January 13th Adoption Event Print E-mail
The Feral Blog
Written by Sue Lee   
Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Holding our adoption event on Sunday this past weekend, 1/13, at the Wheaton PetSmart, turned out to be a great choice weather-wise. We missed Saturday's snow storm and the roads were sufficiently cleared to enable our fosters and a good number of guests, even from distance locations, to attend the event. We had a successful day :-)


We were also situated in the center aisle of the store, farther away from the dog training area, so barking was not as much of an issue. 15 kittens (Sweet Potato, Squash, Pumpkin, Baxter, Breezy, Allegro, Alto, Petey, Daphne, Pesto, Pickles, Cowboy, Corazon, Winkie, Irish) and 2 adults (Aviva, Hodges) were the stars of our show. Although somewhat frightened in the noisy store environment, everyone did a great job of impressing our guests.


5 kittens were adopted at the event by pre-approved adopters:

  • Sweet Potato was adopted by a terrific family from Batavia. Their 10 year old daughter loved him. In addition to his new human buddies, Sweet Potato will have a 7 yr old female cat to keep him company.
  • Daphne and Pesto won the heart of a nice couple from Huntley. They will be the couple's first fur children in their new home. They had a separate room complete with cat tree all set up for them.
  • Baxter and Breezy were the choice of a wonderful couple from Big Rock. They have another cat and large dogs, so Baxter and Breezy will feel right at home, having been fostered in a home with other cats and large dogs. These folks are true cat lovers. They previously took several of our feral cats requiring relocation to live in their horse barn and shop. Thanks much!

An application was also received for Winkie and Winette from a great family in Carol Stream. They lost 2 cats previously and were looking for new companions for their 7 & 9 year old sons. Their application has been approved and a visit is scheduled for next week.


Cowboy and Corazon caught the eye of a nice couple from Chicago, but they stopped at another event after ours and found new kitten companions there.


Many thanks to PetSmart for hosting this event. Thanks also for the heated pet beds and mats that they donated to us earlier in the week.


Adoptions have been strong from our foster homes since our last adoption event on 12/15/18. 24 kittens (Duncan, Constance & Cotton, Star, Canfield & Cancun, Gladstone, Hazel & Pasquale, Onion & York & Winona, Neroli, Kayak & Ampere, Bruce, Diego, Twister & Yori, Digger, Parsnips & Butternut, Canada & Canape) and 2 adults (Nina, Iris) have found loving homes.


We closed out 2018 with 294 total adoptions for the year. Since becoming a licensed shelter in June 2013, we have placed 1497 cats & kittens in loving homes. Quite an accomplishment for a dedicated group of wonderful volunteers & fosters!!!


Many thanks to the volunteers and fosters who made this event a success (Sara, Steve, Candy, Alan, Kellie, Diane, Debbie, Bonnie, Amanda, Jennifer, Laura B, Kevin, Julie, Annalise, Marilyn). A special welcome to Alan & Kellie, our newest volunteers, who quickly picked up and did what needed to be done. The teamwork with set-up, clean-up, adoption counseling, adoption paperwork and interacting with our guests was commendable and most appreciated!


Many thanks also for all of the other valuable contributions to this event - to Candy for the excellent photography & videography during the event; to Connie, Stephanie and Ted for promoting the event on our Facebook page and web site; to Steve for the ever-improving professional-looking cage cards; to Debbie and Mike for the on-going updates to the Adoptable Cats & Kittens board and binder; to Sara for helping with the laundry; to Sara/Steve for coordinating our lunch run.


Following Frosty Claws this coming Sunday, 1/20, at the Villa Park VFW (39 E St Charles Rd, Villa Park) from 12noon-4pm, we have 3 more adoption events planned for January & February:

  • Saturday, 1/26, at the Pet Supplies Plus at 720 E. Ogden Ave. in Naperville, from 11am-3pm
  • Saturday, 2/9, at the PetSmart at 63 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton, from 11am-3pm
  • Sunday, 2/24, at the PetSmart at 63 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton, from 11am-3pm - this is the first PetSmart National Adoption Weekend in 2019

Hope to see you there!


