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Thanks to our AMEOWZING fans, Cole and Marmalade have been named finalists in this years E! People’s Choice Awards!

Now we need your support, by voting HERE DAILY, to bring the award home!

Beginning back on September 5th, fans were given 10 days to vote for their favorite nominee out of 12 prospects in the hopes of getting to the finals. The top 5 from each category were announced on September 24th.

Below are all the options for voting for The Animal Star of 2018 (#TheAnimalStar)

Voting Methods:

• Online – https://pca.eonline.com/#vote/cat39
• Facebook – Fans can post either publicly or privately and include hashtags: #TheAnimalStar #ColeAndMarmalade and #PCAs
• Twitter – Fans can send a public tweet or retweet and include hashtags: #TheAnimalStar #ColeAndMarmalade and #PCAs
• Xfinity – Fans can cast their vote for “The Show of 2018” category using their X1 remote or by using the voice command option with the phrase “Vote For People’s Choice Awards”

Fans can vote up to 25 times per method, per category, per day if they vote via online, Facebook, Twitter!

For Google search, users must be logged into their Gmail account and they can vote up to 25 times per session per category. If fans vote with Xfinity, there is a limit of 10 votes per nominee, per set-top box. 

VOTING ENDS ON OCTOBER 19TH!!! Don’t forget to tune in to the ceremony airing on E! on November 11th “fur” the results! 

Cole and Marm are up against some tough competition. We’re confident that the boys can succeed in their CATegory though…Just as they’ve done whenever faced with difficulties throughout the years.

Cole’s primary goal stems from his lonely beginnings on the streets.

As a wee-little fluff ball of a kitten, he was found in a busy intersection, in the dark of the night.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Baby Cole approx. 5 weeks old

It’s a miracle his black-furred, 6 ounce body was even seen by our friend when she glanced in her rear-view mirror!

It was then he learned first hand of the harsh lesson that black cats (and dogs) are the least likely to be adopted and usually the first to be euthanized in shelters! He was turned down by 3 shelters before we got a text with his photo and immediately said “yes, we’ll pick him up in the morning!”

Fortunately, through his adorable face, we began the journey into social media. This allowed us to share the plight these deserving animals face and help erase the stereotype and stigma associated with black cats.

Then came Marmalade.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Baby Marm 2 months old

The only survivor of a litter of 3, he was about to be let outside to “live” in an area with a high feral cat population. Another friend of the family knew we’d expressed interest in a playmate for Cole, possibly one of the ginger “purrsuasion”.

Seeing his 2 month old face, we knew he was meant for us. NO animal deserves to be put out to fend for themselves.

Marmalade and Cole quickly became best buddies.

Their antics brought endless hours of joy, not only to us, but to the growing fan base and followers on YouTube and Facebook.

Tragedy hit when Marm was only a year and a half old. In 2014, the vet found a tumor in his intestines and he underwent surgery to have it removed.

He bravely made it through surgery, only to find out that the tumor was cancerous. Marmalade had lymphoma and when his blood was tested, was now found to be FIV positive.

At his young age, his FIV or Feline immunodeficiency virus, was likely passed on from his mother. We later confirmed that the original owners KNEW his mother was FIV+, not telling us and not having her spayed. They eventually did, but the damage was done.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Marm post surgery for tumor removal

Marmalade spent the next 4 months having chemotherapy sessions, each week having to travel to a specialty vet 30 minutes away. Although he is NOT a fan of the veterinarian, he did his best under the stressful circumstances.

And his fighting spirit conquered cancer!

The chemo was successful and now in 2018 he is happily in remission, working hard to stay strong and live a long healthy life.

This is what we think of cancer.

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ thoughts on cancer.

He can now show his support and advocate to help FIV+ cats get adopted, teaching the world this is NOT a death sentence as previously thought! 

Both boys could have had very different, and sadly very short, lives under other circumstances. We are reminded of this daily when working with local shelters and rescue groups across the U.S. 

Dad Chris Poole, or Cat Man Chris, likes to spend time volunteering with Big Cat Rescue, feeding and practicing TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) on local feral colonies, rescuing cats and kittens from hoarding situations and creating fun and educational videos to help promote these important causes. 

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Cat Man Chris Poole

I stay behind the scenes when possible but my name is Jessica Josephs, or JessiCAT.

My crazy cat lady status reached new heights when I began crocheting cat toys for a local rescue group to help raise funds. Since then, I’ve opened an Etsy store to help pay for the families feline rescue efforts. The cardboard crafts you see in the videos are likely the result of my crafty brain and obsessive personality =) 

I also write the articles for our website to highlight the PAWSOME cat lovers and news from around the world!

Photo: Cole and Marmalade ~ Gingerbread Mansion 2017

Moving back to Florida, we began fostering for a Tampa based organization and bottle-feeding abandoned neonatal kittens. This led to the family expanding with 2 more rescued kittens joining the family.

Females Juggernaut, or “Jugg”, and Zig Zag, were both saved from certain death on the streets and welcomed into the crazy cat house. 

Promoting fostering has now taken on a new role in the catty-efforts of the family, after experiencing first-paw how difficult it can be. 

Photo Credit: Jugg and Zig Zag ~ First snuggle together caught on camera <3 Jugg (top), Zig Zag (bottom)

And it all started with Cole and Marmalade.

We can’t imagine what our lives would be like without the boys. If each and every moment WASN’T filled with feline fun, crazy cat chaos or sharing our voices for the voiceless, I’m not sure what we’d do!!! LOL 

They are our “inspurration” and we couldn’t do any of it without their unique “purrsonalities” and silliness to guide our goal to help as many cats as possible. 

Not to mention the minimal amount of cat puns we’d probably have in our lives.

THIS is why the boys deserve to be The Animal Star of 2018; an honor they’d be HAPPY to share <3

Photo: Cole and Marmalade

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