Dealing with so many cats and people, you never know what will happen next.  There are so many generous, caring people who are so grateful for the work that we do, they make it easy to keep going on.

And then.  Today, while trying to trap a mom cat, a caretaker trapped a cat that seemed very friendly.  One of our volunteers transported it to me while the caretaker continued to try to trap her target cat.  We scanned the cat, found the AVID chip.  Called AVID.  They had sold the chips to some middle company, who had then sold it to a veterinarian.  So, on the third call, the vet's office was able to identify who the cat belonged to and called them to let them know we had their cat.  Usual process.  The call I got was from someone very upset as they have been letting the cat outside for years, have always let their cat outside and how could we spirit the cat away like this?  I tried to explain but they were just too upset.  They demanded to come get their cat immediately so I gave them directions.  Dreading their arrival, not because we were in the wrong but because we never want to upset anyone and this clearly was not going to go well.

By the time they arrived, they had come to realize that if the cat had really been missing for more than an hour or two, if it had been days or weeks, they would have been overjoyed to hear from us!  And they gave us a donation and promised to try to keep the cat inside, its just they spoil the dickens out of her and give her anything she wants, even if it is going outside!  We hugged and parted company on very good terms.  Ya just never know.

I may be biased, but I think it shows what an overwhelmingly good thing TNR is.  We educate people every day, we save lives and we build relationships.

(Oh, and before they thought better of it, they ripped us on Facebook but were going back to correct it - so if you see it, all is good now.)

Limited Only By Our Resources

In October, we TNR'd 154 cats.  That is just amazing, isn't it?

This is with a skeleton crew of 7 transporters and 4 people who can trap for those who cannot trap for themselves.  And many times these people do both transport and trap (and foster for that matter)...

Read more from our President this month here.

It's not always just doing Trap-Neuter-Return, there are a lot of ancillary things that happen at Feral Fixers.  For example, this past weekend, we were able to place five kittens for adoption; four at the PAWS-Chicago and one at Felines, Inc.  These kittens had been kept and socialized for us by our volunteer fosters.

Feral Fixers also received a food donation from Felines, Inc. which was then immediately given to one of our volunteers who takes care of multiple colonies.

Feral Fixers also received a donation of Cat litter from PURRS-Naperville, which was also then delivered to one of our volunteers to be passed onto other colony caretakers.

Feral Fixers was founded in September of 2007. In that abbreviated first year, Feral Fixers had 86 cats spayed / neutered. In 2008, Feral Fixers had 525 cats spayed / neutered and in 2009, Feral Fixers had 868 cats spayed / neutered. So far in 2010, Feral Fixers has had 825 cats spayed / neutered.

This brings us to a total of 2,304 cats. Clicking on the calculator to the right will send you to the Feral Fixers 'Statistics' page where you can see our progress, month-by-month, since we've started work.

This past month, October of 2010, Feral Fixers set a new record for the number of cats we had spayed/neutered in a single month - 154!  This easily blew away our previous record of 137.

It takes a volunteer network and it takes a Spay/Neuter clinic committed to spay/neuter and to TNR to do this kind of number.

We are once again very grateful to our volunteers and to the PAWS-Chicago Spay/Neuter clinic and we'll say it again - WE COULDN'T DO WHAT WE DO WITHOUT YOU - THANK YOU!

Jewel-Osco stores are now giving away "Reward Stickers" to shoppers who use the Jewel-Osco 'Preferred Card' during their purchase.  Shoppers receive one sticker for each $10 spent on eligible purchase (more details about this program can be found here).  These "Reward Stickers" can be redeemed for Thomas Professional Cookware.  If shoppers would mail these coupons to Feral Fixers (PO Box 1416, Lombard, IL.  60148) instead, we would use them to purchase this Cookware and then make these items as part of the baskets we sell at Silent Auctions.  This is a great way for you to help us without costing you a dime!  These stickers must be redeemed by January 26, 2011.

You can also help us by simply shopping at Gordon Food Services (GFS) and mentioning our name during checkout.  If you shop at GFS, when they ask if your purchase is for a business or charity, all you have to do is say Feral Fixers - you don't need a card or anything and a percentage of your purchase goes to FF at the end of the year.  Feral Fixers is on file, they just type it in and that is all you have to do.  Pass the info on to anyone you know who shops there, anyone can help us raise funds in this way with no added expense!
 
GFS has some great and convenient products - check out what they have to offer!
 
It's like a warehouse club without the membership fee and they have similar large packaging and prices.  And if you don't see something in the store, look online and you can order it for pickup at the store, and Feral Fixers still benefits!

Thank you Gordon Food Services!

Feral Fixers continues to be inundated with calls about "I found some kittens - can you take them for me?"  Even though we are not a shelter, we still get these calls.

The situation is simple; there are just too many kittens and it's overwhelming the shelters and the fosters.  It's SO important to 'TNR that mom' BEFORE she has her next litter.  We're now in the position of usually having to ask people who call about this to 'step up' and socialize and foster these kittens on their own.

And, if everyone who is thinking of adopting a kitten or a cat would adopt TWO of them, rather than just one, this could make a significant dent in the problem.  It's better for the cats anyway, to have some companionship when their owner / caretaker is not home.  It's OK to adopt from any shelter, even from Craigslist as this is where many caretakers are trying to place their cats.

Want to purchase something purr-fect for your cat-lover friends and help out Feral Fixers at the same time?  Just visit our Café Press store and Buy Something! In addition to the Performance Jacket shown to the right (perfect for cat lovers!), we have T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, hoodies, Mouse Pads, gym bags, messenger bags, coffee mugs, tote-bags, pet food bowls, etc. A portion of each sale goes to help us in our TNR efforts.