Building Expansion!

We have taken in an older cat that's been named Trey. He's 11 years old, beige/white. We won't consider him an oldster (yet!) as we'll be looking for a home for him. We also took in 2 ten year old cats yesterday named Chaney & Edward, but they've already been adopted. One of our volunteers, Ruth, had lost both of her geriatric cats recently, so she decided she'd like to give these 2 a try! We'll keep you posted on how it goes. I've heard back about Peterson and he is dong so good! He's already sleeping on their bed and is quite attached to his new mama. She'll be sending pictures for us. We did 3 surgeries yesterday for our FFRC kittens. Tinker & Salimo were neutered and Leotie was spayed. All 3 didn't even realize anything happened to them and were already bouncing around last night. We also received boxes! We had the funniest sounding box too... Mamie sent a box with a toy singing bird in it, and the kittens love it! Mamie also sent toys for the dogs & KMR.  We received some dry adult Iams food from the FFRC FANS. We now have a wonderful variety of adult food! Makes me feel "safe" when the cupboards are stocked again. Felinetoyz sent some of their favorite treats, Temptations, as well as baby food for Bella! We received some IAMS dry adult food from Oreo (aka Pooky) & Zeus & catmom74, and financial donations from Sonnykat (for the new addition) & from Kelly M. These are the things that help keep us going. You are all so appreciated. We had a special truck come yesterday.....from IAMS! They delivered some adult cat food. We were cheering! Between you all and IAMS, the cats won't go hungry now! We also took in a new little kitten yesterday named Frisco. He's a deep orange marble boy, but a little shy, so we're loading on the TLC. We'll help him figure out that people are kind. A special saying from Canton's grandma "Never think about what you're going to do tomorrow, just do it today." Good words for a rescue center. Which is why a decision has been made... We're going ahead with the plans for the new in-take addition!!!  This is a huge step for us, but a dream of many years. This addition will be so beneficial to the cats. More later!

-Jacci

I will be setting up a page with more information on the expansion and special fundraising events for the building fund soon. Just so you can see right away what kind of expansion we are planning, here is a building layout with the new expanded hallway (yellow) and in-take room (red) shown, as well as a greater amount of detail to the rescue centers main area.

-Kurt

Click to embiggen

Peterson and Novak!

Peterson has found his very own home! He was adopted yesterday into a family that has plenty of time of give to Peterson. We sent him home with a laser light and a 4 foot crinkle tunnel! I've also heard again from Novak's new family and all is fine there. He and the other 2 cats are very happy. We are all very glad for him. The new cat, Jolson is doing good. He was hit by a car about a week ago and severely fractured his rear leg. He was taken to Dr. Pettigrew's office where a femoral head resection & a knee repair was done on May 12th. He arrived here at the Rescue Center on May 14th. Our hope is that the leg surgery will be successful. I would like to explain why some leg fractures are repaired while some are amputated. If the leg is a severely crushed fracture and cannot be repaired, that's when the decision to amputate is made. Jolson is about 9 months old and will be on cage-rest for 1 week. Then we start physical therapy. Kurt Williams amputation surgery is healing very nicely. Asha has found a special small orange rubbery toy that she loves, and she goes crazy while playing with it! Raza's kittens are doing super great. They're all over the place now and growing like weeds! The other group of 18 are also doing well. All are out most of the time now. Emaline has found a special comfort in grooming them. She's in heaven when she has 1 or 2 in a cushy bed with her.

-Jacci

Scribbles, Manon, Waki, Gibbs, Telo, and mama Raza

Come meet the kitties and dogs!

Today is our Meet & Greet, combined with a garage sale, dog/cat food drive and towel drive for both the Rescue Center and A Labor of Love Dog Rescue. We will give you the details as to how it went later after it's over. We had boxes yesterday! We received a dozen Heinz baby food meat jars from an anonymous donor. If anyone would like to let me know who donated this, I'd appreciate it. We use a lot of this meat baby food, as it's helpful for our kittens, oldsters, and cats that are felling ill or recovering from something. Thanks so much. Bantry sent Temptations treats and Friskies Prime Filets. The cats love their treats! Octavia was sitting on the box even before it was opened! Mitty sent IAMS adult chicken food and 2 journals. I will make good use of the journals! A week ago, we were desperately low on adult dry cat food. That is no longer true, thanks to you web-cam viewers. We've received enough to get us by for a bit. You are ALL awesome! The group of 18 kittens are out and about most of the time, including night time. What fun they have. Never a dull moment around here. Tinker even discovered how to climb to the highest of the cat walks. I can't bear to watch! Raza's 6 kittens were out today for 2 one-hour sessions. They did terrific. Raza was also out. She loved being out in the outdoor enclosure. Then, all of a sudden, she came back in, went to her room, called her kittens, and that was it--they all went back in their room for a nap together! Asha has been playing with the kittens and with toys. Kurt William had his surgery yesterday and is doing very well. His right front leg was removed due to a complete radial nerve tear. He was down on the floor for a short exercise time last night, and he was able to run, no dragging leg to slow him down! That was wonderful to see. Dawn S. was here yesterday and tended to Albert's Garden. She planted many beautiful flowers. It looks so nice. Thanks Dawn. We have already received one estimate for the possible new addition (for a quarantine/intake room). When I get all the facts & figures ironed out, I'll pass on more info to you all. Recently Maiden Heaven sent something to me that I am passing on.

