Florida Couple Runs a Magical Retirement Sanctuary for Surrendered Senior Cats

AARP visited Bruce and Terry Jenkins, the kind people behind Cat’s Cradle, who, in 2015, created a magical sanctuary in their Lutz, Florida, backyard where surrendered older cats can live out a peaceful retirement with them.

Since 2015, more than 350 cats have spent their final years in this feline paradise. Most people describe Cat’s Cradle Sanctuary as a “Disneyland for cats”—and they’re not far wrong.

Terry shared how the idea originated with a calico cat named Patches, who was on the verge of euthanasia.

It evolved from me. I went up to our vets and I asked, “Do you have any kittens?” And this lady overheard and she said, “I wish you could look at this cat. She was my father’s cat. I’m in a condo and I can’t take her.” The lady brought her there to be euthanized because she felt like she had no solution. So of course, I took the cat. 

Bruce and Terry further explained that they had plenty of room to welcome as many cats as they could.

We had this wonderful frontier land area in the back of the property that we had built for the kids that was no longer needed. …We had a vision where they could be free the way I think cats would like to be: free outside but protected. They feel secure here. And the fact that they can go and sleep up on a bridge, right over a lake—I mean, how good is that?

The couple covered the costs out of their own savings for years, putting in about $50,000 to $60,000 before supporters began pitching in monthly as Guardian Angels to help pay for vet bills and food. Originally, their backyard was a Wild West “Frontierland” play area built for their kids, and the old hotel, saloon, and sheriff’s office are now home to the cats.

We Previously Wrote About the Jenkinses in 2018