2012 C.A.R.E.S. Newsletter Spring

CAT TALES
Spring 2012 Newsletter
C.A.R.E.S. mission is to rescue, shelter and find loving homes for
stray, abandoned and unwanted cats.
Phone: 604.532.5632
www.carescatshelter.com
RESCUE – THAT’S WHAT WE DO
What is rescue? The dictionary provides a few definitions including “to set free from danger or
imprisonment” or “to save a life”. At C.A.R.E.S., when we think of rescuing a cat, we think of it as the
act of removing a cat from its current unfortunate precarious situation and then providing it with any
necessary remedial care. Finally we will endeavor to find it a new suitable home.
Where do our “rescues” come from? They come from just about everywhere and from just about
every scenario one can think of.
HARLEY’S STORY
Sometimes cats will come to us when we receive a phone
call from a concerned citizen. They will tell us that they are
trying to help a stray cat.
Such was the case with Harley. Early in September 2011,
Jana noticed that nearby neighbours had moved and the
house was empty. A few weeks later as she walked her
dog past the house, she noticed a cat skitter by and run
into the crawlspace of the house. She wondered if the cat
was left behind as she recalled the people that lived there
HARLEY
did have a cat. Unfortunately, the scared cat would not let
her near him and would dart under the house each time
she tried to approach him. She started bringing food along with her each day. Slowly she began to
gain a little of the cat’s trust and she would then find him waiting for her each time she came. This
went on for a couple of months until Jana saw that the house was going to be demolished.
She needed to do something and fast! She obtained a live trap and was able to catch the cat and take
him to her vet. After providing for any medical needs, Jana contacted C.A.R.E.S. for help and we took
him in right away. For the first few days after Harley’s arrival at C.A.R.E.S., he would hide in the very
back of his cubby and was too fearful to even lift his head. Each day a volunteer would climb inside the
cubby with him and talk to him and pet him.
Then one day as he was being petted, his little rear end came up - a very
good sign! The volunteer picked him up and he nestled in her arms and
buried his head in her arms and purred as she comforted him. Today Harley
still needs a little encouragement but he is realizing that he is safe and sound
and we are confident that with a little more time and love, full trust will be
restored in humans and a new loving home will be found for him.
RESCUE – THAT’S WHAT WE DO
ALVIN’S STORY
Sometimes, we receive emails notifying us of a cat in need. In January 2012, we received the following
email:
“Dear C.A.R.E.S.,
I need some advice as there is what I am 99% sure is a stray who is often around our townhouse
complex and who often comes to our door or sits in our garden. He has been around much more
(almost daily) as of late. He smells awful, pees up everything, sounds wheezy and looks very poorly. It
also looks like his hind quarters may have been injured at some point. He is quite sweet natured and is
not aggressive towards my two cats. He sits and yowls/cries pitifully. I’ve been strong and have not
fed him but feel desperately sorry for him. He’ll allow you to touch him and I think I could capture him
and get him into a cage. He’s not my cat, I don’t want him, but I can’t just ignore him any longer. If I
can catch him, may I bring him to you?”
Needless to say, we contacted this woman
immediately, urged her to feed him until she could
catch him, which fortunately did not take long and we
asked that she bring him to our vet’s office right away.
Upon arrival at the vet, Alvin was given food and he
happily settled into his cage. It was like he was relieved
to have shelter, any shelter. He curled up and went
fast asleep!
We named him Alvin because of his big chipmunk
shaped cheeks. These are the big jowly cheeks that
male cats get when they are not neutered. This was
also the reason why he smelled so foul. Male cats that
are not neutered have the smelliest urine.
ALVIN
The next day all of Alvin’s medical needs were
addressed. He was vaccinated, neutered, tattooed,
deflead and dewormed. A blood test was also done to check for Feline Aids (FIV) and Leukemia (FeLV).
We always cross our fingers when we receive unneutered stray males. They tend to be high risk for
testing positive for FIV.
Unfortunately, for Alvin, he did test positive for Feline Aids. Our protocol for these cats is to segregate
them from others, wait a minimum of one month and then retest them to confirm if the cat is indeed
FIV positive. Should this test be positive, we then contact Katie’s Place Shelter in Maple Ridge that has
designated areas for these cats. The cats are never get put down just
because they are FIV positive.
As of this writing, we are in the one month wait period and saying our
prayers for this loving boy.
RESCUE – THAT’S WHAT WE DO
NINA’S STORY
Sometimes, help arrives just a little too late. In January 2012, C.A.R.E.S. received a phone call from a
lady who had brought a stray cat into her home. The cat was in rough shape and needing medical care.
