Practicing and promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois

We're a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and practicing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois. We believe that TNR is the only effective, humane and long-term solution to the problem of cat overpopulation.
The Feral Fixers e-Newsletter - Issue #67 - September, 2018
In This Issue
Letter from the President
As If They Were Our Own
Have you seen our Adoptables?
Want to Help?
Wine & Whiskers
Check out our Social Media!
Fosters are needed now!
How many cats? - 10,712!!
Shop on Amazon - Help Feral Fixers!
DuPage County Animal Services Mobile Spay Unit
Shop on CafePress - Help Feral Fixers!
Visit us on the Web
What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
About us
Dear Friend,

Welcome to yet another ultra-full newsletter from Feral Fixers!

The Letter from the President contains updates on our latest spay/neuter trips, the status on the search for our own building, the ongoing need for Volunteers and our current fundraiser, As If They Were Our Own.

The As If They Were Our Own fundraiser is targeted towards funding the extra costs we incur when we come across cats that have severe medical needs. You can read about one of these cats, Chip, here. We have a promise of matching funds up to $3,400 so every dollar you donate between now and October 15th will count as two dollars for us! This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year and money raised helps us to cover one of the major expenses we incur each year - please help!

This newsletter contains information and links to our As If They Were Our Own and Wine & Whiskers fundraisers and updated instructions on how to help us by shopping on Amazon (including our Wish List).

This newsletter also has links to our Social Media outlets, an update on the total number of cats we have spayed/neutered so far, information about our Adoptable cats and our ongoing need for Fosters, our current Event Calendar and much, much more!

Thank you for reading and thank you for support of Feral Fixers!

Sincerely,

Feral Fixers
Letter from the President

By the time I could finish this letter...

Since we updated our info several few days ago, we have had another s/n day. On Thursday, 8/9, we sent 10 friendlies to ADOPT, 5 males, 5 females - thank you to Charli and Dedra for transporting! We also sent 5 cats to DCAS - 1 feral, 4 friendlies, of which 4 were males and 1 was a female - thank you Debbie for transporting! This brings us to 15 on Thursday, 48 for August, 359 for the year and 10,676 since 2007. Many thanks to the fosters who trek to my house at 7:15AM and then come back that same evening to get their kitties!

Building Update

I am constantly being asked what is going on with our building. Because Feral Fixers does not fit into any predetermined cat - egory, it has been a challenge. We finally found a building in Lombard that we could make work only to find out that, after being told for over a year that we would be welcomed into Zone 2 or Zone 5, we're not a fit. Now we are told that we can take up residence in the Industrial Area, unfortunately there are no buildings for sale in that area. This sends us back to the drawing board, and the hunt continues. Stay tuned.

So Many Events, So Little Time!

There are a dizzying number of events in the next two months! Please consult our Events page for more details.
  • 8/11 Adoption Event at Pet Supplies Plus in Naperville - so many kittens! Update: Seven went home!
  • 8/12-18 Five Below - shop for those last-minute, back-to-school needs or cat-themed stuff, or maybe both!
  • 8/14 Portillo's fundraiser - show your flyer at the register OR the first person you see at the drive-thru - help us make our goal!
  • 8/18 Clear the Shelters! In partnership with DuPage County Animal Services, we will have kittens for adoption in their new mobile unit - they can be seen from the outside, space is small so only pre-approved or adopters who have filled out an application will be admitted.
  • 8/25 Pints for Paws We've been invited to participate in an event at Crosstown Bar and Grill - we'll have a couple of kittens there and lots of information about all of our adoptables!
  • 9/15 Get Needled for Feral Fixers! - an acupuncture fundraiser - do we have unique events or WHAT!
  • 9/22 Two Bostons Adopt-A-Rama - come out and see some of our adoptable kitties!
  • 9/30 Join us at West Suburban Humane Society's Barkapalooza - always a great time!
  • 10/16 Wine & Whiskers fundraiser at Lynfred Winery in Roselle - Social event of the year!
There may be even more events popping up, so stay tuned!

(Editors note - check out the Event Calendar in this issue for the latest updates - lots of new events added!)

