World Spay Day

It's WORLD SPAY DAY today!!! Spay your cat, your dog, the strays you are feeding...any cat or dog you can get your hands on :). Or donate to a spay/neuter program at your local shelter. Just spay it forward if your pets are already snipped.

What is the best way to make a cat smile???

Pine Street TNR

For the past few months, my husband had been noticing a lot of cats and kittens living in the front yard of a house he passes by on his way to work every day. He had been urging me to go by there and approach the homeowners about TNR, but I seemed to keep getting tied up with other cat situations. Well, I finally found the time and mustered up the nerve to go talk to them two weeks ago. Thankfully, they were very kind and very receptive to having all of the cats spayed and neutered. The family that lives there started feeding stray cats many years ago and had done their best to spay/neuter the first few, but new ones kept arriving and they couldn't afford to "snip" every single one. Soooo, as it always goes, many litters of kittens have been born and things have gotten a bit overwhelming for them.

Last Friday, I trapped 15 of them and ran them all through our monthly feral cat spay/neuter clinic on Saturday. There are about 20 cats total, so I got most of them taken care of and will try to get the rest at a later date. Some of the kittens were quite sick, so 4 of them are still here with me so I can give them the meds and TLC that they need.

Here are a few photos that I took the first day that I met with them.






The kittens snuggling in a warm bed here at my house....

Huge TNR trailer park project!

The TNR group I volunteer with is doing a massive feral cat spay/neuter round up at 3 trailer parks in Lexington. It has been in the works for awhile and tomorrow is the big day! I am in charge of one trailer park...will be the largest trapping project for me yet....daunting but exciting! I just finished prepping our garage. 18 traps, 6 carriers and a whole lotta towels, blankets and tuna. When I visited the park today, one of the kitties was curled up in a baby stroller...he was quite a friendly little greeter. It was rainy so most of the cats were hiding under the trailers. I hope to get some good action shots tomorrow if the weather is nice and sunny...paws crossed for that!

This project is so important not only for the cats but also for the people feeding and caring for them. They have a hard enough time making ends meet, yet they still manage to feed many cats. That is true compassion, kindness and generosity.

The goal is to get 20+ cats at each location. Stay tuned for an update this weekend!

All ready to go...



The recovery area...

Cat Chat: Meet Jimmy Choo!

This absolutely precious stray boy was wandering around my dear friend's neighborhood. He was crying and dying to come inside...poor boy. She was able to get him into a carrier last night and brought him here for a sleepover :). He is being neutered and vaccinated right now. He was SO happy to be inside and fed and loved on! He is a little beat up and very thin. I am not sure what is cuter, his polydactyl paws or his sweet personality! His name was easy because of those special "shoes"...Jimmy Choo. Perfect.

Our paws are all crossed that Good Mews will be able to take him sometime soon. In the meantime, we will certainly enjoy fattening him up, hugging him and watching him make huge biscuits with those huge paws!

TNR Update...Body Shop Cats

I realized that I never reported on our second round of trapping at the body shop down the road. We TNRed 7 cats awhile back and then returned 2 weeks ago to try to get the rest taken care of. We headed out on a Friday afternoon and within an hour, we had 4 cats trapped. After that, went to a second location...an apartment several exits over, and managed to quickly trap a female that desperately needed to be spayed. We returned to the body shop and trapped a new little guy that had been hiding in a drain. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the final adults (the torti queen mama and a wary black male kitty). My car battery died while we were sitting back there in the pitch dark so we thought that was our cue to head on out. Never a dull moment during our cat trapping adventures!

I checked in on the cats last weekend and noticed another new cat....a thin, scared brown tabby who appeared out of nowhere when she smelled the canned food I put out. So, 3 more kitties to fix before we can move on to another crew. We will probably be heading out there this weekend with our trusty drop trap....a MUST for those hard to catch kitties!

The release! Run free, sweeties....



Cute little guy at the top of the drain...

