FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Terrell Orum-Moore

-- Story by Paul Clinton, photo by Greg Fry

Terrell Orum-Moore has a soft place in her heart for stray kittens.

As a volunteer with the Community Animal Network, a Newport Beach

animal rescue group, Orum-Moore can’t resist picking them up off Orange

County streets to nurse back to health.

Many times, the creatures are malnourished, terrified and unable to

readjust to humans after an abandonment.

Take Scamp, her latest project. Orum-Moore was handed the 6-week-old

kitty by the group after he was dropped off at an animal shelter by the

family that found him.

“Everybody has a cause that interests them,” Orum-Moore said. “Cats

just have a special place in my heart.”

Orum-Moore has been bottle-feeding Scamp, a technique she says has

brought the kitten back to health. Scamp had been found in a trash bin in

Anaheim by three children.

The bottle feeding usually lasts for about two months of a kitten’s

life. Orum-Moore, using a miniature baby bottle, pumps the cats full with

a special feeding solution designed to simulate mother’s milk. It is a

blend of skim milk, soy oil and vitamins. Scamp usually sucks down three

tablespoons of the formula.

Orum-Moore, who lives in Costa Mesa, spends an average of 10 hours a

week feeding kittens and finding caring homes for strays. A few cats she

has found have even stayed in her own home. After nursing them, she just

can’t seem to let them go.

Thirteen years ago, the 39-year-old Orum-Moore found her first cat.

That cat, named Scruffy, is still with her. Since then, she said she has

rescued about 35 cats.

She places ads to find owners or hands the cats back to the network.

Each Saturday and Sunday, the network offers the cats to potential owners

at Fashion Island for a $175 donation that covers some needed vet bills.

Orum-Moore said she can’t help picking up strays, even though she

doesn’t look for them.

“When they cross your path, it’s very difficult to turn your back,”

Orum-Moore said. “I can deal with a certain load of it. It’s draining.

It’s one drop in a pond, but it makes a difference.”