Whew and News!

Cat Nap from the Heart of La Grange took all our 'delivered' kitties. 9 beautiful egyptian looking kittens and 2 beautiful mama's. If you're looking for a kitten that's georgeous, sleek and with that look.... Visit CatNap in LaGrange. And, Katrinka, the beautiful Seal Point with striped wiskers, visit Animal Care League of Oak Park, she'll be there on Thursday. We went trapping for a mama (already pregnant) and her 3 little cuties today. Mama moved them so we're starting over. We'll keep you posted! This is Nicki and her kits, Gracie & Cookie. They are all friendly and just waiting for a new home. Give us a call! They also need a sponsor! We got 2 more calls for TNR today. One from a woman who feeds cats about 15 minutes from her home. She's wonderful, she's been taking care of cats since 1991. We TNR'd 8 of these cats last year. One, a white one, was illusive, sometimes there, sometimes not and we didn't get them. She's been attempting for a couple of months, with no luck. The CM talked to a woman who feeds down the block and apparently, the white cat is usually there - along with a few more. They will be TNR'd next week, the 5 kittens from 2 different mom's may come here or go to another rescue who specializes more in adoptions. We like them! The other from a woman north of here who has 3 plus cats and kittens. She and her neighbor share feeding. We're conference calling tomorrow so we can give info to both, saving time! We love people who love their yard cats and who understand the importance of TNR!!!!!

Donate Part of Your Yard Sale Proceeds!

Last year, Jennifer Wolfe of Wolfe Photography in Forest Park donated part of the proceeds of her garage sale to CatVando. Thanks again, Jennifer! This year, think of us when you're having your garage sale. Or if you just want to make a donation, we could really use it. A growing number of our TNR's depend on funding from CatVando. With the increase in Strays and kittens, we're really stretched. Thanks to Chicagoland Stray Cats for their generous donation of $200. It paid for Katrina and 3 of the 2118 Colony cats last week and will cover another 3 this week. 2118 is an example of what we run into. 2118 is comprised of cats that have been multiplying in a house for years, decades, actually. Grandma had cats and kitties too. Every once in awhile, when there were too many in the house they'd open the door or call Animal Control. When Mom died, Daughter let the cats out, unsterilized. Shortly after the cats were left out, she left. So, the cats have been put out with no food. Numbers are unknown. These cats are in an area where 90% of the cats have been TNR'd. It's an area about 4 blocks long and 2 blocks wide. In 2005-6 about 70 cats were TNR'd. Now there are about 30 in that same area - plus the new ones. I've been feeding since I found out, hoping the cats won't spread and can be TNR'd on the spot. The 3 so far were male. When there, I've seen 2 others, both pregnant. Neighbors said, there are a lot of cats but couldn't give actual numbers. We'll be working to round them up with food and trapping for a couple, three weeks or more, then, they will be one of CatVando's sponsored colonies until we can find someone to sponsor them. We'll keep you posted on numbers. Remember, think of us next time you have a barbecue, birthday party, any time people are gathered! We'd love to provide you with a donation jar all about our mission and work at CatVando. We'd be happy to provide a receipt and would love to post your donation on our Blog! Yes We Can - we can ride through these tough economic times and come out the other end better for it! Let work together to solve today's problems.

Today's New Kitties

These babies are new today. Someone delivered them and their friends, another mom with kittens all black or black and white. They're all skinny and a bit scared but friendly. A little good food, some good supplements, and they'll be ready to roll. Actually, they're ready now. We'd let these babies go with a deposit to assure return for spay or neuter and suggestions for proper nutrition to assure a healthy life. They're not even named yet! Mama needs a home too. Someone had to give up their cats and their kittens. You can tell, aside from food, these cats had a lot of love.

More and better photos of both soon.

The advent of new kitties is stretching our coffers! We need donations to cover the cost of these kitties. They all need not just food and supplements, but, deworming, flea treatment, spay/neuter, vaccinations, microchipping - then there's the extra litter and laundry. Oh my! 12 more mouths to feed!

Katrinka is looking for a home.

