Non-Profit Rescue
Organization
for Needy Cats
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An All-Volunteer, Non-Profit Rescue Organization for Needy Cats |
| A Newsletter for our Friends and Supporters | Issue #13 | |
2015 was an exciting year with many milestones and accomplishments. As the years have gone by we have grown into a much larger organization helping ever increasing numbers of animals and people. Our spay/neuter clinics did a record number of cats this year, assisting those who otherwise would not have been able to have their cats neutered or spayed. Despite having 2 to 3 clinics a month, we could not keep up with demand. Our Facebook page has blossomed to encompass over four thousand dedi-cated followers. It remains the best place to read about our day to day rescues and upcoming events. Owing to the efforts of our outstanding, tireless, "all volunteer army" we were awarded several grants. We also received several bequests. Without these funds, and your generous donations, we would not have been able to do what we did this year.
Last year's newsletter title "Year of Medical Wonders" really should have been reserved for 2015. We had so many difficult rescues this year: Nitro, the four month old kitten, who had to have a leg amputated after being hit by a car; Evi, another kitten who came to us with a bone protruding from one of her two broken hind legs; Earl Gray, hit by a car and needing special orthopedic surgery to save his leg; and the sad case of Lord Byron...
A vet tech, on her way to work, saw what she thought was a scrap of cloth embedded in the snowbank. Something about the scene didn't seem right, so she stopped and was horrified to find that what she thought was a rag was actually a critically injured cat. Pulling his limp body out of the snow, she saw he was alive but barely breathing. She rushed him to our vet where they found his body temperature to be so low that he was close to death. Most likely hit by a plow, nobody had any idea how long he had been there. We all held our breath through the first day, then the second, and then day by day. He had major organ damage and terrible frostbite that caused part of his tail to fall off. Lord Byron spent many weeks in a catatonic state in veterinary intensive care. His emotional wounds were only surpassed by his physical ones. Once stable enough to be moved, he went home with a vet tech who continued to nurse him back to health. Luckily, this be-came his permanent home. Lord Byron has a Facebook fan club that has followed his remarkable recovery and now continues to follow his amusing antics in his forev-er home.
Rescuing and caring for so many cats resulted in record high expenses this year. We rely on your kindness and generosity to make ends meet and continue this life saving work. As always, 100% of every donation goes toward saving cats in need.
With Gratitude, from them and from us.
"Charity sees the need, not the cause" - Proverb
For these and other ways to help, please visit the How to Help page on our web site at www.kittyangels.org/howtohelp.html
And, check our Website and Facebook page for Kitty Angels updates and events!
Each year brings increasing numbers of cats into our shelter, requiring that we supply more veterinary services, food, litter and shelter space — and that we care for a growing number of "unplaceable" cats in foster homes and TNR colonies. We're so grateful for your donations — without them so many of the cats that we have been able to save would have simply been added to the grim statistics of animal suffering. Thank you so very much for your help — but please understand that our task never ends and that we need your continued support to continue our work!! There are so many ways to help — some are listed here and you can find more information on our website.
Volunteers are the heart and soul of Kitty Angels. While many of you see the public faces of our shelter team, there are so very many others that you will likely never meet. They contribute their time and love in so many ways, do-ing tasks that make a huge difference and keep our shelter running. Trap-ping, driving cats to and from places, cleaning cages, feeding, medicating, volunteering at our low cost spay neuter clinics, doing endless paperwork, keeping the books, writing grants, answering e-mails and phone calls, feed-ing ferals, managing our Facebook page and our website, building feral shelters, scheduling, working adoption days, and caring to make a differ-ence. Thank you, thank you, to every one of them!!!
Sadly, we lost a member of "Team Clean" this year, Bill Ellis. He was loved and is missed by all of us.
If you are interested in volunteering please contact us.
