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11/06/09
FIV is not an immediate death sentence for cats. My mother-in-law’s FIV+ cat, Babe, has lived with FIV for more than ten years, and has had no more vet visits than the average cat. He’s a wonderful pet, and a great comfort to his mistress.
Today, meet O’Ryan, an FIV+ cat who was fortunate enough to have been rescued by Purrfect Pals, a sanctuary to nearly 300 cats who have nowhere else to go. These are cats who have tested positive for FIV or feline leukemia, cats with behavioral issues, feral cats, geriatric cats, and cats with diabetes or other long-term health issues. All live in colonies in a clean, comfortable, cat-oriented environment, receiving regular veterinary care.
Here’s O’Ryan’s story:
O’Ryan was found abandoned along a river bank, starving and ill. He probably wouldn’t have lived more than another day or two if a Purrfect Pals volunteer hadn’t rescued him. He was placed in a foster home and had dental surgery, abscess care, and extensive medication. His foster ‘Mom’ found him to be an extremely loving cat who wanted constant attention and loved to be petted while he lay next to her. He is very vocal and talks to you in his deep voice as long as you will listen.
After regaining his weight and his health, O’Ryan met a nice couple, Dianne and Donald, who fell in love with him and took him home to be a friend for their other FIV cat, Penny. Like all Purrfect Pals FIV positive cats, O’Ryan was ‘adopted’ as a permanent foster. FIV cats can live long and healthy lives, but they are also more susceptible to mouth and dental problems. As a permanent foster a FIV kitty can always have any medical problems related to FIV cared for at no charge at our Purrfect Pals clinic.
O’Ryan has become Penny’s best buddy. Even though Penny is a bit of a princess, she accepted O’Ryan immediately and they love to run, play and sleep together. When not playing with Penny, O’Ryan loves to sleep on the back of Donald’s chair or beside him begging for attention or to sit on Dianne’s craft table patting her hand to get her attention
O’Ryan is a very fortunate FIV+ cat. He has found a home where he is adored and well cared for. The Purrfect Pals Sanctuary has an FIV room currently occupied by many wonderful affectionate cats who are hoping that you might consider giving one of them a loving home as well. Donate now.
Read other heartwarming Purrfect Endings.
If you don’t currently have cats and are considering adoption, why not consider opening your home to a pair of FIV+ cats? You’ll certainly be saving a couple of lives, and are likely to be rewarded with an appreciative, devoted companion.
Can’t adopt but want to help? You can sponsor a Purrfect Pals cat or give a sponsorship as a gift.
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11/02/09
National Shelter Appreciation Week runs from November 1 – 7. Now, more than ever, shelters need our help to save adoptable pets.
Even if you aren’t in a position to adopt a pet, here are ten ways you can support your local shelter this week:
- Sign up to be a foster parent. Help raise kittens or socialize cats so that they go from death row to adoptable.
- Donate Food, Towels and Blankets. Redeem coupons for cat food flavors your finicky cats won’t eat, and donate to your local shelter. Clean out your linen closet and donate old towels and blankets.
- Volunteer. If you’re one of the many people who is currently unemployed, this is an extremely productive use of your time. It will get you out of the house, give you a sense of purpose, and lift your spirits. If you have allergies and still want to help, consider offering administrative assistance.
- Got Kids? Teach them respect for all life forms. Set a good example by getting your pets spayed/neutered.
- Research local rescue groups. Most people are unaware of small, local rescue organizations that often relieve the burden of local SPCAs. Find our more about these groups in your locale, and volunteer to help them. Sometimes, just offering your services as a driver, transporting cats to potential owners can be a big help.
- Tag and Microchip all of your pets. Shelters are swamped with lost pets that cannot be reunited with their families because they aren’t tagged and microchipped. If every pet owner would take this essential step, it would go a long way toward easing overcrowding in our shelters.
- Start or get involved in a TNR program. Trap-Neuter-Release is a humane alternative to euthanasia for managing and reducing feral cat populations by relying on sterilization of the cats so that they don’t breed. Feral cats taken to shelters will never be re-homed, and keeping them a few days before euthanizing them consumes resources that could better be devoted to adoptable pets.
