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March Status:
In March, we placed 147 cats into loving forever homes!
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Please join us in celebrating Cinco de Mayo at 2SP's "Cinco de Meow" Pay It Forward Charity Night . . .
20% of the proceeds are donated to Forgotten Cats!
When: Friday, May 5 - 3:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Where: 2SP Brewing Company | 120 Concord Rd | Aston, PA 19014
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TWO food trucks - The Walking Taco Company AND Rollin' Phatties BBQ.
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Taco Cat on tap and in 16 oz. cans.
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Limited edition 2SP Cinco de Meow shirts (hint - color/design similar to above graphic & a portion of the sales of the t-shirt donated to FC!).
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Live music by Rick Choate Acoustic.
Come drink delicious beer (you can also grab some beer to go!), eat good food, and hang out with other cat lovers to help support our mission of humanely reducing the homeless cat population.
We will have awesome raffle baskets and unique cat merchandise for sale!
Raffle drawing will take place at 9:00 pm - you do not have to be present to win!!
Many thanks to: E.S. Drapery & Design, Love, Lisa, Marge, Carolyn, Janet & Sandy for the raffle prizes!
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A Happy Ending for Buttercup! | |
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Buttercup was rescued by an FC volunteer in February. Her new family came into the shelter looking specifically for a male tabby cat with a great personality but instead left with a fun-loving calico girl named Buttercup. Here’s how she’s doing now-
Piper (Buttercup) is doing awesome. She likes to lay on her daddy’s lap to watch TV. She loves playing with her toys. She has quite an appetite. She has learned to push a toy that will dispense a treat (Temptations). I showed her how to push with her paw and it only took a couple times and she caught on. We have gotten so many compliments on how pretty she is. All went well with her vet appointment last Friday. Our vet seems to think she is going to be a small cat. I’m so glad she is the one we picked. She is definitely a lap cat and purrs like crazy when we pick her up. Thanks so much for checking in. She is a great addition to our family.
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How do we love thee? Let us count the ways!
By Mary Ann Emely
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If our April spotlighted volunteer had been born 200 years earlier, she could have been the subject of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet, “How do I love thee!” Debbie Levine, let us count the ways! Debbie does so many different things for Forgotten Cats, that Development Director Olivia Westley says “She’s like the Energizer Bunny! And her Forgotten Cats work is on top of everything else she does – for more than 40 years she has run her own hair styling business, for 30+ years she has been teaching Sunday School, she babysits her neighbor’s toddler, and so much more!” Pictured right: April Spotlighted Volunteer Debbie Levine
In addition to her family members, pictured below, Debbie has 2 dogs – Tiki and Lobo. Felicia Cross’s daughter brought them back from Ecuador and asked Debbie to foster them. “That was 13 years ago,” says Deb. “In addition to Tiki and Lobo, I currently have 2 resident cats, one of which is diabetic, and 3 feral cats that live outside and in the garage.”
Debbie has been a Forgotten Cats volunteer practically from Day One! Olivia says Deb has been FC’s Thursday tech since the day operations began at the newly opened Forgotten Cats clinic. Deb says it actually started in 2002 when her oldest child brought home a kitten, who became Sadie, which then led to Debbie taking in her first bottle babies from a neighbor who was a friend of Felicia Cross. In that year Deb went from fostering kitties to becoming a regular tech at the newly-opened Trainer clinic – and she’s still the Thursday tech there! “I love what I do at the clinic,” Debbie tells us. “And I love the trust that the vets put in me. I have seen cats go from horrible situations/conditions to becoming happy, healthy, beloved pets.”
In addition to serving as the regular Thursday tech at Trainer, Debbie is Forgotten Cats’ medical contact for the Christiana PetSmart adoption center. If a cat at that center appears to be sick, Debbie will go there and check her out. She also sees sick fosters at her home. Debbie says that she has had no formal medical training but that Dr. Martin at the clinic “is a wonderful teacher and has done a great job sharing her knowledge.” She added that she has “always loved medical stuff and watching medical shows such as Discover Health.”
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Debbie Levine, back row, farthest left enjoys time with her family – children, grands, and furry family members. | |
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When a cat needs to be transported to and/or from the clinic for the people who trap in Delaware near where she lives, Debbie’s the one who does that too!
Debbie fosters all types of cats and kittens, especially neonates and critically sick or injured cats. She tells us that over the last 20 years she has had hundreds of fosters.
She delivers all of FC’s medical supplies to the Trainer clinic. As Olivia says, “the list of what Debbie does for FC goes on and on.”
