Racing to the Finish Line

It always seems that we are racing to finish something at Feral Fixers.  Whether its to get enough cats for the slots that we have available, finish up a colony, get all the data entered, prepare for an event, get the newsletter out - there's always something!  And, just like everyone else, not enough time to do everything!

We will be shutting down feral trapping after the 12th of December.  It gets wayyy too cold for the females with their shaved bellies to go back outside.  Even with shelters stuffed with straw or heating pads that some caretakers have provided, the to and from the food gets very chilly with a bare tummy.  We may be able to transport some friendlies, but keep in mind that we have been going full tilt all year long and we need some down time to address our own lives, which get extremely neglected with the pressure to neuter every cat we can, always working toward a future where all cats are wanted and appreciated indoors!

So, if we did not get to your ferals, we are extremely apologetic, but, as you can see from our numbers this year, we weren't just sitting around.  Please contact us in February and keep calling every week until we can get your cats in.  It is still easier to receive calls than to make them, time works that way.

Many shelters do not have the resources to assist in hoarder situations.  We help when we can.  One of our volunteers brought a situation to us that, believe it or not, was a "good" hoarder situation.  The cats are relatively social, they were not sick, and the conditions are not the worst I've seen, but I've seen really bad hoarder situations.  As of this week we will have neutered 22 cats from there and we have about 5 more to go.  The volunteers working on this have posted pictures on a Feral Fixers Facebook Fan Page and they are working hard to find homes for these cats. There is a time limit - the cats can only stay where they are for a limited time.  Another race to the finish line!

Where do the injured cats go?

Read more this month from our President here.

From now until December 15th, Tom from ShurePets is going to be donating 25% of sales on his website from Feral Fixers supporters. Thank you Tom!

So, get some more of your Christmas shopping done early and hassle-free and benefit Feral Fixers at the same time!

Supporters will need to go to http://www.feralfixers.shopshurepets.com to place their order.

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 947 cats spayed / neutered.

This brings us to a total of 2,426 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 article is an update to the Hoarder situation that our president writes about in her Letter from the President column.

We sent in 8 of the last 9 today.  These cats are the ones most scared, hardest to get and pretty smelly themselves.
 
Number 9 was thought to be pregnant so went to our volunteer's home a few days ago, just in case.  Tuesday she began to give birth, had one kitten but completely ignored it.  Number 9 was little more than a kitten herself, we hoped it was just inexperience.  8 hours later and no more kittens although they were in there waiting so off Number 9 went to the vet for drugs to produce contractions.  An hour or so later 4 more were born, one stillborn.  In the meantime the first kitten, despite valiant efforts had passed away.  The three remaining kittens were being cared for by their young mom, everything seemed to be going well but in the morning they had also passed.
 
Why are we telling this apparently negative story?  To show how hard we work to save these cats and care for them and to illustrate that despite anyone's best efforts, there is only so much you can do when animals have a rough start to begin with.  The mom was less than six months old, getting food that was adequate if she were not pregnant and in a home with dozens of other cats in a less than 500 square foot space - so much stress!
 
Number 9 is doing well and will be spayed in a few weeks when she has fully recovered.  And soon, the rest of the 34 of the cats will be ready to move on to their next adventure - fostering!

(The picture thumbnail is of one of the cats and the litter box that all of them share.  Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture.)

During the month of November, Feral Fixers surpassed the previous record we had set for the number of cats we had spayed/neutered in a single year - 868.  So far in 2011, we have had 947 cats spayed/neutered!

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!

For the third year in a row, Feral Fixers has been asked to participate in the Village of Bensenville's annual Christmas Tree program. Each year, Bensenville puts up Christmas trees in the Town Center (located at the corner of Green and Center streets) and asks individuals and organizations to decorate those trees. Feral Fixers super-volunteer Mary decorated the tree for us again this year.

This tree, along with all the others, were part of the annual Tree-Lighting ceremony in Bensenville, an event that occurred on November 20th.

Feral Fixers enjoys a wonderful relationship with the Village of Bensenville and this is just one of many village-sponsored activities in which Feral Fixers has become involved. Other activities include having a booth at their summertime Music in the Park festival and also participating in their Fourth of July Parade.

The village has a very enlightened policy regarding feral cats and Feral Fixers is proud and honored to be able to work with the village in dealing with the problem of cat over-population.

Thank you Bensenville!

(Click on either picture thumbnail to see a full-size version of the picture).

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 CafePress store and Buy Something! In addition to the Christmas Stocking shown to the right (perfect for the Holidays), 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.

Visit our website at www.feralfixers.org.  There you can donate to us (via PayPal or credit card), visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about feral cats.