FFRC BLOG: May 2024

FFRC Weekly Blog Week ending May 25th, 2024

Adoptions:

Charly was adopted. He will keep his name! He’ll have two siblings in his home, one of which is around his age.

Waldo was adopted to a family in Alabama. He’ll have two sisters and one brother at home with him.

Health Updates:

Chowder and Gordy have calmed down significantly to the point where they could both be tested for the basics (don’t have Feline Leukemia, FIV, etc). They are at a point where they are now in the Cove area in the House that Jonah Built. So far, they seem much happier there, with a lot more freedom in a safe, kitty fence proof area.

There were several cammers concerned about Buddy’s back end being a little ‘dirty’ the other night. Buddy is fine. Buddy is a medium/long haired cat who sometimes needs a little help cleaning up “back there”. He’s a very good boy, but when he’s being cleaned up there really needs to be two people, one holding him and one cleaning him. So while he is cleaned up, sometimes it isn’t as quickly as we’d like. We all need help sometimes, with sensitive areas. Buddy’s mom, Grammy refuses to clean him saying, “that boy is almost 5 years old, I’m done with all that stuff”. We get it Grammy, we really do.

Rumpelstiltskin is ready to come out to the main center in the next few days. His rehab is over but we’ll be overprotective of him because we are overprotective of all our cats!

Foxy: Some things are going very well in terms of healing but she still has a loose stool issue and will probably go back to the vet this week for some additional tests and/or treatment.

Scotland is doing well. He still has issues with loose stools but does use the litter box when he can. He still has his suture in and that will come out once his stools are a little firmer.

New Kitties:

There were no new kitties this week!

Other Updates:

Brandi’s babies and the ‘orphans’ will be allowed some ‘out’ time in the next few days. They’ll be kept in their room at night for now but will slowly be introduced to the world. They were allowed out just as a trial and they really wanted to go back in to be with momma. As we all know, the world can be a bit overwhelming and kids think they can conquer all, so we’ll make sure they know what they can and can’t do.

The Michigan girls are doing well. Bellamy is a sweetheart, so loving and trusting. She’ll probably come up to the main center sometime this week.

Tigerlilly is sweet but very shy. She may need a little more time in the back to help her with her shyness.

Emmy is very shy and really needs some more time to deal with some ‘trust’ issues. But she’s progressing. She hides all the time.

Courage is progressing well and will probably be brought into the main area sometime next week.

Bodie is doing well. He’s gained weight and is now a little over a pound. He is nursing on Brandi and likes to eat.

Financial Stuff::

FFRC had a Garage Sale for locals May 23rd, 24th and 25th, with a mini cam sale on Saturday. $1,164.99 was raised! Thank you all for supporting the cats at the Garage Sale! And a special thanks to the volunteers for helping set up and staff the tables.

Lots of cats have been to or will soon be brought to the Vet. That bill is starting to worry us. So whatever you can donate to help is greatly appreciated.

Holds:

Grammy (day and date to be announced soon)

FYI:

We’re testing some new ways to help raise some funds. These tests include a special membership club on youtube and the ability to send ‘stars’ on FB which gives us cash back. Both are in testing mode so feel free to try them but until we work some ‘bugs’ out we’ll wait until reaching out with more complete instructions.

FFRC is very, very, very close to officially becoming a 501C Charity. Special call out and thank you to Rindy and Christopher from Alabama for helping with the paperwork this past weekend.

Enjoy your week and remember, without our Friends where would our cats be?

Set limits. It's the humane thing to do.

Just one more

Just one more, please, just one more.

One becomes two becomes three becomes heartbreak.

You should add an addition, get some beds, you can fit more over there. Maybe build a separate building for the ones that don’t need as much attention.

You're supposed to love cats, how can you say no?. It’s just one more. How can you put a limit on saving lives? It’s just one more.

In the past 4 days, FFRC has received 172 requests to take in a cat, just one more, what’s one more?

It isn’t just about space, although space is always a concern. More cats, more people are needed to feed them, change their litter boxes, change bandages, and put down fresh water.

That cat over there is sick. He needs to be away from other cats while sick, but where can we put him?

There has to be limits. No one wants to think about that but that is reality. There simply has to be limits.

FFRC would like to have a limit of 80 cats. That limit ensures there is enough space, food and most importantly, people to care for the cats.

Cats show up on the property, they need food, they need water, they need someone to put out the food, put out the water.

Currently there are 111 cats being cared for at FFRC. We are 31 cats over capacity.

In the past four days, as heartbreaking as the word is, we have said “No” to 172 cats. People have screamed at us “You never take the cats we can’t care for. You’re mean people. You call yourself a rescue? My cat had kittens, 5 of them. I can’t care for them, I work full time. You have to take them. That’s what you’re supposed to do. It’s just 5 little kittens.