We contacted the lady right away and she explained that she had been seeing the cat around for the
past couple of weeks. At first, she just thought the cat might have belonged to a neighbour and
ignored her when she first came around. But after a while,
she noticed the cat looked thin and frail and it was then that
she brought her inside her home. We instructed the lady to
bring the cat to our vet that same day. Nina was given a
thorough exam at Willowbrook Animal Hospital. She weighed
a mere 5 ½ pounds, was jaundiced and dehydrated.
The staff at Willowbrook sprang into action upon Nina’s
arrival. She was hooked up to an IV, given medications and
she needed to be force fed bits of food at regular intervals.
When I went to visit her that same evening, I was amazed at
how sweet she was in spite of everything she was going
NINA
through.
NINA
She seemed grateful just to have a roof over her head,
even though it was a cage in a vet’s office. She purred
when I petted her and she rubbed her head weakly
against my hand. I thought, “How could anyone have
abandoned this sweet girl?” Nina had been brought in on
a Sunday. On the following Tuesday, I received a sad call
from Dr. Bath saying that despite all their efforts to save
her, they lost Nina that morning. As I hung up the phone,
I could not help but think that it just wasn’t fair. If only it
was noticed sooner that Nina needed help, if only she
could have gotten medical help faster and if only she
didn’t have an owner who abandoned her. If only.
Fortunately, not all of our rescue stories have sad endings like Nina’s. But every cat that comes
through our doors is a rescue. They have all lost their homes in one way or another and need a place
to stay. This is why the good work of C.A.R.E.S. must go on. We do it for Harley, Alvin and for Nina.
We do it for all the cats that need us.
Lauralee Porter
Shelter Manager
LOVE-A-CAT MONTHLY DONATION DRIVE
Monthly Donation Drive
February 12 – March 12, 2012
If you can spare $10, $20, $30 or even $50 a month
for a year or more, you can
GOAL!
Love-a-Cat at C.A.R.E.S. every month.
Help C.A.R.E.S. help the cats by making a monthly Love-a-Cat
donation for a year. We urgently need to make up for the lost
gaming grant this year and we are asking for your help.
Our goal is to raise $2,000 monthly for a year.
The donations will be used primarily for vet bills and food.
Do you know that C.A.R.E.S. spends over $65,000 a year on
medical bills for all the shelter cats, including spay/neuter,
emergency care, vaccinations and surgeries?
Help us help the cats and Love-a-Cat today.
Update
February 22
There are two ways you can donate:
1. Go to www.carescatshelter.com and click on DONATE NOW.
Through the secure CanadaHelps.org site you can set up an
automatic monthly credit card withdrawal.
2. Go to www.carescatshelter.com and click on the form:
MONTHLY DONATIONS. Follow the instructions on the form
and mail to C.A.R.E.S. 505, 8840 – 210 Street, Suite 290,
Langley, B.C. V1M 2Y2.
Donations are tax deductible.
With a minimum $20 monthly donation for a year, your name will
be entered in a draw for a $100 gift card to Mr. Mikes in Langley.
Please, Love-a-Cat at C.A.R.E.S. every month.
You can help Angel
Thank you from Angel, Willis, Ariel, Pepper, George and all the
other cats at the shelter.
FUNDRAISING AND EVENTS
PICTURES WITH SANTA CLAWS
During the month of December, we held our annual Pet Pictures with Santa
Claws event hosted by the Langley PetSmart store. It was a smashing success
with over 230 photo packs sold.
Thank you to Lauralee for arranging the event. Thank you to all the volunteer
elves and Santas who helped to make this event a successful one. Thank you to
the people who brought their pets in for pictures and thank you to PetSmart for
hosting this important fundraising event every year.
UPCOMING EVENTS
BOWLING NIGHT
Our annual FUN BOWLING NIGHT is coming up on Saturday, March 10,
2012 from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm. Please note this is an earlier start than in
previous years. This is a great event to have some fun and support your
favorite charity. Everyone who has attended this event in the past knows
how much fun it is and tickets sell fast!
This year, we have a great NEW venue, the Willowbrook Lanes in Langley
located at 6350 196th Street in Langley. Tickets are only $20.00 and
include: 3 games of bowling, shoe rental, appetizers and snacks. We will
also have a prize for the BINGO BOWL winners and as always, lots of door
prizes for those who attend. Bring some extra money as there will be
50/50 draws and lots of great silent auction items to bid on.
For tickets, please contact:
Carol Briner: 604.574.1325 or 604.202.0713
E-mail: [email protected] or
Lauralee Porter: 604.328.5595. E-mail: [email protected]
Come - have fun - and help a good cause - see you there!