Thanks,

Sue
 
Thank you Interact Club Neuqua Valley High School! Print E-mail
The Feral Blog
Written by Sue Lee   
Friday, December 28, 2018

Members of the Interact Club Neuqua Valley High School wrapped gifts at the Barnes and Noble in Naperville on Saturday, 12/22, through Monday, 12/24. Nora, Reesa, and Gatha (left to right) wrapped gifts to raise money for Feral Fixers. With 4 scheduled days of wrapping, various student volunteers raised $424. Nora Schneider, daughter of Gillian Schneider, and Gillian are long time Feral Fixers supporters, who have fostered many litters of Feral Fixers kittens.


Thanks much girls!!!


(Click on the thumbnail to see a full size picture)
 
December 15th Adoption Event Print E-mail
The Feral Blog
Written by Sue Lee   
Sunday, December 23, 2018

Our adoption event on Saturday,12/15, at the Wheaton PetSmart turned out to be the ultimate dog test for our kittens! Our cages were set up next to the dog training area and an intermediate dog obedience class started at 11am. The result - a loud and frequent chorus of barking for the first 30 minutes of the event! Fortunately, the advanced dog obedience class at 1pm was much quieter. ARF was also conducting dog adoptions in the store for the first couple of hours. So there were a lot of canines for our felines to deal with! The kitties were on high alert with all of the barking initially, but things settled down as the day progressed.


Kudos to our brave kitties who endured all of this noise and still showed their sweet personalities to our guests and adopters. 15 kittens (Alonzo, Posh, Gladstone, Yori, Twister, Constance, Comfrey, Cotton, Hazel, Pasquale, Duncan, Keenan, Barbie, Pickles, Diego) and 1 adult (Aviva) were the stars of our show.


We were quite busy, particularly at the start of the event with lots of good foot traffic and a couple of pre-approved adopters. 3 adoptions occurred during the event and 1 immediately afterwards.

  • Barbie was adopted by a nice family from Hanover Park. She is their first pet. Barbie showed her out-going personality and handled the attention of their 2 yr old son well.
  • Although only his cute little face peered out from the fleeces he had crawled under to hide from all of the barking, Alonzo won the heart of a great couple from St.Charles. He will have a 5 yr old cat brother to help him feel comfortable in his new home.
  • Comfrey was the pick of a terrific couple from Carol Stream, as a companion for Baron, whom they adopted from his foster home, shortly afterwards. In addition to playing with each other, the 2 kittens will have 2 yorkies to keep them company.

Many thanks to PetSmart for hosting this event. Next time they promised to put in the center aisle - away from the dogs ;-) Thanks also for the generous food and cat bed donations they provided.


As a special holiday gift to our adopters in the upcoming weeks, we are giving each adopter a gift of their choice for each kitten adopted (cat bed, cat teepee, cat scratcher/perch, pet cushion), while supplies last. Many thanks to Catherine for bringing these gifts to the event and distributing them to the fosters at the event for subsequent distribution to adopters, when adoptions are completed in the foster homes.


Adoptions have definitely heated up with the approaching holidays. Many folks are looking for kittens to join their families while they have off from work and school and have time to get them acclimated.


11 kittens (Lancaster, Dinghy, Sea-Doo, Sugar Pie, Columbia, Cobbie, Pearlie, Penelope, Persia, Count, Squire) and 1 adult (Detroit) found loving homes since our last adoption event.


9 kittens (Duncan, Constance, Cotton, Star, Canfield, Cancun, Gladstone, Hazel, Pasquale) and 1 adult (Nina) have been adopted since the 12/15 event - a very busy week! And there are more visits scheduled for the weekend :-)


I think our numbers will be up in December!


