Felines’ Foster Mom

Walk into Shellie Kwitkowski’s spare bedroom and prepare to be engulfed by the unmistakable aura of cat.

This week, nine cats and kittens cavorted among the essentials--kitty litter, bowls brimming with food and an elaborate 6-foot scratching post.

When Shellie came in, they all waited their turn for some attention.

During the last two years, the 15-year-old has cared for more than 90 cats and a few dogs--all neglected, some abused--through her work with an Oxnard group called Concerned People for Animals.

This day is typical.

Twelve-week-old Mickey has ear mites and seems especially in need of attention, reaching his tiny paws through the cage. Shellie lets him out, another cat hisses, and a contained pandemonium breaks out. Shellie gently restores the peace.

One of eight foster-care providers with Concerned People for Animals, Shellie takes in more animals than anyone else, said Richard Skinner, the group’s president.

“Because she does care enough to do that, she helps us put so many cats in homes,” Skinner said. “She’s more concerned than most kids her age.”

Besides caring temporarily for the critters, Shellie also has developed the group’s contracts, forms and booklets, which are stacked around her bedroom.

Almost every weekend, she helps the organization put animals up for adoption at pet stores in Oxnard and Camarillo.

The group also provides veterinary help and spaying and neutering programs. Her work earned her a Los Angeles Times Volunteer of Distinction award earlier this month.

A home-study program through Laurel Springs School in Ojai allows Shellie to spend the two to fours hours she needs each day to care for her cats.

She had traditional schooling through eighth grade, but switched to independent study for the freedom it allowed. She does her assignments at home and then turns them in for a grade to a teacher at the school.

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“I just wanted an opportunity to experience new things and not be limited by a traditional school,” she said.

The school even gives Shellie community-service credit for her foster-care work.

“It’s helped me to be really involved with things that are more than just book work,” Shellie said.

Indeed, she seems to have an instinctive understanding of what her animals need, periodically asking them how they feel and what they want.

She can diagnose minor cat ailments and has reference books to help her understand the harder stuff, like feline infectious peritonitis, a highly contagious and potentially fatal abdominal disease.

“She’s so determined,” said her mother, Elaine Kwitkowski. “She just keeps saying, ‘One animal at a time.’ She feels so good when she helps just one.”

Shellie’s favorite cat, Zeus, is a graduate of her foster program.

He has been promoted to reside in the teenager’s bedroom. Shellie bandaged his wounds after he was found on the street and quickly fell in love with him.

“He talks a lot. You can actually carry on a conversation with him,” Shellie said. “He’s got a neat personality--very outgoing.”

Shellie still has two years of high school left, but plans to study animal science in college and become a veterinarian.

In her free time she rides horses--posters of horses, cats and dogs adorn her room--and she recently began showing in competitions.

“I always think every animal has one person that’s right for them,” she said.