Come to the C-SNIP Golf Classic, or just come eat and bid at the live auction!

C-SNIP Golf Classic

Friday, August 3, 2007
9-Hole Golf scramble • 5:00pm shotgun start

Boulder Creek Golf Club
5750 Brewer Ave., ne • Belmont, Mi 49306

Auction & Buffet only $15

Corporate (4 Golfers & Tee sign) $350

Golf $75 per person

Not a golfer? Come Anyway!
Arrive around 7:30pm and enjoy the Auction,
Buffet & Cash Bar.

For more information,
call Sarah at (616) 364-7132

Saugatuck TNR Project hits the papers!

Hello Feral Friends-

Here's an article from the Holland Sentinel.
They misspelled my name, but its OK.
: ) c

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/073007/local_20070730013.shtml

You may have to subscribe (for free) online to see this.

They guy in the photos is my friend Steve.
He's a darling! He really cares about the cats!

Critter Cottage

Hello Feral Friends-

As you know, Vicky's Pet Connection pays for Gina's and my feral spay/neuters. They are amazing people and without them, we would surely have a rough time helping all the cats that we TNR. They make it possible for us to do what we do!

Vicky and Nancy have opened a little shop/adoptable animal showcase in Ada.
Here are the details:

Critter Cottage
7205 Thornapple River Drive, SE
Ada, MI

Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

Stop by and see the kitties! Nancy has a dozen or so adoptable cats living at the Critter Cottage.
And on occasion, Vicky will have adoptable dogs and pups!

All the best to Vicky and Nancy on their new venture! I hope the Critter Cottage will be the last stop for these wonderful babies before they find their forever homes!

FIP - Fretting In Paranoia

Hello Feral Friends-

Since blogging about our FIP cats, you have stepped up and donated $500 toward their retesting and care. Gina and I are touched by your kindness and generosity! Thank you so much. Besides those mentioned in earlier blog entries, I also received a sizable donation from my new dear cat friend, Sharon VanDam in Holland! Thanks Sharon and everyone who contributed to this fund!

The money we raised will surely be spent, and no doubt before all is said and done, we will use every penny plus some.

We have called these cats by several names. First we called them "Mary's Cats". Then we called them the "HS Cats". Because they lived in our shared room at Brooknelle where we have our sink, we called them "The Sink Room Cats". We even called them "The F.I.P. Cats". And we still are. But this time, with more knowledge, we are calling them "FIP Cats" for reasons other than Feline Infectious Peritionitis. Now, we are calling them "FIP Cats" which to us stands for Fretting In Paranoia!

Why? We have spoken to our vet, Dr. Bruce Langlois and other vets who agree that the testing for FIP is basically useless. Lets say a cat is exposed to the coronavirus (as Chloe, Madison and Flicka are). If it is, it will test positive for exposure to it. But this does not mean that the cat will ever get FIP. All it means is that the cat was exposed to the coronavirus. Only 10% of the cats that are exposed to the coronavirus ever get FIP.

Why don't we test every cat that comes into our shelters for FIP? Because 1) It's not cost effective to do so. As you know, the blood needs to be sent to a lab for result reading and it costs $45 per cat to do the test. And 2) All it reveals is that the cat has been exposed to the coronavirus. It doesn't mean that the cat will get FIP. The cat has to have a special predisposition to FIP even get it. I bet if you randomly test cats in shelters across the country, you will find lots with a positive titer to the coronavirus. And it means really nothing. But it's sure a good way to scare the hell out of people and give reason to euthanizing a bunch of otherwise healthy cats. It's panic!

Gina and I have been informed that we will have to keep the cats for three months before retesting them. Then if Sox, Midgit, Pearl, Honey and Tilly are still negative for the coronavirus, we can give them back to HS. If not, they will have to be euthanized. Or else Gina and I can keep them. Which of course we will!

We have no intention on turning our backs on these cats. We have invested a lot of time, energy, heart and soul into them and we will not treat them as infected lepers.

The coronavirus is spread through feces. So we are being careful not to spread it around or bring it home to our own cats. But with careful handling, we can keep these cats from getting the virus and keep our own cats from being labeled as diseased.

