Alley Cats and Angels of North Carolina

Short break for the kitties!

2012-01-30T00:15:00.002-05:00

The kitties are taking a short break from adoption centers. We elected to give our extra week in one of the centers to another group since we've had three months of incredible adoptions (83 adoptions since November 1 and 29 of those were in January!!).

We'll be moving into Petsmart Capital on February 6 and Petsmart Morrisville on February 13. A big thank you to everyone that helps keeping the kitties clean and helping with adoption events - enjoy the week.

No adoption events next weekend (Superbowl weekend) but we are doing several barn cat relocations next weekend. YAY!!

Thank you volunteers!

2012-01-29T23:51:00.002-05:00

Thankful for new volunteers this weekend.

Plus, so many of our volunteers are people that have adopted from Alley Cats and Angels. That means a lot to us as it means our adopters have a lot of confidence in Alley Cats and Angels. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS - WE LOVE YOU!!!

If you're interested in volunteering, please email info@alleycatsandangels.org, there are many different ways you can help. Thanks.

Adoption Update

2012-01-29T23:50:00.003-05:00

Three adoptions this week: Sassafrass, Sassy, and Wren(!!!).

A bit slower than it has been but then again we've had so many adoptions lately that of the 65 cats currently in our adoption program, only 15 are available for adoption as the rest are newer intakes and undergoing medical or are young kittens not old enough to finish medical yet. Of the other 50 cats not yet ready for adoption, quite a few of the kittens have a status of adoption pending spay/neuter - so if you see a kitten you're interested in, get in your application now!

TNR Volunteers Needed

2012-01-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

Does you love feral cats? Want to help them out? Are you an experienced trapper for TNR? Or not experienced but want to learn TNR - we can train you and mentor you.

Alley Cats and Angels receives so many requests for help with TNR, including referrals from other local rescue groups not experienced with ferals. To help with these requests for help, we need to grow our TNR Task Force by adding feral cat loving volunteers who want to help with TNR (trap-neuter-return).

Be it helping with trapping, helping transport to and from vet, helping with recovery or all of the above - it all makes a big difference in the lives of forgotten felines. Help us help the ferals by joining our TNR Task Force. Email info@alleycatsandangels.org for more information. Thanks!

Barn/Garden Homes Needed

2012-01-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

Many feral cats in several Triangle, NC locations under the threat of trap and kill from Animal Control (animal control trapping ferals is a guaranteed death sentences as shelters are not eqiupped to handle or place ferals and they will be put to sleep).

These cats typically prefer the freedom of a "working life" in a rural area to a comfortable lap in suburbia. If you have a barn or larger outbuilding, yo...u can provide these cats with a second chance at life. We work hard to match the right cats to your location, provide all relocation equipment, ensure all relocated cats are spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccinations before they are relocated.

Alley Cats and Angels has a proven relocation protocol and has relocated over 250 feral and semi-feral cats to safe alternative homes. We have a 97% success rate of cats staying around after the confinement period.

Please email info@alleycatsandangels.org if you can provide a safe place for these cats. We will travel up to two hours from the Triangle to place cats (we can drive farther for larger cat placements).

More rescues!

2012-01-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

Alley Cats and Angels received a request for help Saturday from a feral cat colony caregiver in Alamance County. He had 11 kittens that he had pulled from the colony that needed placement. Because we had just taken in 16 cats that day and had already comitted to pulling more this past Tuesday, we really didn't enough space for 11 more ~4 month old kittens.
Alley Cats and Angels visited and assessed the kittens Tuesday evening. There were 5 super friendly kittens and the other 6 are shy but not hissy/spitty and can be handled without incident. We were able to pull the 11 kittens and transported them back to Raleigh. There are 7 kittens approximately 3 months old and 4 that are approximately 4 months old: (5 cow kitties, 4 solid black, and 2 tabbies).

Alley Cats and Angels took in 6 of the kittens and we are so grateful that the Wake County SPCA took in the other 5 kittens. Many thanks to Lisa Kroll of the SPCA for coordinating this collaboration with the SPCA.

Adoption Program Update

2012-01-23T01:08:00.001-05:00

Adoptions
It was a slower adoption weekend than we've had in a while but we are happy with the four adoptions. Plus, if any more were adopted, we might not have had enough available cats to fill the Petsmart adoption center. Yep, that's how many adoptions we've had lately. Approximately 57 in 7 weeks. We have lots of cats in the adoption program but they are all still receiving medical.

The following were adopted:

Puck (handsome white male kitten)
Princess (pretty orange female ticked tabby kitten)
Mister Oscar - woohoo - score for the garbage dump adult kitties [he was found living at a garbage dump
Marco Polo - remember the kitty who walked into Staples and "pressed the easy button" looking for a new home (back in July). He's had some health struggles and it is suspected that he has asthma but exams and testing and xrays did not confirm it. He's also a little porker older kitten who likes to eat and cannot be free fed. That did not scare off his adopters and we are so thankful they took a chance on a special needs kitty

New Intakes
Saturday was a big intake day. Our core focus is feral cats and cats found in feral colonies (kittens that can be tamed and friendly cats that have been abandoned and migrated to feral colonies); but because we've had such amazing adoptions lately, we had space to take in some cats from kill shelters this week. So today, we pulled 12 cats - 5 younger kittens, 2 older kittens/young adults, and 5 adults - from a very high kill rural shelter today (98% kill rate for cats).

We also took in 3 very young feral kittens [5.5 weeks old] ("I hiss and spit at you and might bite you, aren't you scared?" [sorry, no little ones, you weigh less than a pound, we're really not scared, besides it's adorable when you hiss and spit!].

Lastly, we took in one golden tabby around 9.5 weeks old from a feral colony. He's very scared but interested, sort of reminds us of "The Watch Cat". Right now his nickname is Watch Cat Jr. until we decide on a name for him.

Lots of drawing blood for FeLV/FIV/Heartworm testing, cleaning of ears, treating with flea meds and intestinal parasite meds. We had an assembly line of sorts going. Testing over here. Then one corner for flea meds (capstar and revolution), another section for cleaning ears and ear mite treatment (Milbemite), one section for first deworming (Drontal), one for weighing cats, and one for putting together medicine packets to go to foster homes (deworming protocol of ponazuril and panacur and pyrantel). And finally, pictures.

Several foster homes helped with intake and then took their fosters home and we delivered some fosters. And since we took in more adults than we had originally anticipated, we are looking for a few adult cat foster homes!

Many thanks everyone that made this possible. Thank you to Maria Brown, Jill Walters, Melissa McLaughlin, Laura Arpin, Nicky Thayer and Cherie and Elizabeth Sisk for helping. (We had lots of people helping, my sincere apologies if I forgot someone).

Pictures are posted on our Kitten Alley Facebook page (although we missed pictures of two of the adults, we'll get those and add later: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.307732699256059.88961.127004140662250&type=1

Fairfax County, VA and TNR (Kudos to Fairfax County)

2012-01-21T09:51:00.002-05:00

Wake County, NC and surrounding counties should take a cue from Fairfax County, VA. Way to go Fairfax County. More proof positive that TNR (trap-neuter-return) works. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2012/011912trapneuterreturn.htm

Commentary from Alley Cats and Angels on TNR: The benefits of TNR are many—for the cats and their caregivers, as well as the community in which the ferals reside; these benefits include less noise from mating behavior and fighting, less roaming, less spraying from males, and a ...more manageable colony that stabilizes over time due to attrition. Most importantly, TNR reduces the number of feral and stray cats in our community in both the short- and long-term by preventing future litters from being born, which in turn helps lower the number of cats/kittens killed in shelters each year. TNR is not only the most compassionate solution to the feral cat overpopulation problem, it is also the most practical way of stabilizing a colony.

In addition to providing the best life for the feral cats, TNR also saves the government money by not having to house and then kill feral cats because local animal lovers and rescue organizations are already using donations to implement TNR programs. TNR is the proverbial win-win for both cats and people. TNR is the only effective, long-term strategy for humanely controlling the population of feral or free roaming cats.

Protect Feral Cats - Feral Power Action Needed

2012-01-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

As a very feral focused rescue group, we're allowed to get on a soapbox about ferals sometimes and this one of those times.

Please contact Loews Hotels in Orlando and let them know their new policy of "relocating feral cats to a shelter" is a guaranteed death sentence for those cats. Until recently, they allowed TNR. And removal of the feral cats will create a vacuum effect and new unsterilized ferals will move into the area. It will be a never ending cycle of killing feral cats.
http://capwiz.com/alleycat/issues/alert/?alertid=60246576&PROCESS=Take+Action&external_id=10519.0

Tell Loews Hotels you will not support a business that puts these cats' lives in danger. https://www.facebook.com/LoewsHotels/posts/10150487973715765

What Loews Hotels posts on their facebook page: "We appreciate and respect the opinions expressed. While Loews loves pets, like many Florida businesses, we have plans and procedures to address issues involving outdoor, undomesticated animals on our property. The decision to remove the feral cat colony humanely and relocate them to a local shelter takes into consideration the safety and comfort of all our guests."

This was a managed colony - being the cats were TNR'd (trapped-neutered-returned) and were being cared for. And it was allowed by Loews Hotels until just recently. MANAGED COLONY - what could the safety risks have possibly been? The cats were vaccinated. They are feral cats, they are not going to wind themselves around guests' ankles and trip them.

What what they are really saying is: "We have plans and procedures to address issues involving outdoor, undomesticated animals on our property. The decision to destroy the feral cat colony by catching them and transporting them to local shelter for euthanasia is something we're doing despite studies that clearly show that the 'vacuum effect' will result in new popluations of unvaccinated and unaltered feral cats taking residence at our property and we'll just haul those off and get them killed too."

Thank you Animal Shelter Life Volunteer blog!

2012-01-17T20:08:00.002-05:00

Thank you Animal Shelter Volunteer Life for selecting Alley Cats and Angels’ blog as one of your five favorite up-and-coming blogs. http://animalsheltervolunteer.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-fave-and-new-award.html.

We very much enjoy your blog as well. And now that year end is over and we’re winding up all the paperwork and such from last year, we’ll get back to posting on our blog more regularly like we typically do. And get back to reading the awesome blogs we follow – like yours!

A personal note

2012-01-17T11:05:00.003-05:00

It's been a very very hard week and it's only Tuesday. One of my personal cats, Bailey - my wonderful boy with the loudest purr motor and tiniest squeak of a meow - has been battling cancer for a while now. But he had been doing fine. He'd have really great days and not so great days but didn't seem to have any bad days. Until this weekend. And it was really bad yesterday (Monday). He had an appointment at the vet this evening but I called yesterday and Dr. Jon was able to see him on very short notice. It was time to make the hard decision. The decision that even when you know it's time and it's the right thing to do, is still a gut wrenching decision. Dr. Jon ended Bailey's suffering yesterday at 2:40 PM. It had to be Dr. Jon, I really like the other vets, but Dr. Jon is the kindest vet and I couldn't let anyone else put Bailey to sleep.

My heart is broken and it feels like it will never be whole again. I know I'm in the rescue "business" and my heart gets broken a lot when we lose a cat. But this was my Bailey so I feel my heart is broken in a different way. Like complete broken. Not mendable. Although I know someday it will mend.

This is the boy I had way back when I lived in a condo where I wasn't supposed to have pets but he needed me. And I loved him so much. The second night I had him, he door darted out the condo door so I spent the night in the woods looking for him and calling for him. I could hear him in the woods but there was a ravine so I eventually put down a blanket and sat on the blanket and talked to him all night. Talk about covered in mosquito bites the next day and come time to get ready for work, he still hadn't come in but I could see him and hear him so - yep - I called out of work that day. Finally got him around noon.

