All new website and blog location

Hello Feral Friends!

We will still be blogging.
But from now on, you can view the blog directly from the website.

http://www.carolsferals.org

Special thanks to Kolene Allen, Erin Nemastil, Ryan Hipp and Jason Buys for work on our new website!

Keep following us at the blog link on the NEW IMPROVED GROOVY Carol's Ferals!

Here is link direct to blog: http://www.carolsferals.org/cfblog/

~ Carol

Carol's Ferals on the radio! Friday morning, Feb 19th. Tune in around 9:35am.

Details here: http://www.wgvu.org/wgvunews/index.cfm?id=tms

Trapping again on Feb 21st

Bring 'em all in!

: ) Carol

NO TRAPPING DATES

NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!
NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!
NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!
NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!
NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!
NO TRAPPING TILL FEB 21st!

Large scale 40 cat project that began last week needs undivided attention as we have a rehab facility full of cats with upper resp. infections and horrible parasite issues. Will be back up and running for all cat intake on Feb 21st.

Record week for Carol's Ferals

Trying to figure out why I'm so exhausted and just looking back at the astonishing week we had!

63 cats fixed in 3 days. That's a record for sure! I think the most cats spayed/neutered in one week was 52 sometime last summer.

This is the smaller of the hauls on Tuesday night!

Total take was: Sunday night 28, Monday night 20, Tuesday night 15

Big thanks to Kelinda Scott a groovy gal who has a passion for spaying and neutering everything she can get her hands on. Be careful around her gentlemen! She's as off the hook passionate as I am.

Brought 33 of our 63 cats last week. All had some level of upper resperatory infection and all are plagued with horrible poop parasites which leads to the most vile smell which had me retching Sunday night so much that I thought Kelinda was gonna pee her pants laughing at me. I was exhausted after that feeling as if I had actually coughed up several hairballs. Gotta love a gag reflex.

Anyway......the cats are sick as hell and we are going to keep them till they are well. There are under a dozen more to capture and Kelinda will work on that this coming week. Thus our closing down Brooknelle to all potential trapping outside of the colony she is working on.

I should mention that these are not cats on Kelinda's property. They are tended to by someone living nearly an hour further south of her. Travel time for her is a-plenty. She's amazing.

Here's a video from Sunday night once cats were at Bruce's office for overnight stay before Monday morning surgeries. I had to take a video as I couldn't get 28 cats into one photo. Amazed that they all fit into one HEARSE!!!

http://img294.yfrog.com/i/5iu.mp4/

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cat trapping game

I'd rather you all be out ACTUALLY trapping real cats.....but if it's not a trapping night, you can practice by playing this game.

I'd use a live trap myself!

http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/chatnoir/chatnoir.html







.

Baby Kitty

When Donna Zolinski called me a few weeks ago to tell me she was moving to Arizona and couldn't take the feral cat she'd been feeding for 7 1/2 years with her, I felt deeply moved to help her find a safe and happy place for the callico girl she called Baby Kitty.

Donna was resigned to hand capture Baby Kitty without the use of a live trap, which I strongly advised AGAINST, but two weeks later, she called me saying that she had the cat in a carrier. I inquired whether or not she had all her limbs and she replied that she was intact. I was concerned for Donna's limbs at that point....not so much the cat's.

I was blown away when moving the cat into trap to be taken in for testing, vaccines and spay, I noticed a left ear tip. Donna never took the cat in for spay. But when Baby Kitty happened onto her property 7 1/2 years ago when she was 8 months old, she had a clipped left ear. Very obvious to me, this girl was already spayed due to her missing left ear tip, I still had her checked to be sure. Upon picking her up from Bruce's the next day, I was not surprised to see that she was previously fixed and negative for felv and fiv.



When Polly Corbett who adopted the mouse murdering Jonas Brothers (a threesome of cats relocated to her horse barn from an abandoned property nearby the home of Erica Boon), called to inquire about another matter all-together I asked if she would consider one more. Polly welcomes the ferals and knows that a female balance to the boys in her barn would be nice, so she agreed to adopt Baby Kitty as a barn cat.