This is our impassioned plea. First of all, we would like to see caring people like you come forward and spend an hour or two each week with the cats giving them the attention they deserve. Chloe, Madison, and Flicka have all tested positive for exposure to the coronavirus, but they need love and attention too. Gina and I are strapped for time and we don't have any to spare to spend with these needy babies, so we are hoping that you can and will!

There is nothing to be afraid of. You can take precautions. We would expect you to do just as we do. Spend time with the kitties and then go home and change your clothing and shoes before coming in contact with your own cats. No big deal.

We love these cats and want to get them out of the sink room at Brooknelle. We want to adopt them out to loving homes. Until that time, we need foster homes. Do you have a spare room where you can keep one or two of these loving kits until they find forever homes? Do you know someone who has recently become catless? I promise you, these babies will fill the void left behind by their cat who has passed and they will be doing these cats such a huge favor!

Gina and I refuse to let these cats down at this point! We feel they have survived against all the odds presented to them. They are the only known survivors of 64 cats besides two that were adopted right off the bat and one that was taken in by Jeanine at Reuben's Room Cat Rescue (also found to have tested positive to exposure to the coronavirus). They deserve a chance at a decent life. Will you help them? Please rally for them! Please give them a spare room in your home. Or help us spread the word of their plight and get others to do so if you can't.

Thank you-
Carol & Gina

This is Pearl. Seems once we hung the drop trap on the wall for storage, Pearl has made it her new "place to hang". LITERALLY! She gets in through an opening at the top. I have let her out several times fearing that she can't get out on her own, but she can. She has gotten out on her own without my help! She's my favorite!

FIP Test Funding UPDATE

Gina and I are very grateful to, and want to thank the following people who donated to the FIP retesting fund! Nicole H, Laura W, R.C. K, Marcia B, Sarah B, and Melissa E, and Becky & Richard G.

R.C. found out we were shy of our goal and made up the difference! Then....before I could blog about it, Sarah B stepped up with another donation! And....before I could blog about THAT, my dear friends Becky and Richard Gainey saw that we were shy of our goal and made up the difference....just like our wonderful R.C. Kula, so we are actually over by a nice amount! Which will come in REAL handy cuz we will be keeping the cats for at least three more months.

I will explain all that in an upcoming blog entry, but right now, I have to go to Brooknelle and give some meds to my ferals.

I'll try to blog soon!

Thank you for donating to the FIP retesting fund! You people make my heart sing!

: ) C

FIP TEST FUNDING

Hi Feral Friends-

FIP Funds are now at $140, thanks to another generous donation. This one was from Laura Wertenberger....the girl who started me doing TNR at Burger King in Feb of 2006. It's all your fault, Laura!!!!!

So, now we just need another $110 to pay for the retesting of Socks, Honey, Midgit, Pearl and Tilly!

Anyone got $10 to spare? If so, send it to me via paypal.com or to the PO Box listed in an earlier email.

Thanks muchly!
Carol

PS If you are sending a check to the PO Box, let me know to expect it so I can add it to the total! Thanx!

Thanks Nicole

Thanks Nicole for stopping by today to visit the kittens. You saved me the time to take Cal(vin) back to Pat's house. And I'm sure that he, Susan, Constance and Clyde were all very happy to see you!

Thanks too for the generous donations to both the FIP and general Carol's Ferals funds.

Feral Friends, we now have $120 of the $250 we need to retest Honey, Tilly, Midgit, Pearl and Sox!

Thanks for all your support!

: ) Carol

PS For those of you reading who don't know Nicole, she rescued three adult cats and a litter of kittens from the campus of GVSU in Allendale. There, they do T&E (Trap/Euthanize...which should really be called Trap/KILL) vs TNR. So she not only circumvented unwanted births, but saved the adults from being killed! She has given generously to both Gina (who took in and tamed the feral kittens) and I. And she and her friend Robin fostered Susan and her kittens for over a month (sparing them all that time in a cage at Brooknelle) and likely saved their lives. LONG STORY! Back to the point, Nicole is awesome and I'm very thankful that I got to know her this summer! Good luck at grad school! Save some kitties at EMU!