Too Few Volunteers Having an Impact

This year has definitely been one of change. You may have noticed that our numbers are down. This time last year we had neutered 514 cats and our total right now is 359. We lost a volunteer who put in 60 hours a week and impacted many facets of the process, additional volunteers who had grown into their jobs and therefore needed two to three people to replace them, and so on. We used to be able to respond same day to a crisis - bottle babies, injured cats, etc, that is not always possible now. We were overwhelmed before, just don't know the word for what we are now. It is not easy to volunteer for us, we're not like any other rescue, we get volunteer applications but our requirements result in very few people actually volunteering with us. We're not horrible people but what we do is time-consuming and is not a simple, two hours on Tuesday kind of thing (a building would help with that). Trapping, for instance, requires someone who can schedule their own time, work with difficult people and improvise on the fly, yet follow what we have determined to be the best way to do TNR. When we say, tell us what you can do and we'll find a use for you, we mean it, not everyone can do every facet of the process. Keep us in mind when you have breaks in your schedule or when you retire, if we can use you it will be a huge gift to Feral Fixers. But don't be upset if it just isn't the right time or task availability, that happens.

As If They Were Our Own

In addition to the basic s/n package of surgery, vaccines, flea treatment, microchip, we also provide additional services to the feral and stray cat population. We've done many dentals on 8yr old ferals, wound care, upper respiratory, you name it! There are many cats that would not have survived but for our intervention. Here are some stories from May of this year.

One of our recent stories involved a cat we named Chip. A 2yr old Ragdoll mix, we
in addition to the basic s/n package of surgery, vaccines, flea treatment, microchip, we also provide additional services to the feral and stray cat population. We've done many dentals on 8yr old ferals, wound care, upper respiratory, you name it! There are many cats that would not have survived but for our intervention. Here are some stories from May of this year.

One of our recent stories involved a cat we named Chip. A 2yr old Ragdoll mix, we learned a lot about him thru his chip. He started out in Alaska, was adopted out thru a shelter there and had an eye defect at that time. His people moved to Wisconsin and after a time, adopted a puppy and Chip was then put outside - abandoned. Our volunteer took him in, knew he had issues. His eye was re-checked, found to be stable. He tested negative for FELV/FIV but had severe stomatitis. 14 teeth were extracted, all of those behind the canines, lower and upper, both sides. Chip felt so much better after the procedure! He has gone on to be adopted, his adopters went on with another dental as the inflammation with the other teeth got worse, and the rest of his teeth were removed by their vet. Our cost for Chip was $1,200. He should go on to have a great life now, despite the rocky start. So many thanks to the adopters for their great care!
May was definitely a month for dentals. One of our adopted cats, Alamo, spent a very long time in foster before being adopted to a wonderful couple. Although he had a dental before adoption, he also needed an extensive return visit, which we helped with at a cost of $600. He is doing so very well now!!!

Corn is an FIV+ cat that had labwork and a dental at a cost to Feral Fixers of $250. Many thanks to his adopters who are taking great care of him and did not let his FIV status deter them from bringing him home!

In addition to these stories there were snap tests for cats that decided to come inside, vaccinations, Convenia shots, fluids given, medications that could only be obtained from our vet. Our total for just May was $2,379. The numbers add up and while we do as much as we can ourselves and think more about the cat's quality of life versus our own feelings, medical care for the cats that we support can amount to $36,000 a year.

With the  "As If They Were Our Own" fundraiser, we would ask that you donate to help us continue to care for those cats that have no other support in place, have encountered health challenges thru no fault of their own, and have caretakers who are struggling to keep them well-fed and do not have that extra $100 it would cost them at their vet for a shot of antibiotic.

This is another  Giving Grid fundraiser and will run from August 15th to October 15th to give our donors plenty of time to donate. We have already received pledges of donations to be matched in the amount of $3,400! Click on the  link and follow the prompts, share a picture or a note and help us continue to help the stray and feral cats by matching the funds! If the funds are matched, that would bring the total to $6,800 and equal to more than two average months of vet costs! That would be awesome!

Please donate - thank you!


Have you seen our Adoptables?
 
Have you checked out our PetFinder page lately?  As of this writing, there are 58 postings and growing.  Of these 58, 16 are adoptable adult cats, meaning there are 42 kittens waiting for their forever homes!  While adoptions were strong in July and August, things have slowed since the start of the school year.  Yet, we continue to receive calls about kittens needing to be rescued.

