Two cats that were rescued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continue to live in the lap of luxury in New Westminster.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in the United States. Levees broke in New Orleans, destroying homes, leaving many people homeless.

In the weeks after the disaster, the Burnaby-based Action for Animals in Distress Society sent volunteers to New Orleans and made arrangements to rescue 15 cats.

"Most of them were flown up," said Kristen Schumacher, a volunteer with the society. "We had a member who drove three up from Oregon."

Schumacher said the society was "heavily criticized" by some rescue agencies, which complained that many animals needed rescuing locally. "We just wanted to help."

Several of the rescued cats found homes in New Westminster, including one who was blind in one eye and another who was believed to have a life-threatening viral disease, feline infectious peritonitis.

Nancy Slinn learned through a radio broadcast that some cats rescued from Hurricane Katrina needed homes.

"We had been talking for some time about getting a cat for the girls," she said. "This was an opportunity for us to something to help."

When the family received Mia, she was a very scared, scrawny cat who didn't purr. She was blind in one eye, which may have deterred some, but not Slinn.

"I am blind in one eye," she noted. "We have something in common."

Slinn said the Action for Animals in Distress Society has been a great organization to deal with, even helping when Mia needed some dental work because of abscessed teeth.

"She's been an awesome pet," she said. "She is now very content to curl up on your lap, lay beside you in bed."

Gail Ancill didn't know she was getting a cat that had been rescued from Hurricane Katrina when she contacted the society about getting a cat for her family. A week after agreeing with her daughter's suggestion to get a cat, she read an item in The Record about cats needing homes and contacted the society.

A volunteer with the Action for Animals in Distress Society told Ancill about one cat that needed a home - a home with no other animals because it might have feline infectious peritonitis. She was warned that the cat might not live a long time.

"I said I am a nurse, I can deal with that," she said.

When Stormy was delivered the next day, he was too scared to even come out of his cat cage. A society volunteer told Ancill that Stormy might never be a lap cat or play with cat toys, but two-and-a-half hours later he showed that wasn't gong to be the case.

"He plunked himself on my lap and slept there for three hours," Ancill recalled.

An inside cat for his first two years in New Westminster, he now heads outdoors during the day. A hunter, he's made his mark in his neighourhood by chasing away rats that came when St. Mary's Hospital was demolished.

"Since he has come into the neighbourhood, no more rats," Ancill said. "He chases them off."

Stormy has tested negative for the viral disease and flourished in his new home.

"He has put on tons of weight. He is absolutely gorgeous. He is known in the neighbourhood," Ancill said. "He has been a fantastic addition to our family. He has never bitten or scratched any one of us. He knows he has been rescued."

While recently visiting a pet store to pick up some supplies for their fish, Ancill and her daughter decided to adopt another cat. It turns out it was also a rescue cat from the Action for Animals in Distress Society, a non-profit organization.

"They just seem to know that they are in such a better place," Ancill said about rescued animals. "They appreciate it. Stormy, he knows. He follows me from room to room. He sleeps on the bed."

Ancill has no regrets about adopting a cat rescued from Hurricane Katrina, even though she didn't know that was the case when she contacted the society.

"There's people that think you should adopt local animals," she said. "Need doesn't have any borders. If the need is there, the need is there."

Schumacher, who recalls picking Stormy up at the airport at 2 a.m., was pleased to learn he's thriving and is now a big brother to another one of the society's rescues.

"We are absolutely thrilled about it," she said about helping cats left homeless from the disaster. "We are also thrilled they got good homes."

Schumacher said the society adopted out 35 cats after media attention regarding its rescues of cats from areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. In most weeks, the society is lucky if it can adopt out two adult cats.

"It raised the awareness of how many local cats also needed help," she said.

For more information about the society visit www.actionforanimals.net or contact founder Nikki Forbes at nikkiforbes@shaw.ca or 604-724-7652.