Earlier this week she was rehomed in Polly's barn. She will stay in this cage for 2 - 3 weeks tended by Polly until she acclimates herself to her new surroundings. Proper rehoming is essential to relocation of any cat, especially ferals who will try to return to their old digs, usually killing themselves in the process.

I was thinking of how amazing this is REALLY. I just started doing TNR 4 years ago. It's a mind blower to me that someone, nearly 8 years ago took a young kitten to be spayed and had her ear tipped. One more positive vote for ear-tipping. Who knew they were doing it back then?

Not I, but I'm sure glad they did!

: ) C

Montcalm Issues

Dear Feral Friends,

A year after we all got involved in the mess at the Animal Shelter in Montcalm, little has changed. While it was surely a victory getting the Class B Animal Dealer out of the shelter, we still have very unscrupulous individuals involved in animal care in that county and without change, nothing will ever be truly good for the innocents of Montcalm County.

I have not been blogging much lately as I'm trying to give less of a personal voice to this blog and become somewhat more professional and organizationally minded. But despite that attempt, I am feeling the need for the catharsis that for the past 4 years, only this blog has been able to provide.

Not wanting to confuse my animals advocacy work with Carol's Ferals, I feel the need to tread lightly on topics not relating to feral and free-romaing cat TNR and spay/neuter. It is of course our mission. But I'd be remiss not to mention the plight of the animals in Montcalm. Because I am personally invested in the care of these animals I can't help but spew my feelings onto this blog.

Could I have my own personal blog for all this? Yes. But you who read my blog know me and know how passionate I am about animal welfare and it will always be a component of Carol's Ferals so I feel it need to stay here.

I would like for all of you who read this blog and care about animals to frequent the cccmontcalm facebook page. There you will find all of the up to the minute news regarding the animal shelter and what is being attempted to be done by many very compassionate people and what is being squelched by those who have a passion for something other than the animals....namely profit.

I said it before and I will say it again. What we have in Montcalm County are two factions. One that has a passion for compassion and one that has a passion for profit. Until the scale tips in favor of those who are passionate about animal welfare, we are only treading water. It's time for change in Montcalm County. We need to be heard loudly and clearly. Anyone who is in a position of authority in that County needs to switch teams quickly else I'm afraid for the animals of Montcalm.

facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCCMontcalm/282168059816?ref=ts

also, the cccmontcalm.org website is back up and is a great resource:
http://www.cccmontcalm.org/

Lake Haven's website featuring Montcalm issues is stellar and includes the 4 pages of USDA violations of R&R Research:
http://www.lakehavenrescue.org/montcalm.htm

And if you twitter, please follow this:
http://twitter.com/NoPoundSeizure

MLIVE article by Mary Ullmer:
http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/unleashed_montcalm_residents_a.html

The return of the blog

Hello Feral Friends!

I'm amazed any of you still read this blog. I've been overwhelmed with communications options lately and since facebook and twitter are able to be done from my new nifty smart phone, I have been even more neglectful of blogging.

But my good friend and board member, Kolene Allen is going to set it up so that each time I blog, it will upload to the carol's ferals facebook page AND the carol's ferals twitter account.

How exciting. We will be automated. Now, if I could figure out a way to have a machine scoop litter boxes, life would be perfect!

This has been a record week for Carol's Ferals. In three days we have taken 63 cats in for spay/neuter. That will teach our vet, Dr. Bruce Langlois to leave for a week to go to Micronesia to spay and neuter wild dogs! The funny thing is that today he said to bring twice as many next week! Gotta love the man!

Been really busy adjusting to having people to actually delegate responsibility to. One would think the work load would get easier with more people on board to help. But for some reason, I find myself more overwhelmed and busy. I'm thinking my heavy touch of what I'm calling A.D.D for lack of a better turn is kicking into high gear these days. Trouble focusing. But thankful that it's not just me who has to focus anymore.

