The year is winding down, but there's been no letup in activity at Feral Fixers.  We continue to practice and promote Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and our numbers (nearly 6,000 cats!) show it.

The year-end is also the time when our funds are at their lowest.  We've been spending money throughout the year in our activities and we need to "replenish our coffers" for the upcoming year.

Feral Fixers is participating in a new, global fund-raising event called #GivingTuesday.  This is a day targeted towards raising funds for worthy, non-profit organizations such as ours and we hope that you can help us out.

We are very fortunate to have $2,000 pledged to us in matching funds, so every dollar we can raise up to $2,000 will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, allowing our donors to effectively double their contributions.  Please consider donating to us at this time.  Many of you give us year-end donations (for which we're very grateful) and, if you can do them anytime between now and the end of GivingTuesday (December 3rd), your help will be even more valuable.  You can read more about this event later in in this eNewsletter.

You can also read our President's latest "Letter", see what the good kids at the Wheaton North P.A.W.S. club have done for us lately, find out how many cats we've fixed so far and much more.

Thank you again for supporting Trap-Neuter-Return and Feral Fixers.

Sincerely,

Monday's low will be 24 degrees.

We will be on a short temperature roller-coaster and then headed for the deep-freeze. As a result we have decided to curtail most ferals a week earlier than planned. It's not the temperature today, but for the next three weeks that we have to look at. Any surgery can be taxing on the cat's system and neutering and vaccinating has a big impact. There will be a limited number of exceptions - where we're certain the cats will be able to stay warm - but for the most part, done. We will still have friendlies & kittens to neuter but call us in February for the ferals. We apologize to those we could not get to but hope that you understand and CALL US when the weather gets warm enough!

Return Traps NOW!

Do not hold onto any traps over the winter "just in case." We've had so many traps go missing, we know they are out there - in attics, behind or in sheds and garages, people meaning to give them back to us - but we need to bring them in now so that we can do maintenance at the very least. Nothing more frustrating than having a trap misfire!

Our Thanks for Your Continued Support

This has been one heck of a year! So many ferals, so many friendlies, so many kittens! As I write this, we just sent 39 cats into PAWS, 26 of which are friendlies. We are approaching the same numbers we reached last year, can't wait for the end of December!!! We have even more kittens that will be neutered next month, so while our ferals are on hiatus, we will still be doing all of the other things that play a part in reducing the cat overpopulation in DuPage County!

We will be sending out our yearly newsletter soon and are planning some more fundraisers. We hope you enjoy our Holiday Card this year, it is very special. And, before you know it, it will be January and time for Frosty Claws! Please spread our Facebook information - our "community" has been so responsive and positive! And, thank you for signing up for our e-newsletters and allowing us to keep you updated!

We already know that next year will be challenging - when you've been at this for six years, it is no longer a surprise! But with your help we will continue to make a difference.

I found this quote recently -

"Be so good they can't ignore you" Steve Martin

I hope that we are that good and as a result ferals and all cats in DuPage County will continue to benefit.

Many Thanks To YOU!!!

Feral Fixers has joined several thousand other charitable organizations in a new movement called Giving Tuesday.  Started last year, this effort targets the Tuesday after "CyberMonday" (which follows "Black Friday" and Thanksgiving) as a mass fund-raising date.

Feral Fixers has $2,000 pledged in matching donations for all money raised as part of this fundraiser.  Can you donate to us now?  If you were waiting to make a year-end donation, now is the time - your donation will be doubled!

Please click here to make a donation.  Our funds are low, as they always are this time of year, and we want to start building a reserve for next year.

We must receive your donation by the end of the day Tuesday, December 3rd, in order for it to be eligible for matching funds.

THANK YOU!

Feral Fixers has a very active Facebook page.  You can go there and get the very latest information about what we are doing - sometimes even before it shows up on the blog!

Don't forget to "Like" us and the good karma will surely flow your way...

To find our Facebook page, click on the Facebook logo.

Thank you!

The P.A.W.S. club of Wheaton North High School recently held a Pet Food / Pet Supplies drive for Feral Fixers.  These wonderful kids collected 450 pounds of pet food and pet supplies in only 3 hours!

This group has held events for Feral Fixers in the past also and we are very grateful for their help.

Thank you P.A.W.S. of Wheaton North High School!

We talk to most of the shelters in the DuPage County area. There are fewer people fostering, yet we have more and more "friendlies" that need time in homes in order to find "forever" homes. The only way to get a cat into a shelter that will then adopt it out is to foster it first so that we can vouch for its behavior in a home. Even then, its a tough sale, the cats need to be neutered, up-to-date on all shots, be healthy - no sniffles! There are many borderline cats that could possibly be tamed, be happy in a home that have to be returned to the outside as there is simply nowhere to put them, even temporarily. We often ask caretakers to foster kittens themselves and that has worked out very well in many situations, but is not the answer for dozens of others - one reason is that the caretakers are actually allergic and this is how they get their cat fix, there's no way they can bring them inside.

The word seems to be out amongst the ferals - going inside, having a home, is a good deal and worth the effort! We need to come up with a similar number of foster homes in order to cope with the influx!

It is hard work. Takes a large part of your day for socializing, feeding, cleaning. But you can keep at the front of your mind - this cat will not be outside - this cat will never be short on food or care - this cat will not face the dangers from humans, cars and other animals. It is extremely worthwhile!

We began this just over five years ago. There are so many fewer kittens being born, things are better for cats all over DuPage County.

Please help us, help them!
 
Here are a few of 'our' cats that need fostering right now (click on the picture thumbnails to see a full-size version of the picture)...


Jackson & Indigo are both male cats.  They have found a new foster and are doing very well.  They just love attention and beg for it.  They really need a forever home that can give them a future together if possible.  They are special needs cats, Jackson is FIV+ and they both do so much better on a special diet but other than that they are wonderful and uncomplicated!


Kelly is still with us.  FINALLY his ears seem to have been resolved, back and forth between fungal and earmites, he does not appear to be scratching at all, any more.  YEA!  He is such a wonderful guy, just loves being groomed and hugged, not super outgoing yet but doing soooo much better.
 
Thank you so much, if you are reading this, you care.  Please pass on information about this enormous need to anyone you think can help.
 
Thank you.

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. In 2010, Feral Fixers had 1,002 cats spayed / neutered, in 2011, Feral Fixers had 1,024 cats spayed/neutered, and in 2012, Feral Fixers has had 1,231 cats spayed/neutered.  Finally, we've spayed/neutered 1,209 cats so far in 2013.

This brings us to a total of 5,942 cats. Clicking on the adding machine will send you to the Feral Fixers 'Statistics' page where you can see our progress, month-by-month, since we've started work.

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 Holiday Ornament shown to the right, we have T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, hoodies, mouse pads, gym bags, messenger bags, coffee mugs, tote-bags, pet food bowls, Pajamas 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.