People are not calling County when they discover kittens. They are calling Feral Fixers. Which is a good thing. Previous years, in addition to the calls we got, County would be full of kittens. Now, our fosters, our homes, our basements, are replacing the kitten hallway at County. That is progress. It is also progress that with each litter of FIVE, SIX, SEVEN kittens, we are getting the moms spayed so that they cannot continue to produce later this year or into the next. At the end of May, we had neutered 14 more cats than the same time last year.
We are truly in a torrential downpour of kittens, tho. Seriously, we get calls of FIVE, SIX, SEVEN kittens on a daily basis. And, knock on wood, they are healthy! These moms are doing a fabulous job out there.
The goal of Feral Fixers is to reduce cat overpopulation and euthanization. Clearly, we are making headway. We do need your continued help. If you have the resources to foster for us, that would be invaluable. Mention fostering to your neighbors and family, you never know. We need help to make these kittens as adoptable as possible, because the homes are out there, people are constantly asking for kittens, but we have to be sure the kittens are neutered and well-adjusted before they go on to their new homes and that takes time and fostering.
In order to be sure that we neuter as many cats as possible so that next year there is no Storm, our summer fundraiser is titled “Keep Those Cages Empty.” On looking at our symbolic photo, knowing that the cages are empty and knowing they are located at County, your first response might be worry that they are empty because cats were euthanized. Not the case. They are empty because kittens have not been born to fill them due to all of the help you have given us in the past. They have been consistently empty since January of this year. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel!
So, please, help us keep those cages empty for as long as possible. Our generous matching funds donor has pledged $1,000 for “Keep Those Cages Empty” and our goal is to neuter 100 cats with the funds raised. So we need to go beyond matching the initial $1,000 and achieve a total of $3,500 in donations. The expense to us for each feral is $35. Please consider donating enough to neuter one, two or three in order to “Keep Those Cages Empty.” Donations can be made thru our website or by mail.
Creating A Demand
Several shelters in the area help us by taking in our kittens and friendly adults for adoption. Our thanks to ADOPT, Felines & Canines, Hinsdale Humane Society, PURRS and West Suburban Humane Society for stepping up and taking in our cats! In some cases, these were bottle babies (big drain on resources), kittens that had not been neutered yet (resources) and FIV+ cats (resources). If you or your family are planning to adopt, ASK if the shelter has any cats that came thru Feral Fixers. Create a demand for our cats. I assure you, they are the best!!!
Cats Still Working Hard to Get To Us
Part of receiving all of these kittens, is the trapping of them. We have the cutest, tiniest traps. About 4 inches square and 18” long at the most. We have had several adult cats, over 10 lbs in weight, squeeze themselves into those traps like sausages in order to get to us. And the sweetest, friendliest cats to boot – lucky for us, as getting a cat to back up, to transfer it into a larger trap, that cannot look over its shoulder at what its backing into is no easy task! Fuzzy and Pepe can be seen on our Facebook page, they are doing great, getting accustomed to being indoors and the consistent food!