THEY NEED A HOME!!

Yes, yes, I know we are not a shelter and our primary purpose is NOT sheltering or finding homes for cats.  We are so fortunate though to have Avoca Veterinary Clinic on our side in so many way and helping us with our TNR program...As you all know we very often come up with friendly stray, those that have been lost or discarded and the clinic as well has people that walk in and surrender found animals or animals they can no longer keep.

Tomorrow, (Saturday January 5th)  WIFCaP will host an adoption event at Orscheln Famr and Home Store in Atlantic Iowa.  Hopefully the 3 little guys we currently have at AVC will find furrever homes...

As we start a new year, its my hope and prayer that we can help many more cats.  Thank you for following us, supporting us and encouraging us!

"Fairminded Fran and the three small black Community Cats"

"Finally!....a resource that can used to educate children and adults to the plight of feral and community cats!  Whether taken into the classroom or read to children as a bedtime story, the philosophy of TNR and the process of critical thinking comes through in a clear, precise and fun way!  We plan to put together educational "story times" at our area public libraries.  Thank you for filling a void in the "community" of feral cat lovers!"

Kathy Humann President and Executive Director  Western Iowa's Feral and Homeless Cat Program

To order this wonderful little book, please visit the website at 

www.fairfranscommunitycats.org

For Carolyn!

Very often when we have cats surrendered to AVC we don't get much of the story behind why they are being left to find a new family and a new home.  What we see is a frightened kitty that hasn't a clue why it's home is now in a kennel or cage.  Dogs barking around them and strange people poking and prodding and asking questions only adds to their confusion and fear.   AVCheryl does a fantastic job of acclimating our adoptable kitties to their new surroundings and making them feel loved until they find their new forever home.

Recently we had two kitties brought to the clinic by a the family of a lady who claimed she couldn't care for them any longer... we get that alot.   Both cats have found new homes and are doing very well. Today we received this sweet note.

" I am so happy the cats are happy and loved.  Sherman was a little bashful when it came to another cat.  She'd get on my lap and be so loving.  Ernie was really loving too, so they really should enjoy their new homes.  Carolyn " 

It is so evident from this note that the decision to surrender her two cats was not an easy one for Carolyn. She knew them well and is missing them.  What a difficult decision it must have been to let her beloved pets go.  I want Carolyn to know how much respect I have for her for doing what she knew was best for her animals.

We at WIFCaP are delighted that we could find homes for these two kitties and put Carolyn's heart at rest.

While we see people discard their pets to fend for themselves in the streets or drop them at the clinic like a goodwill donation, this opened our eyes to those that must surrender because of health or age issues.   Carolyn knew that bringing her cats to AVC would give them the best chance to have a new lease on life and it worked!!  Rest easy Carolyn, your babies are being well taken care of and if you can make it over to AVC, there is always a kitty handy that will be willing to sit in your lap awhile!

Fundraising Drive was a HUGE Success!

Our Trick or TREAT Matching Donation Drive is over and was a huge success!  Thank you all for "chipping in" or sending checks to make this event work.  We ended up with $1,173.50 in donations, so with the matching donation of $1000...we are set for the winter with $2,173.50.   We at WIFCaP are amazed and awed at your participation and want to thank you from the bottom of our kitty loving hearts.

This picture of Polly is just a representation of the many kitties that will be helped because you all care.  Polly  is a social girl who had to have had a home at one time.  She is friendly and gentle.  Somehow she got left by a hotel in Panora, IA and thankfully the lady there fed her.  She is #140 for getting a WIFCaP Spa treatment and we are hoping she finds a furever home soon!  Polly is Polydactyl!  She has seven toes on each of her front paws and five on each of her back paws...a total of 24 toes!!!  Very Rare!

Thank you all again for helping us help the helpless!

National Feral Cat Day 2012

Today is National Feral Cat Day and I am celebrating! Five years ago as I began every day of every week of every month  feeding a lonely feral cat named Toby, I could not have imagined that today I would be part of feeding over 50 cats on a daily basis, having helped numerous communities set up managed feral colonies, having spoken to five city councils asking for the freedom to let this method have a chance to work; having medically served over 170 cats and kittens  and spayed and neutered over 130 outdoor feral or community cats.   Western Iowa Feral and Homeless Cat Program (WIFCaP) started because two women sat together and worried about an outdoor cat named Toby, and knowing that there must be more like him that needed help..  After much research and study we agreed,  the only solution would be to start a TNR program.  The next step, how???