Here's the beautiful Katrinka. She's a special kitty with quite a history in her short years. We're guessing about 2-3 years old. She was stuck in the attic of a Colony Manager in Maywood. A woman who is the only feeder in an area heavily infested with strays and ferals and gets lots of cats her way. CatVando subsidies her with occassional food and pays for her TNR's. Katrinka spent about a month between her walls before she had to tear a wall open to let her out. She was very skinny. Then suddenly, after she started putting on some weight, she was pregnant. She had 5 little ones in her before last Tuesday. She's very sweet. Kim, I and Darrion fell in love with her right away. At this point, she LOVES being pet but not so much being held. Marci and Animal Care League said she'd never seen striped wiskers like she has. With beautiful light blue eyes, she's listed as a Seal Point. She's part Siamese but doesn't have the yowl of the breed. Not a great pic - will try for better another time. It doesn't show her color, her wiskers or her beautiful blue eyes. She's ready for adoption now. Next Thursday, Animal Care League is taking her to include in their adoption. If you want her, she's ready! Her fee is $75, which includes, spay, distemper & rabies, microchip and she's even ear tipped! If you'd like to come by and see her, give us a call 708 829 6013.

Another Day, Another Surprise

In the world of TNR, things change daily. We work with street cats. We work in an area effected by the economy, who's population is has been effected by the economy long before the effects were felt by others. First, the number of strays, then today, 9 kittens and 2 mama's dropped at our doorstep. Zowza. We can't take in that many kittens without being overloaded. So, in our usual, 'figure it out' manner, we're hoping to enact our foster home in senior residence plan. We'll keep you posted Our Spruce Up continues! Today, Barbara Cole of Maywood Youth Mentoring brought Darrion, David and Kequanis all about 15 years old, to work on CatVando projects. We had a lot of fun with lots o' learning. We moved things around, cleaned traps and carriers, took apart and cleaned the hairy fan. They love the cats - get a bit exuberant but they're learning. Darrion has a great way with animals. He's interested in becoming an animal behaviorist and has already started reading a book he borrowed 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf". So far, Darrion is coming back tomorrow. Kequanis is a good worker and an excellent entertainer, his ability to change his voice and his love of the mike, coupled with his willingness to work is wonderful. David, the newby of the group, adjusted to things pretty well. He's a watchful boy. He steps in slowly. Initially cautious with Bella, our wonderful Belgian German Shephard mix soon won him over and he's the one who took the fan apart, got rid of the hair and cleaned the fan and grill. They really did a lot to help cats today. The Spruce Up Continues! Maywood Youth Mentoring is bringing over kids and their mentors to work on some special projects. The rack is going to be finished. A roof is going to be built and concrete is going to be laid to accomodate the Aftercare Rack. Going to be another big weekend - if you have some extra time, stop by, we can always use the help! Saturday 10-3pm. And/Or, bring food - hungry teenagers need lots of fuel! And Kequanis, who also does lay down on the job

The New Face of TNR

More Strays, Faster Pregnancies

seems to be the way it's going with our TNR this spring.

So far we've spayed 2 mamas with 5 & 6 week old kitties. Both were pregnant already, while still nursing. That's frightening!

We're trapping more strays this year than in the past. It's one of the delimas of TNR. It's always been our belief that if a cat has a good feeder, someone who has their cats TNR'd and provides food, water and shelter while monitoring the colony for new cats or medical needs, that that cat is pretty lucky. However, when there's a recent release who's sweet, scared, and used to being a pet, the lines get blurred. Not being a shelter, we can't house the cats for any length of time. We have fosters that will do temporary care but with the number of strays we're finding. Shelters are besieged with people giving up their cats and dogs and often can't take another. Many of the areas we cover have been heavily effected by the economy, release of pets is unfortunately, inevitable. If you have a solution to offer, please do.

Out of 5 cats last week, 3 were pregnant, 15 kittens were prevented. One of the mom's, with 6 in her belly was still nursing 2-6 week olds. Two out of 5 cats today were friendly strays.