Three weeks later, we braved a flood together as after a weekend of solid rain, the creek had risen and the parking lot was flooded (fortunately, I had moved my car to the mall across the road earlier but didn't think it would come into the condo) and after trying to catch Bailey for 30 minutes, the water was coming into the condo. Fancy was already in a carrier but since I only had him a few weeks, I hadn't yet bought another carrier (I was on a really tight budget, hadn't expected him and had to pay for vetting after I got him). So, I stuffed my purse, a change of clothes, toothbrush, and Bailey into a small duffle bag. As I opened the condo door, the water was about knee high. When I made it to the parking lot to get out of there, the water was waist high and I held the two cats over my head as the rushing water pushed us around but we made it to the car and then to my mom's house. The next morning my mom came home from work (she was a nurse) and looked in the room where I was sleeping and started laughing because Bailey was a kitty of many expressions and most of them would make you laugh. He was like a kitty comedian with his facial expressions.

Bailey and I had a lot of good times together. He purred so loud that on those rare times that I got to watch television, he'd be behind me on the back of the chair or sofa purring and I'd have to turn the volume on the TV up at least 4 notches so I could hear. That's how loud he purred.

Bailey snuggled with me at night. He slept by my head with my arm around him. And if I turned over in the middle of the night, he got up and walked to the other side of the bed so I always faced him.

He was there when my friend Debbie and I rescued (before Alley Cats, did independent rescue at the time) our first set of orphan kittens. Bailey would wash them. And as they got older, Bailey showed them how to scale the baby gate and make the great escape out of the kitten room.

I'm sorry for rambling. I just miss him so much and it's only been a short time.

I am fortunate that when Elizabeth Ruffing came over last fall and took pictures of the W kitties, she also took some pictures of Bailey. He was doing really well then and she sent me the pictures yesterday. I'm so happy to have them as I don't own a decent camera and didn't have any recent pictures of him.

I love you Bailey. I miss you Bailey. But I am so glad you are free from pain. RIP my boobear.

Great adoptions continue

2012-01-17T10:37:00.000-05:00

Another weekend of great adoptions. Nine cats and kittens were adopted this weekend. Without the "little ones" to take some of the attention away, some of our overlooked older kittens (~8 months) and some of our adults cats found homes. YAY!! What a perfect way for these kitties to start the new year (starting it a tad bit late, but hey it's still January!!).

The following were adopted this weekend: Tango, Tiffy, Blue, Elmo, Sugar, Mister McGhee, Picnic, Pinnochio, and Licorice.

Another great adoption weekend. In addition to yesterday's adoptions, four more cats/kittens were adopted today for a total of nine (9) adoptions this weekend. Adopted today: Mister McGhee and Licorice together, Pinici, and Pinocchio.

With Mister McGhee's adoption, all of the cats taken in from the Siler City neglect case have been adopted. Except Grandpa Tom who is one of our long-term residents. His broken pelvis has finally healed and he is doing well. He's still a character to look at (his poor face has a Frankenstein look from many years of neglect and fighting), but his personality is so awesome and he's very happy in his forever foster home.

Recent adoptions

2012-01-07T18:55:00.001-05:00

Trying to wrap up all the year end paperwork for the rescue and also working on the 2012 operating budget, so I'm once again behind on posting. I might have to find a volunteer to blog!

On December 31, 2011 the following were adopted: ToeToe, Dr. Watson, Darjeeling, and Jill Munroe - last of the Charlie's Angels kittens. However, Jill was returned today because she was just overwhelmed in the house filled with children and other animals. It was too much for her. We make a lifetime committment to all cats adopted from us - they can be returned at any time for any reason and we will always welcome them back with open arms.

This week's adoptions are quite a few! We had 13 adoptions today and one earlier in the week. The following were adopted this week: Luna, Oliver Twist, Vito (woohoo!!!!), Seraphina, Nikki, Naomi, Daisy Williams, Saturn and Scamp together, Nugget and Nash together, Sherlock Holmes and Noel together, and Serenade.

Merry Christmas to All

2011-12-25T18:38:00.004-05:00

Alley Cats and Angels wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas. We hope your hearts and lives are filled with joy this holiday season. Thank you all for sharing in our love of cats and our devotion to the ferals.

To all, we wish you special gifts this holiday season – love, peace, and happiness.

"Meowy Christmas" adoption event (December 24)

2011-12-25T18:38:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful day yesterday. Five lucky kitties found their forever home in time for Christmas. Adopted today were Chai, Fry and Bender together, Echo, and Peppercorn.

And Cabernet's adoption by his foster family was finalized (so really that makes six).

What an awesome adoption week!!

2011-12-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

What an awesome adoption week. 14 cats total were adopted this week.

Minou was adopted this week. He was returned months ago after he keep trying to kill the adopter's very expensive bird (very naughty kitty - no one wants you to try to kill the $20 bird, but it's even more of an issue if it's a $650 bird!!), but we knew the right home was out there. Someone has been doing a foster to adopt on him to see if he and their cat would get along and it worked out and they adopted him this week.

Saturday's adoptions: Nutmeg, KA-CHUNK!, Cinders, Courtney, and Irene and Isidro together.

Sunday's adoptions: KA-BOOM! and KER-PLUNK! together, Vinca, Theodore, Anne Shirley, and (wait for it...) Merlot and Shiraz together!!!

Godspeed Beautiful Admiral

2011-12-15T22:52:00.000-05:00

Our deep condolensces to a fellow cat lover and blogger (http://admiral-hestorb.blogspot.com/), Carole, on the loss of her beautiful tortie, Admiral - quite possibly the most beautiful tortie ever.

Poem For Cats

And God asked the feline spirit
Are you ready to come home?
Oh, yes, quite so, replied the precious soul
And, as a cat, you know I am most able
To decide anything for myself.

Are you coming then? asked God.
Soon, replied the whiskered angel
But I must come slowly
For my human friends are troubled
For you see, they need me, quite certainly.

But don't they understand? asked God
That you'll never leave them?
That your souls are intertwined. For all eternity?
That nothing is created or destroyed?
It just is....forever and ever and ever.

Eventually they will understand,
Replied the glorious cat
For I will whisper into their hearts
That I am always with them
I just am....forever and ever and ever.
Author Unknown

URGENT - foster home needed

2011-12-12T16:46:00.001-05:00

Urgent foster home needed for a 15-year old cat. Owner has health issues and can no longer care for the cat. Owner has to go live with family and family will not let her keep the cat. This is time sensitive, we have less than a week to find a foster home so we can keep this cat from ending up at the shelter where it will most likely be euthanized because of its age. Unfortunately we don't have any available foster homes right now but we really want to help this cat.

The cat is a male, DMH black cat who is front declawed and in good health - had a complete blood panel not long ago. Does have a flea allergy but we will provide monthly fleat treatment. Gets along well with other cats.

Please email info@alleycatsandangels.org if you can foster this cat.

Adoption Update

2011-12-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

A great adoption weekend. Nine kitties were adopted - including two who had written Santa. :-)

Weekend adoptions (there are a few familiar names because of returns): Pippi Longstocking (one of the Siler City neglect kitties), Iddy (who was returned after adoption the first time because of a cat aggressive dog), Vivian (who was adopted immediately after being returned due to allergies), Simon, KER-PLOP!, and Alvin. Today, Alvin's adopters came back and adopted Light Willow.

And drumroll please....Charcoal and Casanova were also adopted! YAY!!! Casanova was adopted by the parents of Teal'c adopter from earlier in the fall. They were not at all put off by the fact that he has only one eye, is very very shy (may have even hissed!), and will hide for a while after adoption - they are willing to give him time to blossom. Thank you to all of our adopters. You adopted some great kitties!

Cinders' letter to Santa

2011-12-07T13:49:00.000-05:00

Cinders has but one Christmas wish - a home of her own.

Holiday Adoption Promotion

2011-12-07T13:47:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the holidays, we have some wonderful cats and older kittens with a special adoption fee to help these purrfect kitties find their purrfect partners!

Diva has a special letter for Santa this year

2011-12-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Adoption Update (and more)

2011-12-06T03:16:00.000-05:00

Slow adoption weekend but we only had an event on Saturday because of the volunteer appreciation party on Sunday. There were two adoptions but one of them was Sabrina! Sabrina has been with us since she was found in a ditch after a storm and was only 6 weeks old. Poor Sabrina suffered from terrible digestive issues. After 5 months of lots of vet visits and lots of meds, she was finally adopted at 7 months old. And her adopter is not scared off by "lots of testing and there is nothing wrong, but sometimes she has stomach issues". The other kitten adopted was Vivian.

The volunteer appreciation party was a great success. Almost 50 people attended (spouses of volunteers were more than welcome at the party). It was great company, great food (Jill, one of our board members is quite the chef) and created a spread that had at least two people ask her if she would consider catering their daughter/grand daughter/their wedding! We decorated her house Friday and Saturday before the party complete with a tree for the "thieving santa / pink elephant" gift exchange. Everyone had fun and it was a great turnout. Unfortunately we were too busy hostessing and forgot to take pictures. *big frown*.

We love our volunteers very much - they are the reason we are able to help so many cats.

Charcoal asks Santa for his very own forever person

2011-12-02T13:43:00.002-05:00

Merlot and Shiraz wrote a letter to Santa

2011-11-30T14:42:00.003-05:00

We really need extra volunteers for the next few weeks - can you help?

2011-11-29T18:22:00.002-05:00

We really need extra volunteer help for the next few weeks. Can you help?

Specific needs are:

Adoption center cleaners: Petsmart Capital Boulevard (Raleigh) the week of 12/12
Adoption center cleaners: Petsmart Morrsville the weeks of 12/5
Adoption center cleaners: Petsmart Morrsville the weeks of 12/12
Santa Paws Photo Fundraiser: Petsmart Knightdale on Sunday, 12/11 -- need Santa, photographer and Santa's helper
Santa Paws Photo Fundraiser:Petsmart Morrisville on Saturday, 12/17 -- need Santa, photographer and Santa's helper
Santa Paws Photo Fundraiser: Petsmart Capital Boulevard (Raleigh) on Sunday, 12/181 -- need Santa, photographer and Santa's helper

Please help if you can -- please sign up on the google docs spreadsheet. We'll use that through the end of the year and then publish the new volunteer software program starting January 1.

If you have questions, please email info@alleycatsandangels.org

THANK YOU, thank you, thank you!

-Signed, I'm so busy I barely have time to blog about the rescue anymore as I'm currently working on our 2011 Annual Report, the 2012 Operating Budget, and a few other time sensitive rescue related items. (I sure wish the paying job would just pay me and not expect me to work because I sure could use that time every day for rescue!!)

It's that time of year....Santa Paws Photo Fundraiser

2011-11-28T23:27:00.000-05:00

Alley Cat and Angels is participating in PetSmart Charities’ Santa Paws Photos holiday fundraiser to help raise money for our rescue. Bring your family and/or furry four-legged children to one of the below events to have their picture taken with Santa Claus.

Alley Cats and Angels will receive $5 from each photo taken and purchased at the following Santa Paws events. Photos are $10 each and include a digital print and a frame. If you purchase two photos, we will email you the photo .jpg file.

