Robin and her Cats

On December 20, a dear friend went to sleep and never woke up. She had a heart attack. To say Robin was compassionate pales by comparison to how compassionate, gentle, engaged and interested she really was. She was a librarian at the Dole Branch Library in Oak Park for about 20 years. She took a personal interest in anyone she spoke with. At her service last Sunday at the library, the room was overflowing into the hall with people cominbg to pay their last respects to a woman who meant so much to them. She will be missed. Robin's compassion wasn't just for 2 leggeds, she loved all life, including the many 4 leggeds that came to her door. Robin's home was surrounded by forest preserve land - a place where people 'dump' cats. Many of those cats came to Robin's door where she fed, vetted and cared for them. Much of her life, and resources, was devoted to her critters. ROBIN'S CATS NEED HOMES - WE NEED 12 PEOPLE TO TAKE 2 CATS EACH. CatVando is helping Robin's family find homes. Robin's cats are loving but would be terrible candidates for adoption at a shelter (if we could even find one to take them). The would freak out in a cage in a strange place, shrink to the back of a cage and probably hiss and would be seen as unadoptable. When the go from Robin's house to their new home, they'll hide for a while but will eventually come out and love their new companion. If you would be so kind as to help share your heart and home with 2 of these precious ones, please contact us catvandotnr@yahoo.com We have a limited amount of time before these cats have to be relinquished to DuPage Animal Control. Please find it in your heart to provide them with a life and a home

Blackie

Blackie - again, blog won't let me down load photo. Sorry Has been out of the crate since about 9am - our foster home fell through and he's been in there long enough. He was crated for 10 days prior to arriving here for an antibiotic treatment for the poor baby's oozing gums. He's a beautiful cat. Skinny as a rail. Until I tried to see his gums, he was very affectionate, now he runs from me. Poor baby, his gums are still very sore. We were told he only has his eye teeth but upon a very brief inspection, we saw white where it shouldn't be. We were going to take him to our vet but he was no where to be found so had to just take Lilly. He will have to go in soon. However, he is incorporating in the house very well. He's been at 'cat' level for 8 days so they've all had a chance to smell and see. Even Twinkle, the house b _ _ _ _ , and I say that with love, doesn't howl at him. He's a gentle one, no threat. He's skinny as a rail. When he came, we thought his dental expense had been paid for - he arrived after being treated at another vet. We were just doing meds and holding until adoption or foster. However, now it looks like he's going to cost money other than maintenance too. ok - next on the list after Tri and Willow.

Tri

Tri

Is out of the crate! The five steps she ran from my arms to under the chest she mastered with ease, amazingly enough, no stumbling or loosing balance. And, under the chest she's been since about 8:30am. She's got food and water and she's about 4' from the litter box. I suspect she'll be out in a day or two. She's doing fine with the cats, as they are with her. I'd hoped to get some of her walking today but she needs to ease in before she ventures out........... silly me. At about 9pm, I tried taking her out so I could give her an extra feeding but she would have no part of it - hiss hiss. We've almost got her surgery and hospitalization for her. Now, she needs an adoptor, either armchair or in home.

Willow

Willow

Is doing great. She's more beautiful, healthy and relaxed every day. We got her blood test results back. Her thyroid values are in the normal range so the Tapazole, digestive enzymes and pro-biotics are working. Her kidney values are increased but no more than before she started taking the Tapazole and that's a good thing. She does have chronic kidney disease but it's not full blown. Just in the last day or so, she's eating less frequently. She is roaming around the house more and has found a few resting places other than her bathroom bed. Her food is right beyond the pictured door - this is how she looks just moments before her next meal. More on her abdomenal mass later. She'll be ready for her new home soon. She's a wonderful cat, she's affectionate, and she has a very calm presence.