Not wanting to go into all the finite details of how it all came together, it suffices to say, I decided to dive in head first. alone and pretty much by myself to say " I'm committed, I'm ready and I will do what has to be done to change things."  When I found out that I couldn't get grants unless we were a 501c3 I dug and whined and figured out how to get that done.  I did it!  And it didn't cost WIFCaP, taxpayers, donors, or me a cent!

So along with several of my best friends and my sister along for the ride,  we are incorporated in the state of Iowa and we have been granted our 501c3 tax status , which means our donors can use their donations as a tax deductible expense.  We have been inspected and have passed that inspection to receive our Iowa Animal Shelter License.

We have met all the requirements of the state and the IRS  to do what we need to do to help the helpless or homeless feral and homeless cats in Western Iowa.  We do that for the legalistic reasons only.

 If you could see our hearts, none of that matters.  What matters are the huge numbers of cats that have been left to their own devices.  What matters is there are abandoned and left behind cats and kittens that have no where to go. Our passion is to manage colonies and supply food and water so that they can survive the only way they know how.  And so that their numbers do not continue to increase.

For me, the only thing that really matters is that we keep trying and keep helping and keep educating about the importance of  TNR.

We are used to hearing negative comments about our work.  We regularly hear how dumb and stupid our  method is. Mostly we hear nothing, we get "looks" or the silence that indicates no interest at all in what we are doing. So... When we hear the positive, we celebrate.  Thank you!  To Shelby Iowa for "getting it".  for understanding the method, embracing it and counting it as valid.  Thank you! To all those sweet cat people that feed outdoor cats, those who take the friendly ones that need a home, for giving them the love they so deserve.  Knowing they have found a place in your heart helps us ignore the hole they left in ours.  Thank you most of all to AVCheryl, our wonderful vets, Kris, Cheryl, Pam and Becky that help so much and understand my passion, because they too are "infected" with the same passion.  And last of all, but not least, THANK YOU to our supporters, for without them, we could not function one day!

Today, on National Feral Cat Day we celebrate feral cats!  Not that they are there, but that there are others like us that are helping them!

Meet Bonnie!

This little lady is "Bonnie"  She has been wandering Walnut with her kittens for a couple months.  It turns out she is a bit wild, but not feral.  She has warmed up to several people in town, thus the live trap was not needed in this situation.  We were able to get her and keep her overnight in the bathroom of one of our foster homes.  Her kittens are gone...we dont know how many she had or where they are.  She kept them hidden quite well!

She was frightened this morning, but we got her to the vet at 8 sharp!    Welcome to WIFCaP family, Bonnie!

To those of you reading this blog, please consider a small donation to offset the cost of spaying, deworming and vaccinatting this little girl!  We need your help to continue helping our babies.  We are a small town that needs big support to get where we want to be!  NOT Feral Free....Feral Friendly!

McKenna's Kitty Kastle!! Feeding Station #2

Welcome to our Kitty Kastle!!!  I was so excited to meet with McKenna today to set up our 2nd feeding station.  She has a wonderful shed in her very large backyard.  We believe this was used for some type of animal in the past and kittens have been born in here in the past.  It's PERFECT for a feeding station and winter shelter.  There is inside space that we can set up to keep some fur babies warm and dry this winter. 

This is McKenna armed with a can of cat food!  She will watch over the next few days to see how many kitties find her kastle! It so blesses me to see some of our young people in Walnut getting involved in community service.  Thanks McKenna!

Honestly, we are short on food.  We need you!! Please "chip in" if you can.  We have many expenses coming up and every dollar counts.  Thank you in advance for your compassion for these helpless ferals.

We are Off and Running!

To say we are off and running is an understatement.  I got a call this morning from Hannah J.  A former Walnut resident who is home visiting family and who saw our facebook page.  She found this little sweetie all alone and wandering around a neighborhood.  After checking around and finding that it had no home, she called me! 

At this point we are in no way set up to take in kittens and strays, but I promised to do what I could to figure out what to do with this little one.  After posting on our facebook page, I got a note from Amber who has graciously offered to foster this baby until we can decide what to do.

This is Amber with the little sweetie.  Im sure it will be well taken care of. It seems to maybe have alittle upper respiratory thing going on and is very skinny, but we have it on medication and it will get lots of LC!  I will meet with Joni, from Homeward Bound in the Heartland on Monday to see if they can help with this area of our kitty care package!  Social networking is amazing!