FFRC BLOG: June 2025

FFRC Blog week ending June 14, 2025

Adoptions:

None

New Cats:

Dr. Mercer (new vet at Dr. Darcy’s office) called Megan on Saturday and there was a cat brought by a kind woman who found him outside. He required medical attention for a URI, eye infection, fleas and dirty ears. The finder was unable to keep himt. Dr. Mercer asked if we could take him and find him a good home. Siggy is about 6 months old. He has beautiful coloring which is silver and black with shades of other colors. They all kinda blend in producing a beautiful kitty.

A family brought in a young kitten that they wanted to keep but their young son is allergic. Kitty is a little over a month old. He appears to be in good health. He’s not yet ‘fixed’. He does not have a name yet.

A young orange kitten (maybe a month old) was found wandering (full story to come at a later date!) He is a big talker and adorable. He has passed his initial blood test.

Health Updates:

Marvin went to the Vet on June 9 to have a polyp removed from his ear. Remember Marvin is less than 2 months old. He is one of Sinopa’s babies.

We’ve been hand feeding him even as his siblings have been eating on their own. He just hasn’t been gaining weight or eating. A polyp branches out to other areas. Dr. Darcy removed one in his ear and discovered another one had branched out to his throat. This was one of the reasons he would ‘gag’ when he tried to eat. The third ‘branch’ was on the roof of his mouth. She was able to remove pieces of the polyp from the throat and mouth. He is so tiny so she couldn’t risk removing it all. He’ll eventually have to go back to have the remaining polyp removed (probably when he is weight heavy enough to be neutered.)

Ludwig went in for his eye removal. His left eye was removed and the surgery went very well. Remember Ludwig is one of the three cats left in our driveway in a terribly dirty crate. He is around 1 and half years old. He’s on pain meds as he recovers. So far, so good. While he has some sight in his right eye, it is still in bad shape and we are hoping we can save it with meds.

Barnie Dude: He had to have a full mouth dental extraction. Despite his age (16 or 17) he has been in pain, so we had to take the risk and do the dental. He is actually doing well and he appears to be much more comfortable. He’ll be recovering here for about 5 days then we’ll let him go back on the farm yard where he has spent his life and is most happy with his two siblings, Stripe and Snoopy.

Amy contains her treatment for FIP. She’s 12 days into treatment. She is actually doing better and has gained about half a pound. She still looks terrible but things look better for her. Her jaundice is gone now which is a big improvement.

Dusty Rose is doing well since her dental (complete teeth removal due to infection).

Our olderster Covie Glory is looking and feeling much better. Remember, she is about 11 years old and still has a ways to go with her kidney issue.

Holds:

None

Other Updates: .

Story that will make you smile (unless you are a flying bug). Mitzy (one of our three blind office cats) likes to sit in the window over Lynnette’s desk. She started making some strange noises and moving about and Lynnette and Megan realized she had caught a fly with her paws (kinda like Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid.) She was so proud of herself (as were we!) You go girl!!

Our Improve-A-Thon kicks off on Monday, June 16 running to June 21st. Important Note: This blog is based on the week ending June 14th so it may be the first day of Improve-A-Thon has happened, but we want you to think it happened and it really is June 14th. We do have a prediction from Magic that we will have a great first day and will adopt out 221 envelopes, raising about $35,433. Again, Magic is predicting this so he doesn’t know for sure. But it’s Magic, so come on people!!

“We all have the power to be positive, choose to lift up, not tear down.” Our Karate Kid---our girl Mitzy

2025 Improve-A-Thon

Our annual Improve-A-Thon takes place this year starting June 16th and running until June 21, 2025. While there are many fun and exciting things planned throughout the week, here is the main focus of the week and how it will work:

Each day between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (Defiance, Ohio time) our phones will be open. Our phone number is

419-393-2400

We will have an easel board with 25 rows of sequential numbers from 1 thru 400. Each row will have 16 envelopes with numbers on it. If you decide to ‘adopt’ an envelope, the number on the envelope will be the dollar value of what you agree to donate to FFRC. For example, if you ‘adopt’ envelope 145, that means you agree to donate $145 to FFRC. You must call FFRC so that the envelope will be marked as “adopted”. When you adopt an envelope, your name will go into a drawing to win a basket.