Saturday and Sunday, December 10, 11, 17, and 18
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Petsmart Capital Boulevard Raleigh (corner of Capital Blvd. & Millbrook Rd.)
2800 Millbrook Road, Raleigh, NC

Sunday, December 10
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Petsmart Knightdale
220 Hinton Oaks Boulevard, Knightdale, NC

Saturday, December 17
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Petsmart Morrisville (corner of Cary Pkwy. & Chapel Hill Rd./Highway 54)
3101 Market Center Drive, Morrisville, NC

Adoption Update

2011-11-27T19:58:00.000-05:00

Once again, so busy that I'm behind on posting adoptions. I'm trying to get caught up on all the paperwork for our spay/neuter assistance program that I'm so behind on (I need to know how many we've done are male, female, pregnant, etc.). I'm wishing for a data entry volunteer for Christmas! :-)

We had five adoptions on the weekend of November 19/20: Mona and Izod (together), Veta, Iggy, and Merlin.However, Iggy was returned a couple of days later but it was for his safety as the family dog turned out to be cat aggressive. Iggy is such a fantastic kitten with the best personality that he'll be adopted again soon, we're sure.

We took a very rare week off from being in the adoption centers and doing adoption events so we could all enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and also have a much deserved break so there were no adoptions this weekend.

We move into the Petsmart Knightdale adoption center through Saturday with just an adoption event on Saturday. We're moving out a day early (Saturday instead of Sunday), as we are having our first annual Volunteer Appreciation Party on Sunday, December 4th.

Bones had his leg amputated and is recovering well. He's a little pill! It won't be too long before he's available for adoption.

Adoption Update

2011-11-13T19:56:00.002-05:00

A wonderful adoption weekend. Seven adoptions this weekend; the following cats and kittens were adopted: Kupe and Zoya (together), Khloe, Van, Sunflower, Tallulah Rose, and Miracle!

What a wonderful start to the holiday season - seven kitties getting adopted. Congratulations to the cats and their adoptive families.

Godspeed Cinderella

2011-11-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

It is with a very heavy and broken heart and a tear stained face that I give the update on Cinderella. She went downhill very fast, she was put to sleep by Dr. Jon not too long ago. She was agonal and went from ok to clearly suffering. We are sending her body for a necropsy.

My heart has a piece missing now. I got my hopes up so high when she did so well Friday and Saturday - and even scaled the bathtub to get out of it Friday, and with no back feet.

This is what the adorable cutie looked like Friday.

Adoption update

2011-11-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

Adoptions are slowing down some from what they were a month ago, but we are thankful for the adoptions we've had recently. Below are the adoptins from the past couple of weekends since I'm behind....

O'Neil
Percy
Webster
Tutti Fruity
Panthro
Peter Brady and Twinkleclaws together (they adoptive family is a previous adopter but is in the process of moving so these two are hanging out at their foster mom's house for another week or so)
Charlie Chaplin

More members added to the "Wonky Legged Kitty Club"

2011-11-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

It is truly the year of the deformed legs:

Light Willow originally thought to have been hit by a car had a deformed back leg that had to be amputated
Jamie is the kitten with two deformed front legs, but he gets around really well and is totally unstoppable. The surgeons and specialists have said there is nothing we can do. But hope his growth has been stunted some because he's fine now but the concern is how his legs will do as he gets bigger. This boy is the most adorable kitten ever!! Check out our Facebook page to see pictures and videos of him.
Bones, a little white kitten about 11 weeks old who wandered into an Operation Catnip trap but is friendly and had a hurt leg. He actually does not have a radius on his front right leg and it will have to be amputated once he's over his URI.

And now two more with deformed legs. (Kupe's leg was not deformed, it was amputated because his previous owners let him go outside and he was attacked by something.) We took in six kittens today and of them, two have deformed legs (birth defects). They all have a 10AM appointment at Magnolia tomorrow to get checked out. The kitten with stumps for both back legs is extremely thin but does well with supplemental feedings. Some of the cats are polydactyl. Alexis came by a little bit ago and took some pictures and shot some video and it is posted on our Facebook page.

Prince Charming: black and white tuxedo, male, regular toes all 4 paws
Pinnochio: white and brown tabby (lots of white), male, polydactyl on all 4 paws, not quite short hair, not quite medium
Ariel: black and white "tux-a-cow" lots of white (chin, neck, chest, belly), regular toes and feet, female,
Snow White: long haired black, regular toes and feet, but she's a manx!
Rumplestilskin:gray/brown tabby with some white, polydactyl on 3 paws, very short stump of a back leg on the other - holds it way up when walking, put it down for balance some. The vet has recommended it be amputated.
Cinderella: medium haired gray/brown tabby with white, polydactyl on both front fee, no foot on one back leg and a stump of a leg on the other. She's extremely emaciated nothing but bones probably wasn't able to make it to the food before everyone else ate it.

Cinderella with stumps for both back legs needs some serious prayers. She is so emaciated but she does well with supplemental feedings. She's so adorable. But honestly, it wouldn't matter if she were super ugly, we'd still love her! Two vets said we need to consider euthanasia but I'm not ready for that. She was doing well over the weekend but late yesterday (Sunday, 10/6), she is now a bit lethargic and not eating as well. We're headed to the vet again.

Yard Sale Update

2011-11-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

A huge thank you to everyone that helped with the (as Marie put it) Yard Sale Part 2: Electric Boogaloo over the weekend. We sold most of the larger ticket items the first weekend but we made $829.40 Saturday.

The yard sale/bake sale total from both weekends (Oct. 29 and Nov. 5) is $3,248.75.

Thank you to everyone that helped me our fall yardsale(s) a success.

URGENT need for foster homes

2011-11-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

Six 8-week old kittens left in a box on a vet clinic’s doorstep (litter can be split up)
Two 12-week old friendly kittens living in a feral colony
Three adult cats living outside after their owner moved and cruelly abandoned them (can be split up into several foster homes)
Two small 5-6 week old kittens born to a feral mom living in a box on a neighbor’s porch
One 8-week old kitten who only wants to snuggle but is currently living outside
Two sweet young kittens living in an old barn with feral cats

These are just a few of the many cats and kittens on our wait list that we can help if we had more foster homes. But without foster homes, we cannot take in these cats. It's getting cold outside, we want so much to bring them inside to safety and warmth. If you have a spare room (even a large bathroom), you can help save a life. Even if you do not have a spare room, we need foster homes for cats that have already completed their intake quarantine period and all medical.

Fostering for Alley Cats and Angels is a great experience. We provide all the medical attention and medications; we do not skimp on medical care – the fact that our cats received such great medical care is why so many people adopt from Alley Cats and Angels. We can provide litter boxes and toys. We can even help provide food and litter (if you provide the food and litter, it is considered an in-kind donation and is tax deductible). Alley Cats and Angels foster coordinators can always be reached via email or cell phone for any of our foster homes.

We have adoption events every weekend, and space in three separate Petsmart adoption centers monthly (Knightdale, Capital Boulevard Raleigh, and the new Morrisville store). All cats get a rotation in the adoption center and we request that cats be made available for at least two events per month (three is optimal). Foster homes do not have to attend the adoption events with their fosters, but if you do it’s a great opportunity to talk about your foster to potential adopters.

Please considering fostering for Alley Cats and Angels today. If you’re worried that you’ll become too attached to your fosters, we also always need short-term foster homes to provide coverage during foster home vacations, etc.

Alley Cats and Angels is not your typical cat rescue….we are a rescue with a personal touch.

Please email info@alleycatsandangels.org if you are interested in fostering.

Thank you!

2011-10-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

Alley Cats and Angels has the best and most awesome supporters and volunteers. My heartfelt thanks to everyone that helped make our yard / bake sale a success. Thank you to everyone that donated items for the yard sale; baked for the bake sale, helped sort, price and organize before the sale; set up for the sale; and picked up donated items. Thank you (and I hope you are now finally warm) to al...l that braved the terrible rains and cold to staff the sale. Thank you to Daryl for being the yard sale goddess. Really, just a huge thank you to everyone. I am so proud to be able to work with some wonderful people.

The weather was horrible. We dealt with bitter cold and rain - and not just a drizzle, it was all out downpour a good part of the sale. Everyone was a trooper.

We made $2,400 yesterday at the yard sale and bake sale. We made another $111.50 today selling bake sale items left over from yesterday at Petsmart.

And because we had so much great stuff donated and all of the rain, we were not able to put out all of the items for sale, so we will be holding another yard sale this coming Saturday, November 5th.

Again, my deepest gratitude to all that make this possible,

Tia Hagnas
Founder and President

Updates

2011-10-25T00:33:00.002-04:00

I'm behind on posting, sorry. Getting ready for the fall yard sale and bake sell and preparations to move into another Petsmart adoption center, as well as taking in two kittens with deformed front legs has consumed all of my time lately. Most likely no posts until after the yard sale this weekend.. Sorry....

Update on the cats taken in from the Siler City Neglect/Abuse Case

2011-10-20T14:58:00.001-04:00

“Grandpa Tom”
Grandpa Tom was neutered and had dental done last week. He had 3 teeth removed and is healing, so he drools a lot. He has had his first round of deworming, and is on antibiotics for the infection in his mouth. He still has trouble getting around and will be on 'crate rest' for another 5 weeks as his pelvis heals. He likes to have his belly rubbed and has a big purr motor. There is a large scar over his eye from an old injury. Tom eats a can and a half to two cans of A/D food a day.

Yeah, he's a little rough looking, but he's still beautiful to us!

The Kittens
Tiny cat weighs 1lb 8.5oz, she weighed 1.5 lbs when we got her. Still has 3rd eyelid, but no puss in her eye. Is on eye medication. Tiny cat purrs when you pet her and likes to have her chin rubbed.

Orange boy plays with toys and other cats.

Fluffy kitten likes you to rub her belly.

The Two Younger Adults
Adult Male (Mac): The fluffy tabby male was neutered last week, as well as had some teeth pulled. He’s been on pain meds and antibiotics. He went back to the vet today and he was sedated again, and the wounds were lanced and samples were taken to be sent out for culture. A costly lab procedure but Dr. Tice needs to know what kind of infection it is in order to be able to determine the right combination of medications to treat him. It is possible that the foot may need to be amputated in the future, but with the culture pinpointing exactly what we’re looking at (what strain of infection, and possible fungal?), hopefully, medication and continuous care is all he’ll need for that food to heal. He is very sweet and loving. And very much enjoys a comfy cozy (and very clean) place to sleep and really good food. His personal butler also brings him canned food twice daily. He is doing well at the vet since he woke up from sedation and is playing with a toy mouse. (will work to get pictures of Mac).

Adult Female (Iggy): Last week, the vet had initially recommended euthanasia (not a common course of action for Dr. Tice) but we wanted to give her every chance possible for a happy and healthy life. She’s been on antibiotics and pain medication. Her wounds were so bad and on both feet. She went in to be spayed today and her wounds showed no sign of improvement at all. She was in extreme pain and Dr. Tice called me this morning and said she strongly recommended euthanasia. She does not believe her wounds will ever heal to the point where she will not have pain. She felt she was suffering, in great pain, and it was in Iggy’s best interest to help her peacefully pass. Here we have a vet who is never quick to recommend euthanasia say it was the most humane thing to do for Iggy, after more conversation, it was with much sadness and heartbreak that I agreed. It is very sad to lose one. And it is not much comfort, but she had a nice warm and cushy place to sleep for a week and very nutritious and delicious food. She too had a personal butler to ensure she had yummy canned several times daily.

General
All have received first round treatment for lice and have finished their first round of deworming protocol (Drontal, 5 days of Panacur, and 5 days of Marquis paste solution). All are eating supplemental canned food with Royal Canin prescription AD canned food, along with dry food.

