Fiona with her Mohawk Hat

The Feral Fixers' kitten avalanche has officially begun! Having transferred most of our early season kittens to other shelters for adoption, the shelters are now reaching capacity, and we are working to adopt out our current kittens directly. Within the last week we have posted ~25 new kittens who have had their spay/neuter surgery and vaccinations and are ready for adoption.

We had 25 young kittens (Ambrose, Halley, Hannah, Margery, Stella, Evee, Evander, Evan, Ritter, Rihanna, Rider, Rikki, Grayly, Gracelyn, Griffen, Graham, London, Lottie, Diana, Oliver, Ponce, Huggins, Tamale, Tanner, Bali) and 1 older kitten (Blondie) at the adoption event on Saturday, 8/20, at the PetSmart at 63 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton. Everyone was adorable and very well-behaved.

Our kittens brought in a lot of attention and many folks stopped by to meet, hold and interact with them. It was a very busy day, and there were many interested potential adopters. Three kittens went home to pre-approved adopters directly from the event - thanks to Catherine and Missy for recruiting a couple of these adopters. Two kittens are targeted to go home on Monday following final approval of their applications. We also handed out cards to several other potential adopters.

• Griffen went home with a wonderful young couple from Chicago, where she will be the focus of their attention - much to her liking. The young man works from home, so I'm sure Griffen will be delighted to "help" him with that.
• Evan went home with a great family from Orland Park. He will be a buddy for their 12 yr old son, and also have an 8 yr old male cat to play with.
• Evander went home with a terrific gal from Wheaton. He will have a 3 yr old female cat as a companion.

Applications were also submitted for Ritter and Ambrose, and they will likely be going home on Monday, pending final approval of their applications.

We were in a new location in the PetSmart, on the side near the dog training area, as the center aisle is now equipped with permanent displays. It was a bit crowded, but worked out OK. Lauren drew attention to our new location by bringing "It's a boy" and "It's a girl" balloons, which were very festive. Fiona, our animatronic white mascot kitty, sported her "Mohawk Hat", knitted by Debbie.

It was a busy day at PetSmart, as in addition to our adorable kittens, Tracy's Dogs, a rescue out of TX, brought in a truckload of 50 dogs who had pre-approved adopters, for uniting with their families. Tracy's Dogs does all of their screening and dog introductions on-line via video in advance of their visit, so all of the dogs brought to the store have designated homes. The dogs were are all great and very well-behaved.

Many thanks to the fosters who brought their kitties to the event, specifically Catherine & Missy, Candy, Sonya, Marjorie, Diane, and Kim. Special thanks to Catherine & Missy, Candy, Marjorie and Diane who stayed during all or some of the event to meet with potential adopters and promote their kitties. Thanks also to Candy and Marjorie for helping with the set-up and clean-up.

Many thanks to the volunteers who helped with the event - Sara, Debbie and Lauren. Sara did a great job of adoption counseling and completing the adoption contracts - couldn't have done it without you! Debbie did a terrific job of transporting multiple fosters' kittens to the event, taking some kittens to the clinic during the event for vaccination updates, and working with potential adopters. Lauren handled the big job of creating cages cards for all of our 26 kittens as well as engaging visitors and potential adopters.

Many thanks to Connie, Sara and Ted for the great publicity and real-time coverage of the event. Thanks also to Mike for updating our Adoptable Cats & Kittens binder, and to Debbie for updating our poster board - there were a lot of new additions this time! BTW - Mike and Arlene say hi to everyone :-)

Next Saturday, 8/27, we will be at the annual Shred for Rescues event at Citadel Information Management in Westmont from 9am-1pm. We may bring a few kittens, but since it is an outdoor event, we will focus on using our book and board of adoptable cats & kittens to engage potential adopters. Our next adoption event will be Saturday, 9/10, at the Pet Supplies Plus at 720 E. Ogden Ave, in Naperville, 11am-3pm.