Thank you for the FIP testing money

Hello Feral Friends-

So far, two of you wonderful blog readers have stepped up and donated money to my FIP testing campaign. I have $75 of the $250 so far. Thank you Marcia (Cheyenne's Mommy) and Melissa & Dave (of the Eastwood Feral Cat Estate). Your help with this project really means a lot to Gina and I. Thank you soooo very much!

Last week I took 39 cats and kittens in for spay/neuter. Sure keeping Bruce busy! 7 cats from Saugatuck were fixed. 14 cats from a colony in Byron Center got spayed and neutered all together in one full swoop on Tuesday. Pete tackled his aunt's cats and made a big dent in the population behind her house.....7 so far. Lisa Barnette from Cedar Springs brought me a newcomer to her colony. Dorine Stevens got three in Gina's drop trap! And I finally took care of the two remaining mom's from "Kitten Chaos in Wyoming". They will be going to a pole barn home between Rockford and Cedar Springs soon.

I also got back into Cedar Springs Mobile Home Estates last week. Got a litter of Siamese kittens, took in the Mom to be spayed, and fixed three other cats belonging to neighbors. And a kind guy named Rusty got a hold of a female kitten that had a wound on her side. He shaved her down, cleaned up the wound and got her to me yesterday. Bruce checked her over. She just needs some antibiotics, and she'll be good to go.

It was a very busy week, last week.

This is the weekend. I've got a sinus infection, so I'm going to try to take it easy.

Thank you for all your support!

And thank you Dale Baxter (wonderful husband of Pat Baxter) who will be looking into getting me started filing my 501c3 paperwork!

: ) Carol

An appeal for help!

Dear Feral Friends-

I need some help from you. The cats that we took in from the failed "Rescue" are in need of your assistance.

When Gina and I offered to take a dozen cats from the "Rescue", we thought we'd have them for a few weeks, get them over their mild URIs and eye issues and be able to return them so that HS could adopt them out to loving homes.

This has not been the case. After one of the surviving cats (half had to be euthanized right off the bat) tested positive for FIP, the whole lot of them at HS were put to sleep. This distressed Gina and I but we were happy that we were able to save the ones we had in our possession.

Then we were told that we had to have them tested for FIP. These are very expensive tests. Dr. Langlois paid for them to be done. It was $500 out of his pocket as the tests had to be sent to a lab out of state for result reading.

After the first three cats tested negative, we were very optimistic. But then we got the rest tested and three were positive. Big bummer!

Now our choices are to: 1) euthanize the whole lot of them or 2) retest the negative ones in a couple of weeks to see if they are still negative. If they are, HS has agreed to take them back and adopt them out.

This will cost money. HS is unwilling to pay for it. We don't want to ask Dr. Langlois for more testing out of his pocket (the man does so much for us already), so I'm appealing to YOU! Would you consider sending a donation to me either by check or via paypal specifically for this project. We need $250 to test 5 cats. Gina and I will pay for it either way, but we would really appreciate it if the money could come from another source. If each of you who read this blog send $5, we can cover the cost of these tests!!

Sox, Midgit, Pearl, Tilly and Honey need retesting. They are all pictured in the post "After the storm".

We are also in need of foster homes/permanent homes for Chloe, Madison and Flicka who tested positive for FIP but are not showing any signs of the disease. They would be best to be in homes without other cats.

Know anyone who might want to offer their spare bedroom to help these kitties? If so, please put them in touch with me ASAP. Email me at dollmouse@aol.com or call me on my cell at 616 560-0555.

Gina and I are at our wit's end, but we have no intention of failing these cats. We've had them for several weeks now and we want to see this through. If we have to see any of these cats destroyed, it will kill us. And there is absolutely no reason for it. They are all healthy and deserve a chance at life. As it is, their misfortune began when they were taken into an unhealthy shelter. Let's not let that be their fate. Help us help them! Please?

Donations made via paypal.com can be directed to dollmouse@aol.com. To mail a payment, send it to Focus on Ferals PO Box 9824 Wyoming, MI 49509. Please be sure to note that the funds are to be used for FIP testing. Thank you!

Victory in Saugatuck

Hello Feral Friends-

Yesterday I went to Saugatuck to speak in front of the City Council about TNR vs Trap/Euthanize which was being proposed as a solution to the feral cat problem.