The Cats of CatVando

We have some of the most wonderful cats in the world. Just like everyone does that has cats in need of forever homes. We love our cats and have treated them well. They've gotten the best of care, good food, lots of love and enrichment, veterinary care and good supplements and flower essences for their emotional health. Our cats are all healthy and happy. Some are very affectionate, some are shy. Some are lap cats, some 'lay next to your lap' cats, some 'across the room' cats. They need their forever homes NOW. CatVando is a TNR organization. We spend too much money on care for the cats up for adoption and not enough on paying TNR fees for those in need. 30% of the cats we TNR for people are paid for by their caretaker - that means 70% of the calls we get are from people who can't afford to pay TNR fees - even basic clinic fees. We pay for those cats when we can. Please help us find wonderful homes for all our wonderful babies so we can carry on with our work of TNR to prevent more homeless kitties from being born into the streets and to try to find homes for the strays we find on the street, and even to help those that have 'controllable' numbers of cats in their house. We can't do what we did with Henry's cats - as happy as we are that they are so much happier and healthier because we interceded, emotionally and financially, we can't aford to do that again. Henry's cats are healthy, happy and ready go to. Their lives started out so horribly, they need to have the last 1/2 of their life, or more, in their forever, loving home. Many of them are on our http://petfinder.com - under shelter type our zip 60153 or CatVando. We have other cats who are ready for homes, some last years kitties, some pets we've found in the streets. We don't take kittens any more - we currently have our last 7 kittens from two different litters. One, the Boo Boo babies, the last litter born at Henry's, and the Bunny Babies, born to two cats of an elderly gentleman who let 2 yard cats in last fall. Fortunately, his niece contacted us and they are now in their new inside/outside digs, steralized. Adoption fees are greatly reduced. We're just looking for good homes. Most we'd like to go in 2 or 3's. Like the 3 'Water Babies'. A couple could go alone. I know, most animal lovers are already maxed out but there has to be SOMEONE who would love to develop relationship with a special cat (or one little dog - Miles). Please ask around. SPREAD THE WORD! More kitties need homes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bliss update

Bliss Is doing much better. I didn't take a photo today but did take him to Treehouse to Feline Lukemia and Aids testing. They cleaned him up and did the usual wellness check (We LOVE Treehouse). In addition to his Upper Respiratory Infection, he has a terrible infection in his lower extremeties, lots of pus. He was also dehydrated, emaciated, he has mild pneumonia and has severe dental disease. He was already neutered and he's wasn't ear tipped, so, he was someone's abandoned pet. I have cautiously pet him but he's still pretty frightened. I'll post a photo tomorrow. Wait until you see him.... he looks so much better already. A blessing for Bliss. He'll be on Doxycycline for 7 days then switching to Clavamox. He's also getting immune boosters, pro-biotics and flower essences for trauma, stress and changes. When he's well, we're hoping to put him up for adoption. Any donations for our Bliss fund will certainly be appreciated. Through our paypal account (on blog) or by snail mail to our post office box.

Henry's Cats - 2nd Trapping

On Wednesday, Jan 13, at 1pm, Kallie & I met at Henry's to trap 10 cats. Kallie got there first and found out the news of the new kittens, born Sunday. There were 2 out of 4 left. One or more cats killed the first two. Henry said they were pretty bloody. The other two, tiny little things, look like they're going to be long hair grey tabbies. They were in the corner in a Friskies 48 cans box in the corner. They have rudolph noses, mouths and butts - could be sick. We set up the traps and got 8 cats within about 20 minutes. One of the traps got triggered with no cats and the other we were saving for the new mom. We'd put the kitties into a carrier with the trap in front of it with a sheet over the trap and carrier - the idea being that mom would only be able to get to the kittens by going through and into the trap. 8 hours later, we still hadn't gotten mom. We weren't sure which cat was the mom. We tried to identify her. We tried many things during the hours we were there. We left the trap in front of the carrier for a couple of hours then were concerned that the babies weren't getting nurished so we took it away. Several times during the day, Kallie and I sat in the car in the driveway while waiting for things to normalize hoping to catch mom. At one point, Henry was sitting next to the trap and when mom entered, he was to close the door. He did. Unfortunately, he didn't close it properly and mom burst through the door. Cats can be pretty strong when they're panic stricken. We tried putting a long rope through carrier tied to the door while we waited for her to enter so we could pull the door closed and run to fasten the lock... Didn't work either. We found a place for mom and the kittens. Safe Harbor agreed to take them. Best with mom but even without. They are great with bottle babies. We had to get them there by 6pm and they were about an hour away. We were still trying for mom. The delima was, leaving the kittens in a house where they were being killed. Henry's house can be divided. At one point, we thought we had all the cats but the one we suspected being mom in the living area with the rest being locked in the basement. Henry lives in a tri level with a finished basement. We had a trap set for mom near the kittens. Kallie and I went to the car. When we came back in Henry said, 'There are about 3 cats running around up here!' We ended up using the two unfilled traps to catch two more cats for TNR at Treehouse the next day. We were pretty sure the mom was one of the two young grey tabbies. We checked the cats in the traps from the bottom and couldn't see any swollen milk glands. At some point in the afternoon, we took the 8 cats we had in traps to an empty apartment Kallie's mom owns near Fullerton & Laramie. It's closer to Treehouse near North Ave & Ashland and more convient for the morning. We had to be there by 8:30 am Thursday. At one point, we put canned food in the basement at a point where we could see the feeding cats through a window. We saw cats we hadn't seen but knew there were more hiding. There are 2 cats that Henry's described, a white one with black spots and a brown one. One of the cats looked like it had bald or light spots but it didn't look like ringworm. We left Henry's at about 8:45pm with the remaining 2 traps now with cats. Kallie agreed to keep them in the basement for the night so we didn't have to drive all the way in the city. I got home about 10:30pm. We found homes for 5 of the 10 cats we had in traps. Jane, a TNRer in DeKalb was going to take 3 of the sick cats, one's with URI's to access for sociability. Adrianne and Jenny at Tails made the arrangements. When the cats are socialized, they will adopt them out. That's if they're socializable. If not, they'll go the way of many cats too scared to socialize. They'll be killed but they will at least have a chance. We have 5 cats with no place to go. WE NEED HOMES FOR 5 CATS. Plus at least 8 cats left at Henry's. Cats are great companions, even those that can't be held and touched. We're hoping they'll go in 2's and 3's. They are family and the transition will be hard on them. They are stressed and have had lives abnormal to a cats natural surroundings. Separating them even further would be cruel too. They need each other. Please email us at catvandotnr@yahoo.com. DONATIONS ARE ALSO NEEDED to cover the cost of surgeries, vet care and meds, supplements and essences and food. THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU GENEROUS ENOUGH TO SHARE YOUR MONEY TO HELP THESE CATS AND KITTENS.