FC founder and Executive Director Felicia Cross says of Debbie, “Throughout these years she has been a dedicated volunteer who can fill any role except surgery. Debbie is the go-to person for critically ill cats. She fosters bottle babies whose survival is difficult to achieve and her house always has a litter or two of kittens in her care. Debbie is a resource to all fosters when they find their cats ill and in need of help quickly no matter what time of day or night.” Pictured above: Debbie at the Trainer Clinic, working on the day’s patients.
Debbie has been known to trap colonies when she becomes aware of them. Olivia says “Deb fills a difficult and critical role as a surgery technician once and sometimes twice a week.” Felicia adds that “Over the last 18 years I could count on one hand the number of times that Debbie wasn't able to fulfill her role in clinic.”
Regarding her time and experiences with Forgotten Cats, Debbie says “Where else could I volunteer and get to play with kitties?!”
Deb, the Forgotten Cats kitties are always so pleased to have you around to care for them and play with them. Thank you for all the many things you do in their rescue!
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Forgotten Cats Says “Thank You” to Another Amazing
Area Teen for Her Support of Our Mission
By Mary Ann Emely
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What do Nadia (the cat) and Eliza Deitrich, a junior at Phoenixville Area High School and member of the Animal Science program at TCHS Pickering, have in common? They are both devoted Forgotten Cats fans!
Nadia (formerly Gemma) was a Forgotten Cats shelter cat adopted by Eliza’s family in the summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Eliza, one of her humans, says that when the Deitrich's decided they wanted a little 4-legged family member, they looked online at the FC gallery. They called FC but learned that the cat they had been interested in was just adopted, so after learning more about the Deitrich family, the FC volunteer suggested they meet Gemma. Her photos were very cute! They scheduled a meeting and instantly fell in love with her and Gemma, now Nadia, now had her forever home! Pictured above: Nadia and Eliza Deitrich
Eliza has been an animal lover since she can remember, so it makes sense that she would feel a strong affinity to the organization responsible for bringing Nadia into her life. This passion has manifested itself in a couple of independent projects that Eliza has organized for the benefit of Forgotten Cats.
In the Spring of 2022, Eliza organized a cat food drive for the kitties of FC and when dropping off the donations at the Willow Grove facility, she had a chance to tour the shelter and clinic.
This year, she organized another, even larger drive – collecting not only cat food but myriad supplies that the Forgotten Cats kitties need and enjoy. After getting permission from both schools’ principals, Eliza started to find boxes to place at the schools for donations. She had flyers and posters created, promoting the project, and hung them at both schools. She also wrote a short message that was played on the morning announcements. When the drive ended, Eliza collected all of the donations and brought them to her house where they were kept until she was able to deliver them to Forgotten Cats.
The mass of donations was extremely impressive! More than 200 cans of wet food, almost 30 pounds of dry food, not to mention supplies such as treats, cat litter, collars and leashes, detergent and other cleaning supplies, towels, paper towels, cat toys, and so much more!
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In the Spring of 2022, Eliza organized a cat food drive for the kitties of FC and when dropping off the donations at the Willow Grove facility, she had a chance to tour the shelter and clinic.
This year, she organized another, even larger drive – collecting not only cat food but myriad supplies that the Forgotten Cats kitties need and enjoy. After getting permission from both schools’ principals, Eliza started to find boxes to place at the schools for donations. She had flyers and poster created, promoting the project, and hung them at both schools. She also wrote a short message that was played on the morning announcements. When the drive ended, Eliza collected all of the donations and brought them to her house where they were kept until she was able to deliver them to Forgotten Cats.
The mass of donations was extremely impressive! More than 200 cans of wet food, almost 30 pounds of dry food, not to mention supplies such as treats, cat litter, collars and leashes, detergent and other cleaning supplies, towels, paper towels, cat toys, and so much more!
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At right, Nadia and Eliza pose with FC volunteers Patty Penland and Susan Zorn behind the huge pile of donations from Eliza’s 2023 pet supplies drive!
Eliza said that doing a project like this was not part of her curriculum requirements, “but in the future it is likely to be added to their FFA (Future Farmers of America) Chapter’s calen-dar to be done annually”.
Talking about how her Forgotten Cats support efforts relate to her school work, Eliza said that the TCHS Animal Science program offers class-room learning about a variety of animals, animal care and animal health. Her class helps to take care of the indoor/small animals (reptiles, rodents, etc.), the doggy daycare kennel that they run, their dog grooming program, as well as a barn which has goats, donkeys, pigs, and a pony. She said that after she graduates, she is hoping to go to Harcum College for its Vet Nursing program.
At TCHS, Eliza has participated in both a vet tech and an equine judging competition. She currently interns at a small animal vet office and a horse farm where she is learning Natural Horsemanship. She’s also a member of an Art Club at her school and enjoys drawing/painting, photography and reading.