Body Shop Cats Update

My dear cat lady friends, Jane and Carla, and I headed out to the body shop on Tuesday for a big trapping. It was quite an afternoon. The snow was swirling and temps were in the 20s. We would set the traps and put hot roasted chicken in them and within 15 minutes, the chicken was frozen. Not the best conditions for trapping, but we we really wanted to get these kitties not only spayed and neutered but also treated with antibiotics and steroids because many of them were clearly suffering from upper respiratiory infections. AND we had hoped to get the queen mama but she was nowhere to be found. Not surprisingly, she is going to be a challenge! We toughed it out for 2 hours and managed to get 7 kitties so it was a successful day.

They were fully vetted on Wednesday and we found out that 5 were boys and 2 were girls. Jeff, one of the fluffy orange ones, had some major mouth issues, so the vet pulled some of his teeth. I am sure he is going to feel so much better now. Our vet is an ANGEL...she always thoroughly examines each cat and does whatever needs to be done ($15 for spay/neuter, vaccinations, flea and ear mite treatment, antibiotics, etc etc.!!).

We tried to trap again on Wed morning but it was a futile attempt...waaay too cold. Also, we found out from the business next to the body shop that there are 20+ cats instead of the 12-15 like we had thought. So, this will be a long term project. We are hoping to pick up where we left off later next week.

We released the boys yesterday afternoon and they were SOOOO happy to be back in their territory and their "dad", the caretaker, was thrilled to have them home safe and sound. The females will be released this weekend when the weather is a little warmer.

I wanted to get more photos but it was hard to juggle everything. I hope to get more good ones next week!

Jane setting traps....



The kitties all warm and cozy in the car with us....

TNR 2011: The Body Shop Cats

Our first TNR project for the year is supposed to start today. It is snowing, so I am not sure if we will postpone until tomorrow....but the plan is to begin trapping this afternoon. I was informed about a colony of cats living at a body shop a few miles from our house. I have been going there on Saturdays for about a month to assess the situation and then my cat lady friends and I finally went to meet the owner yesterday. Thankfully, he was extremely receptive to the idea of TNR and was really grateful to know they will FINALLY be spayed/neutered and fully vetted. You could tell he was exhausted from worrying about them and trying to rescue and find homes for all of the kittens. It all started with one stray torti girl 4 years ago. There are currently at least 12 adults. They are very well fed and have shelters but several of them are quite matted and a few are very sniffly and congested. It is certainly time for them to get proper vet care. I love seeing TNRed kitties blossom into healthy, hearty cats once they are snipped! Our main target is the torti queen mama...she is obviously already pregnant so we gotta work fast!

Paws crossed that we can get them all taken care of this week!

Cat Trapping Success!!!

This past weekend was the monthly feral cat spay/neuter clinic. To make a long story short, Brian and I managed to trap 2 mama cats that we had been trying to get FOREVER!!! It was a GREAT night! I was jumping for joy and crying with relief all at the same time. One of the mamas lives outside at the blind man's house where we have been TNRing for year. I have 2 kittens from her most recent litter because they were sick and needed to be rescued, and we trapped the 3rd kitten, had him neutered and he went back to the man's house where he will stay inside and be very loved. I'll write about the other mama cat tomorrow...she is a heartbreaker and is staying in our upstairs foster cat bathroom for the time being.

Tired Mama Callie after her spay surgery...no more kittens for her to care for!!!



Little Julius...now neutered and living inside, safe and sound!



Pixie and Cheetoh napping the afternoon away....



Ooops, the camera woke them up! These two cuties will be going to Good Mews in Atlanta after they are snipped later this week.

SnipPet Fundraiser in honor of Be Kind to Animals Week!

In case you didn't know, Be Kind to Animals Week started today! Hooray!!!! I wanted to do something special to celebrate, so I have created a section in my Etsy shop dedicated to fundraising for three amazing rescue groups: Good Mews Animal Foundation (no kill cat shelter in Atlanta GA), Caring Hearts Feline Rescue (cat and kitten rescue in Versailles KY) and the Home At Last Feral Cat Program (spay/neuter clinic in Lexington KY). I have volunteered for all of them and can attest to the fantastic work they all do. They are all local groups that rely solely on donations, so they need our support.