There are 25 baskets, with each basket corresponding to the number of your envelope.

For example, if you adopt envelope 85 you agree to donate $85 to FFRC. Your name will go into a drawing with all the others who have adopted from row six.

Included below are the items in the baskets for each row.

Remember, one basket will be awarded per row. (huge thank you to the people who have donated the items to go into each basket).

We know the higher the basket number, the larger donation, so the baskets get larger as the numbers increase.

We know that not everyone can donate financially, we get that, NEVER be sad or ashamed of this. Be grateful and supportive of those who can give financially and do. You can help in so many other ways. Encouragement of others and prayers for a successful fundraiser are things we all can do.

Also, if you partner with others, you can pool your money and adopt a larger dollar value envelope.

We ask that if you can donate a larger amount to leave the smaller amount envelopes for those who may only be able to afford the lower amount. For example, let’s say you are planning on donating $200, we ask you to choose envelope 200 (if available for adoption) instead of envelopes 25, 50, 55 and 70.

In the coming days we’ll post additional information to help you understand how it all works.

Here are the baskets and the rows they belong to:

Catathon 2025 Baskets

Row 1 (1-16): Basket 1 (Laura Ashley) - Laura Ashley plush flower hooded robe/throw 50X60, 1 - 24oz. Flowers ‘Blessed’ bottle w/handled lid & straw.

Row 2 (17-32): Basket 2 (Love) - 1 - 12X7 canvas ‘Love’ paw print storage basket w/handles, 1 - 30X40 plush ‘Love’ paw print throw, 1 - Infinity track ball cat toy, 1 - catnip play toy.

Row 3 (33-48): Basket 3 (Cats Travel) - ‘Cats’ travel bag set w/ 1 - 15X12 ‘Cats’ tote bag w/handles, 1 - 8X6 zippered ‘cats’ storage bag, 1 - 6X5 zippered ‘cats’ storage bag, 1 5X3 ceramic glazed sitting cat home/shelf decor.

Row 4 (49-64): Basket 4 (Butterfly Home) - 1 - 50X70 Plush butterflies throw blanket, 1 - 5pc. Wooden cooking utensils, 1 - Butterfly cooking apron w/pockets

Row 5 (65-80): Basket 5 (Towels & Lotions) - 1 6pc. Towel set w/2 bath, 2 hand, & 2 washcloths, 1 - 3 pc. Hand cream lotion.

Row 6 (81-96): Basket 6 (Farm Life) - 1 - pc. Cork Trivet set w/farm animals, 2pc. ‘My Roost My Rules’ pot holder set, 1 - Rooster kitchen towel, 1 - Mama hen w/2 baby chicks home decor.

Row 7 (97-112): Basket 7 (Cat in Flowers) - Canvas tote bag ‘Cat in Flowers’, 10X8 Canvas Zippered Storage Bag ‘Cat in Flowers’, Glass ‘Cat Mom’ bottle w/lid, straw & cleaning brush, 1 - black cat key ring.

Row 8 (113-128): Basket 8 (Funny Cat Faces) - 16X16 Canvas tote bag ‘Funny Cat Faces’, 10X7 Canvas zippered storage bag ‘Funny Cat Faces’, 1 - Glass ‘Funny Cats’ bottle w/lid & straw, 1 pack Funny Cat Butts magnet.

Row 9 (129-144): Basket 9 (Live, Love Meow) - 13X18 ‘Live, Love Meow’ pet feeding mat, 1 - foldable spiral cat tunnel, 1 - nerf cat slow feeder ball, 1 - Glass paw print treat jar w/cat treats, 1 - ‘Life is Good but cats make it better’ hanging home decor, 1 - 1.75oz stainless feeding bowl.