I was there with Jane Underwood, the generous woman who is paying for all the spay/neuters and any testing we choose to do. Also, Heidi Yates from Harbor Humane Society spoke on behalf of the already burgeoning shelter and asked that cats be TNR'd rather than trapped and simply dumped on them.

Despite popping a quarter of a Xanex, I was a little nervous when I got up to speak. Not sure ifn anyone could hear it in my voice, but it's kinda scary talking in front of a group of people who might want to harm the cats you are trying to help. I hadn't rehearsed anything. Susan Manos, my mother (who did hundreds of public speaking engagements on doll collecting) told me that if you speak from your heart, you don't need a script. So I did just that. Finally, my heart stopped racing, my speech slowed down, and I was in "cat rescue mode".

I was asked questions and I think I handled them pretty well. One guy kept challenging me on things, and I had an answer for everything....which proves my passion for this work. Usually, I bend when I'm confronted. I tend to be too empathetic to "the other side". It's just how I am about most things. But not with cat welfare. With that, I'm black and white!

When the only real dissenter said that he's seen children reaching out to feral cats and nearly being scratched, I said that the cat that they were approaching probably was NOT feral. A feral cat won't let a kid within 10 feet of it. And I suggested that perhaps some parental supervision would need to be questioned first vs the city being in trouble for a wild animal attacking a child. The whole "releasing a dangerous animal" deal was dropped with that.

Then some other members of the City Council piped in on behalf of the cats stating that Saugatuck has no rat or mice problems and they credit the feral cats for keeping that under control.

Of course the dissenter had another comment about birds being attacked by cats, and I think that it was Jane who spoke up and said, that there is no shortage of birds, so we shouldn't worry.
And it's true, studies have shown that the loss of habitat through urban sprawl (aka: "progress") and pesticides have put a bigger dent in the bird population than feral cats.

The case was also made that many of the shop owners who love the cats and feed them would be very upset if anything was done to harm the cats. And it's true. Even the guy who complained about the cats in the first place, has allowed us to put traps on his property!

Looks like a victory for cats in Saugatuck! Yeah!

Besides going to the City Council meeting, we set traps!

Steve Williford provided me with parking, dinner, trap setting/checking and good conversation between his massage customers. Steve is the "guy on ground level". He knows everything going on in the community and he knows where all the cats hang out.

I'm pleased to say that we got three more cats last night! That makes a total of 12 so far!

Saugatuck is a lovely place. Fun shops, lots of little dining opportunities, beautiful view of the water, and more and more cats with tipped ears. What's not to love!

After the storm!

Nope, this is not a blog entry about Katrina. It's an entry about something that Gina and I have been doing that most of you don't even know about.

Early in June, an area "Cat Rescue" was shut down by Animal Control due to "overcrowding and kittens dying". This is how it was described to me. Luckily they allowed the woman who ran the rescue to take the cats to The Kent County Humane Society where they at least had a fighting chance. But many were too sick to be saved and were humanely euthanized.

Gina and I heard about the plight of these cats and stepped in to help. We knew about the "Rescue" and despite our offers to help this person in the past, we were turned down. So THIS was our chance to help and we jumped at it. We opened up our extra room at Brooknelle to 12 of the mildly sick cats. Stuff like eye issues and URIs. Illnesses that were treatable. Things we felt we could handle. I got the room set up with cages loaned to us by HS and Gina brought the cats and got them settled in.

Two of the cats were much worse off health wise than originally thought, so they and one other cage mate were taken back to HS. PK and Mike were euthanized. Lucy was OK and stayed at HS.

And then when we were all blissfully working at the Spay Neuter Clinic on June 30th downtown, helping to get cats fixed, unbeknownst to us, HS found a cat that had FIP (feline infectious peritionits). And as is the case in big shelters when a very communicable disease is found, all the cats in the area are wiped out regardless of showing signs of the disease. So all of the remaining cats that survived the initial euthanization were put to sleep as well as some others that were in the room with them.

That meant that besides two that got adopted right off the bat, Gina and I had the only surviving cats from the "Rescue". Yeah, only 11 cats of 64 were spared.