Cats taken in fron Siler City Animal Neglect Case

2011-10-13T09:30:00.001-04:00

Alley Cats and Angels was one of the local rescue groups contacted by CARE (Chatham Animal Rescue and Education) today about a neglect case they were working on. Many times no food was being provided. The little brown marble tabby came fr...om a litter where one had already died and the person responsible for the cats didn't seek vet care for him. It makes me cry that he died unloved and hungry and possibly in pain.

Grandpa Tom, the orange cat is approximately 18 years old, was run over twice by a car driven by the person responsible for his care - a responsibility she obviously took very lightly, as she did nothing to care for these cats. He is thought to have a fractured pelvis and other possible injuries. He is FIV positive. He was starving. And he is a love bug.

The other two adult cats have wounds and one is FIV positive and haven't eaten in a while. The three kittens all have wounds and are emaciated - they eat like they haven't had food in quite some time. All cats are ridden with parasites.

All six of these cats are at the vet today. PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TO HELP OFFSET THE MEDICAL CARE OF THESE CATS - as much vet care will be needed. Thank you.

Picasa Web Album of Siler City Animal Neglect Cats

Adoption Update

2011-10-10T01:07:00.001-04:00

Adoption UpdateIt was a great adoption weekend. We found homes for seven great cats and kittens. The following cats were adopted:

Walnut and Blitzle (together)
Casper (adult!!!)
Shiraz
The Watch Cat (interesting story on how he got his name - I've posted it below)
Khloe
Courtney

Congratulations to the kitties and their new homes.

The Watch Cat
You might think the name “The Watch Cat” is an unusual name for a kitty, but it really fits. This incredibly handsome boy was one of three kittens trapped at a feral colony for TNR, however, they were just a little too young to be TNR’d so someone offered to foster us until we were old enough for spay/neuter. Unfortunately, two of the cats didn’t think much of humans. When they went to an Alley Cats and Angels’ foster home, the two hid all the time but this boy didn't hide. Instead he sat and watched everything. He was very interested in people and would watch to see what they were doing and what was going on in the house, Because of his interest in people, his foster mom knew he was meant to have a forever inside home. She started calling him “The Watch Cat” and the moniker stuck! He still likes to watch everything – he finds it all just fascinating. His foster mom fell fast in love with him but knows she can't adopt every cat she falls in love with! It was hard but she let him move into the adoption center. She was at the adoption event yesterday and had the final say on the adoption (his foster mom happens to be one of our best adoption counselors) and she knew The Watch Cat and his new family were a good fit for each other. Although she did cry. Sometimes we get extra attached to some of the cats and it's hard to say goodbye.

The other two kittens were returned to the back yard colony, however, since they were returned after being inside for a while to be tamed, our barn cat relocation protocol was used and the cats were caged on the caregivers back porch for several weeks before they were released from the cage.

Adoption Update

2011-10-02T20:29:00.000-04:00

It started out to be a painfully slow adoption weekend - no adoptions yesterday, the first time we've had no adoptions on a Saturday in what seems like forever! Of course it was an absolutely gorgeous day out yesterday, so maybe that kept people away.

Today was much better. Four adoptions today. Wiggles, Jackson, Trix (YAY Trix!!!), and Bob. BOB!!! Woohooo - Bob!! Sorry, we get extra excited when an adult cat is adopted.

We are so happy these families opened their hearts and homes to our rescued kitties.

Prison Cat Project - another update

2011-10-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

The prison cat project was featured again today in the newspaper. Bob Wilson wrote an article in the Opinion / Viewpoints section of the Durham News. The piece is titled "A Timeless Story of Cats and Cons". He also references a great project at the Indiana State Prison with the inmates and cats. It's great. Check out the article here:
http://www.thedurhamnews.com/2011/10/02/208890/a-timeless-story-of-cats-and-cons.html

Runt is adapting nicely. She lets me put her all over. Twinkletoes is coming around but a little slower but I can reach and pet her with no issues. Bobo and Smokey - the older of the cats we took in - are slower to adjust. I can reach in and pet Bobo but he's scared. When he looks directly at me, I blink slowly and then look away to let him know I'm not a threat. Smokey - who gave high fives to inmates - isn't so sure he likes the indoors but he likes his nice cushy bed! And they love cat treat. They think Temptations Tuna treats are the bomb!!

Prison cat project story is in the News & Observer

2011-09-27T08:59:00.000-04:00

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/27/1520831/after-prison-closing-what-about.html

I would like to thank the writer, Brooke Cain, for diligently working to get all the facts and also writing an article with a positive TNR slant. Hopefully this will help people know that there is another option - a humane option - for feral cats other than trap and kill by animal control.

No tax dollars was used for this project, it was funded by donations made to Alley Cats and Angels. In fact, this project saved the tax payers money by the prison not having animal control come in several times a year and trap and kill cats.

And for the bird lovers, who say cats are the primary danger to birds. According to Cornell Lab of Orinthology (birds) "By far the largest threat to birds is loss and/or degradation of habitat due to human development and agriculture. In some regions the loss of habitat is extreme." So for the cat haters that say cats are the primary threat to birds. Open your mind and read about directly from the bird people! http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/conservation/planning/threats

Adoption Update

2011-09-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

Three cats/kittens were adopted over the weekend. Waldo, Sasquatch, and Chessie. CHESSIE!!! YAY Chessie!! Chessie is an adult cat who is just the sweetest big ol' girl but really hated adoption events.

A very nice couple met her about a month ago when she was in the Petsmart adoption center but was headed on a long vacation. They checked back in with us when they got back and she was still available. Paws crossed she gets along well with the resident dog, then all should be ok.

Facebook Contest - Please Help Alley Cats and Angels will $500

2011-09-23T16:30:00.000-04:00

Alley Cats and Angels is participating in a contest sponsored by Capital Chrysler Jeep Dodge. The rescue group with the most votes get $500! You can vote once a day. Please go to http://www.facebook.com/CapitalChryslerJeepDodge. Like the page (the first time you visit), then on the left side click on "vote for contest", and then vote for ALLEY CATS AND ANGELS.

PLEASE VOTE DAILY! Thank you.

If we win, the money will go to our ALTER AN ALLEY CAT SPAY/NEUTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. Please spread the word.

Please be patient, the page may take a minute for the page to load once you've selected "vote for contest".

Thank you!!

Prison Cats Update

2011-09-22T01:14:00.004-04:00

In the summer of 2010, Alley Cats and Angels did a TNR project at a local prison. We TNR'd 15 cats, took 8 kittens and 1 cat into our adoption program and 4 kittens into our barn cat program.

On Saturday, the prison called to let us know they were closing down due to state budget cuts (inmates would be parsed out to other prisons), and asked if we would be able to take the four friendly adoptable cats. There were five, but one inmate who was released took Max the cat with him.

The last of the inmates would be moved on Tuesday (yesterday, 9/20) and we would need their help getting the cats. Went to the prison Sunday after adoption events but the cats took one look at me and headed for the hills! Marie P and I went back on Monday and were able to catch three of the four cats. Ok, actually, we took traps, food, and other supplies but two of the inmates actually got the cats. We were asked repeatedly by the few remaining inmates "you're not going to put Bobo to sleep are you", "you won't kill the cats, will you?". Of course not, they will be safe with us. We explained they will go to the vet and get checked out and get their vaxes updated, etc. We let them know the feral cats on the other side of the prison outside the gates would stay but that someone would care for them and make sure they are fed and watered (and if any newcomers show up, they will be TNR'd as well),

The relationship of the inmates and the cats was very touching.

Upset that we didn't get the last cat, but we had to leave for the day because had to get the cats settled and then move cats into the Petsmart adoption center.

Called Tuesday and Smokey (last cat) was sighted but hadn't been caught yet. Was going to try to get him tonight after I cleaned at Petsmart and drove in to put food out for the ferals. However, the prison called and said one of the officers could pick up Smokey and put him in the trap we left if we could come get him. Ummm, absolutely!

So all four kitties (Runt, Bobo, Twinkletoes, and Smokey) are now settled in their individual cages. They are confused, having never been inside except in traps last year before and after surgery. Each cage is set up like we set up barn cat cages - with a carrier with door tied open to cage for each cat to hide in, litterbox next to it, food and water up front, etc. Twinkletoes finally came out of laying in the litterbox and moved to the carrier tonight. Runt is still in the carrier, but I know she was out of her carrier because her toy ball was in her litterbox -- aha, she was playing!! Bobo is still hiding in the litterbox.

I'm not sure how "friendly adoptable" they are. But I have been able to touch and pet them on the nose. I'm actually trying to leave them alone some so they will eat and drink because they haven't yet. Poor kitties.

There are about 6-7 feral cats outside the gates at the other end of the prison. Fortunately, the storage buildings will be staying (they are raised up on cinder blocks) so on Monday, we were able to put two kitten sized litterboxes filled with food out (they hold a lot of food) - one under each shed to keep it out of the elements and then a large container of water also. Replenished the food tonight and it seems like that was the right amount to leave for the cats and whatever wildlife would get some. Unfortunately, I live 45 minutes from the prison so it's not optimal for me to feed there several times weekly (at least every other day).

We reached out to another rescue group - based in that area - and got an email back already from someone that can take on the care of that colony. They do travel some for work so we're still looking for a backup, but I am very thankful to IAR in Durham for sending out an email to their contatcts in the area and helping us find someone to help with the prison ferals.

Long post, so I'll close for now. I'll keep you updated on the progress of Bobo, Runt, Twinkletoes, and Smokey. I keep telling them to just eat their food (it's laced with meds) and they won't have to be caged for too awfully long.

As a last note, there were no kittens born at the correctional facility since all the cats were TNR'd last year. This proves that TNR WORKS.

Adoption Update

2011-09-18T23:28:00.000-04:00

Seven cats/kittens were adopted this weekend: Fozzie Bear (an adult and the last of the Muppet cats [mama to the muppet kittens]), Kimmie, Wednesday and Marsha Brady together, Whisper, Kelly, and Lexington (Lexie adopted by a family who adopted two kittens from us last year). Congratulations to the kitties on their new homes. Congratulations to the families that have a wonderful addition to their home, and thank you for opening your heart to a rescue cat from alley Cats and Angels.

Kenzie's adopters came by to visit and to report that she is doing well - even with the grandchildren. YAY!!!

RIP McLovin'

2011-09-12T13:25:00.001-04:00

This extremely emaciated and lonely lost soul was found Saturday by our TNR Task Force Leader, Marie P. He was found at a local fast food restaurant in a maintained colony. She saw him and could see he was extremely thin. She approached him slowly and expected he would start to run but he came towards her and was so friendly.

I get the call "are you driving?, no? are you sitting down?", expecting her to say there are somewhere a zillion kittens in this small managed colony, I was relieved that it was only one cat (we have no available foster homes right now), of course we take him in.

Marie set him up in a cage in an empty bedroom (where she typically recovers feral cats after TNR) and started small doses of A/D canned food mixed with NutriCal and water to make a puree so it was easy for him to eat. Very small doses at a time so he doesn't get sick. Around midnight, Jill and I headed over to Marie's house to give him some fluids and meet the sweet boy. He did so great with fluids - sat in a lap the whole time during the 125 cc's of lactated ringers.

Jill took pictures of him but because he's medium haired, you don't really see really now emaciated he is. He was nothing but bones and a big ol' head (not neutered). His sides were so sunken in, it was painful to see. Because he was so loving, Marie P named him McLovin'. Fit him to a T.

McLovin' went to the vet this morning for an exam and testing. The first test of course being an FeLV/FIV test. I got the dreaded call at 11:02 this morning. McLovin' is FeLV positive. After making sure it couldn't be a false positive and discussing it with the vet, it was determined that his very poor health was due to the FeLV and we had to make the hard decision to euthanize him.