Row 10 (145-160): Basket 10 (I’m Fine): Cat lovers print beach towel, 1 - large ‘I’m Fine’ cat stainless tumbler w/handle, straws & brush, 1 - 16X16 Canvas tote bag ‘Sorry I have plans w/my cat’, 1 - 5X5 ‘I’m Fine Everything is Fine’ wooden home decor.

Row 11 (161-176): Basket 11 (Gnome Watermelon): 1 - Watermelon shaped wicker dish holding basket, 4 - 8X8 Watermelon plates, 4 - Watermelon serving bowls, 4 - Watermelon dinner sized plates, 2 - Gnome Watermelon kitchen towels, 1 - 5X5 Gnome Watermelon home decor.

Row 12 (177-192): Basket 12 (Pamper Yourself) - 1 - 12X8 wicker storage basket, 1 - waffle textured body towel w/hairband, 1 - complete set manicure kit w/carrying case, 2 - face & body exfoliating sponges, 1 - hair drying towel.

Row 13 (193-208): Basket 13 (Kitchen Helper) - 1 - 8X8 Oster non-stick cake pan, 1 - mini silicone rolling pin, 1 - 4pc. Silicone utensil set, 1 - 3pc. Silicone tog set (6, 7, & 9 inch), 1 - 4pc. Cat shaped quick dry kitchen sponges.

Row 14 (209-224): Basket 14 (Lemon Summer) - 1 - 15X6 lemon serving/display tray, 1 - set of 8 32 oz outdoor/indoor demon drink cups, 2 - lemon themed kitchen towels, 1 - 8X8 hot plate trivet ‘When life gives you lemons’, 1 - florentine lemon hand soap, 1 - 11 oz. refillable liquid hand soap pump.

Row 15 (225-240): Basket 15 (Flowers & Butterfly Coloring Set) - 1 - 30 oz. Butterflies & flowers insulated tumbler w/lid, 1 - adult flowers & butterflies coloring book, 1 - 24 pack watercolor markers, brush, & fine tipped, 1 - ‘Love Revival’ hand cream & pulse point oil set.

Row 16 (241-256): Basket 16 (Strawberry): 1 - 16X16 Laura Ashley canvas strawberry tote bag w/shoulder handles, 1 - 4pc. Set of 8X6 strawberry shaped serving plates, 1 - 4pc. Set of strawberry print reusable drinking cups.

Row 17 (257-272): Basket 17 (Rooster/Chicken) - 2 - rooster/chicken print kitchen towels, 2 - rooster/chicken print pot holders/pads, 2 - rooster/chicken hand oven mitts, 1 - honey almond soap bar, 1 - 5X4 resin chicken w/chicks home decor.

Row 18 (273-288): Basket 18 (Every Birdy Welcome) - 1 - 18X14 ‘Every Birdy Welcome’ porch/home throw pillow, 1 - bird themed kitchen towels, 1 - bird themed matching dish cloth, 1 - 4X6 resin BlueJay garden/home decor, 1 - 5X5 ‘The Earth has Music for those who listen’ wooden home decor.

Row 19 (289-304): Basket 19 (Quirky Kitty) - 1 - electronic action cat toy, 1 - 16X14 cat face pet mat, 1 - 6.75 oz. stand up cat face feeding bowl, 1 - 6pc. Catnip plush cat toys set.

Row 20 (305-320): Basket 20 (Happy 4th of July) - 1 - 18X12 Gnome Garden Flag, 1 - U.S. flag kitchen towel, 1 - LED red lantern, 1 - 6X4 wooden gnome 4th of July decor, 1 4X3 resin gnome 4th of July dangles leg shelf sitter.