HS is unable to put forth the funds for testing cats individually for FIP. Each test runs $45. This is why all of the cats were put down. It's a sad state of affairs. Gina and I don't have the funds to put forth either, but Dr. Langlois generously paid for the expensive testing on the cats we had under our care at Brooknelle. The tests are expensive because the blood samples must be sent into a lab out of state. Thank you Bruce for giving these cats a chance!

Results are in. Not good! Three of the cats tested positive for exposure to FIP. This in itself it not horrible. It doesn't really mean anything. They were just exposed and have the body chemistry (for lack of a better word) to make them susceptible to FIP. I'm probably not illustrating this properly. I'm all confused about it. All I know is that it's not death sentence for these cats....the FIP alone. The death sentence would be sure for them if they were at a big shelter, but lucky for them, they are not and Gina and I are going to do all that we can to insure that these cats are spared.

I want to say that Jeanine Buckner of Reuben's Room Cat Rescue also stepped up and took a cat from the "Rescue" so that means that 12 of 64 were spared. Our 9, her one, and the two that were immediately adopted.

So what at this point, do we need to do to help save these few cats? We need money for retesting of the ones that have tested negative. We have to be sure that they are negative before putting them into a home with other cats. We also need foster homes for the three FIP postive tested cats. If you are currently without a cat and you can lend a portion of your home to these three kitties till we can find them forever homes, then we need to hear from you!

Until then, we will keep them at Brooknelle. Gina and I are firm in our belief that these cats came to us for a reason and we will do everything in our power to save them from the fates of those that went before them.

Please help on behalf of Chloe, Madison and Flicka!
And please consider adopting any of them, including Sox, Tilly, Midget, Pearl and Honey.
Nadia (not pictured) is a feral who we will find a barn home to live in.

Midget

Honey

Chloe

Madison

Flicka

Sox

Tilly

Pearl

Scarier than a room full of rabid pit bulls!

To me is a room full of 40 6-8 year old children! And that's what I was faced with last Friday. Someone with a sick sense of humor thought I'd be a good person to talk to a group of kids assembled at The Humane Society of Kent County. I am not a "kid" person. I'm a "cat" person. There is nothing strange about this. Many of us cat people are this way...though I know lots of "cat people" who are also kid friendly. But that's beside the point....stop looking at me that way!!!

Ok. So, knowing the importance of education and knowing that we will all need predecessors to do our rescue work when we are old and decrepit, I decided to screw up my courage and say YES!

I stressed about it all week long. What would I say? What if the kids were mean to me? What if one of them bit me? I was nervous as a cat!

Having a very busy week last week (which has coincidentally morphed itself into a busy weekend and early THIS WEEK), I didn't have time to prepare anything at all till earlier that same day. It wasn't really procrastination....it was simply being tooooooo busy! Really!

I made up a kid friendly flier with suggestions on "How You Can Help Feral Cats". And I went armed with the C-SNIP overpopulation pyramid charts that detail how many cats come from one un-spayed female and her partner. I also brought my "How To Trap A Cat" instructions.

I realized quickly that kids like to raise their hands. So basically I asked them questions and waited for them to come up with the answers. Questions like: "How can you help cats outside that don't have homes?" Of course feeding & offering shelter came out first. Then finally "have them spayed and neutered came forth by a bright young man in red shorts".

The I showed them a feral cat feeding station, and a shelter. We discussed all the details of making a shelter etc. Then of course they wanted to know more about the trap.

But before that, your rescue girl here came up with a brilliant idea of illustrating how many cats the two in your backyard can become if you don't have them fixed. I put two pieces of kibble into a zip lock bag. I held it up. I said, these two pieces of cat food represent the two kitties in your back yard right now. Then I held up a bag with 12 pieces of kibble. And I said that these are the number of kitties you will have if you don't get these kitties fixed today. I was met with ooohs and ahhhhs. Then I held up the next bag....which held 67 pieces of kibble representing the cats that there would be two years from now if nothing were done. Then the bag with 367 pieces. Then the bag with 1007 pieces. And finally the gallon sized zip lock bag with 6,801 pieces of kibble....the number of cats there would be in 5 years if those two kitties in the backyard went unfixed.

They were blown away! By the way, I DID NOT count out the kibble. I counted 200 pieces and used my postal scale to extrapolate the other numbers. I'm trying to work smart not hard!!!

