e-Newsletter #30

50%!

Feral Fixers began as an organization in the Fall of 2007. The number of ferals euthanized at DuPage County Animal Care and Control in 2007 was 521, too soon to tell if we were having an impact. In 2008, the number fell to 486, still on the early side. In 2009, the number of ferals euthanized dropped to 314, a decrease of 35%. Last year, in 2010, 243 ferals were euthanized, an additional decrease of 15%. This is a decrease of 50% since 2008! Almost across the board, intake and euthanasia of all cats at DuPage County is lower in the last three years! And their cat adoptions are up!

I'm very happy to see that the number of cats brought to DuPage County for aggression and behavior problems is down, perhaps assisted by the number of cats that we have neutered for people who just could not afford the cost for their own pets. Litter box problems are caused in part by raging hormones.

This is such a win-win for cats and humans alike!

As If They Were Our Own

Feral Fixers has become a "shelter" for ferals and strays. We did not set out to be that, but it has happened nonetheless. When there are injured cats outside, we get the call. When ferals get upper respiratory infections, we get the call. And when these cats turn "friendly", we get the call. We cannot turn these cats away, they deserve the same quality of care that any inside, "owned" cat would get.

This has brought us to our Summer fundraiser - "As If They Were Our Own." As you can imagine, costs mount up when making trips to the vet. They can be as simple as a former feral turning friendly and needing a snap test in order to go into a shelter adoption program. A feral develops an URI and needs a Convenia (long acting antibiotic injection) shot. Or they can be as complex as a cat who can go to a shelter for adoption but needs an echocardiogram because they need to know how severe his heart murmur is prior to adopting him out, or a cat with an atrophied right front leg that needs that leg amputated in order to be pain free for the rest of her life. A whole slew of cats with abscessed front paws due to fighting or accident. There have been a few that were beyond healing and required euthanasia.

Just as you would not hesitate to bring your cat to full health, neither do we. We don't get crazy, we know our limitations, but these cats just seem to be attracted to us because we will care for them and make them better. And then set them free if that is what they choose. Last year our costs for vet services other than spay/neuter were about $1,500. We seem to be on track to go well beyond that at this time.

Once again our matching funds donor has offered to match funds up to $1,000! We would like that to go towards our "As If They Were Our Own" Fundraiser. Our average expense per cat that we bring into the vet is $35, they have been as high as several hundred, as low as $8. This fundraiser will start on May 1st and will be prominently displayed on our website. Please help us to continue caring for these cats and help us to save them from pain and slow death due to infection and injury.

Read more from our President here.