We have many colors, patterns, ages and personalities of kittens to choose from.  Each of these kittens has been lovingly raised in a foster home by a wonderful and caring foster family.  In some cases, the foster family fostered the mom cat while she gave birth and/or nursed her babies, so the kittens have been exposed to human touch from birth.  Some kittens have had the opportunity to interact with children and/or dogs in their foster homes.  All of them are in good health, have good litter box habits, and have been trained on using scratching posts and having their nails trimmed.

Many of these kittens came from very humble beginnings.  Cassidy, Casino and Carlton is one such litter.  These kittens were found at a business in West Chicago.  Their mom had apparently abandoned them.  Perhaps she was injured or killed.  They were very thin, sickly and struggling to survive when we rescued them.  After several weeks of excellent care, good food and lots of TLC, these boys have grown into sweet, healthy and affectionate kittens. 



Cassidy (a handsome brown tabby) is the largest boy who is the most out-going and served as the leader and guardian.  He is in a foster home in West Chicago with his brother, Casino (a gorgeous gray tabby).           





Carlton (a unique tabby with a blue undercoat) was the smallest and initially the sickest of the three.  He is now thriving in a foster home in Itasca.  All 3 boys love to play and cuddle and are waiting to join your family.  



Of the 16 adult cats we have available, several are beautiful young ladies who enjoy their human companions, but would definitely prefer to be the only pet in their household.  Cerena, and Evian are two such girls.


Cerena is an active and playful 2-3 year old brown tabby girl.  She can run after the laser pointer for hours, amusing you and your family.





Evian is a long, sleek black & white 2 yr old girl, who loves to be with her people.  She will rub your legs for attention, jump up on your lap and purr away, as she is happily getting petted. 



If you happen to be cat-less or know someone who is, would you consider one of these wonderful girls?
Want to help?

Interested in helping Feral Fixers? We are looking for a 'few good volunteers'! Specifically, we need transporters, fosters, people to do laundry, scrub traps and cages, help with for s/n trips and recovery.

We need transport help both in the morning and the afternoon. If you're interested in helping, call us at (630) 881-7459 or email us at info@feralfixers.org.

Check out our Social Media!

Please visit our website at www.feralfixers.org.  There you can donate to us (via PayPal or credit card), find out about all the ways you can help Feral Fixers, visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about feral cats. You can see our list of Adoptable cats, follow the 'running total' of how many cats we've had spayed/neutered, see the current list of Upcoming Events, check out past years Archived articles, read about our Friends and Partners, sign up for our mailing list and much, much more!

We also have very active Facebook and Twitter pages. From these pages, you can get the latest information about what we are doing - often before it shows up on the blog!  Links for both of these pages (as well as our Instagram account) are on our website home page.

And don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook and the good karma will surely flow your way...
 
Thank you!
Fosters are needed now!
 
We are in the heart of kitten season!  Since the beginning of May, we have rescued over 150 kittens.  80+ of these kittens were adopted in June, July and August.  This means we have 70+ kittens still in our foster homes.  Every day we receive more calls about other kittens who are out there and need to come inside before the weather gets cold, and we have no place to put them!

We had a number of wonderful foster homes who were able to help us with our spring kittens.  But now that the school year has begun, they no longer have the time to devote to furry babies.  We need your help to enable us to rescue these little ones before the snow flies!

What does it take to foster a litter of kittens?  Mostly, time, patience and lots of love!  We prefer that you be within 15 miles of Lombard.  A separate room for your foster kittens is important to isolate them from other pets and not give them too much freedom.  The ability to drive the kittens to medical appointments in Lombard and host visits by potential adopters in your home also helps, but is not mandatory.  We will provide the supplies and medical care.  Mostly, we need foster families who have the time and love to devote to kittens who may initially be frightened and shy, and enable them to blossom into confident, friendly and loving human companions.

If you think you can help or know of someone who can help, please email  gotfriendlies@feralfixers.org or call 630-881-7459.
How many cats? - 10,712!!