Ok, then I showed them the trap and how to use it. Following up with a reminder not to touch a cat that you don't know etc etc.

And all it took was a quarter of a Xanex!

I'm doing the same talk for 11-13 year olds on August 1st and heading over to The Blanford Nature Center later that same day to duplicate the talk for kids there!

It really wasn't so bad. No blood was shed and I felt like I may have made an impact on some of those young minds.

: ) C

Operation Saugatuck

I don't know if I told you or not, but there is a HUGE feral cat problem in Saugatuck. I was approached by Heidi who works with Harbor Humane Society to help. Seems that the city wants to eradicate the problem by killing the cats. The kind term for this is Trap/Euthanize. But we all know that putting a cat down if it's healthy is not Euthanizing it....it's killing it. Sick animals are euthanized. Healthy animals that are just not desired....especially in this case are simply killed. Ok, I'll jump off my soap box now.

Anyway. A wonderful woman stepped up and said that she would pay to get 100 cats spayed and neutered. So working with Heidi and a groovy guy named Steve who does chair massages in Saugatuck and knows every nook and cranny where the cats hang out, I am helping to control the feral population of Saugatuck.

So far, it's been a little slow going. But we have managed to trap and fix 9 cats so far. Four of them were yesterday alone! We would have had 11, but one was a nursing mom and the other was too young to neuter.

This is where you come in. I need prayers and strength sent my way. Cuz on Thursday at 4pm, I will be with Heidi, Steve, the wonderful woman putting up the funds and some other concerned citizens in favor of the cats to meet with The Saugatuck City Council. We will state our case for TNR and hopefully convince them that killing cats isn't the solution...sterilization is!

Wish me luck, cross your fingers, and pray for us!

Hopefully we will be able to spend all the money in the fund and it will be replenished so we can help more cats in Saugatuck!

Ramblings of a rescue girl!

Ok, I'm really getting solidification from the universe that I'm supposed to be doing what I'm doing here with the cats.

Namely in the support of people like you who read my blog. I am finding more and more people coming up to me lately who say "I read your blog. It's my break for the day". Or, "I keep up on all your activities through your blog". I try to tell someone a story and they already know it cuz they read this blog. I'm completely blown away!!!

I knew Sue Carl read it. Pat Baxter says she reads it. I know RC Kula reads it too. But complete strangers come up to me and tell me they read it. WOW! These complete strangers are now friends.....like Lynette who I ran into at Brooknelle last night. Lynette manages a couple feral colonies and is the salt of the earth!

Then I get lots of loving support from new cat friends. Like Sharon VanDam who sent me a lovely card the other day with a Meijer gift card inside. That will fill my tank on route to Cedar Springs. Thank you so much, Sharon!

And Jen and Loryn. Two wonderful girls who adopted Dell. They not only sent me a generous donation via paypal, but when they came to pick up Dell yesterday, they brought me a carrier full of food. Guess they spied my "wish list" on the website. I'm blown away. By the way....Dell is going to have a wonderful life with those two! What a lucky kitty.

Yesterday I picked up 11 kittens and 3 mom's from a woman in Byron Center. And Heidi showed up from Saugatuck with 4. And Dorine Stevens FINALLY caught that very pregnant girl cat who I had in a trap two months ago, but had to let go cuz she was nursing....my little Tid-Bit! Tid-Bit is now my kitty. I have her on petfinder just for the heck of it, but I think she's going to stay here with me (and upstairs with Trixie who doesn't like her one bit, but tolerates her).

More about Operation Saugatuck later!

I have been really overwhelmed lately. But despite the anxiety, I know I'm doing what I'm here on this planet to do. I used to think it was reuniting people with their glorious youth through supplying them with their childhood playthings at greatly increased prices (I am a vintage doll and toy dealer by trade), but now I see I have a higher purpose! Before that I made girls look pretty by selling them fancy duds at Express. Yeah, kinda shallow when you consider now, I'm so down to earth that what really makes me happy is a stack of clean, bleached kitty litter boxes!