- Support shelter-friendly legislation. With budgets being slashed, many shelters need to decrease their holding times for animals in their care. You can help by researching pet-related legislation in your state, and contacting the appropriate people to protest budget cuts and legislation that’s not pet-friendly.
- Patronize online shelter stores. Some shelters and sanctuaries — like Best Friends and Siamese Rescue — have online stores from which you can purchase pet products, the proceeds from which help support those organizations. (Siamese Rescue has the most potent catnip cigars and hearts in existence!)
- Join Romeo the Cat’s FURRPOWER brigade. Romeo the Cat leverages FURPOWER to raise money for shelter and rescue organizations through micro-donations. He picks a different organization each month. Readers can donate very small amounts (give up your latte one morning, and give what you save to Romeo), all of which add up to a few thousand dollars each month for a pre-selected shelter or rescue organization. Romeo has been featured in the New York Times and collects through firstgiving.com.
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10/29/09
 Today’s National Cat Day, and it’s a good opportunity to reflect upon how valued a member of your household your cat is. Especially now, with everyone’s world turned upside down with economic worries, cats are purrfect sources of solace, and can brighten the dreariest of your days.
So here are ten random acts of kindness you can do for your cat(s) today:
 1) Heavy Petting
Who doesn’t love a little heavy petting? Most cats love the attention, and it might help decrease your blood pressure if done regularly.
2) Spa Session
Grooming: Groom your cat to remove loose hair. This helps reduce hairballs, and makes your cat feel better. Older cats have extra grooming needs because they can’t groom themselves as thoroughly as youngsters. It also gives you the opportunity to feel for lumps, hot spots, ticks, and tender spots.
Pawdicure: Give your cat a nail trim. Not trimming your cat’s nails can result in damage to you and your cat. If the nails rival Howard Hughes’ in length, they can get stuck in carpeting or other material, and your cat could pull out the nail to extricate herself. If left long for too long, you can run the risk of the nail curling around and growing into the paw pad.
 3) Tell Her You Love Her
Cats have a limited ability to understand language, and I have no doubt that they have emotions as well. When my Siamese, Mao, is cuddled next to me and I say, “I love you, Mao”, he begins purring. If I say it again, he’ll rev up the purrer even more. He does not react to random phrases like “broccoli books and funny hats”
But that’s just my unscientific observation. What if, twenty years from now, it is proved that cats understand every single word we say? Wouldn’t you then like to go back and say “I love you” to every cat you ever had? You can start today.
 4) Buy a Pet First Aid Book and Kit
You can buy a pre-made kit, or put together your own.
PetFinder recommends that a basic Pet First Aid Kit contain the following:
- Sterile gauze pads (3″ x 3″ and 2″ X 2″) and gauze bandage rolls (1″ and 2″)
- First-aid adhesive tape, 1″ roll
- Cotton swabs (Q-tips®)
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Plastic freezer/sandwich bags
- Small bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide
- Styptic pencil or cornstarch (stems blood flow from minor cuts)
- Antibacterial ointment
- Antiseptic cleansing wipes
- Kaopectate® or Pepto-Bismol®
- A current pet first-aid book
- Eyewash
- Eyedropper
- Mineral oil (a lubricant and laxative when given by mouth)
- Digital or rectal thermometer in a plastic case
- Leather work gloves (to protect you from being bitten)
- Latex gloves
- Leash
- Thin rope
- Splint materials (tongue depressor, 12-inch wooden ruler or thick magazine)
Click here for Pet First Aid books.
 5) Tag and Microchip Your Cat
If she’s already microchipped, take a few minutes to ensure that your contact info is accurate.
When buying tags, we recommend a pet recovery service like Together Tag which allows the finder of your pet to go online and find out who your pet’s vet is, any meds your pet takes, and out-of-area contacts (good in the case of emergencies like wildfires, earthquakes and flooding.)
Both tag and microchip work together to ensure that your cat can be returned to you. For more information, check out The Cat’s Meow’s Guide to Pet Recovery.
6) Play with your Cat
Cats rarely get enough playtime, especially if they’re under five years old. Spend some quality time with your cat and play her favorite game. Then resolve to spend 15 minutes (or more) each day in playtime.
