When fur mom Allyana “Ally” Alcantara started baking, she only had one earnest wish: to raise enough funds for her ailing cat’s medications. Little did she know that her goal of saving Meu will eventually lead her to find a deeper purpose in life.
In an exclusive interview with Traffic Digest, Ally shared how her story began when her two fur babies, Malef and Meu, came into her life and helped her as she struggled mentally and emotionally during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started to become a pet lover when my partner gifted me two siamese kittens po. They were about two months of age no’ng binigay po sila sa akin during the first month of the pandemic. Sobrang depressing po that time and these two little kittens helped me cope. Since they came there were no more boring moments na kahit nasa bahay lang po especially noong sobrang higpit pa ng quarantine,” she said.
Eventually, Ally’s love for them made her more caring and sensitive about other cats.
“Sobrang napamahal po sa’kin silang dalawa and I started to care sa mga stray, since biglang dumami po ‘yong mga stray sa front of house. What happened pala was dahil sobrang kaunti na lang ng tao sa labas, nahirapan ang mga stray na mag strive and maghanap ng makakain. Doon sila tumatambay sa tapat ng bahay and I realized na I have two cats with me na hindi nagugutuman, have clean water, roof to live tapos itong dozens of strays halos hindi makakain. I started feeding them, some I adopted na. Most them live na in our frontyard,” she recalled.
Until one day, Meu got diagnosed with stage 2 chronic kidney disease, requiring a huge amount of money for medications and consultations.
“Spent almost P40,000 on his medications/treatments, naubos lahat ng savings ko and I had to borrow money from friends din to settle all the bills for his treatments, for stray feeding, and all expenses para sa mga cat,” the fur mom remembered.”And then, I came up with the idea na mag-sell ng baked goods. I established a page, Ally and Cats, for fundraising and started selling crinkles and other baked goodies,” she went on.
Aside from raising funds for Meu, she also took her love for cats to the next level by sharing some of her earnings with rescuers through her “sweets for a cause” drive.
“Nakakapag-donate din ako sa other rescuers na in need, especially food for their rescues. I opted to donate P200 each to at least three rescuers every batch while unti-unting nagbabayad ako sa utang ko. Hinahati-hati ko ‘yong kita para makatulong sa ibang rescuers habang nagbabayad din ako ng balances ko sa inutang ko para sa treatment ng may sakit na cat,” she said.
Unfortunately, Meu did not make it, leaving Ally deeply devastated.
“He did not make it, he lost his fight,” she sadly expressed.
But even if she already lost the reason why she started her baked goodies initiative in the first place, the fur parent did not stop. As she nursed her broken heart and continued with her journey to healing, she wholeheartedly went on with her advocacy to extend her love for Meu to other cats.
“I continued with my advocacy to rescue and help other cats. Today, I have a total of 14 officially adopted cats and dozens of community cats I feed,” she shared. “Very grateful ako sa kinikita sa baking and selling, malaking tulong po. We also receive donations sometime nagko-call din po ako ng donations kapag hindi enough ‘yong kinikita sa selling of baked goods and sobrang nakakatuwa kasi never kami pinabayaan ng mga supporter. Sila ‘yong naging inspiration ko to continue and never give up on what I really love—take care of the bebi cats and help other rescuers.”
To extend any form of assistance to Ally and her advocacy, you may send a message to Ally and Cats.
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