"The work of volunteers impacts on all of our lives, even if we are not aware of it." Antony Worrall-Thompson
Camper was a city stray surviving on the edges of civilization. No one noticed the bone thin, grey and white cat slinking from garbage can to gar-bage can until the day someone backing up their car felt a bump and were appalled to realize they had run over a cat! The driver took the badly injured stray to a facility where, sadly, he was slated for euthanasia due to his severe injuries. We intervened just in time. In horrific pain, it was determined that his hind leg was shattered in many places. After having had so many cats and kittens needing to have leg amputations this year, we decided to opt for a special orthopedic surgery, to see if we could save the leg. He need-ed pins and rods in his leg along with an external fixator. Camper has been very stoic during his months of cage confinement, visits to the specialist, x-rays, and physical therapy. He is in the final stages of his healing process and we all look forward to a successful conclusion…especially Camper, who has become a very loving, gentle cat. Without your help, Camper would have perished. Thanks so very much for your generosity.
It's Raining Feral Kittens... One of the most frequent requests we get is from people who have found litters of feral kittens. Having taken in nearly a hundred feral kittens this year, we wore out our welcome begging friends and other animal rescuers to provide foster homes and work with them. Inside every one of these hissing,
spitting, frightened creatures is the potential to develop into a purring, loving, sociable kitten. It takes time, patience, and love to turn them around. And, like Petunia, they often come to us in deplorable condition. Petunia was part of a group of eight very sick feral kittens. They were all suffering from dehydration, upper respiratory infections, malnourishment and severe infestations of fleas and ticks. Five had to be hospitalized immediately and it looked like two of them, Petunia and Chicago, were going to lose an eye. It took several months of surgeries and treatment to save the eyes. Here are photos of Petunia, before her surgery and after her recovery. These types of kittens typify why we were founded – we work to save and rehabilitate them when many other shelters can't or won't. Sadly, there is a never-ending population of stray and feral cats that need to be rescued, as well as the litters of kittens that they produce. It is only with your help that we can continue to help them.
Cubbie...While he looks full of beans in the photo, Cubbie came to us at death's door. At five months old, he had mischievously swallowed several inches of string. His owner, who could not afford the required surgery, felt that the only option was to put little Cubbie to sleep. When we received a call about Cubbie, we knew that he had to be given a chance to live. Cubbie's emergency surgery took nearly three hours and his intestines were cut in six places to re-move the string. Fortunately, his intestine had not perforated and the damage was repairable. Being a kitten he was back on his feet in no time, playing with his IV line! This was one of our most expensive surgeries this year. Thanks to your kind donations we were able to restore this kitten to good health and a long happy future.
"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere." Groucho Marx
Kitty Angels offers a Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic twice a month (on Sundays) at Animal Rescue Veterinary Services in Londonderry, NH.
Cats are spayed or neutered, receive distemper and rabies vaccinations, a physical exam, and are microchipped. Other treatment can be provided for an additional fee. Kittens must weigh a minimum of 2 pounds. A suggested donation of $85 per cat is requested and grant money may be available for those who cannot afford the fee.
The BEST WAY to make an appointment is to email lindab@kittyangels.org. If you don't have internet access, call the shelter and someone will get back to you. Cats are dropped off in the morning and picked up later the same day. We spend countless hours dealing with the tragic results of cat overpopulation. Our low cost spay/neuter clinic was established six years ago. Last year we doubled the number of clinics to twice a month, this year we're doing three clinics almost every month!! Despite the additional clinics, the request for assistance has grown and we still have a waiting list. So far this year we have spayed/neutered 725 cats at the clinic; over the past six years the clinic has done a total of 3596!! Can you help us continue to save lives and spay /neuter cats that would otherwise not be done? Any donation amount will help! Please help break the cycle of pet overpopulation!
Kitty Angels does not have a physical shelter so we are looking for new foster homes for some of our special cats. They might be shy abandoned cats that simply need some nurturing and time to feel safe again. Or, they might be feral kittens that need socialization — perhaps a one-on-one situation where they can learn to trust and experience what the life of a kitten is supposed to be like. Sometimes we have medical cases that need recovery time for bones or stitches to heal. If you have a comfortable room and would consider giving love, kindness and comfort to a cat or kitten, please contact us for more information.
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a humane alternative to euthanasia for managing and reducing feral and stray cat populations. Cats are trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, humanely marked by ear-tipping so that they can be identified, and returned to the site of capture. Caretakers provide food, water and shelter for the cats while they live out their natural lives in familiar surroundings.