100% of the sales in my fundraising section will go directly toward the group of your choice and it will be given in your name. Also, I am going to specify that the money be used to help fund their spay/neuter programs. So, it's basically shopping for snipping!! Lastly, as a little further incentive, I have reduced the prices of all the items that were put into this section to make them very affordable.

Click here to start shopping.

Gisele says, "Kindness to animals is what it's all about!!" (our former foster kitty... taken off the street and in a loving home now.)

Garfield...a sweet ol' lug needing a home!

A dear friend of mine takes care of a large colony at a Wendy's in Lexington. There are about 20 cats there and she has worked tirelessly to get them all spayed and neutered. The Wendy's is near a large, low income apartment complex so there is a constant trickle of new abandoned cats coming into the colony. Garfield is one of those...totally tame and sweet...just down on his luck. He has been living in the colony for awhile, and she was finally able to get him into a carrier last night. She brought him to my house to spend the night, and I was heartbroken after I spent a little time with him. He has cuts and abscesses and old wounds all over his face. His ears are full of mites and his eyes are swollen. He just meowed sadly and wanted to be rubbed and loved. He is not aggressive toward other cats, but was picked on and beat up constantly by the territorial cats. My friend came to get him this morning and took him to our wonderful vet to be neutered and cared for. Unfortunately, he tested positive for FIV. Cats can live long, healthy lives with FIV as long as they are kept inside and properly cared for. So, we are now trying to figure out what to do and hope that we can find him the purrfect person to give him a special, forever home. My amazing friend is willing to sponsor him for the rest of his life by paying for any vet care he needs in the future...what an awesome gift!!!

Garfield is the poster child for what happens to unneutered cats when they are left outside to fend for themselves. It is so sad, unnecessary and just not right! They all deserve so much better. Let's hope that at least this guy gets a happy beginning!

Valentine Munchkins are here! xoxoxox

I was extremely anxious to get started on Valentine SnipPets, so i started sculpting a few right before Christmas and got them painted last week. I LOVE Valentine's Day!!! I always have....long before boyfriends and romantic love entered my life. Even as a child, I just adored everything about Valentine's Day. Creating handmade Valentines from snips of paper, paint, doilies and glitter was a treasured activity (an early indication of my mixed media obsession :)!). And remember those mailboxes made from shoeboxes that you would put together for school Valentine exchanges??? So much fun! And since I have a major sweet tooth, the candy/chocolate part of the holiday makes it even more appealing. Every year, my dad would come home from work with 2 big red heart boxes of chocolates under his arm...a red one for my mom and a pink one for me! My mom would make us a special Valentine dinner and always had some special gift beautifully wrapped for me on my placemat. She knew how important the day was to me. I think it is a wonderful time to celebrate all kinds of love....family, friendships, and of course, the love of our beloved furry companions :).

So, here are some of my munchkin Valentines. These are listed in my Etsy shop and the rest will be available during this month's Pfatt and STJ updates! Also, SnipPet bookmarks are back in my shop! They are $4.00 each with FREE shipping and 100% of the profits will go straight to spaying/neutering kitties in Lexington! These bookmarks are a perfect little Valentine gift and a great way to spread the furry love :).

Final TNR of the season for the SnipPet Girl!

This first day of winter marks my final feral cat trapping until spring! I spent most of Friday trapping in the cold rain, so I am very relieved to hang it up for awhile. It's just too icky out there for both people and animals! Despite the challenging weather, I was able to trap 5 kitties for the spay/neuter clinic on Saturday. All were kittens....4 were ferals from Don's garage (the kind blind man i have posted about before). I was hoping to get the trap savvy calico mama cat, but no luck :(. I tried ham, turkey, tuna, mackerel AND chicken mcnuggets as well as some other tricks, but she refused to give in. Disappointing...but I'll keep trying once the weather improves. Nevertheless, it was great to get her most recent litter of kittens all taken care of, especially since 3 of them are females!!! That was 3 more potential mama cats that won't be reproducing, thank goodness! I tried to take photos of this little crew, but they were blurry. I released them a little while ago and they were SO happy to be back in their straw filled garage with their mom.

