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Seems so bizarre that we are already in 2012, doesn’t it?
Most organizations set goals at the beginning of the year. Our number one goal would be to be less busy, not have so many cats to TNR, nor so many kittens and friendlies to make decisions about.
You can help with that by telling everyone you know that feeds outside cats to call us at the end of February so that we can schedule them in March. We want to be insanely busy in March so that we don’t have to be busy the rest of the year. Sound like a plan? Word of mouth advertising means that half of our educational work is done for us by you, in telling about TNR and Feral Fixers, you’ve cut our discussion time in half. We don’t have the volunteer volume to advertise in normal ways, but word of mouth results in caretakers who are committed to TNR contacting US and we find that the results are much better for everyone.
If you see us at an event, ask for some extra business cards to have on hand just in case, you never know who you will be behind in a checkout lane, and see that they are buying a ton of cat food for those “outside” cats. Don’t be shy, ask if they’re neutered. If not, pass on one of our cards, and help make it a Happy New Year for us!
Kitten Shortage
It was music to our ears to hear a rescue say that they couldn’t get any kittens for adoption from County, they were out of them. It was great in the weeks before Christmas as so many of our adoptable cats went to shelters, many going home by the very next day.
Yep, no matter how temporary it may be, there’s been a shortage of kittens!
So, if we can get to all the new colonies by the end of February, perhaps the shortage will continue. What a wonderful New Year if people were willing to put in the time to turn around those cats that were slightly less tame, because that is all that could be had!
Frosty Claws
Whether you call it Frosty Claws, Frosty Paws or “that thing you do in January”, hope to see you there!
The donations for our Silent Auction are rolling in, we have several quilted pieces, two of which we have photographed for your perusal. We have an art print, two cat shelters, gift baskets, a hotel stay, wine tastings, lots of stuff for your enjoyment!
And, once again, Recycled2New will be there! If you were lucky enough to receive their flyer in the mail, you will receive a free gift! So keep an eye out for it! Visit Recycled2New.com for a sampling of their wares but it is only a sample, their “product line” is only limited by their imagination!
For the gamblers among you, the ladies with the “cat caressers” will be there with their wonderful prizes – take a chance and win!
There’s always so much going on, hope you can join us!
Thank you to our fosters!
We’d like to take a moment to thank our fosters, we wouldn’t be able to remove so many friendlies from the streets and place them with shelters for adoption, without their help. They may be able to foster for a few weeks, many have been helping us for months at a time, their help is invaluable all the time!
Thank you to:
Charlotte & Maria, Susan, Tracy & Rich, Debbie, Alison & Tim, May, Donna & Ariana & Tristan, Rhae & family, Zhanea & family, Marilyn, Peggy, Karen, Debbie & family, Mike & Jennifer, Elaine, Christine, Gillian & family, Jill & family, Vanessa, Dedra, Lisa, Ellie, Sue, Neil, Jennifer, Connie, Julie, Lauren, Jamie, Judy, Karen, Mary, Kim.
What is it about orange kittens?
We have more information about Aladdin. The reason for his passing was not his surgery, his need for a perineal urethrostomy, but he actually had a diaphragmatic hernia – that is when there is a hole in the diaphragm, or sometimes the diaphragm is almost nonexistent, and the organs, mainly the liver, crowd up around the heart. The organs move around quite a bit and it was never discovered because they were where they should be whenever he was examined by the vet, its all about timing. This was a congenital defect and he actually died of heart failure due to the hernia. It is very difficult to find this problem and very difficult to repair, but it is good to have an answer.
Last week we got a call about a kitten that couldn’t walk. Of course Farley is orange. We got him to the vet and his right rear leg femur had a spiral fracture. Almost two inches long and split lengthwise with a twist. Two days later, xray shows it looking good as new, vet fit it back together perfectly. Of course Farley also had roundworms, coccidia and fleas, so he’s a little tired. But, I think he was held for hours by the staff at the vet’s office so he is far from being feral at this point. He’s been thru a lot in his 8 or so short weeks of life. We’ll be doing our best to see that he becomes a happy, healthy adult!
Thank you for helping the cats of DuPage County!
We wish you all a
Happy New Year! |
Don't forget - tonight, January 24th, is another of our Sweet Tomatoes "Fun-raisers" at the Sweet Tomatoes restaurant located at 2820 Highland Avenue in Lombard.
n article earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal details how a feral cat caretaker in Oakland, California, won a challenge against the IRS. She wrote off a number of her expenses incurred while taking care of approximately 70 cats but the IRS disallowed her claim. She took the case to US Tax Court and won! Money quote from the article:
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