I found this one kitten, I can’t take care of her. It’s just one more. Just one more. You people are horrible, don’t you love cats?

We’re moving, we can’t take our two cats. No one will take them, you have to take them. It’s just two cats. Ok, just take one, I’ll let the other one fend for themselves, is that what you want? One, it’s just one more.

I know I should have gotten her spayed, but I’ve been busy and she snuck out and she just had 6 kittens in the closet. My landlord is going to kill me. Please, you have to take them, they’re tiny. They’re cute, you’ll have no trouble adopting them out.

You hear the words every day. Maybe they don’t mean anything to you. To us, the words mean everything.

Please, spay or neuter your cat. Put it on your calendar. It’s what responsible cat owners do. It’s what people who love cat’s do. You have so much to do, but this is what you do when you love your cat. This is what you do when you love all cats,

Because it’s not Just One More, it’s EVERYTHING: Spay or Neuter.

That’s what someone who loves cats MUST do. Because it’s never, JUST ONE MORE.

Friends of Felines Rescue Center, Defiance, Ohio May 19, 2024

FFRC Weekly Blog Week ending May 18th, 2024

Adoptions:

Zorro was adopted on Saturday by a very kind couple who are very excited to take him home. Zorro was one of the two ‘dumped’ cats that were found on FFRC driveway.

Health Updates:

Scotland is progressing. He still has worms but the level is coming down. He had surgery on Monday to close and fix his rear area. The area looks better but he still has diarrhea and we are working to get that under control. He is on quite a few meds and things are improving each day. He still has a long road to recovery.

Anony has made significant improvement. We were worried about him but he looks so much better after his trip to the vet and being on meds for almost a week. He is still being closely watched but may be able to go back to the Cove soon.

New Kitties:

There were no new kitties this week!

Other Updates:

The stray female, approximately 6 months old who came in last week now has a name! It’s Juniper. She is brown/black and white. She was a neighborhood stray that a neighbor was shooting at. Thankfully he’s not a good shot and the kitten was saved and brought to FFRC. She needs to be spayed. She does have a URI that is being treated.

Brandi’s 4 remaining babies now have names:

Apple is a black with white tummy
Elm is all black
Birch is a grey tortoise
Maple is a tortoise

Boadie is doing well. Brandi has taken him in as one of her own. He has actually started nursing on her. Brandi has been so good with him, bathing him, cleaning him.We are still supplementing with syringe feeding. He still loves to bathe in food but is getting better.

The MI Boys:

Chowder continues to improve on human acceptance. He is actually coming to the cage and is asking to be brushed.

Gordy isn’t advancing as quickly, but there are signs of hope that he may be at the tolerating stage but seems sad.

Both boys are still hissing when you go near his pen. But the hissing is getting less and less.

They still must be quarantined as they are still not tested.

Our Kabana cam was down for several days. Special thanks to our cam experts/cam mods VRS and Stan who spent hours (all volunteer, all remote which makes troubleshooting that much harder). They got it up and it’s now working. Without them we’d all have to use our imagination, now we get to see cats playing, bird watching, sleeping and most importantly, evidence that Peacocks can be really mean to cats. Bully birds!

The match donation that started last Friday continued until Wednesday. We received $2,838.54 in donations. Add the $1,000 and that’s $3,839.54. Someone in chat then donated $160 to make the total $4,000.54. Thank you all with a special thanks to the $1,000 match donor.

Garage sale was postponed last week and will now happen on May 23rd, 24th and 25th.

Holds:

Waldo will be adopted next week (day not yet determined)

Meatball

Baloney

Achoo

Grammy

Once days and times are confirmed we’ll pass the info on.

Enjoy your week and remember, without our Friends where would our cats be?

FFRC Weekly Blog Week ending May 11th, 2024

Adoptions:

Pelican was adopted. A nice family from Florida fell in love with him on the cam and came all the way to Ohio to bring home the newest member of their family.

New mom has shared photos and her family loves him. Says he is the calmest and laid back kitty. At some point in a few months, they’ll be getting Pelican his very own kitten.

Health Updates:

Mayor Anony has some issues with his Stomach and rear area. He was brought to the Vets.
He needed some fluids. He may have pancreatitis. He spent an overnight there and is being closely monitored.

Rumplestiltskin went for a follow-up visit to the Vet. He is healing well, but they do want him to remain on bedrest for about two more weeks. He’s not happy but Megan explained to him it’s for his own good so he is reluctantly agreeing.

Foxy is getting better, gaining weight and her stools are nice and firm. She’s drinking water now and is perking up. Monitoring her continues, but she is acting like a cat now, a happy cat.

Jimmy James (Porchie) went to the Vet. He has been losing a little weight. He has an on-going thyroid issue and his meds needed some adjusting.