Row 21 (321-336): Basket 21 (Take me to Lunch) - 1 - cat/floral insulated lng bag w/shoulder & hand carrying straps, 2 - lunch/food containers w/lids included, 1 - 12 oz. floral travel mug w/lid snap lock.

Row 22 (337-352): Basket 22 (Sunflowers & Daisies) - 1 - 10X8 metal ‘Fresh cut flowers’ catering can decor, 1 - bouquet of artificial sunflowers & daisies home decor, 1 - handmade sunflowers jar opener pad, 1 - sunflowers kitchen towel.

Row 23 (353-368): Basket 23 (Let Love Grow) - 1 - premier kitten collection by Maruri ‘Kitten inside Teacup’, 1 - 9X9 wooden hand painted ‘Floral’ decor bowl, 1 - floral garden kitchen towel, 1 - ‘Let Love Grow’ wooden home decor.

Row 24 (369-384): Basket 24 (Thankful for fall) - 1 - 50X70 ‘Thankful/Grateful’ plush throw, 1 - 18X18 fall leaf pillow cover, 1 - 4pc. ‘Gather Pumpkins’ placemats, 1 - 2pc. fall/pumpkins kitchen towels, 1 - pumpkin butter scented candle.

Row 25 (385-400): Basket 25 (Beach time) - 1 - 50X70 Tommy Bahama oversized outdoor beach packable blanket, 2 - 27X54 quick dry beach towels (1 cat & 1 dog), 1 - 28 oz. stainless steel bottle w/flip lid & carry handle, 1 - 14X5 felt bean bag beach game.

FFRC Blog week ending June 7, 2025

Adoptions:

On the heels of his brother getting adopted recently, our Ridley also got adopted!
This little boy came in with his brother (Maverick) last July, 2024 when they were just 3 months old. They had been brought in to have a neuter done from the monthly Humane Ohio truck transport and at the Vet’s the vet determined they were too sick to undergo the procedure. So FFRC agreed to take the two and the healing process began. It’s amazing what good care and proper medicine can do!

Initially, the two boys would play and wrestle with each other but as they’ve grown they’ve made other friends. Brother Maverick was adopted a few weeks ago. And now it’s time for Ridley to get his own home.

His birthday is April 14, 2024, so he’s now just over a year old. And that face says it all. It’s impossible not to look at that sweet face and simply melt. He is a kind, gentle soul with a loving heart. And he is so very handsome. In fact, that is going to be his new name, Handsome! He went home in style, on an airplane. He will now call Arizona his home! Congrats Handsome (Ridley)!

New Cats:

See Health Updates.

Health Updates:

Our Covie Glory went to see Dr. Darcy. She hasn’t been feeling well and we wanted to get a complete physical and set of blood work done on her. It appears she is in Kidney failure (stage three). She also has a bowel issue happening. We are treating that with meds, but she is really having a rough go of it. Glory is a little over 11 years old. We ask that you keep her in your thoughts as she goes through this challenging time of her life journey.

Dusty Rose went in for her dental and spay. Her spay went very well. Remember we have been very concerned with her mouth. Dr. Darcy does not believe it is cancer. She does have a lot going on in her mouth though. She has a lot of ‘itis’ going on. In short, she has a very major infection of her mouth. Her teeth were in terrible shape, so a complete tooth removal was done. Cats can live without their teeth, they can even eat dry food (they just kinda inhale the food, like a vacuum.) She is recuperating nicely. Her mouth swelling is starting to go down so she’s starting to look much better. Her mouth is starting to look like a cat's mouth now! Her pain appears to be much more tolerable now. Dr. Darcy said her mouth was one of the worst mouth’s she’s seen. So warm thoughts for her.

Barnie Dude. Dude is a very shy cat. He is one of our Barnies. Our Barnies live in the barn on the farm property. They really are not people cats and prefer to come and go as they want, always knowing they have food, water and a safe shelter from the elements. Dude is 16/17 years old. He is very difficult to get so we haven’t had success capturing him for a dental. NOTE: We have two Dude’s. Barnie Dude and Covie Dude. Both are “Dudes” but very different. It’s kinda like having two Peter’s. One if Peter cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail, happily. Then there’s Peter “stay out of my face and leave me alone’. The two Dude’s are like that. They both are unique and have the same name!

