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Archive for the tag “paw it forward”

21 Aug 2017

Cat Rescue Work Keeps Going

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

I’ve been going on and on about our move, and I do have more to say about that, but you know Mom L and Dad P did NOT stop doing what they could to help shelter cats and community cats.

We had only been in our new home about ten days and it was time for the July SNIP (Spay Neuter Impact Program) Clinic. Mom L and Dad P never hesitated—they signed up for their usual full shifts. You can learn more about SNIP if you read some of my earlier posts here and here.

There were eighty-five cats who passed through this last clinic, one was lovingly helped to The Bridge as he was very ill. A full clinic and every single human hand was needed to make this happen. At the last minute Mom L learned there were not enough Vets and it would be cancelled. And then a miracle—Miss Eileen who is a primary organizer for SNIP sent out a plea to Vets across the San Francisco Bay Area and they come through! One Vet clinic owner brought several of his vets and vet techs!! Success!!!

Thought you would enjoy seeing some of the kitties. Their eyes reveal how frightened they are but if only they understood how much this clinic will improve their quality of life.

These pretty Siamese girls came in from a community member who trapped them in her back yard.

Only one would turn around for Mom L, the other gave her backside view! They had to be transferred to individual cat traps to be admitted because the clinic does not allow cats to come through in cat carriers. The policy is in place to try to insure member of the public do not use this clinic to S/N their own pets. This clinic is solely for S/N and vaccinate community cats.

Two more “worried eyes” Mom L checked in for their SNIP experience.

Dad P and Mom L also responded with a “no problem” when the Adoption Manager from Contra Costa Humane Society asked if they could transport eight adult cats from the county animal shelter to my old home at Kitty Corner!! And we were STILL in the process of getting moved! Be sure to hover over photos for captions!

In transport

Reluctant to come out

Mom L and cat passenger

Now you all know that even though I still have lots to share about my move, my Paw It Forward work continues—let me know in comments what you have been doin’ lately to Paw It Forward.

PAW PAT, SAVANNAH

24 Apr 2017

21 Comments

Here a SNIP, There a SNIP, Everywhere a SNIP SNIP!

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

If you and your community are not gettin’ it goin’ with some SNIP SNIP, then you might want to have a look at this post. Anyone new to my bloggy may not know about how proud I am of my Mom L and Dad P for their volunteering four times a year for our county’s SNIP CLINIC—Spay, Neuter Impact Program. This is an all volunteer clinic, including DVMs (vet docs) RVTs (licensed vet techs), full catered food service by many of our volunteers who also take up stations during the clinic. Our county animal services department allows SNIP to utilize parts of their shelter including the surgery, on four Sundays a year when the shelter is closed. SNIP brings in all its own medical supplies and some medical equipment as well as supplies for the bathrooms and such! All done through generous donations from these very same volunteers and others in our county. Oh and did I mention that most of the DVMs and RVTs come from outside our county, from all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area?

This spay/neuter clinic is exclusive for community cats brought in by either private citizens or cat rescue groups who do TNR (trap, neuter, return). The cost of spay/neuter is $15USD and all the cats get a good physical check up while they are sedated, including but not limited to: vaccinations, wound cleaning, mani/pedi if needed for health, ear mite treatment, flea treatment, antibiotics if the cat has an infected wound, pain medication to help them recover. All cats are recovered to a fully awake status onsite at the clinic and then their caretakers pick them up and take them back for complete recovery at their homes before returning them back to their community homes or cat colonies.

The cats and their caretakers/transporters arrive and present themselves to one of two admission stations. They all have reservations so SNIP can plan ahead for staffing and supplies, etc. Mom L does the admission for the cat rescue groups. They check in with their cats in traps waiting to be processed.

Each cat trap, with cat inside, is lifted onto the admission check in table where one person identifies the cats color/breed and the other person writes it down on the cat’s “toe tag” which will remain attached to the cat’s trap, or the cat itself once sedated. The trap is tagged with a number, the cat’s trap cover has the same number attached and that “toe tag” is never separated from any cat during the whole process. This enables SNIP to ensure that each cat is returned to its very own trap after surgery and then returned to its caretaker.

Oh hey, did I tell you about what happens to the cat’s trap while they are prepped for surgery and then go through surgery??? That trap gets all cleaned up! The cats are returned to sanitized traps, with fresh paper for them to recover. They are also placed on warmers after surgery to ensure they don’t get cold. Not bad, right?

Dad P serves in the morning as an Admit Transporter meaning he transports the newly admitted cat to the area where it will receive its sedation injection.

The male cats don’t take much time for these experienced Vets to neuter them—like maybe 3-5 minutes!! So most of the vets spend their time in the surgery doing female cat spays. This past SNIP Clinic saw approximately eighty four cats come through and many of the females were already pregnant. So begins my county’s “kitten season”. When kittens are aborted the community cat population can be actively diminished by literally hundreds of cats. An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and 2-3 litters per year. During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years. Now you do the math and figure how many cats will be added to a community cat population if one female is allowed to birth her kittens and then all her kittens, not neutered and not spayed , start to reproduce within six months or less from their own birth.