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!

Here's Purrl!

Purrl came to us in early November last year. When I went out to do the 5am feed, I heard crying somewhere on the street in front of the house. At first, I thought it was an injured cat (crap) but when I followed the sound, there in the bushes was a kitten I thought to be about 6-7 weeks. From the moment I picked her up, all her little black self but for that small white tuft of white on her chest, she started purring, hense, Purrl. I figured she'd be at Animal Care League in Oak Park within a few days and find a nice home. However, it's March and she's home. It happened by circumstance (like my TNR activities - it just snowballs). First, she had the worst gas of any little critter I've known. She had dirreah. She had small sores around her neck and head with a hot spot developing on her face. That says horrible digestive problems and possibly allergies and a depeleted immune system. I started her on my Flower Essence blend for street cats, to help them release the trauma of the streets, rejection, fear, to help them accept love (tho she didn't need that one), change, assimilation into group issues and a few other things. It's a good generalized blend for rescues. I got her tested for the usual feline diseases The vet confirmed my suspicions on allergies. I got to work. I gave her Florify, a really good probiotic for her digestive system, her dirreah stopped immediately and a few days later so did her gas. I gave her ProVex, grapeseed extract, to help her inflammation, strengthen her connective tissue, and strengthen the mast cell walls, to prevent oversensitivity to allergens, and I also changed her diet, completely. I emailed with Lais, a cat partner, about a good cat food, she suggested Evo. I went to a specialty shop and chose Orijen, a wonderful food that helps to build the immune system. A couple of weeks later, I heard about a new place in Oak Park that makes and markets an excellent choice of healthy food and their own marvelous completely balanced raw blends . What wonderful fortune!!!! Purrl needed a good diet, rich in nutrients and enzymes. (A bit on animal food * - see below *) It's Sirius Cooks on Harrison & Lombard in Oak Park. http//siriuscooks.com Not only did I find an excellent selection for Purrl, I found Julie & Harriet, they are great! They're nice, they're fun (and pithy) and they really helped with food for Purrl. If you're in the area, it's well worth the trip. They have food, treats and supplies. They have the coolest cardboard furniture for cats. Because of Sirius Cooks, I have the food I need to help Purrl to become the healthy little critter that is now nuzzled into my lap, purring away. The hot spot that took about 1/3 her face, the seeping pinhole sores on her neck and head, the gas, dirreah all gone. Her hair, once thin, is filing out. By building her health, not just treating her symptoms, she's growing into a healthy little being who won't need a whole lot of medical care. So that's Purrl, she's the house CatVando cat. She's an expensive one. Her food is about $42 a month. And of course Tootie, the other CatVando house cat, from the backyard colony. She's in because of an eye problem that needs daily drops - but nore about him later - he's a story! Totally different story. He also now costs $42 a month for food (his eye is actually getting better after 3 years of drops and ointments). And so is Frankie and Jake - by good fortune. But that's another story for another time. Aloha! *in my opinion most of it is crap. Cheap ingredients, synthesized nutrition. Food is suppose to give our bodies what it needs to function. Most food, animal or human, for a number of reasons like corporate agriculture, pesticides, processing, picked too soon - even in it's natural state, food isn't what it use to be. I believe the FDA did a study and found 1 c of spinach in 1949 is the equivilant of 7 cups of spinach today. And that my folks, is why we need vitamins. As to most cat food on the market, the companies that manufacture them have to use the cheapest ingredients to satisfy the bottom line of profit. Without it, stocks would plummet. I've heard 50% the cost of most products we buy is spent on advertising to get us to use those products. Add stockholders, employees, warehousing, store profit and there isn't much left for ingredients . Most dog food is filler. Orijen isn't.