We were finally able to grab Barnie Dude to bring him in for dental work. (he probably realized there may be a connection to us capturing him and him feeling better once we did). Barnie Dude is not feral or mean, he just doesn’t really like people and doesn’t want to come to us. We’re ok with that and it’s one of the reasons we have different types of outside cats. The Barnies have things in their past that make them really want to stay away from people. We love them, just the same as all our cats, but from a distance. We were able to lightly sedate Barnie Dude to get some tartar off his teeth but do know he needs two, maybe three, teeth extractions. We know his age makes this very risky, but we can’t leave him in pain so we have a dentist appointment on June 12. We’ll keep him comfortable until then. We can pick him up but it’s clear he’s not a ‘fan’ of people love up close. But he’s being as good as he can be with us, kinda like that distant relative you invite to Thanksgiving dinner because you have too, but he doesn’t want to be there any more than you want him to be at the table, but at least he’ll eat that horrible beet salad your second cousin Doris always brings.

Ludwig:
Also on June 12th, Ludwig will go to the Vet for one eye removal. Remember, one eye is completely blind and for infection reasons, we will remove the eyeball and have his eyelids surgically closed. The Vet has told us that eventually the other eye will probably have to be removed, but for now, just the one will be removed for his own health. He does have some (very minor) vision in the remaining eye but if it’s determined it’s best it is removed for future health reasons, we will defer to the Vet.

Joaquin:
Joaquin has an irritable skin condition that is being treated with medicine. He’s getting better as his skin improves. He’s also a little “snorky”.

Marvin (the littlest of Sinopa’s kittens):
Marvin has been a ‘snorky’ and a little ‘icky’ in his ear and a closer look in there showed he has a polyp (Note: we haven’t had a Vet determine this yet, but Intern Dr. Megan is using her new medical skills to go places she hasn’t gone before and can see the polyp. A verbal consultation with a board certified Vet (Dr. Darcy!) confirmed it is a polyp. Despite him being a little underweight for surgery, it was determined it is in his best interest to have the polyp removed on Monday. So warm, positive thoughts for our little Marvin.

Our sweet Amy was returned (Amy is one of Wispy’s babies and sister to Eric and Popsicle). Amy was just adopted within the past few weeks and she was returned as she appeared to be going through something. She has lost a lot of weight and just didn’t look right. We did an FIP test on her and she did test positive. She shows all the classic symptoms of FIP. We have started treatment on her and she is eating some but very little. Her owner did the right thing. The first week she was home she was a typical normal kitten, playing and active. However the second week she slowed down and just seemed sick. He brought her to his Vet and they put her on medication to treat a possible infection. He called Megan and said he needed help as he had never given a cat pills before. He brought her in and that’s when we did the FIP test and it came up positive. In just the two weeks, Amy had declined very rapidly (as is the case sometimes with FIP). We are very worried as we are now 5 days in and we are not seeing a noticeable improvement. A stomach tap showed it is wet FIP. We are continuing to treat her but we are not giving up and keeping a positive outlook. She did start licking some food. So her improvement may just be a slower than normal process. Prayers for Amy are appreciated.

Holds:

None

Other Updates:

The tiny, black and ash colored infant who was found in the middle of the road by himself/herself (gender TBD a few weeks ago now has a name. He’s a he and his name is Beetles. Megan has been taking him home each night to feed him (remember he’s still only about 2 weeks old and unweaned). He didn’t seem to be getting enough food by mouth, so Megan went up to Dr. Darcy’s office with him and learned how to tube feed. Beetles is doing well now. Tube feeding is just that, you measure from the mouth to the stomach and stick a tube down the cat’s mouth and put food into the tube through a syringe. The food then is released into the stomach, bypassing food going down the esophagus.

