Weekend Update

Adoption Program
The weather was so beautiful that the traffic at PetSmart was a bit slower than usual this weekend, but Hemingway was adopted today. Hemingway is the gorgeous long-haired tuxedo cat who is polydactyl on all four feet (two extra toes on each front foot and one extra toe on each back foot). He went to a great home with three children. The mother teaches kindergarten and is off for three weeks so they'll all get to spend quality time together. The couple has a 12-year old and three dogs.

Congratulations Ritchie family, you adopted a fantastic cat. And he's lucky to get to live with such a great family. I'm going to miss Hemingway and those toes (he has 7 toes on each front foot and 5 on each back foot).

Barn Cat Program
We relocated several cats to a great barn yesterday. Smaller barn but very nice with a winding staircase to a great loft. Eli and Plaxi will be very happy there once they are released from their cage in a few weeks.

AMAZING progress for Alley Cats and Angels' barn cat program

In the past eight days, Alley Cats and Angels has placed 12 cats in barn homes. These are cats that were feral, semi-feral, or extremely shy and anti-social. One horse farm took 4 cats and four other farms each took in 2 barn cats. And we have a relocation of 3 cats lined up for a horse farm next weekend (April 18).

In the past, we had to blindly email farms and beg them to take cats and could go months without finding a farm home. But now people that have adopted barn cats in the past from Alley Cats and Angels are referring other farms to us. As of today -- only 3.5 months into the year, we have already placed half the number of cats in barn homes as we did in all of 2008. This a landmark for us -- but most importantly, it is a great accomplishment for the cats; this means those cats needing barn homes will not have to live in cages for a long while we find them a home.

Alley Cats and Angels has also partnered with several other local rescue groups to help feral, semi-feral, and extremely shy/anti-social cats in the rescue group's programs. We have been successful in finding barn homes for those cats.

Just as we do with our adoption program, we work hard to match the right barn cats to the right barn. For example, a very high activity level farm/barn would most likely not be a match for hard core feral cats, but would typically work for friendly cats with litterbox issues or cats that like people but are shy. Each situation is different and we evaluate each farm and set of barn cats carefully to ensure the right match.

Relocating is not as simple as taking cats and releasing them in the barn. Alley Cats and Angels has a protocol for relocation that must be followed. The cats must be confined in their new environment where they can acclimate to their new surroundings by sight, sound, and smell. Alley Cats and Angels loans each farm cages (with all the other items needed) to be placed in a secure environment for a period of 2-4 weeks. During the confinement, there is litter box duty and farmers need to talk to the cats to bond with them. We even provide the farm with litter needed during the acclimation period. Once the cats are released from their cages, farms must agree to provide food, water, and shelter for the cats. We do follow-up calls to see how the relocation is going and to answer questions if there are any.

Since we founded in early 2008, we have placed over 90 spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and ear cropped cats in horse farms, llama farms, and other rural situations. We have placed cats in locations including (but not limited to) Bahama, Chapel Hill, Henderson, Hillsborough, Lumberton, Raleigh, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Selma, Warrenton, Youngsville, and Zebulon.

Sienna, Rosco, and Tara to their new barn home this weekend

And is it ever a beauty of a barn. The family that is fostering Mama 2 and her babies (the family is in the process of naming the mama and babies) has a fantastic 12 stall barn with several climate controlled areas. Sienna, Rosco, and Tara were relocated there yesterday. Everyone at the barn is excited about the cats. It is a higher level activity barn so the cats will be confined for one month instead of the usual two weeks, during which time various people at the barn will work to bond with the cats. This makes barn cats numbers 15-17 that have been relocated this year to date. They will be very well taken care of - spoiled and pampered I'm sure.

Also, after leaving the barn we went to go visit Mama 2 and the babies. Talk about fat little porkers! But oh are they ever gorgeous babies. And it looks like one of them has curly hair! Can't wait to get more pictures posted.

Another barn cat relo today

Took a vacation day to do a barn cat relo. The house/barn owner took four cats and she will take good care of them. Cowboy, Princess, and Fiona are somewhat social. Mr. Bad Boy is true feral - hissing and spitting and growling at me today! Honestly, if they want to go in the house, she'll let them. It was a good fit.

This makes cats 9 through 12 that have been relocated to barn homes this year.