Spectacular Spruce Up - date

What an incredible weekend! A wonderful outpouring of energy, hard work, friendships forged, similarities shared and lots and lots got done. We had about 10 people each day, some of hours and a couple for both days. It's amazing how much we got done. No pictures now - waiting for the before and after but here's a glimpse of the weekend's events. The first to arrive at about 9:30am were Chuck and three students from Lane Tech. They came for Ellen's Winnebago. It's going to be a Lane Tech student project! Unfortunately, Ellen doesn't get it back all spruced up and road ready ..... but it's going to a good place for it's new life. In trade for the Winnie, Chuck and the boys (sorry guys, I don't remember all your names), moved all the lumber and limestone tiles for the cat houses from the driveway to their new home. They did a great job. Remember Chuck, I want a photo of the finished product! Candy then Christina arrived next and started working on getting the crates ready for kitties. Clean, sanitize, then attach 1" fencing so the kits don't get out of the bars. Linda started when Candy left and she and Christina did a great job finishing 4 crates. Good thing. A mama and a 6 week old kitten arrived the next day and now occupies one of them. Thank You Candy, Christina & Linda!!! Nice to have a fail safe place for the kitties! Can't remember the time frame of who came next but suddenly there were people taking on projects and getting things done. It was great, everyone worked independently and as teams. Some had met before, some not. Sue, holy mackeral, Sue is a powerhouse; she took charge of the back porch project. She started about 11am and worked until 9pm. Then came back the next day and worked another 6-7 hours. She took on the project with relish. The porch was cleared, walls and ceilings were vacummed, primered and painted. Janet joined in on Sunday adding her flair to trim. It was fun picking colors from all the donated paint. Barbara brought 2 of the kids from Maywood Youth Mentoring, Darrian & Kquanis joined in the clearing, cleaning and vaccumig. Barbara brought food too. Elaine had the worst job of the day, rolling paint on an extension from a ladder in a stairwell on a wall with paint peeling off on the roller. Sorry Elaine, I know how frustrating that was - still haven't figured it out but I think the trick is in the sealant too. Ah, there's always mulch (last year, Elaine helped move a huge pile of mulch)! The room looks fabulous. I laid the vinyl today. It's amazing how well it goes with the multi-color room colors. All the paint was donated by Karen, Georgia & Ellen . Jeanne & Linda preped a piece porch furniture for paint. Jeanne painted it a beautiful shade of green. T painted an old enamel topped cabinet the same green then went on to paint an old metal cabinet in 'camoflage' - it looks so cool. The Cat Man came and lent a lot of great tools and painting supplies and helped Kquanis and Darrian tighten the aftercare rack, then K & D primered it. Sheila (who held a kitty for the first time in her long life heald a CatVando kitten last fall and loved it. Quite the cat woman now, since falling in love and sharing gleeful stories about her 2 yard cats) She ripped sheets for traps - we use a lot when trapping. We get sheets donated by Animal Care League and sometimes CatNap from the Heart and they need to be torn by the dozens. Eric did sheets for awhile and even Kelly took a turn with them. Darrian came back Sunday and was a tremendous help filling in wherever he was needed whether it was playing with Bella or bringing things and messages from room to room or filing in on a project or helping lift. He made lunch! The first meal he ever prepared. We had beans with cheese, salsa, cilantro and sour cream and he put it together. It was excellent! Kim brought delicious roll ups on Saturday and worked for a couple of hours. Her huge contribution was during Pre-Spruce Up, Spruce Up. Kim is wonderful - not only incredible with the critters (Bella loves her so much her eyes almost drool) but she understands the complexities of running CatVando out of a home and is always there doing things I ask and doing things she sees need doing. She was back on Tuesday, played with the critters, vacummed and straightened. She's definately one of the spirits of CatVando. I, Ellen, worked here and there, painted a bit on both porches, worked projects, answered questions, took pictures, even painted with Sue until 9pm, and took wonder in the events and changes. It was pretty great. Thank you all for being here, for taking time, for working so hard and so communially. BRAVO!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, You ALL ARE GOING SAILING! Watch for dates and times to pick from. And... the Spruce Up continues. CatVando is expanding at a rapid rate. Cat populations are expanding at an alarming rate. Because of the economy, cats are being abandoned at increased rates, most unsteralized rapidly adding to the already high numbers. Some communities are more saturated than ever but all communities are experiencing an increase. Education is becoming almost equally as important as TNR with the community, the feeders and municipalities. TNR is at it's best when it's community-based, when everyone's on board and understands it's effectiveness and how the whole thing works. At this point, there's a lot of misinformation that needs to be clarified. So........ we're busy with more than TNR & Kitties & Adoptions these days. We're dealing directly with municipalities and you know how much red tape that can involve! Plus, our wonderful VA Hines Project.

The Spruce Up Continues!!!!

Sundays May 3, 10th (Mothers Day), and 24th

11am - 5ish

Lunch at 1pm

Bring friends

Join us for a couple hours or a couple Sundays

just email or call

catvandotnr@yahoo.com

708 829 6013

Love to All