7th ANNUAL GARAGE SALE
The annual garage sale will be held June 23rd and 24th, and as always, we are
looking for donations of gently used items. The annual garage sales are a huge
undertaking and I would like to thank all of our supporters who donate the
lovely treasures which we convert to cash for the shelter.
This year, we will be able to accept items well in advance as we have available
space in the trailer at the shelter.
So the call is out! Look in the attic, look in the shed, look in your cupboards
and don’t forget to even look in the garage! Put your unused treasures to
work to help the kitties. No clothing items please.
For further information, or to arrange drop off of your items, contact
Lauralee: 604.328.5595. E-mail [email protected] or
Carol: 604.202.0713. E-mail at [email protected]
THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS
C.A.R.E.S. has been very fortunate to have a vast range of supporters over the years and we thank you all. We
could not accomplish what we do without the ongoing help from companies like PetSmart, Science Diet and
from individual donors.
We would like to recognize one special young donor who declined presents on
her birthday in favour of helping the cats. In January 2012 we received the
following note:
“Dear C.A.R.E.S., we adopted our cat Goldie from your shelter in November
2010. She is just the most wonderful cat and we are so happy to have her in our
family! My daughter decided that for her birthday this year, she wasn’t going to
ask for presents from her friends but for donations instead. She collected
$190.00 and decided that she wanted to support your shelter. Our thanks to you
all for the wonderful job you do in finding new homes for unwanted cats. Goldie
has been a wonderful, loving and loved addition to our family! Sincerely, the Friesen Family”
Thank you Friesen family for adopting Goldie and for continuing to help homeless cats!
OUR SPECIAL THANK YOU goes to Brigitte & Steve Cuthill and Paul Rodgers & Cynthia Kereluk.
Brigitte Cuthill has been volunteering on Sunday mornings for the past three years and we would like to thank
her and her husband Steve for their support and for telling Paul Rodgers and his spouse Cynthia about
C.A.R.E.S. Paul has played in the rock bands, “Bad Company”, “Queen” and “Free”. Paul and Cynthia are true
animal lovers and have generously given to C.A.R.E.S. Not only did they help save 300 animals from death at a
Scottish Sanctuary, but they have also helped “Seraphim 12”, a foundation dedicated to stopping abuse,
neglect and unnecessary slaughter of horses.
OUR SPECIAL THANK YOU goes to the lady who heard about C.A.R.E.S. through
connection on Facebook. In December she read on Facebook that C.A.R.E.S.
was in need of a new dishwasher and she donated enough funds to buy a shiny
new one. Thank you for your generous support!
OUR THANK YOU also goes to our regular supporters. We wish to acknowledge the following people for their
continued support. We so appreciate all donors. Without their help, we would not be able to continue with our
work. Our heartfelt thanks to:
Barbara Sewell
Diane Anthony
Chris Briner
Muriel Chimiuk and Canadian Superstore
Kathy Dell
Eric Perkins
Carol Codron
Dr. Bath - Willowbrook Animal Hospital
Hugh Cooke
Lauralee Porter
Amber Briggs
Ruth and Ray Wesenberg
Luise Hartstock
Tricia Williams
Anne Salomon
Patrick Brauckmann
OUR FABULOUS VOLUNTEERS
At C.A.R.E.S., we are truly blessed to have so many dedicated people each doing their part in the whole process of
rescuing, caring for and finding homes for our deserving feline charges. We just cannot thank each one of you
enough for your willingness to donate countless hours of your valuable time each week to helping the homeless cats
in our care. We simply could not do what we do without you!
Louise& Syrina
One special group of people we would like to shine a light on this time are those
faithful souls who come each morning and do what we call the grunt work of the
organization. These folks arrive early and sweep and mop and wipe. They clean
litter pans, wash dishes and feed kitties. These are the people who see the cats
at their worst; the stressed, scared faces who arrive after being rescued or losing
their family home. They see the cats when they are sick and recovering from
illness or injury. They help by giving care and love to all the cats in need. It takes
a very special kind of person to give up their time to come and do this kind of
work for the cats. So we extend a heartfelt thank you to these wonderful
volunteers. You really are making a difference!
EATING FOR THE CATS: Some people will do just about anything to help our kitties! On
February 5th , Super Bowl Sunday, our volunteer and Board Member, Chris Kasdorf
participated in an eating contest held at Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse, Langley. The contest
was held at half time and the participants had to eat as many Mr. Mike mini burgers as
they could in 10 minutes. The winner would receive $250 towards their favourite
charity. The winner wolfed down 10 burgers and we are still proud of our Chris who
put up a good fight and ate 8 ½ burgers. He said he did need to go and have a good lie
down on his sofa afterwards though. Thank you for your efforts Chris and let’s hope
you’ll win next year! Thank you to Lisa McGalliard for the generous donation of a Mr.
