Merlin’s Hope: A Ragdoll and Maine Coon Rescue

Lucky - Adopted - see comment below for story
Lucky – Adopted – see comment below for story

 

A Ragdoll and Maine Coon Rescue has been in the rescue business in Ennis, Texas Merlin’s Hope: (south of the DFW area) since 2005, though I personally have been in rescue since 1998. In the five years that we have been rescuing here in Texas, we have helped nearly 600 cats. This is, of course, in addition to the transporting, coordinating, referring, and working with other rescues that we do to help other cats. We originally started with Siamese and long-haired breed cats (Maine Coons, Ragdolls, Persians) but quickly saw the need for dedicated rescue for Maine Coons and Ragdolls. We have worked with several breeders in the past couple of years to help them as they went out of business, decided to quit breeding, retired, etc.

Bugsy - Adopted - see comment below for story
Bugsy – Adopted – see comment below for story

Additionally, of course, we rescue from shelters around the state of Texas, including the areas of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. We have a very strict adoption process including an application with veterinary and personal references, a lengthy telephone interview, and a lengthy contract requiring no declaw, indoor only, and that our cats be returned to us in the event the situation does not work out (just to mention a few of our specific requirements).

Hope - Adopted - see comment below for story
Hope – Adopted – see comment below for story

Our cats stay with us as long as they need to find the right home, and we are committed to finding the perfect home for each cat. Our motto is: A home for every cat; a cat for every home. All of our cats are in monitored foster homes.

Though we love our Maine Coons, our rescue is quickly becoming pretty much Ragdoll Rescue as we find so many Ragdolls and Ragdoll mixes in the state and in surrounding states needing homes.

I could tell you many stories of the lovely Ragdolls we have rescued and would love to share them with you. With the economic situation as it is, we have numerous cats coming in from sad situations. Since this is the case, at Jenny’s request, I’d like to quickly share the story of Killian and Jillian.

Jillian
Jillian

Killian is a lovely Mitted Seal Ragdoll mix; Jillian is her cute Brown Tabby Pixie-bob mix sister. The two of them found themselves in quite a situation when their owner went to jail and was there for two weeks before someone realized that her cats had been left in her apartment without care. For two weeks, these poor cats managed to get enough water out of the faucet to survive. When a friend finally came in to help, she discovered that the resourceful girls had pulled cereal boxes out of the cabinet to eat Cheerios in order to survive, but it didn’t stop these two girls from being wonderful babies. She notified me of their need for help one day; the very next day they were on transport to me. They came into our rescue and were quickly adopted by a lovely family in Killeen who wanted to keep the sisters together. Many of our cats come from similar situations.

Thank you for welcoming us to your website.

MeLinda Hughes, Director
Merlin’s Hope: A Ragdoll and Maine Coon Rescue
Ennis, TX 75119
 
Merlin’s Hope: A Ragdoll and Maine Coon Rescue has been in the rescue business in Ennis, Texas (south of the DFW area) since 2005, though I personally have been in rescue since 1998. In the five years that we have been rescuing here in Texas, we have helped nearly 600 cats. This is, of course, in addition to the transporting, coordinating, referring, and working with other rescues that we do to help other cats. We originally started with Siamese and long-haired breed cats (Maine Coons, Ragdolls, Persians) but quickly saw the need for dedicated rescue for Maine Coons and Ragdolls. We have worked with several breeders in the past couple of years to help them as they went out of business, decided to quit breeding, retired, etc. Additionally, of course, we rescue from shelters around the state of Texas, including the areas of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. We have a very strict adoption process including an application with veterinary and personal references, a lengthy telephone interview, and a lengthy contract requiring no declaw, indoor only, and that our cats be returned to us in the event the situation does not work out (just to mention a few of our specific requirements). Our cats stay with us as long as they need to find the right home, and we are committed to finding the perfect home for each cat. Our motto is: A home for every cat; a cat for every home. All of our cats are in monitored foster homes.
Though we love our Maine Coons, our rescue is quickly becoming pretty much Ragdoll Rescue as we find so many Ragdolls and Ragdoll mixes in the state and in surrounding states needing homes.
I could tell you many stories of the lovely Ragdolls we have rescued and would love to share them with you. With the economic situation as it is, we have numerous cats coming in from sad situations. Since this is the case, at Jenny’s request, I’d like to quickly share the story of Killian and Jillian. Killian is a lovely Mitted Seal Ragdoll mix; Jillian is her cute Brown Tabby Pixie-bob mix sister. The two of them found themselves in quite a situation when their owner went to jail and was there for two weeks before someone realized that her cats had been left in her apartment without care. For two weeks, these poor cats managed to get enough water out of the faucet to survive. When a friend finally came in to help, she discovered that the resourceful girls had pulled cereal boxes out of the cabinet to eat Cheerios in order to survive, but it didn’t stop these two girls from being wonderful babies. She notified me of their need for help one day; the very next day they were on transport to me. They came into our rescue and were quickly adopted by a lovely family in Killeen who wanted to keep the sisters together. Many of our cats come from similar situations.
Thank you for welcoming us to your group.
Website | + posts