Hearts are breaking - only knew him a short time, but fell in love. It's so sad. The knowledge that we provided him a soft and safe place to sleep for a few nights/days, gave him lots of love and attention, and filled his tummy with good food eases the pain only slightly. We are thankful he didn't die alone on the streets and in pain. We are sad, but we are happy that we got to know this wonderful boy, even if for such a short time.

We love you McLovin'. RIP and run free sweet boy.

Attention followers....

2011-09-12T11:57:00.001-04:00

And ones that I follow.. Having problems posting comments on some of the blogs we follow (Random Felines, Admiral Hestorb, etc). It started about a month ago and I haven't figured out the issue yet. I'm still following and reading but have been unable to comment. I miss being able to comment on your blogs. But I'm still able to comment on some blogs (Animal Shelter Life Volunteer), so I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?

Adoption program update

2011-09-12T01:23:00.000-04:00

Eight adoptions this weekend: Lambchop, Pikachu, Popsicle, Orangesicle, Pugsley Addams and Morticia Addams (together), Greg Brady, and Raichu were all adopted this weekend.

We also have one adoption pending neuter, rabies, and rest of vetting (few weeks away). Sasquatch is the pending adoption. After Saturday's adoptoin event, the family that adopted Popsicle went to the foster home and met Sasquatch and fell in love.

A very good weekend for the kitties. Congratulations to the newest members of the Alley Cats and Angels alumni!

We love our adopters....

2011-09-10T22:56:00.000-04:00

It makes us feel really great when people are so happy with the cats they adopted from us that they drive in from Wilson to adopt a third cat from us (the first two were adopted months apart). And when they say "we are always telling everyone to adopt from you because you all take care of the cats so well. It amazing what you all can do", it makes us feel even better!

Thank you so much for your confidence in Alley Cats and Angels. And congratulations on your new addition!

New Alley Cats and Angels Website!

2011-09-08T16:53:00.001-04:00

Check out Alley Cats and Angels newly designed webpage - this is our 'soft launch' so please let us know if you have suggestions or find anything we've missed. http://www.alleycatsandangels.org/

Thanks so much to Maria Brown, Ronald Murphy, Eugene Cheung, and Jill Walters for all their hard work!!

Not only do we have a new look, but we have a lot of new and improved content.

Adoption Update

2011-09-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

Five cats and kittens were adopted this weekend (Saturday/Sunday). Pretty good for a holiday weekend! The following were adopted: Creamsicle, Gomez, Malibu, Cindy Brady, and Kenzie.

A wonderful couple came and met Kenzie on Saturday and she was not on her best behavior at all (which is why she hasn't been adopted yet, she's a beautiful and sweet Maine Coon mix but doesn't "show well" at adoption events. I thought that would be it because she really was naughty to the people. But they came back Sunday and want to give her a chance. I think she's a good fit for them - as long as she'll be a good girl when the grand children come over for their weekly visit. Fingers crossed that she'll be as good as she acts in her foster home.

Congratulations to the kitties adopted this weekend and to their new families.

2011 Cash Raffle Winners Announced

2011-09-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our 2011 Cash Prize Raffle Winners:

$500 First Prize: Maria Brown
$250 Second Prize: Pam Long
$100 Third Prize: Joe Walker

Thank you everyone for supporting the cats and purchasing raffle tickets. The proceeds are going to our medical fund as we've taken in a lot of hard cases this year. We are so grateful for everyone's support. Thank you.

And an extra thank you to our first prize winner, Maria, who has donated her winnings back to the rescue.

Miracle Update

2011-08-30T20:25:00.003-04:00

Miracle is fast approaching 2 pounds - as of today, she was only 1.5 ounces shy of 2 pounds. But the even bigger news is that Miracle is now bright eyed and bushy tailed like a healthy kitten. No more looking at her and thinking "oh my, she's got a long way to go". She will also be small for her age but she looks healthy.

And, drumroll, she's playing like a healthy kitten! She's playing with itty bitty fuzzy toys and she's playing with bell balls. And she's trying to pounce on the toys when her leg cooperates. THIS IS HUGE.

Elizabeth Ruffing will be coming over this week to get pictures of the W kittens and Miracle and we'll post those as soon as they are available.

SO HAPPY!!

Last week for rafle tickets - please help us help the cats

2011-08-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

There is only one week until the raffle. If would like to buy tickets, please email us. If you're selling tickets, please do a final push to sell any tickets you have left. Also, if you think you can sell more and need tickets, please let us know - we have some left and can get to you ASAP (Sunday/Monday). The prizes are money and who couldn't use some more money!! Read more abou the raffle: http://www.alleycatsandangels.org/raffle.pdf

Our medical expenses this year have been extraordinarily high. We have had many expensive surgeries, in addition to almost triple the number of kittens that were so sick upon intake and have required continued medical care to get them healthy. Our bank account has been extremely hard hit and we really need to sell all the raffle tickets.

One of our supporters emailed us this week and said "I've been brought to tears so many times lately with the stories of all you're doing to save all these precious kitty lives... no matter the cost, you always give them the best new beginning so they can live happily ever after." This is very much true, we do everything we can for the cats we can save and that care is expensive. We are a smaller rescue group with a limited number of volunteers, but we rescue on a big level -- the number of cats we save each year is astonishing. Therefore, I implore you to please push out of your comfort zone if you're not comfortable asking people to buy tickets and please work hard to sell those tickets because the cats need you.

Below are just a few of the medical cases from this year.

Thank you.

Tia Hagnas
Founder and President

Light Willow (aka "pretty little amputee kitty")

Miracle, a "work in progress". Extremely small and underweight for her age due to malnutirtion (she's less than half the size and weight she should be). She is steadily gaining weight but requiring ongoing medical care for her health and her front leg.

Siren, sweet kitten with cerebeller hypoplasia. So tiny right now and requiring ongoing medical care

Casanova, one of three cats requiring eye enucleation (removal) surgery this year

Adoption Update

2011-08-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

Three adoptions this week. Martini was adopted Thursday and two of the Fine Wine Kittens, Pinot and Reisling, were adopted together today.

That calls for a celebration. So, how do we celebrate - martini or wine?!! Or catnip for the kitties? Well, I think the latter is the winner.

Adoption Update

2011-08-22T01:16:00.000-04:00

It was a pretty good adoption weekend. Six kittens were adopted this weekend: two of the Brady Bunch kittens were adopted (Bobby Brady and Jan Brady), the last three Stargate kittens were adopted (Adria, Sha're, and Teal'c), and Lucky Charm was adopted. You may remember Lucky Charm as "itty bitty spitty kitty from Spring Hope" - the most feral little 6-week old kitten. Well, she definitely blossomed into a wonderful little girl. So sweet and loving.

Congratulations to the kitties on their new homes. And congratulations to the families who adopted them. Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to our wonderful rescue kitties.

Adoption Update

2011-08-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

It was a slower adoption weekend, but three kittens were adopted this weekend: Tweety, Mojito, and Vala.

And while we're at Petsmart doing the adoption event, one of the managers from Staples office supply came wheeling in a Staples shopping cart with a little kitten in it asking if we had misplaced a kitten (um, no...). Apparently this little guy pressed the "Easy" button on how to find a new home and walked right in the front door of the Staples store (Brooke, I stole your joke!).

He so hungry that when we put food in front of him, he almost dive-bombed the bowl. We did scan him to see if he was chipped...nope. He's very friendly and appears to be between 8 and 10 weeks old. Clearly he's been with people but we can't imagine how he got to be in the middle of a very congested shopping area on a very big and busy street unless he was just dropped off there by someone. Possibly he hitched himself a ride on a vehicle?

We wanted to name him Staples, but his new foster mom vetoed that and named him Marco Polo because he's a smart little adventurer. We like that name too! He was FeLV/FIV tested last night and he is negative. YAY!

In the picture above, he's giving himself a bath after he had just been given a bath by foster mom. :-)

New pictures of Siren, our Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) kitten

2011-08-14T21:29:00.002-04:00

Isn't she beautiful?

Siren (est. DOB June 23, 2011) is such a sweet and beautiful girl - we know someone won't let Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) shy them adopting her. CH is a disorder found in cats and dogs in which the cerebellum is not completely mature at birth. The disorder causes jerky movements, tremors and generally uncoordinated motion. The animal often falls down and has trouble walking. Tremors increase when the animal is excited and subside when at ease. Although kittens affected with CH lead an otherwise normal life and have the same life expectancy as a cat without the condition, many shelters euthanize these tiny angels. But she’s safe with us.

Pretty little amputee kitty

2011-08-14T20:10:00.000-04:00

Meet our new pretty little amputee kitty. We found out about her last weekend and we trapped on Sunday and then Marie and team trapped Monday and Tuesday until this little princess was trapped. Her back leg was badly deformed and her foot...was turned almost 180 degrees and was pointing in the wrong direction. She went to the vet and had her back leg amputated on Thursday. She is not feral and is very sweet. Dr. Jon said the leg was a congenital birth defect.

Nothing pitiful about this girl -- look how happy she is now that she's had surgery and doesn't have all that "dead weight" to carry around. We hope that she was not in pain all 14 weeks of her life, but if she was, she's not now. And she's safe now.

Miracle Update

2011-08-12T12:46:00.000-04:00

Miracle has been shunning canned kitten food in favor of Royal Canin Baby Kat 34 so we've been doing supplemental syringe feedings a minimum of 5 times daily with KMR mixed with kitten nutrical and just a bit of canned food. Shake that concoction in a cocktail shaker and and pour it out through the strainer and it's perfect for syringe feeding -- might as well put that cocktail shaker to good use!

Well, today, she decided the canned kitten food wasn't so bad and ate a little on her own. She's still eating food out of shallow canned food covers but she's drinking water from a very shallow dish and doing well.

She's starting to "peep" every now and then so I think she's feeling somewhat better. I bet killing off those intestinal parasites and ear mites is also making her feel better.

Her weights:

Tuesday: 14.8 ounces
Wednesday: 14.8 ounces
Thursday: 15.3 ounces
Friday: 16.3 ounces (YAY!!!! over one pound now!!)

Injured feral update

2011-08-10T01:03:00.000-04:00

Marie and Nicole went out both Monday night and tonight to catch the injured kitten and finally caught him tonight under the drop trap -- which was tricky because the racoons were out in full force tonight. Poor kitten is about 10 weeks old maybe and it certainly looks like his back leg is broken. He'll be going to the vet tomorrow (well, later today). We don't know if he'll need a cast or amputation, but they will take good care of him and then we'll continue his care. He'll most likely become a new long term resident (aka "lifer") of Alley Cats and Angels.

Meet Siren and Sasquatch

2011-08-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

These two little ones came from a mobile home park where our TNR Task Force Leader, Marie, has been trapping. Sasquatch was named such becuase he has a big head, lots of fur, and huge feet - he's polydactyl.

Siren has had the shakes and has a neurological issue. Siren was diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) today. Apparently her mama came in contact with feline distemper while she was in utero. It is not contagious, merely a congenital defect that she seems to have adjusted to. Her motor skills are affected and she does have some visible shaking...but she purrs, plays and is otherwise a happy girl. She'll need a home that is willing to make a few modifications to keep her safe. Sasquatch shows no signs of having CH.

Meet a little Miracle

2011-08-08T23:14:00.000-04:00

As I posted earlier, Alley Cats and Angels responded to a request for help on Friday, 8/6, and took in 6 cats. A mama and her four 3.5-4 month old babies, and one little one who was temporarily named itty bitty pitiful kitty.