Year
# of cats fixed
2007
86
2008
529
2009
869
2010
1,003
2011
1,025
2012
1,232
2013
1,243
2014
1,291
2015
1,157
2016
1,010
2017
872
2018
395
Total
10,712

Clicking on the Calculator will send you to the Feral Fixers 'Statistics' page where you can see our progress, month-by-month, since we've started work.
Shop on Amazon - Help Feral Fixers!

Amazon.com, the website which offers a gazillions items sale, now makes it very easy to help Feral Fixers in a couple of different ways:
 
Feral Fixers is a designated charity on Amazon.com and, if you designate Feral Fixers as your "Favorite Charity" and you then purchase any of the items that are designated eligible for the "Amazon-smile" charity program (which seems to be most of them), Amazon will automatically donate 1/2% of the purchase price of these eligible items to Feral Fixers.

To donate this way, sign on to smile.amazon.com (instead of amazon.com).  You'll then be able to designate a "Favorite charity".  Enter "Feral Fixers NFP" where asked to and then Feral Fixers will be eligible for these donations. You only have to designate this one time and then Amazon will automatically remember this for all future purchases on the smile.amazon.com website.

When you use the smile.amazon.com website, you'll see that it looks and acts just like the same Amazon.com website you've always enjoyed - all of the products are still listed, but note that not every item on Amazon is "AmazonSmile" eligible.  Items that are eligible are clearly designated as such in the description.
 
You can also purchase items for Feral Fixers from our Amazon Wish list!
 
This is a wonderful way to help Feral Fixers.  Many people prefer to support a charitable organization by purchasing items for them rather than sending them a donation and this is a way you can do so and, best of all, the items are shipped directly to us - no muss, no fuss!

To find the Feral Fixers Wish List on Amazon.com, go to their website and point your mouse at the "Accounts & Lists" tab near the top, right-hand corner of the page. If you point at that tab without clicking on it, you'll see a drop-down box - click on the "Wishlist" link underneath the "Your Lists" heading. Or, you can just click on the "Accounts & Lists" tab and you'll then be presented another page which will have several boxes of options. Click on the "Lists" item in the "Ordering and Shopping preferences" box. Once you have arrived at the Lists page, select the "Your Friends" tab near the top of the screen and then in the "Enter a person's name" box, enter the words "Feral Fixers" (without the quotation marks) and click on "Search".  You'll then see the items currently on Amazon.com that Feral Fixers would like to have.  Add the item(s) you wish to donate to your Shopping Cart in the normal manner and, when you pay for them, they'll be ordered and shipped directly to Feral Fixers!

And, if you purchase these Wish List items from the AmazonSmile website, you'll help us in an additional way - you'll have donated one or more items to us AND 1/2% of your purchase price will also be additionally donated to Feral Fixers (this only applies to items that are so eligible - shown in the description of them item).

So, register Feral Fixers as your favorite charity and help us help the cats!

Thank you!
Event Calendar 

September 30, 2018 - Barkapalooza! - Feral Fixers will be participating in the 25th annual Barkapalooza! This will be the 12th year in a row that Feral Fixers has participated in this long-running event and, as always, it promises to be a great outing, especially if you're a dog-lover! The event will again be held at the Lisle Community Park (1825 Short Street in Lisle) from 10am to 2pm (early registration is at 9:30am). You can download an event brochure here. If you'd like to volunteer to help staff our booth, please send an email to Jennifer at jenniferw75@sbcglobal.net - see you there!

October 6, 2018 - Pet Supplies Plus Adoption Event! - Feral Fixers will be hosting an adoption event at the Pet Supplies Plus located at 198 North Ave in Villa Park from 11am to 3pm. All of our cats/kittens are in Foster homes, are spayed/neutered, current on their vaccinations, microchipped, dewormed and FeLV/FIV tested. If you would like to get pre-approved for same-day adoption, please email us (by Thursday, October 4) at gotfriendlies@feralfixers.org. You can see all of our adoptable cats by clicking on the Adoptable Cats link at the top of our website.

October 16, 2018 - Wine & Whiskers! - Feral Fixers will be hosting its second annual Wine & Whiskersevent at the Lynfred Winery located at 15 S Roselle Rd in Roselle on Tuesday, October 16th, from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. The first event was a great success and this one should be even better! The admission price of $50 will get you three different wines for sampling, a cheese tray and breads and access to a Silent Auction! The event will be held in their Barrel Room - the room with the high-top tables. You can make your reservation via PayPal or else by mailing a check (along with the names of the attendees) to Feral Fixers, PO Box 1416, Lombard, IL 60148. Reservations must be made by October 1st. If you're a wine lover and/or a cat lover, you'll have a great time - make your reservations now!