The fifth kitten is one that was abandoned at the stockyards a few weeks ago. Poor little bug! She is totally tame and THE sweetest, most gentle girl. Literally, all she wants to do is sit in your lap or in her bed and make bisuits. She even makes biscuits while she is standing on the floor. It is the funniest thing! Non-stop kneading and padding. Consequently, i think her name should be Miss Biscuits. She is being adopted today by one of the guys who works at the stockyards.

These pictures don't do her justice at all! She is like a little black bear...fuzzy and round. Meowy Christmas from Miss Biscuits :)!

Meow, Purr, Hiss...Cats and Kittens galore!

OH, where to begin...the past few weeks have been filled with cat adventures. I will just get to it and see if i can remember everything :)!

A few weeks ago, we successfully trapped 5 cats for the October TNR clinic. One of them was a torti mama cat at the stockyards who had eluded us for MONTHS!!! It was thrilling and a HUGE relief to get her taken care of. She had 2 remaining kittens from a litter of 5, so we brought them in as well. They were sick and needed some major TLC. I am happy to report that they are doing wonderfully now! We were also able to trap and spay another torti at the other end of the stockyards. We found out that she had been there for TEN YEARS having kittens over and over!!! Good grief, that almost made me have a heart attack. I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am that she can spend the rest of her life relaxing and that her kittens will no longer be subjected to the dangers there. In addition, we trapped a young orange bobtail boy in that area. Last but not least, we TNRed 2 male cats from other locations.

Excellent news!! Sammy and Skippy were adopted together 2 weeks ago. We ADORED those two buff boys and were incredibly happy that they went to an awesome home and got to stay together!

Here are the 2 rescued kittens, Basil and Elmo, who are fat, happy, wild and craaaaaazy! They keep me on my toes that is for sure. Elmo (gray bobtail) is extremely chatty and wants constant attention. Basil (black with white star on his chest) is a total love bug and full of fun. We also have Gilly (black and white) who i mentioned in a previous post. She has now recovered from coccidia and is having a BLAST with her kitten roommates. All 3 little goons will be spayed and neutered early next week and will then be ready for adoption!








There are 3 adult females that we still need to TNR at the stockyards, and we discovered during our last trapping session that one of them had a litter of kittens. Sadly, one had been stomped and killed by the cows...awful, i know. I can hardly think about it. The other 3 got very sick this week. So, my husband and I headed out there on Wednesday night to try to get them the heck outta there!! They were having an auction, so it was quite a wild goose chase! One kitten got in our trap right away, but the other two were so congested that they couldn't smell the tuna and didn't have an appetite. THEN, they had to let the cows run through the stalls, so we were dodging them, stepping in manure and trying to keep the kittens out of the way. Finally, we managed to get one more in a trap and I snuck up on the other and grabbed her. It was such a relief to get all 3...i wouldn't have been able to sleep if we had to leave any of them.

These poor sweet souls were absolutely covered in fleas, flea dirt and manure. It was ridiculous. I don't know how they were surviving at all...such strong yet fragile spirits. I bathed them gently and tucked them into a warm bed. They just passed out with exhaustion. I took them to the vet yesterday, so now they are on 2 eye meds and antibiotics. Their eyes look terrible and painful, but they should be ok. I was syringe feeding them at first, but they all ate on their own today. Yippee for any improvement!

Meet my precious orange bobtail girls...Sylvie, Bonnie and Elsie! I am showing you these "before" photos so that i will be able to show you some transformed "after" photos before long. These 3 are angels....such tiny troopers. Now, wish me luck in getting their mom trapped and spayed next week!!!