This little one was one of the most pitiful kittens we've rescued in a long time. Close to 9 weeks old (confirmed by vet today), this little one is the size and weight of a 4.5 week old kitten. She was originally "rescued" over a month ago by a well meaning person after she saw some young boys abusing it. Unfortunately she did not have money to buy kitten replacement milk and the things a growing kitten needs. This little one was fed only condensed milk and hadn't grown in at least 3 weeks when we took her in.

This little one is an angel, and at her age, she should be chasing little play mice and balls with bells in them. However, she doesn’t have the energy for that – she sleeps with her teddy bear and hobbles out of bed to take a couple bites of food at one time or go potty.

This little girl is a real fighter, a survivor, and she's a miracle – so we have named her Miracle. She is way too small for her age, she's underweight (currently weighs less than 1 pound) and her body is in poor condition – she’s very thin, despite her potbelly - which is most likely due to parasites. She tested negative for both FeLV and FIV - yay! And she's currently on medication for intestinal parasites and ear mites. She is weak and has muscle atrophy on her right front leg; she does not use that leg well at all. The vet has recommended we monitor her leg carefully and the worst case scenario, it may have to be amputated in the future.

Despite being so thin, weak, and not being able to use her right front leg, she gets in and out of her tiny litterbox and gets up to eat. What a trooper.

She's so small that we put her food and water in the plastic tops that go on open cans of cat food - beause they are so shallow. She prefers Royal Canin Baby Kate dry to canned food/formula mix, but we'll do supplemental feedings with the canned food to make sure she gains weight. Dr. Jodi wants us to weigh Miracle every day to make sure she's gaining weight and will go into Dr. Jodi Reed at Harmony Animal Hospital on a regular basis for follow-up.

One look at Miracle and she will steal your heart and break your heart at the same time. She has a long road ahead of her until she's a healthy girl but she's in very good hands with us.

Please keep Miracle in your thoughts and wish her lots of good health. She really is much tinier than she looks in her picture.

Adoption Update

2011-08-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it wasn't the 18 adopted last weekend, but we are quite happy with the five (5) adoptions we had this weekend. Tasslehoff, Ash, Zen, Mercedes, and Zonks were adopted this weekend.

Of course we had intakes!

We took in two (2) kittens Wednesday. And took in six (6) Friday. The little one from Friday is a fighter. He's quite pitiful though - actually he's more than just pitiful and he has stolen my heart. I really hope his bloodwork and such turns out ok. The other four kittens (approximately 4 months old) and the mama, while thin are not emaciated and are super friendly. Flea, ear mite, and intestinal parasite treatment has already commenced and full medical will be started soon.

Yesterday, we had two (2) intakes. A sweet but EXTREMELY vocal kitten about 7 weeks old and then a little one maybe 4 weeks old was brought to us after it was found by someone who said he almost drown in a big puddle from the storm. He's a fat little porker so he was nursing on a mama cat. He's not big on the bottle and doesn't go for formula on a saucer yet so we're syringe feeding. So much for going into the office to work at the paying job tomorrow - I'll be working from home again. So glad I have that flexibility. But this little guy is so lonely. I have him in the living room with me in a smaller cage with a heating pad and some stuffed animals but I need to go out and buy another sound machine that has the heartbeat selection or see if I can find an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock becaue that will at least simulate mama's heart beat.

The person that brought the little bitty one into Petsmart yesterday came back today to give us very detailed information on the feral cat where she works that she feeds. Marie P and I went out to trap tonight because there is one female thought to be pregnant and one older kitten that may possibly have a broken leg. It was hot as hades and the mosquitos were loving me and ignoring Marie (perhaps I'm sweeter? bwahahaha!!!). Caught one adult, possibly the pregnant female. Stayed for quite a while but did not see the hurt kitten so will keep going back. We did see one kitten but he's a little too old to tame with our limited resources but not quite old enough to TNR so we'll be getting him/her in a couple of weeks. They are at a business but it's a lovely location with lots of grass and trees and a huge pond. The lady that brought us the kitten yesterday feeds and we'll also show her how to trap so she can help us trap at that colony. The hurt kitten, once caught, if too old to tame, will be vetted and then we'll find someone in our rescue to keep him (with either Marie or me being the main "suckers"). If he does have a broken leg, that is treatable and we do not euthanize for treatable - however, he would be inside too long during treatment and recovery to safely be returned to his colony without a relocation confinement.

In barn cat news, we relocated three barn cats today to one barn home. And it was a close drive too! YAY!!!

New rescues

2011-08-05T20:27:00.000-04:00

Just got a little kitten settled in that someone "rescued" 8 weeks ago. Her friend said the kitten hadn't grown in over 3 weeks because of malnutrition. He looks like he's 5 weeks old. I'm feeding the little one malnourished canned food, KMR, and nutrical right now.

The other kittens we took in are older and are malnourished also but not as bad. Fleas and ear mites galore (I'm working on that in a few minutes).

Vet visit will be lined up ASAP. And I'll work to get pictures.

Remember this baby?

2011-08-05T14:03:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day 2011 TNR project in Spring Hope - took in three kittens, including "itty bitty spitty kitty". Had to wear heavy gloves with spitty kitty even though she was only about 6 weeks old. She was wilder than a March hare and wanted to rip my face off. Well, this little lady is now a total lovebug. And she purrs non-stop! She and her sister were wedged between a fence and some wood back in a pen where a lot of snakes were rumored to be. They were both quick sick. We named itty bitty spitty kitty Lucky Charm because she's lucky we found her - she most likely would have not survived without medical treatment. Lucky Charm has been seen by a specialist at Animal Eye Care and she has an issue with her tear duct and will probably always have a slightly weepy eye. The doctor said there is nothing that needs to be done and she is fine.

Itty Bitty Spitty Kitty on Mother's Day 2011

Super sweet Lucky Charm today

Trix today

The "healthy" kitten taken in that day, Captain Crunch, didn't make it. He was "healthy" or so we thought when he was rescued but he ate from the dishes the adults ate from and died from salmonella. Not something the vet would have found when they all went to the vet the next day. We've talked to the caregiver about being sure he washes the cats dishes. Of the five older kittens (6 + weeks) taken from that colony, three died from salmonella. A situation that could have been avoided with proper cleaning of cat dishes. So sad.

Help Save a Life - Foster!

2011-08-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

Can you help save a life by fostering?

We are in desperate need of foster homes so we can take in EIGHT 4-5 month old kittens. We are spaying mama cat through our Alter an Alley Cat program but the owner of the mama cat is struggling and the cats are living only on very meager table scraps each day.

We need foster homes please! We can split them up into much smaller groups. Alley Cats and Angels takes care of all medical expenses and these cats will be vetted as quickly as we take them in as possible.

Record breaking adoption weekend

2011-07-31T20:07:00.000-04:00

Alley Cats and Angels had a record breaking adoption weekend. We adopted out 18 (yes, eighteen!) cats and kittens this weekend: 16 kittens and 2 adults.

The adult cats adopted are Texas (aka Tex) and Batman. The kittens adopted are Moscow, Colby Jack, Minx, Ham, Petunia Pig, Prissy, Wile E. Coyote, Midori, Sylvester, Honey, Athens, Miranda Panda, Zorro and Zinnia together, Zoomer, Maybelline.

Kupe update

2011-07-29T23:29:00.000-04:00

Kupe (koo-pay) was released from the vet yesterday and is doing well in his foster home. His foster mom, Laura, reports that he is a mooshy lovebug! He craves attention and is happy to give and receive love. He's doing well physically and doesn't have any problems getting in and out of the litterbox.

This handsome tripod kitty will be available for adoption soon. Here is is resting in his bed at his foster home.

Adoption Update

2011-07-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

The following six cats/kittens were adopted over the Saturday through Monday. YAY and congratulations on your homes, our little furbabies.

Adopted:

Hickory
Skittle
Pepe Le Pew (his foster mom called him Monsier Le Pew but he is now Senor Le Pew. He was adopted by family who will be moving to Spain in a year. Our little boy is going to be a world traveler!).
Tropicana
Hans and Leo were adopted together by their foster mom

Kupe is doing well

2011-07-23T22:11:00.001-04:00

We have named our wonderful three legged kitty boy, Kupe. It's Polynesian for "heroic adventurer". Kupe is doing well and will be discharged from the vet in about a week.

We do need a great foster home for Kupe, so please let us know if you can provide a temporary space for him. Thank you.

Barn Relocation and Photo Essay

2011-07-20T15:02:00.002-04:00

We relocated two cats this weekend to barn cat meca. We're talking heaven on earth for cats that can't be adopted into traditional homes. One of the primary reasons I founded Alley Cats and Angels was to focus on ferals with the intent of having a barn cat program for feral cats that could not be returned to their environment. To that end, I personally relocated over 200 cats into safe barn homes. But I've started passing the torch to one of our TNR Task Force Leaders, Marie P. Late last year, she started shadowing me on relocations and in the past few months, she's started reviewing barn cat applications and doing the interviews.

We do the relos together because, let's face it, I'm a control freak. But the barn cat program is my baby and we have worked hard to make it successful. But soon, she'll probably some of the relos on her own - she's a smart lady and she knows the program, how to decide which barn/building to best set up the confinement cage, etc. But she'll still probably come with me when i do relos because "she strong like bull"! She hoists those cages and heavy bags of litter like they weigh nothing. :-)

Marie and I are a lot alike, in that our hearts belong to the ferals.

We were fortunate that Elizabeth Ruffing was able to accompany us on the relocation and photograph it. Hopefully this will show it's not a quick and easy process. There is no dump and run. There's reviewing the application, interviewing the potential barn cat caregiver, and then determing which cats would be the best fit for the location. It typically takes close to an hour prep time to get everything (paperwork included) ready for the relocation. We typically drive at least one hour each way to the relocation site, although we have done much farther (415 miles in one day to relocate 5 cats). It takes about an hour at the barn site to go over paperwork, set up the cages, etc.

We supply everything needed for the relocation: the cages, hidey carrier, food/water buckets, litter box and scoop, linens, mini broom and dustpan, etc. We take each site 40 pounds of litter, a large bag of food, and several bags of kitty treats.

The barn cat photo essay is on our Facebook page and can be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alley-Cats-and-Angels-of-NC/132383006913#!/media/set/?set=a.10150240498226914.320809.132383006913

Reminder - Dine for the Cats Fundraiser on Tuesday, July 19

2011-07-18T12:57:00.002-04:00

Join us for a fundraiser at the Sweet Tomatoes on Capital Boulevard, Raleigh on Tuesday, July 19th from 5-8PM. Enjoy great food and support the cats. All proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit the Alter an Alley Cat fund.

A meal and a beverage must be purchased and the flyer must be handed to the cashier in order for Alley Cats and Angels to get credit. You can print the flyer by visiting: http://www.alleycatsandangels.org/sweettomatoes.pdf
Please help us help the cats by coming out and enjoying delicious fresh food. The Alter an Alley Cat program subsidizes and sponsors spay/neuter surgeries for cats owned by lower income families and feral cats whose caregivers cannot afford the cost of spay/neuter.

Adoption Update

2011-07-17T19:40:00.000-04:00

It was another great adoption weekend for the kitties. So happy for these wonderful families that are adopting our rescues. We feel great about all the adoptions.

And for those who have asked us -- yes, we definitely do turn down applications (including two in the past week and a half). We work hard to rescue these babies and we work hard to make sure they go to good homes with families who will take proper care of them.

