One day in Hawaii, Christin Matsushige looked into the eyes of two abandoned newborn kittens and saw God’s creation—dependent, vulnerable and precious—resting in her hands. A friend had found the kitties and said, “Can you take care of these two? I already have several cats, and can’t.”
That moment in 1993 would change her life until she died in 2021. For nearly 30 years, her award-winning nonprofit, Hawaii Cat Foundation of Honolulu, rescued, sheltered, and loved thousands of adoptable cats, and still operates in 2022.
Cary Matsushige, an attorney, stood by his wife, helping to care for castoff pets that Christin rescued. He helped her start, maintain, and expand the foundation’s services, which today include a one-acre sanctuary. At its peak, the sanctuary housed more than 300 cats, readied for adoption.
“For Christin, caring for cats was a spiritual experience, inspiring compassion, caring, and awesome commitment,” he said. “If cats were ill and had to be put down, she went through it with them to the end, talking to them, soothing them. For her, it was more than just loving on cats. It was a way to honor God for his creation.”
In 1997, the Honolulu chapter of the American Red Cross selected Christin Matsushige to receive the “Everyday Heroes” award, presented by Elizabeth Dole, wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.
The problem in Honolulu was a huge feral cat population.
“Too many cats on the loose can create citywide tensions,” Matsushige said. “In 1993, few people had any solutions.”
Christin decided to step up.
“She volunteered with people working the ‘Trap, Neuter and Release’ program,” said Christin’s cousin, Janet Smith. “They went out with baited cat carriers and brought them back to be neutered, then released.”
“There are two types of cats out there,” said Cary Matsushige, “feral and domesticated. If domesticated cats somehow survive, they have kittens and those become feral, not trusting people. If we found an abandoned domesticated kitty, we kept them for adoption.”
Releasing a domesticated animal to the wild is cruel, he said.
“The myth is that household cats will live on instinct in the wild, but that’s not so. They don’t have the survival skills. They often starve, get diseased and die a slow, cruel, and merciless death. It wasn’t responsible for us to return a sweet, domesticated pet to the wild.”
The local Humane Society couldn’t keep up with finding homes for all the cats coming to them.
“Christin said she couldn’t give cats she rescued to the Humane Society, because after nine days, they put them down if they weren’t adopted,” said Smith. “She said she’d rather house them herself.”
“Loveable kitties with distinct personalities,” as Christin described them, began to pile up in their household, needing adoption, Cary Matsushige said.
“A woman representing a foundation came and saw all the cats we’d rescued, upstairs, downstairs, in the garden shed, and even in our garage. She was shocked and said, ‘We have to do something about this.’ She gave a generous donation, and that’s how we bought the land for the sanctuary.”
For decades, Christin and Cary Matsushige acted as full-time unpaid volunteers.
“One hundred percent of funds raised went to the cats,” he said.
If veterinarians needed to be hired for medical tasks, they paid for it themselves.
When Christin died in January of 2019, Cary was by her side and knew what to say.
“Christin taught me how to speak soothing and loving words from her years with cats. That’s what I did for her, and it was actually quite beautiful. If you have to die, I’d say that was the way to do it. I carry on the work she started to honor her.”
“Watching Christin, I learned how much a person could accomplish, and inspire others, if they gave it their all,” Smith said. “She was amazing.”