Hi, I’m Jenny Dean, creator of Floppycats! Ever since my Aunt got the first Ragdoll cat in our family, I have loved the breed. Inspired by my childhood Ragdoll cat, Rags, I created Floppycats to connect, share and inspire other Ragdoll cat lovers around the world,

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9 Comments

  1. Anonymous says:

    We have lostour much loved Tom cat after 17 years. We are just now thinking of rescuing another. We just don’t know really how. Advise would be greatly appreciated. We are only interested in ragdoll or main coom.we have a great home for a laid back male. Thank you for any hep

  2. Teresa Moore says:

    Very very interested in owning a Maine coon male once I move to Texas. ( 3mos) all information appreciated

  3. Patti Johnson says:

    Melinda, God bless you and all the other animal lovers at Merlin’s Hope for doing such wonderful work in taking care of these sweet kittehs who need to find their furever home! What a wonderful organization. It’s so comforting to know that places like Merlin’s Hope exist to help make life a bit easier for confused, scared and sometimes ill kittehs who just need a loving set of arms and some care.

    Big hugs!

    Patti & Miss Pink Sugarbelle 🙂 <3

  4. Hello I have a beautiful maine coon. her name is Maci and is about 5yrs old. she is a great cat but we can no longer keep her. if anyone is interested please email or call for more info and pictures.

    nickie 832-752-3980

  5. Wendee Graham says:

    Hi melinda,
    We talked the other day about adoption. I am Emma’s mom and we would like to adopt from you. Could you send me an application and any pictures of the kittens we talked about, that have not been listed yet.
    Thanks so much,
    Wendee

  6. Hi,
    My name is Carolina, and I had the pleasure to adopt my three cats, or better yet, kids, true loves of my life from MeLinda’s rescue, Merlin’s Hope.
    The first one was Lucky. She came to me as a “shy” girl, but after some undivided attention and love, she rules the house, and my heart. I did not rescue her, she rescued me.
    Then came Bugsy – this BIG fluffy, ball of love. Here is MeLinda’s specialty: She KNOWS her cats. She knows who gets along with who, which cat will do well in which environment. And that for me was absolutely essential when bringing each one home, as I wanted a peaceful and happy environment, and most of all, I wanted Lucky to thrive, and not to go back to be shy again. MeLinda did a wonderful job choosing Bugsy for me, he fit like a glove, and soon Lucky and him were best friends.
    Then she asked my help to foster Hope… I should known that would not work out 🙂 I fell completely in love with my little one… Once again, MeLinda knew what she was doing – she knew Hope would fit the household well, and of course she did.
    Today I have three wonderful kitties, that I wouldn’t change for anything in the world.
    They are the sweetest, the most special, the fluffiest, the most loved… Merlin’s Hope didn’t give me cats, they gave me a family.
    Thanks MeLinda!

    1. Carolina, if you have photos of them and would like to include them on this page or another one for Merlin’s Hope – let me know! Thanks!

    2. Carolina has been a true friend of the rescue. What she didn’t tell you is that Bugsy has had a lot of dental issues and this awesome lady has done everything that had to be done to take care of this wonderful boy. Yes, I may have “chosen” the right cats for Carolina, but honestly, any cat in Carolina’s home is the “lucky” one.

      MeLinda

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