“Hoping you have a day filled with wonder & an evening filled with peace.”

-Jacci

Kurt William

Happy Birthday to Peterson!

---Note: This is the blog post for May 12th, 2011. I was unable to publish it yesterday due to a Blogger outage.--

Today is Peterson's first birthday! He was born here at the rescue center and is still looking for his own special home. Somewhere out there, is his home. I just KNOW that he will get that opportunity to have his very own family. Peterson's already had an extra bonito flake treat this morning and an extra big hug. Saturday morning from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. will be our next Meet and Greet. In combination with having A Labor of Love Dog Rescue here with their adoptable dogs, we will have another garage sale with lots of items. We're also having a food drive (dry and can food for cats & dogs) and a towel drive (any kind of towels, including paper towels). We will also be offering to microchip your pet. The cost is $40, and that includes the registration paper. We had lots of boxes last night! From Debra B., we received 4 Temptation treat variety packs. The cats love these these. Teresa C. sent both Royal Canin Adult AND Kitten Food dry cat food. We had an anonymous donor from PetFood Direct for Pro Plan Kitten canned food. If you sent this and would like to let me know, I'd appreciate it. We certainly can use this great kitten food. Quayside sent Whiskas Purrfectly Chicken packs and Temptaion Treats--you've picked 2 of their favorite things! Cantoncat sent Eukanuba Dry Cat Food. I think the word got out that we were very very low on adult dry cat food. ALL these donations are appreciated and will be well used. We also had a new friend of the webcam, known as ohiosmrspeepers come yesterday with a big variety of needed items! Raza and Tinkerbell were spayed last night. They both recovered beautifully. You may have already heard the news about our dear little Birk; if not, please check http://friendsoffelines.blogspot.com/2011/05/crazy-kittens.html#comments for the information (note: due to the Blogger problems which caused yesterdays outage, the comments are not currently available, but according to Bloggers situation report they will be restored soon). Last week, when our friend Connie K. left here, she came upon a severely injured cat at an intersection. She scooped the poor cat up and brought it here to the Rescue Center, but he was already gone. Thank you Connie & Curt for helping this cat. After they left, I received 2 phone calls from people wondering if the cat survived. I also just received a donation to the Rescue Center "in honor of the lady who so unselfishly helped a cat that had been hit by a car". I just want to note that I also am grateful for people like Connie & Curt. Emaline (calico with 1 eye) is "stuck" in my house. She's an awesome housecat, but when I try to put her back in the Rescue Center, she refuses. She has a few allergy problems, but she's wonderful & loving and we need to find her a new home as well.

Exploring Expansion

I have had a goal in mind for several years for the Rescue Center. It's time to explore some options on it. I have always wanted a separate room for all incoming kittens and cats. Every cat and kitten that arrives has the possibility of bringing in bacterial germs, fungus and viruses. To help keep the spreading of these things to a minimum, a completely separate room is necessary. I have had dreams about this! It would be so wonderful to have such a room, built onto the backside of the Rescue Center. It would have it's own water source, small refrigerator for meds and test kits, a work area to draw blood and do exams and holding pens for incoming cats and kittens. This room would have access by an outside door, so all incoming goes directly into this new room, NOT through the Rescue Center. I've drawn up plans and have talked to 2 contractors who have already come and will give me estimates very soon. I have no idea if this is something that will be so "far out there" that it's not even feasible, but we're going to go thru the process of finding out! We'll keep you all posted. 