October 20, 2018 - PetSmart Adoption Event! - Feral Fixers will be hosting an adoption event at the PetSmart located at 63 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton from 11am to 3pm. All of our cats/kittens are in Foster homes, are spayed/neutered, current on their vaccinations, microchipped, dewormed and FeLV/FIV tested. If you would like to get pre-approved for same-day adoption, please email us (by Thursday, October 18) at gotfriendlies@feralfixers.org. You can see all of our adoptable cats by clicking on the Adoptable Cats link at the top of our website.

October 27, 2018 - Pet Supplies Plus Adoption Event! - Feral Fixers will be hosting an adoption event at the Pet Supplies Plus located at 720 E Ogden Ave in Naperville from 11am to 3pm. All of our cats/kittens are in Foster homes, are spayed/neutered, current on their vaccinations, microchipped, dewormed and FeLV/FIV tested. If you would like to get pre-approved for same-day adoption, please email us (by Thursday, October 25) at gotfriendlies@feralfixers.org. You can see all of our adoptable cats by clicking on the Adoptable Cats link at the top of our website.

November 10 or 11, 2018 - PetSmartCharities Adoption Event! - Feral Fixers will be hosting an adoption event at the PetSmart located at 63 Rice Lake Square in Wheaton from 11am to 3pm. All of our cats/kittens are in Foster homes, are spayed/neutered, current on their vaccinations, microchipped, dewormed and FeLV/FIV tested. If you would like to get pre-approved for same-day adoption, please email us (by Thursday, November 8) at gotfriendlies@feralfixers.org. You can see all of our adoptable cats by clicking on the Adoptable Cats link at the top of our website. The exact date of this event will be confirmed as soon as possible - check our website for the latest details.

January 20, 2019 - Frosty Claws! - Feral Fixers will be hosting its ELEVENTH annual Frosty Claws Fundraiser on January 20th, 2019. This event is our longest-running one and is always lots of fun and very well attended. More details will be posted when they are available but for now, Mark Your Calendars! We'll see you there!  
DuPage County Animal Services Mobile spay unit


A few months ago, DuPage County Animal Services (DCAS) put their new Mobile spay unit into service. This wonderful unit will help further reduce the number of unwanted dog and cat pregnancies throughout DuPage County.
Even more important, DCAS has offered these services to Feral Fixers to help us in our Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) efforts. Since our first spay/neuter trip to them on June 14th, they have performed 124 spay/neuters for Feral Fixers. In addition to helping out with TNR in general, this has also been a boon to our transport volunteers ñ itís a lot easier to bring cats to be spayed/neutered to the DCAS parking lot (where the mobile unit is normally kept) than to our good friends at PAWS ñ an hours drive away.

Naperville News has posted a very nice 2+ minute video about the van - and Feral cats are mentioned twice! You can view this video by clicking on the picture, above. This link will take you to the page with the news story and the video.

Thank you DCAS!  
Shop on CafePress - Help Feral Fixers!

Want to purchase something purr-fect for your cat-lover friends and help out Feral Fixers at the same time?  Just visit our CafePress store and Buy Something! In addition to the Trucker Hat (shown at right), we have T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, mouse pads, gym bags, messenger bags, coffee mugs, tote-bags, pet food bowls, Pajamas and much, much more! A portion of each sale goes to help us in our TNR efforts.

To visit the store, just click on the picture of the Trucker Hat or visit our website and click on the ' CafePress' button at the top - Thank you!
Visit us on the Web 

Visit our website at www.feralfixers.org.  There you can donate to us (via PayPal or credit card), visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about feral cats.

If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can also sign up to be on our mailing list so you don't miss a thing!
What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?

TNR CatTNR is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians.

When space is available, adoptable cats and kittens are transferred to sheltering organizations to be adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats unsocialized to humans are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of their original caretakers.
Feral Fixers, NFP, is a certified 501c3 corporation - EIN Number 13-4364615