So tonight, I'm teaming up with a new wonderful volunteer, Holly who will help me load up the 18 cats who were fixed today and bring them to Brooknelle and set them up in cages! Holly came to me by way of an email looking for a siamese kitten. Well, I actually have siamese kittens in foster care (gotten from Cedar Springs). But guess what! Now knowing how easily adopted siamese kittens are, she has decided to adopt a more common kitty, like perhaps a tabby! Yeah for Holly! Yeah for the lucky kitty that gets picked to be hers! And get this....Holly is going to bring a couple friends to learn the ropes at Brooknelle so I may just get a couple MORE volunteers out of the deal! See.....the universe IS working for me....through Holly!

I'm tired, stinky and overwhelmed. But I have people who dig what I'm doing and are willing to support me in various ways, so I'll keep on keeping on!

: ) C

Blind (eyeless actually) Kitten!

Hello Feral Friends-

There are lots of seemingly awful things that happen to kittens. Some are left motherless and defenseless, some are attacked by animals, hit by cars, or are prey to cruel children. Some are born with birth defects and health issues that put them in a compromised situation.

On the flip side of what seems like Mean Mother Nature, there ARE angels among us. Angels like Laura C, who took the little kitten in after a neighbor presented him to her. At first, Laura didn't realize that the kitten was blind, but after cleaning the eyes, she realized that he was born with no eyes at all. I know this sounds strange. I had never heard of such a thing in the animal world, but my cousin's second born son, Joey was born without eyes and I actually have some experience with this.

Laura has other cats and can't keep this baby, though she is taking good care of him in the interim.

Can you give this sweet baby a home? Do you know someone who can? I am sorry to say that I can't devote the time to care for a special needs kitten. If you can, know someone who can or are willing to foster him or give him a home, please contact Laura.

His name is Horus. He is named after a blind mythological god.

You can reach Laura by email at: laura.corcoran@gmail.com

I know someone out there can help!
Please pass this post around!
Thanks muchly-
Carol (on behalf of Horus)

Going Crazy - But I have help keeping it together!!!

Hello Feral Friends-

Spend the whole week feeling totally out of control and out of sorts! It seems as though my phones never stop ringing. People from everywhere calling asking for help with stray cats and kittens. Last week I even got a call from someone about a stray rooster for God's sake!

It's overwhelming!

I am going to have to figure out a way to do more, faster, better and more efficiently.

What I have going for me right now are some very valuable volunteers! My dear Erica Carranco handles my website. If you haven't seen it yet, go to carolsferals.com and check it out. She does an amazing job!

My wonderful neighbor and good friend, Arlene tends to my kittens, laundry and dishes (even if not cat related sometimes). She comes over every evening and plays with, feeds and cleans up after all my kittens.

I have Pat Baxter who fosters kittens for me at her house. Pat was my first ever foster home. Her daughter, son-in-law and pets moved out last week so the basement is her's again. Which means that she can take more kittens from me. Currently Susan and 4 kittens and her own rescue cat, Tigger reside there!

Stephanie Meaney is a great Mama to orphaned kittens. Yesterday I picked up a litter of siamese kittens from Cedar Springs. Yeah, I'm back there again. She took the litter and is getting them strong and healthy and ready for adoption....likely next month. Steph also did the initial care for the Suckling Kittens! She's awesome!!

Amy Townsend is another wonderful foster mom to orphaned kittens. She took on the Suckling Kittens when Stephanie took a long overdue vacation. Amy is a vet tech and really knows what she's doing. It's a comfort to have her help me with my babies. By the way, all three of the older Suckling Kittens, Daniel, Dell and Dwight have adoptions pending. And Amy has homes for the younger three already too!

I have some monetary support too. Monthly I get help from RC Kula (Gina's wonderful volunteer), and also from Marcia who is mommy to Cheyenne. I have also received generous donations from many other people like Nicole from GVSU who also fostered Susan and kittens, and Jen and Loryn who will be adopting Dell.

All of you who help me in my mission, make it possible for me to help save more cats.

I am indebted to you all.

If you are interested in helping me, I'd love to hear from you. Do you know someone who wants barn cats? Do you have a vehicle that would be good for transport of cats to and from Dr. Langlois' in Lowell? Do you dig setting traps? Would you mind cleaning out cages of ferals or working at Brooknelle doing misc. duties? Wanna come over and cuddle kittens? Have a Costco membership and willing to buy me some fresh step kitty litter once in a while? I'll pay!! Wanna foster kittens that are eating on their own? Wanna bottle feed orphans? Got a trust fund that you might like to share with me? THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS YOU CAN HELP!!