Photo by  Amy Brown McCarty; Mod by Bea Bittencourt

Crazy Kittens

Running, playing, jumping, attacking, purring--that's what it's all about this morning! The kittens are all crazy. I do believe they all developed spring legs during the night! What fun to watch them. Yesterday our new big white cat, Willis was neutered. This morning his door was opened to his pen. It took him all of 10 seconds to come out and be with the rest of the gang. Kurt William (named after Racer) has his pen door opened and come out if and when he's ready. He loves those catnip fish toys. He has a complete radial nerve tear in his front right leg. Due to a heavy surgery schedule yesterday couldn't get his surgery done. This leg is 100% useless to him--there's absolutely no nerve there to help him use it, so it's a "drag leg". Thursday will be his big surgery day--amputation of this leg and his neutering. He'll be thrilled when he's able to run and play without the hindrance of that leg. We had 3 BOXES yesterday! They all were from Felixkatz, our Bermuda friends Gloria & James. They definitely had the kittens in mind with this order! Royal Canin baby dry food and can kitten food. This will be well used and so much appreciated. Also a few toys! Thank you. Asha has become so much more open with her play and social skills. It's like a butterfly emerging! Yesterday she took a spring toy and flipped that thing all over the office, chasing it! I believe Grommit has "taste-tested" every kitten here! He bathes them then proceeds to soft chew a little. No harm done and he lets the kittens go. I truly think he just wants to play as he's such a young cat himself. The big cats had 3 hours of outdoor enclosure time yesterday-was so nice that they could be out in their porch. No babies allowed out there yet. Please continue to vote for us! 

-Jacci

Ketzie

Going home :(

Hi everyone, this is Kurt, filling in for Jacci today on the blog. I am finally heading home this afternoon. I wish I could stay longer, but I will be back soon for the big fundraiser in June. Until then I will just have to get my kitty fix from the web-cam. As for whats going on at the rescue center, Lilly is doing much better and is back with her group and running and playing. Birk seems to be picking up a little today too, so hopefully she will be back to bouncing around the deck of her pirate ship in a few days. A new kitty came in last night with a badly broken leg, so it is being removed today. He is a very sweet cat, loves to play and be petted even with his injury. Other kitties visiting the clinic today are Raza, to be spayed, and Willis, who was neutered this morning. The States (Georgia, Iowa, and Kansas) are out of their pen and running around now too. They will eat meals with the other kittens today but spend one more night in Dodgers Pen, after which they will remain with the other kittens in the Cats Corner room.  

I just got the finalized earnings report for the ads that are shown on ustream. The rescue center made $344.31, so added to the Amazon referral fee for last month of $158.23, the total online income for April was $502.54! Remember, anytime you plan to shop on Amazon, use the link on the blog and the rescue center will get a percentage as an advertizing referral fee. Last month we had enough referrals to earn 7% of the total amount purchased from Amazon through our links. Ask your friends and family to do the same! It doesn't cost you anything more when you use our link, and every dollar is important for a small non-profit rescue center like FFRC, which receives no local, state, or federal government funding. Also please keep voting! With all the kittens running around here at the rescue center, that $1000 state prize will almost completely cover the cost of their spays and neuters.

Ok, I keep looking for more things to do or write about because I don't want to leave yet, but I really should get on the road since its a 4 hour drive. If I get home soon enough I will try to get the new Cat Tails videos that jacci made for DCTV on YouTube. Also be sure to check out all the pictures and video I took myself while visiting the rescue center on my flickr page (just the pictures are up now, the videos will be coming over the next week or so). Just click on the flickr logo that's at the side of the blog page. Thanks again to everyone that donated gas money and money for the new web-cam setup, I really appreciate it. Keep watching the 24/7 web-cam, and I will see you all again in June for more special kitten shows and an on-site live stream from the fundraiser!

"fine! go's home! sees if we care!"

What? Another Kitten Show Tonight? YES!

I am still here so there will be one more Kitten Show tonight at ~8pm EDT

-Kurt

We took in 3 more kittens. They were found by a friend ofthe Rescue center and so one has been named after her--GEORGIA. The other 2 are named IOWA and KANSAS after web-cam viewers. There's 2 girls, 1 boy. Georgia is black/white, Iowa is grey tiger with white socks & Kansas is grey/white. All 3 are so sweet. They possibly will be out and about tomorrow. Also took in a young cat, about 9 months old. His name is WILLIS. He's all white and so very sweet. He's already on the surgery schedule for tomorrow. Time permitting would also like to get RAZA spayed tomorrow. The kittens are spending more time out & about--sometimes they're just crazy acting kittens--so much fun. We had 2 BOXES also, both from MEDIC 101. Thanks so much for the 2 cases of Fancy Feast--seafood & variety pack. Definitely will be put to good use. The cats went out on the outdoor enclosure yesterday-it was so nice. We don't open the floor door, that way the little kittens don't have access yet--too small to go out there yet. Racer did another Kitten Show last night--always well received!

-Jacci

Tibby shows me how she feels about my being late with the blog today.