The Lowell TNR Coalition was formed in 2009 in response to the growing problem of feral cat overpopulation in Lowell, Massachusetts. The ultimate mission of the Coalition, which is a 501(c)3 certified non-profit organization, is to spay and neuter all feral and stray cats in Lowell through TNR. They have TNR'd over 2000 stray and feral cats from Lowell since their inception in 2009 and hundreds more have been rescued, socialized and adopted. Coalition volunteers plan and execute monthly TNR events in Lowell.
Have Ferals in Lowell? Are you feeding stray or feral cats in Lowell? Do you know the location of a feral cat colony in Lowell? Let the Lowell TNR Coalition know — they can help! Phone: 978-349-6143 Email: info@lowelltnr.org URL: www.lowellTNR.org
"If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." Bob Hope
Frigid temperatures and seemingly never ending back-to-back Nor'easters raged on; it was during this time that Mandela was rescued.
Abandoned when his family abruptly moved, a neighbor began feeding him. At some point she noticed that he was dragging a front leg, probably from being hit by a car. He would not approach her and she anguished over what to do. Weeks went by and she began to see blood in the snow from his twisted, injured leg. Through trickery, she managed to get him into her basement in the midst of a bad storm. Braving the elements, a Kitty Angels volunteer picked him up and transported him to our vet.
He was so terrified that the staff could not at first ascertain if Mandela was feral or just traumatized from being out so long and in so much pain from his injuries. He was in such deplorable condition that it took over a month to stabilize him to the point that he was considered capable of surviving the more complicated surgery to amputate his leg. We had him neutered, treated for lung worm and double ear infections, and had several broken teeth removed. Mandela slowly put on weight, regained his strength and, as his fear diminished, his personality began to shine through. Our boy turned out to be an amazing and loving cat.
His next hurdle was the leg amputation. After his surgery, Mandela struggled to find his balance. One of our favorite supporters agreed to foster him for the time it would take for Mandela to acclimate to his new life on three legs. While in foster care, however, Mandela won over his foster family. They fell in love with him and he with them. They made it official and adopted him.
There are so many cats out there who, like Mandela, suffer in the shadows. It is only through your generosity that we can work to save them.
You can donate securely and easily online by visiting our website at www.kittyangels.org and clicking on the How to Help link. You can make your online donation through Network for Good or PayPal (no PayPal account required). For other ways to help, please see page 2 of this newsletter.
ABOUT KITTY ANGELS Kitty Angels is a no-kill shelter dedicated to rescuing stray and abandoned cats, furnishing them with treatment for injuries or other health problems, and placing them into life-long, loving, indoor homes with compatible owners. We take all necessary steps to ensure the well being of our cats, including emergency and routine medical care, screening for infectious diseases, spaying and neutering, microchipping and providing rabies, distemper and other necessary medical care. We take in, and place or foster, hundreds of cats each year and deal with many feral cat populations. Kitty Angels is an all-volunteer organization. We have no paid staff — every cent of every donation goes to caring for needy cats! Because the cost of caring for our cats greatly exceeds our adoption fees, we depend on the generosity of individuals and businesses to make up the difference. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today...and, please be sure to send us a Matching Gifts Form if your employer offers one...we, and especially the cats, would very much appreciate it!!
THANK YOU !! A very special thanks to all of you who have opened your hearts and homes to animals; to those who have donated in some way to help us or others who act in concert with our cause; and to our team of dedicated volunteers and foster home caregivers. You are the ones whose compassion, kindness and generosity makes the difference. We couldn't do what we do without your continued support. Thanks to PETsMART for providing us with first class space in their store in the Royal Ridge Mall in Nashua, NH. You can see some of our adoptable cats in the cages at the front of the store and you can see us there on weekend adoption days.
ENDURING SUPPORT In the 32 years since our founding, Kitty Angels has been fortunate to have many long-term supporters. In recent years, an increasing amount of our funding has come from bequests from the estates of these committed benefactors. The enduring impact of these bequests, both large and small, has helped Kitty Angels expand its life saving programs and find loving homes for the neediest of animals. By naming Kitty Angels as a beneficiary in your will or estate plan, you can support Kitty Angels' future efforts as well as gain financial and tax benefits for you and your family. Your estate planner can explain the different ways you can make a bequest to Kitty Angels or you can contact us. We thank all our supporters for their wonderful generosity!!