Wild Bill, longtime resident of Cat Welfare, died May 12, 2005 from complications due to mouth cancer. Wild Bill was our oldest resident in that he had lived at the shelter the longest without ever being adopted. He came to us in October 1994 and only left our shelter when he began having some health complications in 2004 and needed to visit a veterinary hospital. Wild Bill came in extremely wild and would even flip over heavily weighted water bowls in his cage. He would not let anyone touch him for years and liked to live on top of some of the cages in our old shelter. When we moved to our new (current) shelter in 1999, he started to come out of his shell a little more. The help, love, and attention of several volunteers that cared for him dearly helped him come out of his shell even more. He still was shy with people he didn't know well, but once he got to know someone he would love to be petted. He was always very gentle and got along great with his fellow shelter residents. Some of the younger cats liked to cuddle up next to him when it was time for a catnap. Cat Welfare was Wild Bill's home and he absolutely loved to sleep in the sunrays on our sun porch. Bill always led the pack front and center when it was feeding time in the Recovery Room and would often insistently meow until dinner was put on the floor. He was very comfortable living at the shelter and we don't think that he would ever have wanted to live anywhere else. A special brick with an drawing of Wild Bill marks the spot where Wild Bill is buried in our memory garden.

Anne R.- Wild Bill has always been one of my favorite Cat Welfare kitties of all time. I miss him dearly and it seems odd at the shelter without him there. I can still see him making his silent meows and looking out the window of the sun porch from his favorite perch. It took a long time to gain Wild Bill's trust... but it was well worth it. I know that he will live on in my heart and that I will never forget him. When I created our Guardian Angels program, I knew that Wild Bill was the perfect kitty to be part of the program. It turned out that Wild Bill was our most popular Guardian Angel kitty and had many sponsors that came to visit him. Thank you to all of them for caring for him.

Gail H. - He was a very special boy. My first memories of Wild Bill is seeing his backend flying through the middle room at the old shelter either in or out of the bathroom. He had these long, nearly furless back bowed legs and also a nearly hairless heinie. In more recent years, I enjoyed watching him dance for the moist cat food tray, cuddle with and sometimes groom other kitties and sometimes ask for my attention by attaching his gums to my arm.