February 20th, marks the 4 year anniversary of Carol's Ferals. It was on that day in 2006 that I set my first trap for high volume TNR. I'm not sure what we should do to celebrate. Maybe I'll crunch some numbers and try to get a real total of the cats we've fixed. And then do the math on how many unwanted births we have circumvented since diving in head first into what I will call the greatest undertaking of my life.

I'm so grateful to all of my supporters, volunteers, board members and staff. I am lucky beyond words. Thank you all who realize the need for TNR and for helping me to spread the word! One day, TNR will be a household word!

: ) Carol

I am an Animal Rescuer

I am an Animal Rescuer

My job is to assist God's creatures

I was born with the drive to fulfill their needs

I take in helpless, unwanted, homeless creatures
without planning or selection

I have bought dog food with my last dime

I have patted a mangy head with a bare hand

I have hugged someone vicious and afraid

I have fallen in love a thousand times

And I have cried into the fur of a lifeless body too many times to count

I have Animal Friends and friends who have animal friends

I don't often use the word "pet"

I notice those lost at the road side

And my heart aches

I will hand raise a field mouse

And make friends with a vulture

I know of no creature unworthy of my time

I want to live forever if there aren't animals in Heaven

But I believe there are

Why would God make something so perfect and leave it behind

Some may think we are master of the animals

But the animals have mastered themselves

Something people still haven't learned

War and Abuse make me hurt for the world

But a rescue that makes the news gives me hope for mankind

We are a quiet but determined army

And we are making a difference every day

There is nothing more necessary than warming an orphan

nothing more rewarding than saving a life

No higher recognition than watching them thrive

There is no greater joy than seeing a baby play
who only days ago,
was too weak to eat

By the love of those who I've been privileged to rescue

I have been rescued

I know what true unconditional love really is
for I've seen
it shining in the eyes of so many
Grateful for so little

I am an Animal Rescuer

My work is never done

My home is never quiet

My wallet is always empty

But my heart is always full

Update on JonJon and Jeff

Jonnie and Jeffie are GREAT! I think they have doubled in size, Jonnie is a bit bigger than Jeffie. They are the two most handsome boys in the world. They are full of life and energy, when they are playing and racing through the house it sounds more like a herd of hoofed animals stampeding than two graceful, agile, soft pawed creatures. Their health is very good.

They are an interesting pair. Jonnie is still the more outgoing. Jeffie's hiding days are over. Once in a while as with any cat he will run if something frightens him, i.e. a stranger at the door, something falling to the floor and crashing, (it's usually one of them who has batted it off a counter or desk.). But Jonnie is the leader and Jeffie follows his example. They are so sweet when they sleep, usually in my bed (we turn the electric blanket on for them) they are always touching each other. They don't need to cuddle as it's plenty warm, often they are both stretched way out wearing a blissful expression. Other times they fall asleep on the back of the couch, a favorite perch, it's a good view to outside. That's not so warm and they do cuddle there.

My friend Janet, the lady who came to GR with me, can't believe the changes the boys have made, their size and their behavior. She remarked they were much like puppies because they come when I call and follow me all around the house. And that is what I hoped for my own entourage.

Although they like to follow Gary around too. We will probably both end up with broken hips as the boys like to wind through our legs and stand on our feet. Gary loves the boys every bit as much as I do. Jonnie, even though he's more outgoing doesn't like to be held. If you pick him up he wiggles and squirms. He will come sit on you or your keyboard, book, newspaper, but don't hold him. Jeffie likes being held, can you believe it? I still hardly can.He will stay as long as you keep stroking him and he can wear your arm out.

I love the boys, couldn't be more pleased or proud if I'd given birth to them myself. Gary adores them as well, dotes on them like a real dad. By all appearances I'd say Jeffie and Jonnie feel the same about us. It feels more like we've had them for years than only 2 1/2 months. We have no regrets about adopting the boys!Thank you Carol's Ferals for making this harmonious union possible!!

Posted by Jolyn, Adoption Coordinator