7) Volunteer at an Animals-as-Therapy Group
If your cat has a mellow disposition and is a good traveler, consider volunteering for a therapy animal program. It will give you a chance to spend quality time with your cat, and help out your community.
8] Buy your cat a water fountain.
 One of the best pet inventions ever. Provides your cat with pure filtered running water 24 hours a day. Most cats LOVE them. Drinkwell has an extensive line, with a model to suit every need.
9) Channel Mr Clean
Wash your cat’s bedding (use fragrance-free laundry soap) and empty and scour her litter box. Both off these tasks should be done weekly, but time often slips away from us and before you know it, neither bedding nor litter box has been cleaned for a month. Do both today, and set a weekly reminder.
10) Adopt a Cat
If you have the time and resources to do so (and not many cats to begin with), adopt one of the 4 million cats in local shelters and save her life. Is there anything better you could do for a cat than that?
About National Cat Day
National Cat Day was founded by Pet Lifestyle Expert & Animal Behaviorist, Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of cats that need to be rescued each year and also to encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bestow upon us.
Estimates reveal that there are approximately 4 million cats entering shelters every year with 1-2 million being euthanized. Often cats are overlooked and under-appreciated because they don’t usually have jobs like dogs. But cats still lower blood pressure, offer unconditional love and companionship and alert their owner of danger.
Cats have so many puuuurrrrsonalities and there is so much to love about them! Even if you can’t adopt a cat, offer to volunteer to clean a cage or sit and play with a cat for a while. Who knows? You may just fall in love!
Click here to follow National Cat Day on Facebook.
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10/21/09
 This week, I interviewed Hilary Swank, the ambassador for the Iams Home 4 the Holidays adoption program. The program has placed more than 3 million animals in homes since 1999, and in 2008, the adoption drive found homes for 1,202,718 pets. The 2009 campaign launched on October 1st, and with 3,500 animal organizations, their goal is to help 1.5 million pets find homes this holiday season.
 Hilary is an outspoken animal lover who is no stranger to rescuing animals in need. She has adopted many pets throughout her life, including her two dogs Karoo and Rumi. Five years ago, while filming Red Dust in the South African countryside of Karoo, Hilary befriended a starving, tick-infested stray dog she found on the side of a road and adopted him. She adopted Rumi last fall from a participating IH4TH shelter in Los Angeles. I had a few minutes to talk to Hilary about her work with Iams’ Home for the Holidays Program.
Karen: For someone as busy as you, in the midst of promoting a new movie that premieres this week, it seems it would have been easier to write a check than to become the ambassador for the Iams Home 4 the Holidays campaign. What inspired you to get so deeply involved with this program?
 Hilary: Well, I’ve always loved animals and I want to do as much as I can to help them. Over 8 million pets are currently homeless in the United States; it’s just terrible. My own animals are a great source of friendship, inspiration and comfort to me, and I know others would feel the same if they had pets.
Because the holiday season is the most popular time of the year for people to buy pets as gifts, it makes sense to try to save the lives of shelter pets by encouraging people to adopt a shelter pet rather than buy from a puppy mill or backyard breeder. Many people are unaware that there are a lot of purebreds available at shelters; for example, as many as 25% of shelter dogs are purebreds. Purebred or not, shelter pets that are placed in loving homes get a second chance at life, and I want to help make that happen.
Karen: Last year, Iams Home 4 the Holidays placed 1 million pets in homes, and this year’s goal is to find homes for 1.5 million pets. Given the current economic climate, that’s a huge increase. Do you think you have a shot at reaching that goal?
Hilary: Absolutely. Pets provide a lot of comfort and solace during tough times, and I think now, more than ever, people should have pets in their lives. Everyone is under a lot of stress for a lot of different reasons, and nothing’s better than a purring kitten or faithful dog to give you comfort and solace when times are tough. Having someone welcome you home with unconditional love after a stressful day — there’s nothing better than that. They love you no matter what.”
Adoption Fast Facts
- As many as 8 million animals are homeless in the U.S.