New Kitties:

Courage was returned. She is 2 years old and was adopted from FFRC. Sadly, her family had an unforeseen family member moving in who is highly allergic, so she was returned. She’s a happy, long haired orange/white kitty. She could pass for Pelican’s twin.

Stray female, approximately 6 months old. She is brown/black and white. She was a neighborhood stray that a neighbor was shooting at. Thankfully he’s not a good shot and the kitten was saved and brought to FFRC. She needs to be spayed. She does have a URI that is being treated.

Tan stray brought in as emergency Friday night. Age unknown as of right now. Horrible fleas and flea allergy causing significant fur loss. Lots of ticks and internal parasites. Terrible back end issues. Currently has no control of waste management. Soaking and medicine being given.

Other Updates:

Brandi and 4 remaining babies:

Babies are getting big. Brandi is ‘done’ with nursing her babies. Will probably separate babies from mom soon. Brandi begging that her Mother’s Day present is a spay and onesie so she can get the brats babies to eat only solid foods.

MI Hoarding cats:

Chowder and Gordy are still hard to treat or test. It’s been a struggle. They are now allowing us to pet them, but lots of hisses. We still can’t test or give vaccines. They both have round worms but can’t get close enough to treat. They have tried everything and will continue trying new things.

Chowder does love toys. Gordy just hisses. Been giving medicine in food but the main drug they need to combat round worm tastes terrible and they just aren’t letting them give it.
They aren’t really feral but for inside cats they are as anti-social as they come.

Chowder does love to play with a little toy mouse.

Bellamy is doing very well.

Tigerlilly is very, very shy but if you give her attention she’ll warm up.

Emmy is also a little shy but seems to be adjusting well.

The 4 Orphans are doing well and love to play. They are getting big and are happy, happy and happy. They also have never met a toy they didn’t love.

Boadie is doing well, he’s eating and eating and eating. He loves to climb in the food bowl and bathe in his food. He’s a full contact eater and gaining weight. Debbie C. is taking good care of him and he has her wrapped around his little paw!

We’ve had some updates on recently adopted kitties:

Jingles doing well. She has a kitty friend and they get along well.

Cali is doing well and happy. Cali is a sibling to shakespeare.

Pouch doing well.

Chomper is much loved in his home.

Holds:

Zorro on hold and will be adopted next Friday at noonish

Waldo and Baloney are both on hold

Achoo is on hold

The annual Defiance Lilac festival was held on Saturday. Edna (Gem) and Mary H. (Mrs. Braid) staffed the FFRC booth and around $1,000 were raised on a very windy, overcast day..

This upcoming Thursday/Friday/Saturday (May 16-18) FFRC is having a Garage Sale for locals to come by and get some great items at Garage Sale prices.

Friday a generous Friend pledged a match for all donations up to $1,000 over the past few days. Thank you Friend!

Mark your calendars for our biggest fundraiser of the year, June 17th to June 22nd.

This year we are hoping to use the money to create a ‘kitty’ of funds to take the burden off of the stress and worry of making our monthly bills. More details to come.

Enjoy your week and remember, without our Friends where would our cats be?

FFRC Weekly Blog Week ending May 4th, 2024

Adoptions:

Jezzabelle was adopted. She had only been at FFRC for about 3 weeks after being left in a crate outside. Now this beautiful girl has a home with a lovely couple.

Buttercup was also adopted. Buttercup is a 6 month old cutie who is very friendly and likes to say hi to everyone she meets. She had been found just wandering around by herself. Now she has a loving family that will make sure her days of wandering outside are over. Her new parents say she is ‘bee-bopping’ around like she owns the place. The first night she climbed in bed and claimed it as her own, allowing her parents to stay.

Pouch was adopted. This 7 month old ball of energy will now have a brother who is also 7 months old and will get a new name: Gimli. His new dad said he and his new brother have become instant friends.

Health Updates:

Brandi’s little orange kitten (Sunburst) started losing weight mid-week and was started on meds to try and help. Sadly, he passed away on Saturday.

Foxy (our Torti girl who was found wandering around outside a local street,) isn’t feeling well and meds don’t seem to be helping. She just isn’t gaining any weight. She weighs only 4 lbs which is very low for her age. She will be going to the Vet soon.

New Kitties:

A tiny b/w kitty estimated to be only 27 days old was found in a warehouse by himself. His name is Bodie. He is eating well and seems to be a happy little boy.

Other Updates:

We heard from Dobby’s new parents and they say after about a day of Dobby’s new sister showing some displeasure with the new family addition, the two have been playing and sleeping side by side. They seem to enjoy having each other to love.

May 16-18, FFRC will be having a garage sale to help ‘purge’ lots of things that have been hanging around for a very long time. So if you are in the Defiance, OH area, come on down and get some bargains.