So many of the community cats Mom L and Dad P see every SNIP Clinic are beautiful cats. So unfortunate they did not have the care they deserved early in life such as spay/neuter and proper vaccinations.

Let me introduce you to some of the cats Mom L was able to capture during the April 2017 SNIP Clinic. You can read the captions I added if you simply hover your “mousie” over each photo. Hope you enjoy my added captions.

Will I be safe?

I hope these humans care about me

I didn’t ask for this life

This last clinic saw a large number of Siamese.

What is happening?

Will you be nice to me?

So scared!

One sweet, not completely feral, ladycat caught Mom L’s eye.

Please help me

I am so afraid

Who will care for me?

So many community cats, so few humans who care enough to simply ask for the resources that are available in communities across the USA—many low cost or now cost—

SPAY/NEUTER ALL YOUR COMPANION ANIMALS

KEEP THEM SAFE AND STOP THE OVER POPULATION OF UNWANTED COMPANION ANIMALS

PURRLEASE DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT VIEWING THIS SLIDESHOW

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Community Cats and tagged paw it forward, SNIP

05 Apr 2017

16 Comments

Pawing Forward: The Second Recipient of Mandy’s Hope Chest

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

On my Monday post this week you met Nitro, the first recipient of half of Mandy’s Hope Chest. Today you get to meet Jimmy, aka CJ (Charming Jack).

CJ’s new permanent family changed his name to Jimmy but they purromised us that he will always be “charming”.

Jimmy appeared out of nowhere one day at a feeding station for community cats. He was new, but clearly he had once had a home as he was also very social with the feeder. Not much time passed until he showed up with a severely injured right hind leg. The kind colony feeder trapped him and took him to my county’s animal services shelter.

They determined that Jimmy had a badly broken leg and it would prove impossible to repair. Sadly, Jimmy lost his right hind leg, most likely from having been hit by a car. Not long after his surgery, my former rescue organization, Contra Costa Humane Society (CCHS) pulled Jimmy from the county shelter and transferred him to their no kill Kitty Corner. As expected, even missing one leg, Jimmy was adopted within less than a week!

Even better—he was adopted along with a play pal he found at Kitty Corner, Athena. She is now called Jilly! A great pair don’t ya think?

And please notice that Jilly quickly determined that the handmade toys from Miss Ellen of the 15 And Meowing cat blog belonged ALL to her!

Jimmy likes to semi-hide and then surprise his pal Jilly. She doesn’t mind and then a game of patty paw ensues.

That blue mousey is one of the toys Mandy gave to Jimmy. They are wonderful eco-friendly cat toys from Honest Pet Products. Be sure to check them out! I have some information about this wonderful brand at the end of this post.

When Mom L pulled out Jimmy’s bag of Incredible Cat Litter, he ran right over to see if his head matched the top of the bag!! Silly charming Jimmy!!

Jilly was tickled to be able to share in Jimmy’s bounty and once again you can see she is luv’in on one of those special Miss Ellen drumstick toys.

Mom L was so pleased to get to meet one of the senior resident cats named Chop. He is seventeen years old and very social. The new cat bed is now called The Bed of Chop.

Kitties I must tell you that TKS and I are wonderin’ if maybe we ought to have kept that way cool cat tower Jimmy got. It is a modular system and so Jimmy’s new parents can add pieces on and make it even BIGGER! Jimmy was first to test drive the tower. He doesn’t know he is missing one leg. He is runnin’ around like any other crazypants kitty!

Jimmy and Jilly each received cat food bowls like the ones TKS and I use. So did Nitro. Every kitty loves these pedestal wide bowls which don’t cause any whisker fatigue.

Jimmy is gonna be a rock star cat, just you wait and see.

I know all of my readers are relieved to see Mandy’s (aka Momma Kat) Hope Chest having a happy tails ending of its own. Mom L and I know that Mandy is purring away knowing that Jimmy and Nitro, both victims of car injuries as she was, are enjoying all the wonderful contents of her Hope Chest.

Mom L and I are also relieved to know that Mandy is at least safe and will be fed and given medical care as will her five grown kittens. I am calling this a Happy Tails Ending for Mandy’s Hope Chest. I hope you all do as well.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

About Honest Pet Products—$2.00 USD from every toy purchase goes to a foundation to save the Mongolian Snow Leopard. Check out what they say about the source of their wool—

“Our 100% truly NATURAL wool cat toys are handmade in Mongolia by women of impoverished, nomadic herding families living without many basic needs. Through the Snow Leopard Trust’s Fair Trade cooperative, these families earn a living with their traditional wool-working skills. In exchange, herders are protecting the endangered snow leopards that share their habits.”