Eight (8) cats/kittens were adopted this weekend:

Foghorn Leghorn
Ricotoni and Daffy Duck together
Herb
Ignatius J
Sweet Tea (yay Tea!!! Tea was adopted by a lady who met her over a month ago when she was returned and has stopped by the adoption center whenever Tea has been in the center and Tea captured her heart. Again, YAY TEA!!!!!!)
Road Runner
Madrid

Welcome "tripod kitty"

2011-07-15T23:13:00.001-04:00

Which is a terrible thing for me to call him but he does not have a name yet.

This handsome boy was an owned cat who disappeared for several months and when he came home he had the most horrific wound. The family took him to the vet but could not afford the medical care - it was so bad that his front leg had to be amputated - so they were going to have him euthanized.

We are thankful to Dr. Rose of Zebulon Animal Hospital for her care of this kitty. He was tested, neutered, vaccinated, had his leg amputation today, etc. Apparently he purred the whole time he was awake. :-)

Dr. Rose is going to recover him for the next 12 or so days. And then he'll go to an Alley ats and Angels foster home.

We will come up with an extra special name for this extra special boy.

Another adoption

2011-07-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

Archer was adopted tonight. He'll be "bach-ing" it with some bachelors! The little monkey will be very happy!

Adoptions this weekend...

2011-07-10T20:44:00.000-04:00

We are thankful for the four adoptions this weekend. Bubbles was adopted, Pasketti was adopted, and Bugs Bunny and Vienna were adopted together.

Another adoption, and new kittens

2011-07-06T21:39:00.001-04:00

Gogo was adopted tonight. The last of his litter, Gogo is a handsome 5-month old black kitten. So glad it was his turn.

Then took in a litter of five kittens from our wait list. Glad we could make room for them. This litter of kittens have been living outside and battling bad upper respiratory. The are about 5.5-6 weeks old; three black kittens and two brown tabbies. They have been de-flea'd, ears cleaned and treated with ear mite meds, intestinal parasite meds started tonight. Oral antibiotics also administered. They are settling into the hall bathroom. I do miss baths. *sigh*. However, I can deal with showers only for the safety of kittens. I havent gendered the kittens yet but if they are the right mix of males/females, I'll name them after Clue characters (Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Ms Scarlett, Mrs Peacock, etc.).

Independence Day Adoption

2011-07-06T01:43:00.000-04:00

RoMeow was adopted today. He was the last of the R kittens and honestly - the cutest! Although all three are adorable with great personalities.

Since we were moving into the Petsmart Raleigh adoption center Monday the 4th, we decided to go ahead and do an adoption event too. One adoption makes it worth it. And the absolute perfect fit for the family and kitten.

Adoption Update

2011-07-02T20:36:00.003-04:00

Sherbet was adopted last night - to a home without young children (remember, he was returned because the littlest children in the house terrified Sherbet). He was adopted by the co-worker of Karen - one of our key volunteers (and virtual office adminstrator). Yay, Sherbet!

Today, Sweetums - our little poly-bob (polydactyl bobtail) and her brother, Kermit were adopted together. Buttercup and Blossom were adopted together. And Dublin was adopted.

The local SPCA is doing $17.76 adoptions through Monday so we were not anticipating many adoptions and are really happy with how many we had. But we stand by the fact that our cats have some of the best medical care, plus we are one of the only local rescues that vaccinates against FeLV, our Home Again microchips come with rescue paid registration (no additional fee to adopter), and we provide a health guarantee on our cats (if they get sick or need to see a vet within the first 21 days after adoption, we get them into one of our vets and we pay the bill) so we aren't reducing adoption fees (yet anyway).

"Hug Me Slug" Fundraiser

2011-06-30T13:45:00.001-04:00

Local artist, Elizabeth Ruffing, has a little Hug Me Slug fundraiser going on here in her Etsy shop: http://tinyurl.com/66kesnw. $5 from the sale of each of these 7-inch Hug Me Slugs will go to Alley Cats and Angels of NC rescue, to help cats and kittens in need.

Buy adorable cuddly Hug Me Slugs and help support the cats of Alley Cats and Angels. If you're thinking "slugs - cuddly? really?". Well, yes indeed they are. I received one for my birthday last year and love, love, love it!! They make great gifts. Elizabeth sold one to someone on Buckingham Palace Road in London earlier this week. So they are internationally known adorableness!!

Smitten with Kittens Adoption Events Continue

2011-06-29T17:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Petsmart in Knightdale

Monday, July 4 from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Petsmart in Raleigh (corner of Capital Boulevard and Millbrook Road).

Great adoption weekend

2011-06-26T22:13:00.000-04:00

What a fantastic adoption weekend. Nine kittens were adopted. I was hoping for an even dozen, but nine is super fantastic! The following were adopted:

Rome and Milan together
Snoodles
Cadbury
London
Rody
Randy
Abby Cadabby
Berlin

Unfortunately, it's still a few more days until end of quarter at work and the need for proposals is really high so I still won't be able to catch up reading the various blogs until late in the weekend. I really miss being able to check out the blogs I follow every day. But being busy is great job security!

Adoption Program News

2011-06-22T16:08:00.000-04:00

End of quarter at the paying job so I'm so far behind with blogging...

Marshmallow, Beaker, and Snuffaluffagus were adopted last weekend. YAY!!

We did also have two cats returned that were adopted at the beginning of the year because of allergies. The adopter was hoping she would acclimate to the cats with her allergies but that didn't happen. We welcome Tex and Panthro back with open arms. And thanks to the Rosatti's for fostering these two.

We had 15 kittens and one adult spayed/neutered and vetted this week. Many more will be done next week (and every week thereafter for a while).

We plan on having a big "kitten palooza adoption event this weekend". Kittens of all different colors and hair lengths. Variety - "we has it"!!!

More adoptions

2011-06-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

Stella, out latest one-eyed princess, and Gilligan, an adorable orange tabby kitten were adopted on Sunday.

More adoption program news

2011-06-12T00:03:00.000-04:00

Gigi and Jelly Bean were also adopted today. YAY!!

Sherbet was returned today. He's a great cat and the family really liked him, but the younger children in the house (ages 2 and 4) didn't do so well with him and he took to hiding when the children were awake. The family realized that was no way for the kitty to have to live so they contacted us yesterday about returning him. We are glad they did the right thing for Sherbet and he is a wonderful boy and we are happy to have him back. We make a lifetime committment to our rescues so for any reason at any time, they are always welcome back with open arms.

Zammie ADOPTED - Whoop, whoop, whoop!!!!

2011-06-11T23:40:00.000-04:00

Zammie has been with us since January 2010. He was dumped at a pet store with injuries to his neck. They called us and we took him in. At first it looked like he had a collar that had embedded into his skin and he looked like he had gastric bypass and had lost 50 pounds in a short time because of all this extra skin he had. He received medical treatment for his wounds, testing, vaxes, etc. And we thought all was well.

But after a short time, Zammie had to go to the vet and get stitches because the skin was split all the way through and we thought maybe the other foster in the house had hurt him and they were seperated. But then it happened again. The whole house was scrutinized to make sure there was nothing sharp that he could've caught himself on - and there wasn't. But then it happened again and he went to a vet who specializes in the "unusual"! After several examinations and consultants, Zammie was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) - which means his skin was extremely fragile and hyper-extensible (super stretchy).

We tried to keep his claws clipped very short and filed, but if he scratched himself, he would split the skin through and need stitches again. It was then determined that Zammie had to be four-paw declawed. That was not a decision that was made lightly as we do not believe in declawing. But with Zammie it was a medical necessity or he would spend the rest of his life going back and forth to the vet many times monthly getting stitches and wearing an e-collar and his quality of life would be horrible - that is not rescue. We researched, the vet researched, and it came down to Zammie had to be 4-paw declawed or euthanized. We went with the 4-paw declaw. Since his declawing in May 2010, he has done great. No more stitches needed, no more constant visits to the vet and wearing an e-collar (which Zammie truly hated). And at his exam this year, he was given a clean bill of health.

Zammie could only be adopted to a family with no other pets. And he could not be adopted to a house with rough surfaces such as a brick fireplace, etc. His special needs status scared off most people.

But early this week we received an application and they were interested in Zammie. We called and talked with her about his condition and she met him Thursday at his foster mom's house and learned more about his condition. The subject line of email we received after the meet and greet was "I love, love, love Zammie" and wanted to schedule the adoption as soon as possible. Honestly, it was very hard not to fall in love with this boy! He has the cutest little button tail - he is a rumpy manx - no cartilage in his tail, just a little cotton ball fluff of fur. He had a double and triple chins due to his EDS and had a belly that hung to the ground. Seriously - how could you not love all that?!?!

Zammie went to his forever home today. Wooooooohooooo!! He is going to be so spoiled rotten. Thank you. You have gotten a great cat and he has gotten a great family.

Adoption program update

2011-05-31T16:38:00.000-04:00

Well, for the fourth or more week in a row, adoptions are still way down. We had one adoption each the last two weekends (Lucy Liu the first weekend and Gordon this past weekend). But we've had many drop-offs in the past week, including the litter of five very young kittens (3.5 weeks old) that had only been given water in an almost 24-hour period before they came to us.

So with more than 70 young kittens in our care and a lot of adult cats as well, we've had to officially close intake.

Our emergency medical care has been very high this year and we've had so many emergent cases come to us. This past weekend, Montgomery Jack spent a good part of his weekend at the regular vet on Saturday and then urgent care - Veterinary Speciality Hospital on Sunday. Jack has a prolapsed rectum, but after medical treatment he is eating and eliminating well and his prognosis is good.

So it's back to the drawing board to think of some fundraisers. Everything always works out, it just sometimes take a little longer to go from "ack...what" mode to "ahhhh...it's ok" mode. :-)

Meet Miranda Panda

2011-05-23T16:02:00.002-04:00

Survived an encounter with a pit bull who does not like cats at all. Dr. Jodi said she's actually unscathed by the dog, has lots of intestinal parasites and is malnourished -- but that's treatable. Maybe her name should be Miracle Panda.

The below picture is after she drank a ton of water and was flea combed and before her visit to the vet.

Under all that hair, she's just skin and bones. So terribly thin, malnourished, and dehydrated. We are so thankful for a vet we can call in the middle of the day and say "we have an urgent case, can we bring them in right now". And the answer is always yes.

She's safe and sound inside now. She was taken to the Sasser house last night, who will be fostering her. They are already in love and she will be fat, sassy, and spoiled in no time!

Reverse Math Strikes Again

2011-05-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

Or...we're just really bad at math. Four adoptions between last weekend and this weekend: three adults - YAY!!! and one mid-age kitten [5.5 months old]. Miss Cole, Minou, Rambo, and Lucy Liu were adopted.

However, we managed to take in over 30 cats/kittens in the same time frame. Can you say Oy Vey?!! We don't take in cats just to take in cats. All of these cats were in very dangerous situations or very sick and time was of the essence on all of them. This really reinfores the fact that we desperately need more foster homes.

We have adults and kittens of all ages that need foster homes.

Kittens coming out our ears!!

2011-05-15T00:59:00.001-04:00

Kittens here, kittens there. Kittens, kittens everywhere!!

