Fix Cats in Fresno Tower District!
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2015 (see UPDATES section for more recent news): Hello! I am just one person who does not like to look the other way when I see animals in need. Maybe you are the same way? I trap, spay or neuter and vet all cats that come into my care then either release them in my own neighborhood, if found there, or get them other homes, friendly or wild. The Tower District is like Calcutta for cats, running everywhere, unfixed, unfed, unsheltered and unloved, even poisoned and hunted for food by people and loose dogs. That is not acceptable to me. This is Tabitha, one of the 35 cats and kittens I personally trapped from just ONE property, a burned down home where many other cats perished. The last two trapped were two tame and friendly male cats (see Ashton below), many of the other cats look like them and a couple of the pregnant females. If those two had been neutered, and/or kept indoors, how much suffering could have been prevented! There are many ways you and I can help until our shelter is a safe place to take all cats who need shelter, at least briefly, and other help.
Here she is next to her brother, Sven--Tabitha is only a little more than HALF his weight, a mini cat full of personality and who LOVES to be held and cuddled!
Tame cats can live inside and the wild ones make great mousers on vineyards with deer fencing, shelter and quality food. My strays get the same great canned and dry food I feed my own. And they are very loved, too. This is Ashton, their father, who just found his forever home, too :)
Below is Henry, over 10 years old and just left outside, even though he supposedly has a home. When he first appeared on my front porch, he was thin and dirty and his mouth looked odd. Sure enough, he only had four teeth left and they were all rotten, so I had them pulled. Now, he eats plenty of canned and dry food, and sleeps on my porch in a bed I made him. He has now lives in a wonderful sanctuary in Idyllwild, California--and they also took in three of his younger adoptable buddies so he would not be in isolation alone and so they could offset the costs of taking in Henry. SOLUTIONS ARE EVERYWHERE!
Below is a photo of on of the latest catches, Possum. She was living outside at a residential hotel who looks at cats as pests to be swept away. At eight years old, she also had bad teeth and was starving, weighing only five pounds. It turned out she was sick and dying of FeLV so I had her humanely euthanized while the vet had her under in anticipation of spaying her. I took her home and buried her in my yard with a ceremony where she will feed the trees for a long while to come. Sometimes this is the best we can do, and it still costs nearly $100. I also caught and fixed/vetted one other cat there and am planning to go back for one more friendly boy, Tiger, if I have the funds. The hotel has made the rest of the colony disappear since I was there on Thursday, you can fill in the blanks about whether they were rescued or taken to our high-kill shelter. I have been told by several personnel, unapologetically, that they do not care about these cats and will do whatever they want to them. UPDATE: TIGER AND FRIEND WENT TO LIVE AT A GREAT CAT SANCTUARY ON THE COAST, CAT HABITAT! I had to fully vet them, $600 each, including dental exams, but now they are safe and cared for for the rest of their lives.
This is a borrowed set-up, foisted upon me by a rescue group that gave back two feral cats because they were going out of town. I try NOT to take any in any ferals for very long but it is worth a few weeks if they can get a permanent home in a stellar property. These two sisters ended up at a high-end vineyard in Paso Robles with indoor-outdoor privileges, after a proper acclimation period in a secure shed.
Here is a sweetie I call Nathaniel who pretty much walked into my carrier this morning and is now in his forever home in San Luis Obispo! There are many more where he came from.
ABOUT ME: I worked as a kennel attendant for the San Francisco S.P.C.A. during its kill-to-no-kill transition back in the '80s and have done much volunteer TNR work in my 22 years in Los Angeles.
Presently, I live in the historic Tower District of Fresno and it is knee-deep in stray and feral cats and kittens. I recently came across this litter of kittens playing in the street.
I was able to trap them, get them vetted and neutered and into new homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Look at those faces!
I struggle with the neighbors to convince them to fix the cats if they are going to feed them, they go hand-in-hand or they are just creating a bigger problem. I have been brushed off repeatedly when asking for their financial assistance or any other kind of help. But there have been many heroes, too.
There is, sadly, a general mindset in this area of not caring what happens to these animals--even the low-cost clinics are refusing to fix ferals in the month of June due to the volume of companion cats and kittens in need right now. Their price list for feral cats is actually the same or higher than my own local vet up the street.