- Nearly 4 million orphaned dogs and cats will be euthanized this year due to shelter over-crowding and lack of awareness about the importance of pet adoption.
- More than 25 percent of all dogs in shelters are purebreds.
- IH4TH helped 1,202,751 pets find homes last year alone.
- Over the past decade more than 3 million pets –1,638,515 dogs, 1,505,690 cats and 134,062 “other” animals – have been adopted through IH4TH.
How You Can Help
To learn more about how to make a difference in the life of an orphaned pet, including finding participating shelters, volunteering and making a donation to support animal organizations and pets awaiting new homes, visit iamshome4theholidays.com.
About Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH)
As one of the most successful pet adoption programs in the world, IH4TH partners thousands of animal organizations dedicated to finding forever homes for orphaned pets. Founded by Helen Woodward Animal Center and supported by Iams, IH4TH began in 1999 with just 14 participating animal shelters in San Diego County. Since it began 11 years ago, IH4TH – along with nearly 3,500 pet adoption centers – has helped more than 3,278,143 families experience the joy of pet adoption, including 1.2 million pet adoptions this past year alone. For more information, please visit www.iamshome4theholidays.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/IH4TH.
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10/09/09
Last year, the Suncoast SPCA in New Port Richey, Florida (outside Tampa), gave away 384 batches of pet food. This year to date, they’ve given away 1,043 batches.
The SPCA Suncoast works with a food bank to help feed families who have fallen on tough times. The Volunteer Way provides meals and hands out vouchers for free pet food at the SPCA’s Animeal pantry.
For unemployed pet owners, it can make the difference between keeping their pets or surrendering them.
 Nora Malone, a nurse, was laid off in January. As the months of unemployment stretched out, money grew tight. Her voucher provided a couple of bags of cat food for her four kittens and two cats.
“This is a great help,” said Malone, 49. “It’s been a struggle.”
The vouchers have no expiration date. When redeemed, the pet owner is given about three weeks worth of pet food. The pet food purchases are funded by donations. But with demand so high, the SPCA doesn’t always have pet food available to distribute.
“There’ve been a few weeks in the past few months where we can’t provide them food,” said Gail Armstrong, executive director of the SPCA. “People get to the point where even if we give them food, that’s still not enough.”
As with most other shelters across the country, the number of animals surrendered this year has skyrocketed at Suncoast SPCA. Some days they turn away dozens of animals for lack of space. Over 8 percent of animals coming into the shelter are euthanized.
“When you’re in a stressful situation, you want your pets because of the comfort they can bring you,” Armstrong said. “When you’re stressed about the economy and you have to take that heart-wrenching step of giving your pet away, it’s sad.”
If you know a pet lover with an upcoming birthday, consider making a donation to a Pet Food Bank program as a birthday gift. Your local SPCA or shelter can point you to programs in your area.
[LINK: tampabay.com]
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09/22/09
Our friends at moderncat are raising money for Tabby’s Place Cat Sanctuary, and by making a donation — no matter how small — you’ll be entered to win one of three great prizes pictured above.
Here are the details:
Moderncat is teaming up with pet product designer Ree-Yong and Give Forward to help raise donations for Tabby’s Place Cat Sanctuary. By making a contribution of any size you can enter to win one of three designer cat items while helping to support this wonderful organization that works to improve the lives of cats.
I first wrote about Tabby’s Place last month when I learned of the work they do to help save cats that are slated for euthanasia, including lots of special needs cats. This beautiful facility in New Jersey provides adoptions, medical care, and hospice to cats who need a second chance.
Now you can pitch in to help support Tabby’s Place by making a donation through our fundraiser at Give Forward. Make a contribution in any amount (every bit helps!) and you will be entered to win one of these designer cat products from Ree-Yong’s Copenhagen Collection:
- First Prize – Copenhagen Cat Condo ($200 US retail value)
- Second Prize – Copenhagen Cat Dinnerware Set ($65 US retail value)
- Third Prize – Copenhagen Cat Scratcher Manicure Set ($39 US retail value)
The fundraiser will close on September 30 and three winners will be chosen in a random drawing. This giveaway is open to readers everywhere. All donations are tax deductible. You will receive a receipt upon completing your donation. We’re hoping to raise at least $2500 for Tabby’s Place by September 30. Can we get 100 people to donate $25? How about 250 people to donate $10? Let’s see what the Moderncat readers can do!