SnipPets Annual Spay/Neuter Report and an inspirational tale

The Starfish Story by Loren Eiseley

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

~~~~~~~~~~

This inspirational story perfectly illustrates how most animal rescuers feel. You know you can't save them all, but every life counts....and you know you must try to help the ones you can.

I read this when I feel like I am not doing enough and can't seem to make a dent in the pet overpopulation problem. I also refer to my TNR/rescue spreadsheet to see concrete evidence of my spay/neuter efforts. I try to reflect on the births prevented and the suffering alleviated. You MUST look at the positive so that you can push forward and keep on going.

We moved to Lexington last July and started our TNRing and rescuing here in late August, so I figured that it was time for an annual SnipPet kitty report!!

Total cats and kittens spayed/neutered: 60

To celebrate my snipping successes AND raise money for the long list of kitties I have yet to snip, 100% of the sales in my Etsy shop from today thru September will go toward spaying & neutering & vaccinating cats and kittens in my area!! The costs add up quickly, so your purchases will make a HUGE difference in the lives of our furry friends. THANK YOU!!!

Skippy, Sammy, Suki and Scout thank you too :)! Purr, purr, purr....

Jack Sprat, Vinny and Meadow

Just thought I'd share a few kitty photos today. I have ended up keeping Jack's name as Jack....it has simply stuck. You all gave me SUCH great name suggestions, so i am going to keep those for future kitties :).

Vinny is being adopted tomorrow afternoon! We will be so sad to see him go, but his new mom is wonderful and she is extremely excited to give him a loving home. Meadow is going to her new dad's house on the 30th. Woohoo for these two! We have a potential adopter for Jack Sprat, so things are rolling along.

Of course, it seems that as soon as i get one crew on the move, another crew awaits :(. I got 4 panicked messages this morning from a girl i have been helping with spaying and neutering for a year now. There are 4 kittens on her patio. Apparently a new female adult showed up a few weeks ago and you can imagine the rest of the story. Ugh. I will need to get the mama caught and spayed ASAP, and it looks like the kittens may be coming here.

Stay tuned....
and enjoy these warm fuzzies!

Successful cat trapping weekend and an itty bitty visitor!

This past weekend was the monthly feral cat spay/neuter clinic in Lexington. I was debating exactly where to trap since i have many areas on my radar. Then, last week, i got a call from a man, Don, that I have helped before and the decision was made. Dear, kind Don is the one who is blind and whose wife, Jean, is confined to a wheelchair (posted about them in the spring). They are so compassionate and wonderful and always want to try to do the right thing for the cats that are constantly wandering into their yard for food and shelter. We had gotten the situation relatively under control a few months ago, but then his frustrating neighbor (who won't let us spay his female cat!!! nightmare!) dumped 4 teenage kittens outside to wander and multiply. In addition, he has 3 tomcats that also roam freely. Don and Jean were in a panic at the thought of even more mouths to feed. They are on a fixed income and do the best they can. So, i headed over there on Friday around noon to start our trapping adventure. By 1:00, I had 2 of the kittens trapped and left another trap for the rest of the afternoon. By 5:30, another kitten had fallen for the mackerel feast. I returned at 7:00 to set 2 more traps and bam! Last kitten caught! After that, Don and Jean and I sat on their front porch and waited for some of the adults to arrive. Finally, at 8:45, a black and white spotted kitty caught a whiff of fish bait and couldn't resist. I was SO happy to have all 5 traps occupied!!! Woohoo! I can't stand to come home without my goals met, so i was quite satisfied :).

It was way too hot in our garage for the kitties, so they got to enjoy an air conditioned evening in our laundry room. Well, they didn't exactly "enjoy" it....they meowed like a chorus all night long....but at least they were cool and comfortable. I took them to the spay/neuter clinic on Saturday morning and everything went great. The adult was a male and the kittens....2 girls and 2 boys. I released everyone on Sunday and they were extremely thrilled to be back in their own environment!

Here is the only photo I took. This is the adult male we trapped and another one of the toms.



I am taking care of a fellow foster mom's kitten for a few days. His name is Ralphie, and he is the cutest little ol' boy! Poor thing was rescued out of a drain at an apartment complex and has a bebe pellet embedded underneath his skin!!!! Can you imagine???!!! What kind of person shoots a kitten with a bebe gun?? Honestly, people never cease to shock me. Ralphie is amazingly sweet and relaxed considering what he has been through. He is very thin but his appetite is good, and he is going to be just fine. He even has a permanent home already lined up.

Check out his eyeliner! Too cute!