Our S.P.C.A. is a house of horrors where animals, especially cats, are more often than not immediately euthanized, even when rescue groups place holds on them, so no animals we trap or take will be going there. Other organizations are either full or not doing the trapping and transportation for ferals.
That leaves a few of us committed individual rescuers to do the work--trapping, spaying/neutering, treating for disease and parasites then releasing them back into areas with a consistent food supply. We are planning to build catios to temporarily house mamas with babies until all are weaned and ready for fixing and rehoming or releasing, litters of kittens too young to be fixed, and adult animals that need more time to heal.
At my local vet, which is very clean and reliable, the cost of neutering a male is $75 + $15 for flea treatment in warmer months + $15 for Upper Respiratory Infection vaccination treatment + $7 for tape worm treatment = $112 for adult males.
The cost for a female who is not in heat or pregnant is $95 and $10 more if she is pregnant or in heat +$15 + $15 + 7 = $142 for each adult female. It is more than the clinics who work with rescue groups but those do not include the head-to-tail phyical exam, ear cleaning and nail clipping, if desired, and I have had to spend more at the emergency vet because something was missed at the discount clinic. Sometimes I only get one chance to catch these cats so everything needs to be addressed at one time.
Kittens, male or female, who weigh three or more pounds can be fixed at another safe clinic for $20 each.
DONATIONS MAY ALSO BE MADE DIRECTLY TO MY ACCOUNT AT MY VET'S OFFICE,IF YOU PREFER! Just let me know.
Kittens and adoptable adults would be then be rehomed, most likely up in Northern California where I am having good luck with the many vineyard owners or will go to other thoroughly screened rescue groups there or further North into Oregon or Washington state. THIS is the ideal life for a feral or semi-feral cat--or anyone, really! I work on the premise that there is a good home for EVERY cat, knowing I will fall short sometimes. AIM HIGH!
There are costs associated with housing and transportation, too, but those we will ask be covered by the adopters. These funds will go toward what I need to pay out to the veterinarian and/or food and proven holistic remedies.
In the event that an animal is in great pain or very ill, in the vet's opinion, that animal will be humanely euthanized and I will present to usher him or her into a better place than the Tower District of Fresno.
I need your help TODAY--any amount will be gratefully accepted and used wisely. Accounting of funds spent with photos (whenever possible) will be posted here so you can see how big a difference YOU are making in animals lives!
THANK YOU, PLEASE SHARE THIS CAMPAIGN WIDELY.
Here she is next to her brother, Sven--Tabitha is only a little more than HALF his weight, a mini cat full of personality and who LOVES to be held and cuddled!
Tame cats can live inside and the wild ones make great mousers on vineyards with deer fencing, shelter and quality food. My strays get the same great canned and dry food I feed my own. And they are very loved, too. This is Ashton, their father, who just found his forever home, too :)
Below is Henry, over 10 years old and just left outside, even though he supposedly has a home. When he first appeared on my front porch, he was thin and dirty and his mouth looked odd. Sure enough, he only had four teeth left and they were all rotten, so I had them pulled. Now, he eats plenty of canned and dry food, and sleeps on my porch in a bed I made him. He has now lives in a wonderful sanctuary in Idyllwild, California--and they also took in three of his younger adoptable buddies so he would not be in isolation alone and so they could offset the costs of taking in Henry. SOLUTIONS ARE EVERYWHERE!
Below is a photo of on of the latest catches, Possum. She was living outside at a residential hotel who looks at cats as pests to be swept away. At eight years old, she also had bad teeth and was starving, weighing only five pounds. It turned out she was sick and dying of FeLV so I had her humanely euthanized while the vet had her under in anticipation of spaying her. I took her home and buried her in my yard with a ceremony where she will feed the trees for a long while to come. Sometimes this is the best we can do, and it still costs nearly $100. I also caught and fixed/vetted one other cat there and am planning to go back for one more friendly boy, Tiger, if I have the funds. The hotel has made the rest of the colony disappear since I was there on Thursday, you can fill in the blanks about whether they were rescued or taken to our high-kill shelter. I have been told by several personnel, unapologetically, that they do not care about these cats and will do whatever they want to them. UPDATE: TIGER AND FRIEND WENT TO LIVE AT A GREAT CAT SANCTUARY ON THE COAST, CAT HABITAT! I had to fully vet them, $600 each, including dental exams, but now they are safe and cared for for the rest of their lives.