 Tabby’s Place is a cage-free sanctuary that provides refuge to cats in hopeless situations. Its residents come primarily from public shelters where they had once been scheduled for euthanasia.
This one-of-a-kind facility serves as:
- An Adoption Center, finding loving homes for cats;
- A Hospital, providing medical and surgical treatment for sick or injured residents;
- A Hospice, providing palliative care and a warm, loving environment for chronically or terminally ill cats to live out their lives in comfort.
Cats with Special Needs
Tabby’s Place does not turn cats away due to age, medical need, or “lack of adoptability.” It is, therefore, a safe haven for several older, chronically ill, or handicapped cats. These cats have special needs such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or blindness. At Tabby’s Place, these cats are able to live full and happy lives with the medical care, love, and affection they deserve.
Click here for more info on the giveaway or to donate.
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09/14/09
There’s a little slice of kitten heaven in Tammy Cross’ 450-sq-ft Beaux-Arts apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Tammy is the force behind Kitten Little Rescue, an organization that rescues sick, abused or abandoned kittens and showcases them on summer weekends at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue, in the hope of finding adoptive or foster families for the wee ones.
Tammy often fields calls from the Center for Animal Care and Control, the city’s shelter, seeking to place strays that might otherwise face certain death. In her tiny apartment, 6 to 18 baby kittens — and once as many as 22 — are bottle fed and nursed back to health. An army of volunteers, along with contributions from the public, help sustain her rescue work.
Tammy has been living a life defined by cats ever since she came to New York about 30 years ago. Her cheery apartment hardly looks like a crazy cat lady’s habitat, but cats are indeed in residence. There’s a pile of cat toys beneath the sofas, whose white slipcovers are washable in case of accidents. Grey industrial carpet wraps a door frame, providing an ideal scratching post without sacrificing floor space. The bathroom functions as a nursery for kittens who are ill or very young or cannot eat on their own. Tammy pads around her apartment barefoot to avoid injuring the kittens who are constantly scampering everywhere.
Tammy has been rescuing, bottle feeding and tending to sick and injured kittens for over 18 years. A recognized expert in this field, she has taught classes on critical kitten care and bottle feeding at the ASPCA. In 2005, she received the Companion Animal Guardian Award and was recognized for her humanitarian help to animals by the animal welfare group ‘In Defense of Animals’. She has rescued and adopted out over 2000 kittens and cats.
You can find out more about Kitten Little Rescue here.
[SOURCE: The New York Times]
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07/13/09
Edward McIrvin has done his level best to win the “Cat Guy of the Year” title. This volunteer at the Rockingham animal shelter in Reidsville, NC is facing felony charges for catnapping 37 cats slated for euthanasia.
McIrvin, who plans to turn himself in to Reidsville police on Monday, is working to find homes for all the catnap-ees.
“If I go to jail, I hope the cats are saved before then,” he said.
After breaking into the shelter and stealing the cats, McIrvin paid a veterinary hospital $5,800 to spay/neuter and board the cats for one week. The $5800 also covers adoption fees.
As of late Friday, eight of the felines had been adopted, and veterinary staff said there was a line of others waiting to adopt.
Kathe Nagy, office manager at Reidsville Veterinary Hospital, said the hospital did not want to press charges against McIrvin, but had no choice. Rockingham County contracts with the hospital for shelter space, and the cats are county property. The director of the shelter–who assisted McIrvin–may lose her job over the incident.
Like many shelters, the Rockingham regularly takes in many more cats than it can adopt out. According to Nagy, as many as 40 cats are brought in each week, and most face euthanasia.
McIrvin said Thursday he took the cats because he feared they would be euthanized. He housed them temporarily in a Greensboro office and planned to foster them.
“He did the wrong thing but for a good reason,” Nagy said. “He has a very good heart. He’s a lot of people’s hero right now.”
Nagy said many of them had overstayed the 72-hour mandatory hold period and would have been euthanized Tuesday. A total of 23 cats and 14 dogs were euthanized that day, she said.
