So Far...

So far, this year, we have neutered almost 250 cats. There were more females than males, from our database I show at least 140 were females. Multiply that by 4 potential kittens (and the litters so far have been 5 or 6 kittens) and you have 520 kittens prevented. WOW! And that is not including subsequent births by the end of the year by the kittens born at the beginning of the year! And so on, and so on.

No wonder that DuPage County still is not overrun with kittens. In fact they are doing specials on older cats and hopefully they will find a home, even during “kitten season!

Instead of 10 calls a day, we are down to two to three. We’re keeping our head above water so far and are able to address those situations that we are contacted about. We may never be able to go back to those we didn’t call back last year, hopefully they have not lost hope and will contact us again. We have found that locations never go away forever, we always hear from people again if all of the cats were not neutered. What is very cool is that we will get one or two calls from people who are within a block or two of each other and then we are able to work with them both at the same time. People really are paying attention!

Shelters Stepping Up

Due to the shortage of kittens up to now, we have been able to get more of our kittens into shelters this year than ever before. This means that the shelters handle the adoptions and in some cases, they are taking them before the kittens have been vetted, which frees us up to continue to TNR. It is the fostering and maintenance of the kittens that costs us time that could be used to reduce the numbers even more. In previous years we have been tearing our hair out by this time, swamped beyond belief. We are just about to hit deep water now, so hopefully the shelters will be able to continue to help us – acting as our sandbags against the tide of kittens!!! They’ve been taking our formerly feral adults, too, and those cats are ever so grateful!

You Make So Much Possible

Remember Monte? He had the worst case of ringworm I had ever seen. Well he had weekly lyme dips at the vet for two months (have you ever smelled that stuff? I couldn’t do it at home, besides he looked like he couldn’t stand himself when he came back smelling of it and I wanted him to LIKE me), and now his coat is completely filled in. He’s beautiful and was so tolerant of going into the carrier, even tho he knew what was on the other end. Another cat I was holding got just a bit on one ear and I was able to treat it topically.

It’s very hard to say no when a cat is in need. We’ve had several cats who were 10 years and above that were given up by their families. No vet care for years, needing dentals but still wonderful, viable cats. They, of course, need time to chill out and get a better outlook on life. Because of you, our donors, our support, we are able to get that vet care for them and get them on the road to better homes that will be there for the rest of their lives.

Our French cousins are a different breed than we locals are. More reflective, more depressed, more, well French. You can see what I mean, below.

I must admit though, that there is a certain philosophical 'attractiveness' to our friend, Henri. It's even more pronounced in the follow-up video he made...

Carry on Henri, carry on...