Forgotten Cats is pleased to give a shout out to Eliza for her many efforts in support of animals’ health and well-being!
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Foster and Save a Life Today
A special note from our “forgotten cats” . . .
We know what it’s like to be sad, lost, and forgotten. We’re so grateful for the foster families who’ve helped us feel safe and content but there’s so many of us still waiting for a foster home.
We know there’s humans out there just like us. Ones that are sad, lonely, and lost. We can help each other heal.
Please consider becoming a cat or kitten foster. Our gentle purrs and cuddles can help heal any lonely heart.
Invite us in and we will provide you with unconditional love and affection. We will nuzzle your necks to calm your nerves and will make you laugh with our silly antics. You don’t deserve a moment of sadness. We’re here to make each of your days a happy one!
We will eventually part ways. You’ll see us off to our new homes and a new, qualified kitty will fill our role in caring for you. They will look into your eyes and warm your heart just like I did.
Please submit a Foster Application and save a life today. Fosters are needed in both the Trainer and Willow Grove areas.
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SPECIAL FOSTER or HOME NEEDED for a SPECIAL NEEDS CAT and his bonded comfort cat : Meet Clarence & Liam. | |
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Clarence (FCID# 04/19/2021 - 407 is a sweet, elder - at least 10 years old, orange & white kitty that is very easy to fall in love with. You can tell he's had a rough life from his crooked tail and various scars, but he is such a love bug. He also loves to talk to you to express his joy with these adorable little growl sounds. Clarence is also great with other cats, so could definitely be in a multi-cat household. His best friend is Liam (FCID# 03/31/2022 - 9) and just look at their adorable bond! His favorite spot is snuggled up against you, making cute snorting sounds from his little congested nose. (He does have chronic congestion, but it is easily managed with daily nose drops). He has food and environmental allergies and will need to strictly eat a limited ingredient diet.
Liam is a sweet, friendly middle-aged (5-8 years) kitty with a lot of life still in him. He's playful, adventurous, loves people, is a great kitty brother to other kitties, and Liam is a wonderful foster kitten uncle. He has brought a lot of love and tranquility to Clarence (FCID# 04/19/2021 - 407) and they are now best friends. See the photos below; they snuggle, play, and bathe each other. Liam recently had most of his teeth removed, but that doesn't slow him down!
Do you have a place in your heart and home for Liam & Clarence? Here's an adorable video of Clarence.
Please submit our no-obligation adoption application for a meet & greet or to adopt.
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We are in need of volunteers to help with feed and clean in the morning every day of the week for trapped cats waiting for or recovering from surgery.
Responsibilities include feeding cats in their traps and providing clean paper in the trap. Training will be provided.
If you would like to volunteer for one or several mornings, please email us at info@forgottencats.org. Please include your phone number so that we can reach out to you.
PS: We also need people to wash cages, carriers, etc. Unfortunately, not having volunteers to wash cages is becoming an on-going issue. Cages, carriers, etc. can come any time - night or day. This is an important job to keep the cats and kittens we serve healthy and would require some upper body strength.
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We have an immediate need for CLINIC Volunteers in our Delaware County, PA facility, near Claymont, DE.
This is an opportunity to help cats whose only medical treatment during their lifetime may be when they go to our clinic. Volunteering at the clinics is an important and serious undertaking and we are looking for the few ready to make the commitment. CLINIC volunteers need to commit to one specific day a week at the clinic. The reason for this is that we are dealing with the lives of the cats, and we need to make sure that our volunteers know the clinic procedures, and this can only be done by volunteering on at least a once-a-week basis. We will train. No medical background required.
We are looking for help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays. Volunteers must commit to either one full day a week or half a day.
SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY
Please email info@forgottencats.org if you would like to volunteer at the clinic. In your reply, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER so that we may reach out to you.
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Chewy Wish List
It’s never been easier to give back! Help our animals in need by shopping our Wish List on Chewy to donate much-needed pet food and supplies directly to our organization. Just click on "Chewy Wish List" above.
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Amazon Wish List
Unfortunately, Amazon has decided to discontinue their Amazon Smile donation program. But please keep in mind that we also have a Wish List on Amazon for much needed items - just click on "Amazon Wish List" above. This makes it super easy to help Forgotten Cats by donating much needed food and supplies to our organization.
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We Want to Hear from You!
If you have an idea for an article or a story you would like to share about a rescue, special volunteer, your adoption center or recent adoptions from Forgotten Cats, please send story and photos if possible to: info@forgottencats.org
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Forgotten Cats, Inc. | www.forgottencats.org | |
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