Let Reidsville know that Edward McIrvin is a hero, not a felon:
Reidsville NC police: (336) 349-1010
Rockingham County Animal Shelter
336-342-4022 or rjackson@reidsvillevet.com
[LINK: News-Record.com]
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07/10/09
In an effort to save the lives of unsocialized outdoor cats, the Cape May County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center and the Animal Alliance of Cape May County (AACMC) in New Jersey have created the Barn Buddy program, aimed at locating people who have room in their barns, compassion in their hearts, and a willingness to give a cat a chance at a new life.
.jpg) Barn Buddy cats are spayed or neutered, receive rabies and distemper vaccines, are Feline Leukemia and FIV tested and are ear-tipped for easy identification. Ear tipping is a painless procedure in which a small notch is cut into the ear indicating that the animal has been spayed or neutered. The AACMC absorbs all fees associated with the cats in exchange for an agreement to continue long-term care, feeding and shelter for the cat.
Shelter Manager Judy Davies-Dunhour explained, “Cats chosen for the program will be moderately socialized to people, yet would not be happy living inside a house. Up to this point, they have been living outside. They will keep watch over your barn, your warehouse, your business, wherever they’re needed and they work for room and board.”
Sheriff Gary Schaffer supports the program adding, “Most of the cats at the Shelter arrive here when they are brought in by Animal Control. While some of these cats are friendly and can easily make a transition to becoming house pets, others are less socialized. These are the cats we’re trying to save. Although they may not want to sit on your lap, they deserve to live out their lives, and can make excellent mousers,” Davies-Dunhour said.
For more information, contact the Shelter at 609-465-8923, or the Animal Alliance of Cape May County at 609-465-NEUT.
The Cape May County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center Shelter is located at 110 Shelter Road, Cape May Court House, off Exit 11 of the Garden State Parkway. The Shelter is open daily, except legal holidays.
[LINK: Shore News Today. TOP PHOTO: Alley Cats and Angels]
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06/26/09
A sweet tuxie mom in Illinois has embraced the challenge of mothering three puppies and a kitten who is not her own:
Cats and dogs are supposed to be mortal enemies, but it seems a mother’s love can overlook the interspecies differences.
A black cat with white paws is nursing two puppies so young their eyes aren’t even open yet and another 3-week-old adopted kitten.
The cat, which doesn’t have a name, was brought in to Rock Island County Animal Care and Control with her own litter of kittens. Some of the kittens died and the remaining ones were weaned when the young kitten arrived at the shelter.
Shelter staff put the black kitten in with the mom and she took to it right away. But when the puppies were found in Moline late last week, there weren’t any nursing dogs to serve as a foster mom to the delicate pups.
“We didn’t know what we were going to do,” said Sam DeYoung, operations director of Animal Care and Control. “They didn’t have their eyes open, they were 1-week-old, so we decided to try putting them with the momma cat, and they latched on and away they went.”
The cat takes her mothering duties seriously, letting anyone who puts a hand in her crate know that these are her babies and they are not to be touched.
The kitten is more than twice the size of the puppies, whose cries for milk are barely audible. They climb all over each other, vying for a better spot to feed from. It’s too early to tell what breed the puppies are, but shelter staff can tell by their tiny size that they are a small-breed dog.
“She’s just an all-around supermom,” said Laurel Harmening, animal caretaker at the shelter. “She just loves being a mom.”
The shelter is overrun with cats and kittens right now and finding foster homes that can bottle feed kittens and puppies every three hours is a challenge. So the cat is saving two foster homes by nursing the kitten and puppies, as well as delivering nutrients and immunities that they can’t get from formula.
The kitten will stay with the cat until it is weaned, and the puppies will stay with their unlikely foster mom for about two weeks before going to a foster home. DeYoung said anyone interested in adopting the animals should wait about eight weeks before contacting the shelter, because it will take that long to get all the animals altered and vaccinated.
You can view a video here.
Rock Island Animal Care and Control
4001 78th Avenue
Moline IL 61265
Phone: (309) 558-DOGS (3647)
[LINK/PHOTO: Quad City Times]
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