We have lots of little ones right now:

The G kittens: four orange tabby girls, 1 orange tabby boy, and 2 black male kittens: now 13 weeks old and available for adoption!
The Drop-offs (not named or themed yet, but they were dropped off at my previous job before I left): 3 adorable medium haired kittens, approximately 8 weeks old
Candy kittens: three sweet kittens from a feral colony, now approximately 10 weeks old
Morgan kittens: four sweet kittens from a feral colony, now approximately 6 weeks old
Skittles' kitten: four sweet kittens born to a mama cat - friendly mama cat that showed up in a feral colony, kittens are now 5 weeks old
Muppets: these polydactyl darlings were born to a friendly mama cat who migrated to a backyard feral colony: five kittens now approximately 8.5 weeks old
Spring Hope litter: 4 kittens born to feral mama. Mama will go back to colony after spay: these darings are approximately 4.5 weeks old
Spring Hope Mother's Day kittens: three adorable darlings, taken in on Mother's Day, approximately 7 weeks old
Europena City kittens: several litters from one feral colony: 2 Maine Coon mixes, 1 orange tabby, 1 white and brown tabby, and 5 Siamese mixes: approximately 8 weeks old

Tomorrow, we'll be taking in yet more kittens from feral colonies.

If you "like" us on facebook and like our Kitten Alley page, you can view pictures on our Kitten Alley facebook page under the Available Cats and Kittens photo album.

Apex Peak Fest 2011

2011-05-15T00:50:00.000-04:00

Alley Cats and Angels participated in Apex Peak Fest again this year. We made approximately $450 in cat bed and catnip toy sales and donations, but the most important thing was getting the word out about TNR and low cost spay/neuter options. Bed/toy sales went to the main medical fund and all donations in the donation jar went to the Alter an Alley Cat fund.

Lucy Liu spent the day entertaining people. She's an adorable 5-month old tortie found in a Harbor Freight parking lot. A nerd bot came by to visit her and it didn't faze her one bit! Lucy Liu represented the "angels" of Alley Cats and Angels

Feral Cheryl, the awesome sock doll with her cropped ear, posed inside a TruCatch trap. She represented the "alley cats" in Alley Cats and Angels. She also allowed us to demonstrate how the trap works.

Feral Cat Article - Heart2Home Magazine

2011-05-10T15:41:00.001-04:00

The article I wrote for Heart2Home Magazine about feral cats appears in this month's issue. http://www.heart2homemagazine.com/images/may2011.pdf. It starts on page 23.

My mom will be tickled pink. :-).

Some editing license was taken on my original article. I really wish they hadn't taken out the part of "these cats are killed with the salve to the collective conscience that..." And a few other of my preachy comments. I'll get an unedited version of my article up shortly.

Spring Hope TNR Project Update and another TNR project

2011-05-09T15:56:00.000-04:00

Marie P and I went to Spring Hope yesterday to trap for our spay day today. We were lucky enough to have Elizabeth Ruffing accompany us so we could take photos (she's the one who took the photos for our TNR photo documentary). We warned her - you really haven't seen this many cats in one place at one time.

We've TNR'd so many cats in such a short amount of time that it's getting harder to catch the cats. After being there for over four hours, we only trapped two cats and the other cats we saw that were not ear cropped proved to be very wily and knew what the traps were for. We left a couple of traps and showed the caregiver how to set them and how to release the cats if he caught an ear cropped one, but to call us if he caught one that's not ear cropped.

So we only caught two cats yesterday but we did find three kittens. One was under the front porch and two (appear to be the same age) and then Elizabeth found two more back near the goats. They were wedged in quite tightly and she braved the tall grass and possible snakes and got them out. The babies appear to be about 5 weeks old and have upper respiratory - one not so bad, one more with breathing (wheezes), and one who is really bad off. Not only is he congested and his eyes goopy, one of the eyes is already opaque and may or may not be able to be saved. He had to be fed by hand because he doesn't seem to be able to see or smell the food. They are currently at the vet (came to the office with me this morning until someone could pick them up and get them to vet aroudn 10:30). Thankfully, no one was here at the new job - Monday must be work from home today. So here are some pictures of the little meeps. The itty bitty hissy kitty is the really sick one. He had to be picked up with gloves at first because he'd do all he could to rip you to pieces, but he was just scared. He did well last night when I was picking him up and holding him.

(I love this pictures, he's so fierce!!)

And then a "funny thing happened on the way home from Spring Hope".... We stopped at fast food row near the highway and lo and behold, to what do our wondering eyes did appear? Cats. Feral cats. Of course! Trapped three yesterday for spaying/neutering today. Talked to one of the restaurants and found out there are about 20+ cats there. This colony will be a priority because the area cannot sustain any more growth. We do have some pictures to post and will update this post a little later with those pix - Elizabeth had to take a break from uploading/posting/etc. and get some real work done. :-)

The Cats Need Your Help!

2011-05-09T10:54:00.003-04:00

It's been a big medical year already and these big expenses have hit us hard. We are proud of the fact that we do not turn a cat away because it will need immediate extensive (and expensive) medical treatment, and cats - both friendly and feral - get the necessary medical care.

This year we have had three eye enucleation (removal) surgeries, one diaphragmatic hernia surgeries, an ultrasound to check for kidney stones, and last week a perineal urethrostomy ("PU") surgery for a cat with a urethral obstruction (the PU surgery took 3/4 of our yard sale money). And because 97% of the kittens we take in are born into feral colonies, they often come to us in poor health and this year has been no exception, as we have weekly visits to the vet for kittens that were very sickly and debilitated when we rescued them.

We believe in providing the best medical care for the cats and we are thankful for the wonderful vets who work with us on pricing. But it still can really have a big impact on our expenses and our medical fund has been hit very hard this year. Our emergency medical (does not include routine medical such as spay/neuter and vaccinations) for this year is almost $6,000. That is almost as much as our emergency medical was for all of 2010 and it’s still very early in kitten season.

Please consider making a donation today to help us continue to help the forgotten felines. The cats need you and so do we. Thank you.

Yard Sale (and other) News

2011-05-04T10:25:00.000-04:00

We had an outstanding yard sale on April 30th. $2,600 raised for the kitties. Which is great, because we've taken in so many high risk kittens that were not in good shape when we got them that we've spent almost $600 in just two weeks on non-planned medical (sick kitty, etc.). And one of our long-term residents is currently in the hospital for a blocked urinary tract and the medical bills for him may be close to $1,000. But we raised the money at the yard sale, so all is well right now. A huge thank you to everyone that donated to the yard sale, volunteered with the yard sale, and bought.

Bo Duke was adopted over the weekend. YAY!

In other news, I just started a new job and am learning new people, processes, and technologies so blog posting might be sparse for a while. Wish me luck everyone! Thanks.

Adoption update, barn cat update, and Spring Hope TNR project update

2011-04-26T14:15:00.000-04:00

Adoption Update
Parmesan and Pickles were adopted this weekend. No surprise there - small kittens at 3.5 months old and super sweet and super cute!

And Sweet Tea was adopted last night!!!! The reason for all the exclamation points after Sweet Tea? Well, Sweet Tea was one of the Bojangles kittens (found behind a Bojangles on a TNR project last year). Her sibings, Boberry Biscuit and Chicken Biscut, never tamed up for adoption and Sweet Tea was really shy but her foster mom said definitely not a barn cat. Sweet Tea would flinch some as you reached towards her, but once you started petting her, she loved it. But the flinching would make lots of people shy away. But someone met her Sunday and fell in love with her. We are jumping for joy about this adoption.

Barn/Garden Cat Update
Boberry Biscuit and Chicken Biscut (yes, I do get flack on their names!) were relocated to a great barn home on Saturday. They went to a horse rescue barn and if this relocation is successful, we will get more requests for barn cats at other rescue barns (this is a test case). Boberry and Chicken Biscuit were the perfect match for the barn and and we have a very high success rate with relocations - as we work to match the cats to the barn and barn to the cats the same way we do to match adoptables and families. We're sure this will be a success. And since we have about 30 cats on the wait list for barn homes, having more available barns for relocation would be terrific.

Spring Hope Update
We've trapped 49 cats (plus a bunch of others but they were "repeat offenders" - meaning already TNR'd but wanted the smelly food in the traps!!) in 16 days. The cats are starting to get a bit wise so after tomorrow's release, we will take a short break (1.5-2 weeks) and then start up again. Two little fat kittens last night were not quite old enough to take in (we have no more available bottle feeder foster homes), so we will wait another two weeks and then pull them in. They appear to be about 3.5-4 weeks old but not eating on their own.

April 10, 2011

15 cats trapped for TNR: 11 females and 4 males
Plus, 2 kittens taken in to adoption program

April 13, 2011

11 cats trapped for TNR: 9 females and 2 males

April 19, 2011

12 cats trapped for TNR: 6 females and 6 males
Plus 1 mama cat trapped for TNR at a later date and her 5 week old babies taken into adoption program. Mama will be TNR’d once her babies can eat on their own. While not idea

April 25, 2011

10 cats trapped for TNR: sex yet unknown (not back from spay/neuter yet). But report that one or two may be adoptable so will be evaluated for adoption program

More trapping at Spring Hope

2011-04-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

Last night we trapped another 13 cats from the Spring Hope colony. That makes 38 spayed and neutered since April 11th (not counting one of the cats from last night - see below).

One of the cats trapped last night was a new mama and the caregiver was able to show us where her babies were. So crawled in the back of my SUV with a carrier, towel, and the trap, locked myself in, and transferred mama to the carrier and then put her babies in it with her. She'll stay in my hall bathroom until her babies can eat on their own and then she'll be sterilized, vaccinated, ear cropped and returned to her colony. While it's not ideal to keep them out of their colony for that long before returning them, this is a front yard colony and we can let her go in one of the sheds where she can reacclimate for a little while before running loose again. She has the five cutest babies who seem to be about a week old. Mama gets scared and hides behind the toliet when I go in that room, but she's taking good care of her babies.

We are making great strides with this project in a short amount of time. Next time we trap, though, we are taking several extra traps (even if we have to take two cars) because we had quite a few "repeat offenders" last night and we'll need to just put them in time out next time we trap.

The almost 100-mile round trip (it's 94.7 miles) makes it a bit hard to do on a weeknight but last night, both of us were able to get out of work a little early and since my SUV was already loaded with clean traps, drop trap, towels, tarps, and trapping kit, we were able to get to the location while it was still light out and had at least an hour of trapping with light. Makes it so much easier to do when it's light and there are so many black cats that keep going in the traps. Can see a cropped ear very nicely in the light! Of course, by the time we were done, it was dark and although we tried to take pictures, we were more concerned with trapping kitties and then it was too dark. But we'll get more pictures soon.

Last night, we trapped 6 males and 7 females (1 of them being the mama above). Quite a few females were pregnant. We have prevented 60-80 kittens from being born in just a short time, since over two-thirds of the cats trapped so far have been female and pregnant.

Bad storms, but good adoption weekend

2011-04-18T12:23:00.002-04:00

With the predicted bad weather, I really didn't think we would have many adoptions this weekend, but I was finishing up the third adoption of the day at Petsmart, when the the power went out and stayed out until late that night due to storms. Wilma, Kismet, Charlie Girl, and Luke Duke were adopted this weekend.

Poor Charlie Girl, everyone called her fat - or asked if she was pregnant (no, absolutely not! We have a 100% spay/neuter before adoption policy no exceptions). Honestly, I was about to make her a little tag for her cage that said "I'm NOT pregnant, I'm just fat!!!" because everytime someone stopped by, they would ask if she was pregnant. Charlie Girl's foster mom told me she's muscular and I'd scold her and ask her to cut back on the amount of food she gets because Charlie Girl was overweight, not muscular. Well, Charlie Girl was adopted by a couple that are both personal fitness trainers and one is also a nutritionalist. Charlie Girl will be on a meal and fitness plan in no time! They are already switching over her food to kitty weight loss food.

The storms were frightening, and all I could think about while at Petsmart where my personal cats and the fosters at my house - I was so worried. But all of our volunteers and cats are safe. However, the damage in this area is devastating, many lives were lost, so much damage to property everywhere, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this weekend's tornadoes.