We’ve gotten a lot of questions about whether Popsicle and Erik would become permanent residents. As of right now, the answer is yes. However, we never know what could change down the road, so keep an open mind on this.

Ann has been visiting this week and has helped us go through our supplies and we realized by putting certain things together that we have a tremendous amount (thank you!) of beds, blankets, toys, bedding, condo’s. So we ask that you hold off on donations of these items. We’re actually running out of room to store these items.

However, because of the treatment of so many cats recently, we are in major need of Royal Canin Mother and baby cat food (both wet and dry) and KMR liquid. We are good with baby food and licky sticks. (what a wonderful problem to have, too many beds and toys!) Our Friends are always so wonderful to us.

Catathon is June 16th to June 21st. More information coming up!

Lynnette will be taking Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday off as a mini-vacation. We’ll miss her but she should know how much we will be looking forward to bringing more cats into the office while she is away!

“Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves,” Mason Cooley.

Barnie Dude

FFRC Blog week ending May 31, 2025

Adoptions:

Tulip got her very own home, complete with a 2 year old kitty sibling and a lab dog.

This stunning siamese kitty was found by a family last October, just hanging out by herself, looking like she needed a little help. They brought her inside and wanted to keep her as part of their family, but the youngest son was allergic so they brought her to FFRC.

The first thing we noticed was that she had a slight head tilt. A closer examination showed she had an inner ear infection which was treated with antibiotics and TLC. As with most, minor ear infections, the head tilt lessened as she got over the infection and began healing.

We’ve already heard from her mom that Tulip had a peaceful 2 hour drive home to Michigan and has settled in nicely in her forever home. Stories like Tulip’s make us so very happy. Save a cat and let them learn the power of healing and love.

New Cats:

None.

Health Updates:
Ludwig, Joaquin and Mrs. Charles went up for their ‘fixing’ at Humane, Ohio. All did great!

The little infant’s eyes are both open now.

Dusty Rose is going up to Dr. Darcy on Monday for a spay and dental.

Kim Kitty is doing well and has no problems with her leg.

Sinopa’s four babies are doing well and eating off a plate.

Taco Belle has a little bit of a cold but nothing serious.

We do have a little ‘bug’ going around.

Holds:

Ridley. We believe he will go home on June 6th. Time TBD.

Other Updates:

This year's Improve-A-Thon (Cat-A-Thon) will take place June 16th thru June 21. Goals:

--Catch up on maintenance issues around the property and in the buildings.

--Having a ‘cushion’ fund that we can draw from when unexpected expenditures occur

Shortened version of how it works.

We will have a ‘board’ with rows of envelopes. Each envelope will have a number, starting with number 1 going up to number 400. Once the Improve-A-Thon starts you can ‘buy’ an envelope. The number on the envelope is the amount you agree to donate to FFRC. For example, if you call in the ‘buy’ envelope 175, you agree to donate $175 to FFRC.

You can partner with others to ‘buy’ an envelope, for example, if you buy envelope 200 with 10 people, you each agree to donate $20 to FFRC.

We are asking that the first two or three rows (the lower amounts) be saved for those who want to donate, but may not have the means to buy a higher amount.

All envelope buyers will be put into drawings for the specific row the envelope is on. A donated basket of beautiful items will be drawn for each row.

We’ll have challenges and fun events throughout the week. And we’ll have more information the closer to the Improve-A-Thon we get. Thanks for your support and patience!

The best part of Improve-A-Thon? Coming together to support each other while giving support to FFRC. We know not everyone has the financial means to help, but we do know that everyone can be positive, encouraging, and thankful for those who are helping to keep the good works of FFRC going. Like the stream, subscribe to our channel. Be happy for everyone’s kindness, but especially be happy for our cats.

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever walk by you without having felt your warm, your loving kindness." - Mother Teresa

Tulip