Mike’s $100 gift card for the C.A.R.E.S. Love-a-Cat Monthly Donation Drive.
The Kaz
HELPING THE CATS AT THE SHELTER IN OUR COMMUNITY
There are so many ways you can help. You can volunteer a few hours a week at the shelter or at fundraising
events, you can become a foster parent to kittens or special needs cats or if you have fundraising experience –
we need you! For more information about Volunteer Opportunities, please go to our website
www.carescatshelter.com.
If you cannot volunteer, you can help the cats by making a donation. Any amount is greatly appreciated and a
tax receipt will be issued for donations of $10 or more.
✂ ----------------------------------------------------------Yes! I want to help C.A.R.E.S. continue its mission of rescuing, sheltering and finding loving homes for
stray, abandoned and unwanted cats.
Here is my gift of:  $10  $25  $50  $75  $_________ (other)
 Enclosed is a cheque made payable to C.A.R.E.S.
 I authorize C.A.R.E.S. to debit my chequing account for $_______/month and have enclosed a blank cheque
marked VOID.
 Or use your credit card to make a donation online!
Just go to the C.A.R.E.S. website
www.carescatshelter.com and click on DONATE NOW through CanadaHelps.org button.
THANK YOU!
Mailing address: 505, 8840 210 Street, Suite 290, Langley, B.C. V1M 2Y2
Phone: 604.532.5632 e-mail: [email protected]
CHATTY CATTY’S CORNER
Hello again everyone, Ariel here.
In this newsletter issue there have been a lot of rescue stories mentioned and I
have another one to tell you about. Earlier this month, we got in a fellow they
have been calling O.J. He was rescued on a property in Abbotsford after being
attacked by a raccoon. Mark, the owner of the property had noticed O.J.
wandering around his place for about 2 months. At first, he thought the cat must
have belonged to a nearby neighbour as the cat seemed healthy. But as the
weeks went on, he noticed the cat seemed to be getting dirtier and skinnier and
scratched up looking. Mark started putting some food out for the cat and kept an
eye out for him all the while debating what to do about O.J.
Then one day O.J. was attacked and bitten by a raccoon and Mark knew he had to
do something fast. He fortunately found out about C.A.R.E.S. from a neighbour
and called us. Our shelter manager told Mark to take the cat to our vet right
OJ
away. O.J. was treated for bite wounds, one being a puncture wound that went
right through his back foot! A drain had to be inserted in the foot and poor O.J.
had to wear a cone on his head which he was none too happy about. I sure don’t like that myself! He was also
neutered, vaccinated dewormed and deflead. O.J. was lucky that Mark rescued him when he did and got him to
C.A.R.E.S. So many other strays are not so fortunate. I sure hope we find a forever home for OJ. He deserves it.
So the lesson I want to teach you all today is what to do if you notice a cat in your area and you are unsure if it is a
stray:
1. Check to see if the cat has an owner. Check with neighbours. Call local vets or and shelters to see if there
are any lost reports. Check if the cat has a collar, a tattoo (usually in right ear) or microchip which can help
trace the cat back to an owner. Put up found posters with pictures of the cat at local vets, shelters and in
your neighbourhood. Post information about the cat in the lost and found section on the websites of the
SPCA and Humane Society as well as Craigslist and Facebook. Watch for lost cat posters in your area. Put a
note around the cat’s neck for the owner to call you in case it does have an owner.
2. Start providing wet & dry food and water every day in a safe place at the same time every day. This is crucial
as us cats can start having serious health problems quickly without having food for as little as three days. If
the cat seems to be skinny and in poor health, offer wet & dry kitten food at first to help the cat get its
strength back. Kitten food has more protein.
3. If possible, bring the cat inside and put it in one room of your home. The longer a cat stays outside, the more
likely it can get injured and will succumb to the cold, especially if it is weak. Do keep it separate from your
other cats just in case it may have contracted any diseases such as Feline Aids.
4. If you decide you want to keep the cat, take it to your vet for a full health check to ensure it is
spayed/neutered, vaccinated and that any other necessary medical issues are looked after. Keep the cat in
one room in your home until it is settled. This could take up to a week or more for timid and or traumatized
cats. If you cannot keep the cat, then try to find a no-kill shelter such as C.A.R.E.S. to take the cat. Some
shelters like the local SPCA are only able to hold the animal for five days and then have to put it down due to
lack of space or if the animal is older or injured. Offer a donation to help the
shelter care for the cat if you can.
Remember, time is of the essence. The longer the cat
goes without food and water and the longer it is
outside, the less likely it will survive. Please help lost
and abandoned cats.
Until next time,
Love from Ariel