This is a borrowed set-up, foisted upon me by a rescue group that gave back two feral cats because they were going out of town. I try NOT to take any in any ferals for very long but it is worth a few weeks if they can get a permanent home in a stellar property. These two sisters ended up at a high-end vineyard in Paso Robles with indoor-outdoor privileges, after a proper acclimation period in a secure shed.
Here is a sweetie I call Nathaniel who pretty much walked into my carrier this morning and is now in his forever home in San Luis Obispo! There are many more where he came from.
ABOUT ME: I worked as a kennel attendant for the San Francisco S.P.C.A. during its kill-to-no-kill transition back in the '80s and have done much volunteer TNR work in my 22 years in Los Angeles.
Presently, I live in the historic Tower District of Fresno and it is knee-deep in stray and feral cats and kittens. I recently came across this litter of kittens playing in the street.
I was able to trap them, get them vetted and neutered and into new homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Look at those faces!
I struggle with the neighbors to convince them to fix the cats if they are going to feed them, they go hand-in-hand or they are just creating a bigger problem. I have been brushed off repeatedly when asking for their financial assistance or any other kind of help. But there have been many heroes, too.
There is, sadly, a general mindset in this area of not caring what happens to these animals--even the low-cost clinics are refusing to fix ferals in the month of June due to the volume of companion cats and kittens in need right now. Their price list for feral cats is actually the same or higher than my own local vet up the street.
Our S.P.C.A. is a house of horrors where animals, especially cats, are more often than not immediately euthanized, even when rescue groups place holds on them, so no animals we trap or take will be going there. Other organizations are either full or not doing the trapping and transportation for ferals.
That leaves a few of us committed individual rescuers to do the work--trapping, spaying/neutering, treating for disease and parasites then releasing them back into areas with a consistent food supply. We are planning to build catios to temporarily house mamas with babies until all are weaned and ready for fixing and rehoming or releasing, litters of kittens too young to be fixed, and adult animals that need more time to heal.
At my local vet, which is very clean and reliable, the cost of neutering a male is $75 + $15 for flea treatment in warmer months + $15 for Upper Respiratory Infection vaccination treatment + $7 for tape worm treatment = $112 for adult males.
The cost for a female who is not in heat or pregnant is $95 and $10 more if she is pregnant or in heat +$15 + $15 + 7 = $142 for each adult female. It is more than the clinics who work with rescue groups but those do not include the head-to-tail phyical exam, ear cleaning and nail clipping, if desired, and I have had to spend more at the emergency vet because something was missed at the discount clinic. Sometimes I only get one chance to catch these cats so everything needs to be addressed at one time.
Kittens, male or female, who weigh three or more pounds can be fixed at another safe clinic for $20 each.
DONATIONS MAY ALSO BE MADE DIRECTLY TO MY ACCOUNT AT MY VET'S OFFICE,IF YOU PREFER! Just let me know.
Kittens and adoptable adults would be then be rehomed, most likely up in Northern California where I am having good luck with the many vineyard owners or will go to other thoroughly screened rescue groups there or further North into Oregon or Washington state. THIS is the ideal life for a feral or semi-feral cat--or anyone, really! I work on the premise that there is a good home for EVERY cat, knowing I will fall short sometimes. AIM HIGH!
There are costs associated with housing and transportation, too, but those we will ask be covered by the adopters. These funds will go toward what I need to pay out to the veterinarian and/or food and proven holistic remedies.
In the event that an animal is in great pain or very ill, in the vet's opinion, that animal will be humanely euthanized and I will present to usher him or her into a better place than the Tower District of Fresno.
I need your help TODAY--any amount will be gratefully accepted and used wisely. Accounting of funds spent with photos (whenever possible) will be posted here so you can see how big a difference YOU are making in animals lives!
THANK YOU, PLEASE SHARE THIS CAMPAIGN WIDELY.
Organiser
Jenine-Lacette DShazer
Organiser
Fresno, CA
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