Many thanks to the volunteers and fosters who made this event a success (Sara, Steve, Candy, Laurel, Diane, Joanie, Kevin, Erika, Jeff, Debbie, Michelle, Cheri, Kaitlyn). Set-up was smooth and efficient thanks to Sara, Steve and Laurel. Clean-up was also very efficient, thanks to Sara, Candy and Steve. Special thanks to Sara, Joanie, Diane, and Candy for help with adoption counseling and paperwork - your help was critical when we were busy. Thanks also to Debbie, Diane and Michelle for transporting kittens to/from the event.


Many thanks also for all of the other valuable contributions to this event - to Candy for the excellent photography & videography during the event; to Connie, Stephanie and Ted for promoting the event on our Facebook page and web site; to Steve for the professional-looking cage cards; to Debbie and Mike for the on-going updates to the Adoptable Cats & Kittens board and binder; to Sara for helping with the laundry; to Steve for coordinating our lunch run and carrier assembly.


Another great team effort!


With the holidays upon us, we will take a short break from adoption events, although I anticipate adoptions will continue to go strong from our foster homes. Our next adoption event is targeted for Saturday, 1/12. The location is still being worked, so stay tuned.


In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the Holiday Season with family and friends (human and furry!) and ring in the New Year with a cat or kitten sitting on your lap or laying next to you ;-)


Happy Holidays!

Sue
 
Thank Goodness its December! Oh, My Its December! Print E-mail
From The President
Written by Tammy McAuley   
Thursday, December 20, 2018

Are you sure this is a good idea?
As you can imagine, as the calendar rolls by, conflicting emotions are produced. Here it is already December and we have so much more to do! December, we can take a little break! While we cease neutering ferals because of the cold, etc., there is the rush to neuter all the kittens still on hand - which we have done! December is the time for our Holiday Card, our print newsletter, preparing for Frosty Claws, catching up on all the things there has not been time for all year, increased adoptions, more calls about ferals that are sick or injured and need intervention, other than s/n.


2018 has been a really tough year, fewer volunteers, movement in key positions in the organization, we're all getting older and that has new responsibilities and time pressures for each of us. We have been unable to find the right location for our building as of yet, unexpected roadblocks, and again, time constraints as we still have all the original responsibilities to manage.


Load 'em up!
2018 has been a great year, we neutered 654 cats, the overlap between caretakers is resulting in colonies being neutered more completely, we don't have to go to Chicago for all our s/n - DuPage County Animal Services has stepped up in a vital way, ADOPT Pet Shelter has done a huge number of surgeries for us. Residents are much more willing to shoulder the responsibility of fostering kittens and adults themselves, working with us to get them adopted. DuPage County Animal Services will schedule appointments with caretakers to neuter ferals, release them back to caretakers. Feral Fixers is being acknowledged and respected for our work, more and more.


Donation of a "new to us" vehicle, which has enabled us to use fewer vehicles to make a trip for s/n or to increase the number of clinic trips in one day. Rescue Bank, a nation-wide organization, has been helpful with food donations as well as connecting with vendors for other supplies that are a huge benefit.


We've ended the year with several trips in December for s/n. On 12/6 we sent 17 friendlies to ADOPT, 8 males and 9 females. On 12/12, a friendly male popped up, no other solution, ADOPT squeezed him in at the last minute. On 12/13, we sent 9 cats to ADOPT. 4 ferals - two that had been held onto in hopes they were going to be friendly, a cat that was allowed in/out, a mom cat that was finally ready for spay, 5 friendlies - the last of the kittens! Of those, 6 were female and 3 were male. This brings us to 27 for December, 654 for 2018 and 10,971 since our beginning in 2007! Many thanks to Debbie, Dedra and Charli for transporting!


Join us at Frosty Claws!


