Amstel, our little fighter

Some of our cats fight harder for life than anyone could ask of them. Amstel was one of those. This is the story of a little boy who beat the odds again and again — and who, in the end, was loved to the very last.

September 2023 — a boy looking for a home

Amstel first came to us as a sweet, cheeky boy simply looking for a good home — a beautiful ginger-and-white cat with his whole life ahead of him.

Early 2024 — the fight of his life

Then came the hardest chapter. Amstel developed neurological FIP and a serious case of meningitis. There were days he left for the clinic crooked, shaking and unable to walk, and we feared the worst — recovery from anything neurological is so hard.

But Amstel had other plans. He came home still wobbly, still fragile, but fighting — and slowly, remarkably, he began to steady. He was a happy boy again, even with the occasional loss of balance.

May 2024 — 84 days, and a victory

Amstel finished his full FIP treatment: 84 days of injections, antibiotics, and a great many vitamins and supplements. He was, honestly, the best patient we could have asked for — never fighting, never difficult. We were so proud of him, and so hopeful that this cruel illness was finally behind him. Thank you to everyone who helped us get him through.

April 2025 — a home at last, in the Netherlands

And then came the moment we had dreamed of for him. Amstel — the boy who couldn't live outdoors, who had survived what should have taken him — travelled to his new family in the Netherlands, alongside his friend Milo. He met his new canine brother and settled into the loving home he had waited so long for. Have a safe trip and a beautiful new life, we told him.

July 2025 — goodbye, sweet boy

Our sanctuary is a living thing. It grows and changes, volunteers come and go, and beneath it all run quiet currents of love and pain, hope and hope lost, always moving, always carving new stories.

Amstel lost his final fight in the arms of his loving family. He was one of our greatest loves. He came from mommy Jezzie's litter of six — a litter that, like so many, knew more than its share of sorrow; only two of them live on today in their loving homes.

Rest now, Amstel. Play with your siblings Charlie, Pixie and Ember today — you were loved, every single day, right to the end.