Our TNR Season is Starting Soon!

TNR Season is just around the corner!

If you have yard cats, email (catvandotnr@yahoo.com) so we can get you on the list. At this point, we have 3 colonies and a couple of individual cats already on the list.

If you think one of your cats is in early pregnancy, be sure and contact us soon.

Weather dependant, we will be starting late March, early April. Males can be TNR'd now. Females have their bellies shaved, leaving them exposed to the elements and even tho we risk kitties being born, we wait until the weather clears a bit.

We're always looking for volunteers and foster homes for the kittens that are an ever present part of TNR.

A Hairy Cleanup

OK, so this isn't about TNR or cats per se, but it is about us, including our critters, working together to help save other critters. Our own Stephanie Skrine shared an article from her groomers magazine that affords a great way for us all, including our critters, to help clean up some of the oil spills that are wrecking havoc with marine and fowl life.One square foot of hair mat a half inch thick can collect one quart of oil in one minute!Hair stylist, Phil McCrory has teamed up with Matter of Trust, an ecological public charity, to form the Hair Mats Program. Hair is boxed up and sent to San Francisco.I've gotten hair from a groomer and know how heavy it can be, which would make shipping prohibitive for most groomers. Maybe the owners can pay an extra few bucks to have their critters hair sent to help other critters - I know I gave her a little of the hair I'd saved from my creatures since passed, just to have them be part of helping out. I'm sure the hair I get when I brush Bella would soak up several quarts a year.To learn more about the Hair Mats Program, visit http://wwwMatterOfTrust.org

Coco Mulch (A Killer!)

This is an article I found on a site listed below. With spring soon to arrive, we'll be sprucing up our yards - when choosing a mulch - read below for warning about: Cocoa Mulch ( a killer) Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.'This Snopes site gives the following information: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.aspCocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called ' Theobromine' . It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of th eobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffei n e and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine. Posted by Colleen Del Bane~It's All about Pets Creator~ on February 12, 2009 at 11:16am in Animal Care Advice Back to Animal Care Advice Discussions A great site all about animals. To join go to: http://delbanese-abc.ning.com