Traps in the snow...
We are working on Frosty Claws – our 11th annual – join us on January 20th at the Villa Park VFW, 39 E St. Charles Rd, Villa Park, from 12 noon to 4PM. Huge number of cat-friendly people, lots of fun, lots of food, a great time is had by all! We will have Silent Auction, door prize raffle, stick raffle, our boutique - great stuff! Many people love to participate by donating gifts – please keep in mind that it should be items that are new, collectible, handmade – we’ve had an antique toboggan, wall hangings, a Lake Michigan sailboat trip, Chicago Blackhawks tickets, cat shelters, quilts, you name it! Can’t re-gift to family members? Gift cards that you cannot use? Make handmade prize-winning pottery? We’ve received some surprising things that our attendees have loved! Please contact Tammy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 630-881-3977 about donations. Still wanting to bake after the holidays? Please contact Sue at 630-661-8509 if you would like to share your special recipes with an appreciative crowd!


If you would like to volunteer for Frosty Claws, help set-up, transport, help during the event, clean-up at the end of the day, please contact Tammy 630-881-3977. Many hands make light work!


Thank you all for all the gifts we have received in 2018 and wish you a


GREAT NEW YEAR!
 
Last trip for Ferals... Print E-mail
From The President
Written by Tammy McAuley   
Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Keenan
This has been a very hard year. Many changes, fewer volunteers, fewer hours to do the same amount of work. Ferals result in more friendlies, without more fosters, the flow in must be halted. Therefore, our feral surgeries will stop on 11/1. The friendlies we have on hand at that time will get their surgeries as they get old enough but no new kittens will be accepted after 11/1.


This is not easy to say “no”, but we are working with a limited resource – our time and our health. There has to be a reduction in workload somewhere so that the people involved in Feral Fixers can go on next year.


If you trap, you are responsible for arranging spay/neuter, contacting rescues for placement of any kittens/friendlies. You can contact DuPage County Animal Services, ADOPT Pet Shelter, Catnap From The Heart, PAWS, SPAY IL or your own local vet. We will not be doing any scheduling until the weather breaks in the Spring – around April most likely.


Two Girls & a Boy
Every shelter is currently full of cats and kittens. Despite our efforts, kittens are still being born and there are not enough adoptions. Rescues continue to bring cats in from out of area and out of state, further limiting our resources. Rescues continue to allow females to give birth, even when they are not sure how pregnant the female is – sometimes waiting almost the entire gestation period of 9 weeks.


We currently have 44 adoptable cats and kittens on our Petfinder page. We have more kittens that just came in and will have to be fostered and neutered before posting for adoption. Please share our adoptables with friends and family so that we can get our “new” friendlies into foster and on their own way to new homes!


30 Cats and more to come!
This post has some pics from today, 10/23. There are 30 traps and transfers in my garage, a few with multiple kittens inside because I ran out of traps on hand! Hopefully no one will poop on another’s head! Tomorrow a very few kittens will be going on to foster but the rest will most likely stay in traps for another few days until they can find a foster. Or be in a cage in my basement – not a bad place but not ideal. Fall kittens are kind of late this year, usually the rush is at the beginning of September, not towards the end of October.


Remember, we count on you, our “public” to speak for us, forward our adoption event information – this weekend, 10/27, tell people to fill out our adoption applications in advance, be pre-approved for that special cat that is coming their way! And bear with us during this year end, we want to be here, neutering our butts off next year!


October Trips



Since our last update, we have made 4 s/n trips and one single cat was neutered at Glen Ellyn Animal Hospital. In all, there were 36 ferals, 23 friendlies, with a few already neutered cats, there were a total of 54 surgeries for October so far, bringing the year’s total to 534 and the total since our beginning to 10,851. Many thanks to Charli, Debbie, and Dedra, for transporting cats this month! Couldn’t do it without you!


(Click on any of the picture thumbnails to see a full size picture)
 
Jackson Galaxy Approved Print E-mail
Audios / Visuals of the Week
Written by TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsKatt   
Thursday, November 02, 2017

Feral Fixers is "Jackson Galaxy Approved!"
 

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