newborns shivered with only a blanket between them and the cold earth when someone discovered them in their driveway.

Like so many cats, the feline family found a home with Wasilla resident Susan Helmericks, who started Matanuska Valley Kitties Rescue Group five years ago.

A few days after the nursing mom moved into Helmericks' home, the calico ended up with mastitis. Her mammary glands, which should be producing milk, were clogged.

The next morning, one of her teats ruptured, leaving a gaping hole in her body. Her tiny kittens covered with pus as they searched for milk.

&#8220You think this job would be so fun, playing with cats. You're all hunky dory, and then you see that!” Helmericks said. &#8220The poor thing! Got dumped in a driveway.”

Now, with stitches on her belly, the calico whose peach-colored nose resembles a pair of comical eyeglasses is recovering, snuggling contentedly with her kittens.

&#8220I didn't realize that I couldn't just rescue cats and not know about them medically,” Helmericks said, adding that she has learned a lot. &#8220People ask me if I'm a vet. I should have been.”

Valley veterinarians see a lot of a Helmericks, who promotes getting pets spayed or neutered.

Helmericks charges an adoption fee for kittens and uses part of the money to spay the mother, she said. Other times, when she takes mothers and their litters off the hands of overwhelmed residents, she returns spayed cats to their owners. She oversees eight other foster homes in different communities in the Valley. On Saturdays, she holds adoption clinics at the PetZoo stores in Wasilla and Anchorage.

Why do cats appeal to Helmericks?

&#8220They're social, fun, they keep themselves clean,” she said. &#8220They purr. That's my favorite thing.”

Through the adventure of saving cats, Helmericks has ended up in a few predicaments.

Last autumn, after an elderly Wasilla man died and left behind 30 cats, neighbors started calling Helmericks.

&#8220He took good care of his kitties,” she said. &#8220There were all super friendly. My husband and I pulled in the driveway, and 30 cats came to greet us. It was strange.”

Neighbors warned her not to go on the property, she said. They told her the dead man's son, John Pearl Smith, had escaped from Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility after a judge allowed him to attend the funeral. He was hiding on the property, and most likely, armed, neighbors said.

On the edge of the private land, Helmericks tore open 20-pound bags of food for the hungry felines. She left them warm water, and worried it would freeze during the cold spell that hit last October. Eventually, authorities nabbed Smith, and Helmericks was able to rescue the remaining cats.

Helmericks' husband and two sons support her cause.

On Wednesday, the boys comforted two mewing, blurry-eyed kittens. Last week, her husband pulled his last tool box out of the garage, which Helmericks converted into a cattery. Ironically, when the couple purchased their home, the big garage was for his stuff. Helmericks often scans the room and thinks maybe she can fit one more cage in it.

&#8220The need for a cat rescue group is so strong. Every week, the shelter sends me a list of all the cats they have to destroy, and it's hard to look at the list and decide who I'm going save, who's more adoptable.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252, or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.