More ways you can help:

Know a good shrink that will work pro-bono to help me locate my sanity?
How about someone to help me get my 501C3 paperwork rolling so I can be an official charity and maybe get some grants?

Ask and ye shall receive...isn't that what they say?

: ) Carol

Thank you all who help me in my rescue work!

C-SNIP - Snip & Chip Days

Viva C-SNIP!

Since moving to their stationary clinic in Kentwood on May 15, 2006, they have spayed and neutered 7,840 dogs and cats, more than twice what they could have on the mobile unit!

And get this: since 2001 they have sterilized over 30,000 dogs and cats. And you can add another 3,000 large dogs to that number that were fixed at vet offices through them as the big dogs couldn't fit in the mobile clinic.

This is a stellar accomplishment and I want to take this moment to thank Pam Olsen, the staff and volunteers at C-SNIP who have helped to bring this tremendous achievement to fruition. Can you imagine the numbers of unwanted litters that have been prevented since they came onto the scene! Wonderful, Wonderful, WONDERFUL!

C-SNIP's rates are already low compared to vet clinics around town, but for two days in July, they will reduce rates even further to SNIP and CHIP even more cats! See details below:

C-SNIP

Snip & Chip Days

Fix and Microchip Days for Cats

Friday, July 27th - Female Cats Only

Fix $20 Fix & Chip $25

Saturday, July 28th - Male Cats Only

Fix $10 Fix & Chip $15

By appointment only:

Call C-SNIP at 616 455-8220

Microchipping for spay/neuter clients only.

Also, be sure support C-SNIP by attending the C-SNIP Golf Classic on Friday, August 3rd. If you don't golf, you can just come for the buffet dinner and auction. It's a blast! I'll be there manning a hole and helping afterwards at the auction. Don't miss it! Details on C-SNIPS website: www.csnip.org.

VPC / RAM Spay/Neuter Clinic Update

Hello Feral Friends-

Wanted to update you on the massive Spay/Neuter Clinic that was held last weekend in downtown GR. The event was sponsored by Vicky's Pet Connection and run by RAM (Remote Area Medical www.ramusa.org ). RAM is the organization that Dr. Bruce Langlois heads as Veterinary Medical Director. Bruce, three other vets and dozens of volunteers banded together under his direction and collectively registered, weighed, knocked out, fixed and monitored 106 dogs and cats.

The event was held in a commercial unit in downtown Grand Rapids. Within a few hours it was converted to a full scale spay/neuter clinic.

The free clinic services were offered to low income individuals. One girl brought her 7 cats! Another family brought three dogs and their kitty. It was amazing!

108 cats and dogs were registered but two were unable to have surgery because of health concerns. But 106 were fixed! Imagine the unwanted births that will be prevented because of the efforts put forth on this day!

Here are pictures taken by Pat Baxter!

Thank you to all who participated! Thank you VPC for footing the bill. Thank you Dr. Bruce Langlois for organizing and guiding us novices in helping the animals!

Pet owners register outside.
Forms are filled out, and each cat and dog
gets an identifying piece of duct tape on their heads.
The tape identifies the animal's
registration number, weight and sex.

While cats only require one shot to knock them out, dogs need three.
This process takes over 20 minutes.
Here you see Stu Mackenzie holding a
St. Bernard who has had his first shot.
The girl with the clip board keeps track of who gets what shot and when.
Kris in the scrubs whose head didn't make the picture administers the drugs.

Dr. Bruce Langlois directs a volunteer.

The woman on the left is Sharon.
She responded to an ad for volunteers on Craig's List.
She washed every single instrument in the sink to her left.
It was straight out of The Beverly Hillbillies.
But you don't need anything fancy to put on a spay/neuter clinic.
This location was far and wide one of the finer venues
Dr. Langlois has operated in while on a RAM mission.
He has operated on picnic tables in Mexico before.

A cat is spayed.

Dr. Langlois spays a dog.

Animals recovered on tarps.
Josh and Kat checked animals to
make sure they were waking up properly.