Luna and Sterling at Pet Supermarket in Venice

Luna and Sterling are spending a few days at the Pet Supermarket, 470 US Highway 41 Byp, Venice. If you're in the neighborhood, stop in to say hello. Hours are 9-9 M-Sat & 10-5 Sun.

They are looking for their families, so keep your eyes and ears open for their forever homes. Call Raphaella 993-7001 for more information about these two little darlings.

They aren't biological brother and sister but they seem to have adopted each other. Calling all cat lovers: Luna and Sterling need their forever homes. Tell everyone.

Adoption Event Finds Homes for 3 Kittens!

The Venice Cat Coalition thanks Serenity Eyewear and A Pet's Life for hosting its second adoption event on Friday, June 26. Three lucky and beautiful kittens were adopted into 2 homes today.

Thanks also to Brandt Vet Clinic in Nokomis, which has helped with some of prior kitten adoptions!

We still have approximately 30 kittens in foster needing homes. These include several tuxedo kittens, pure black sleek kittens, several tabbies and tabicos, one medium hair 3-color calico, a long hair tortioseshell calico, an orange and white kitten, and two angora long hair kittens. Additionally we have approximately 6 adult cats needing homes, including Yin and Yang, who are rescue cats from downtown Venice, and a people-shy Siamese female with blue eyes.

We soon will send out a special newsletter with photos of all our precious babies. Please consider taking one or two into your life.

Our next adoption event is Sunday July 19 at Pet Essentials pet store in S. Venice, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be lots of fun. Details to follow. Come pick out your favorite kitten, or just come and learn about what the Venice Cat Coalition does.

All the Bast to you and your animal family!

Theresa

Summer Solstice Cat Update

As summer officially begins, we are nearing (we hope) the end of kitten season, so the trappers (like me) have a tiny bit of breathing room in our lives for a change. So I can now write a bit about what's going on with the Venice Cat Coalition-Key West Cat Society.

I have to say -- We are growing! Much more than I would have imagined in our first "active" year. The non-profit was registered in 2006 but we did not collect $ or organize much until last fall. The IRS gave us our official recognition just a few months ago.

Our progress is measurable! In the last 45 days or so, our group has taken upwards of 80 cats or kittens to spay-neuter surgery, either via the free clinics, or using our own funds or donated vouchers. This is great news, and put a big dent in the waiting list of 100 cats plus needing to be TNR'd about 2 months ago.

We also have been doing adoptions as a steady pace, despite the economy and the other blues that many people are singing. I am still adding up the numbers but we have done at least a dozen adoptions in the last month or so. Not bad for a nonprofit that has no facility or shelter: just volunteer homes!

And we continue our practice of working with the "end of the road" cats, taking in and placing even the bad luck cats that the other rescue groups have rejected or condemned to die for some reason. We will tell more of their stories soon, but they have included a blind kitten, a broken-legged kitten, a male tom that was badly mauled by an animal and mangy, a declawed cat that was declared "vicious" and "unadoptable" by another group, another badly mauled six-toed cat, and at least one cat that tested positive for a blood disease but appears to be in perfect health.

So all is well here. You can help by volunteering or sending in a financial donations. Helping so many cats does cost money, and we regularly buy medicines, flea treatments, food, litter and other supplies, in addition to paying for the vet bills. Mary Riley is becoming our volunteer coordinator and she has a nice list of jobs that could be done by willing helpers.

With the slight slow-down in kittens and trapping now that we are in the heat of the season, we are going to turn some of our attention to education and community awareness, and building more community partnerships -- all to help the cats, all cats, not just the "fluffies" but the ones out on the streets who have no one to speak for them (except you and me!).

Thanks to all who have helped this season, and all the best of Bast to you!

Theresa

Venice Cat Coalition Dinner at Ophelia's Honored Sarasota County Cat Trappers

Our photo (left) appeared in the Venice Gondolier's Weekend Edition on June 20, 2009. It shows the party we held at Ophelia's in Nokomis on May 8th. Living proof of inter-agency cooperation, trappers come from far and wide and work together to help the feral and free-roaming cats in Sarasota County.

Theresa Foley and the Venice Cat Coalition (VCC) / Key West Cat Society (KWCS) honored the trappers' selfless service with this dinner party, generously supported by Nancy, owner of Ophelia's, who also is a big supporter of our work.

Donations to help the Trap Neuter Return (TNR) work of the VCC / KWCS can be made online at www.keywestcatsociety.com or may be mailed to KWCS, 1131 Columbine Road, Venice, FL 34293.

The smaller photo to the right is Caroline Resnick holding an adorable puppy rescued and being cared for by one of the trappers. The puppy was the star of the ballroom, even among cat lovers!

Once again, thank you to the trappers!

Black Kitty Love

My first foster kitten was adopted by Annie at the Venice Cat Coalition's first adoptathon at A Pet's Life, a new pet store near Barclay's Pharmacy. Annie chose the small all-black kitty once she learned black kittens and cats are not the first chosen to adopt. Such an open heart Annie has to not care what the feline looks like, simply that the need was there to give the kitten a home. My desire is to attract people like Annie. Please send them our way.
Miaou (French meow, compliments of Annie!)

Thank you for Adopting Kittens

Over the past several weeks kittens I've fostered have been adopted by gracious animal-loving people. To this I am grateful. Thank you dear adopters for caring to give a kitten a home. Since they were rescued from the outdoors, their lives have changed drastically from fleas, mites, ticks, diseases, injuries and predators plus searching for food and clean water, you are giving them a life of safety, peace and love. Thank you to Laura, Robin, Sue, Linda and those adopters from Brandt Veterinary Clinic. Your hearts and your kitten's hearts meld.

Twins Adopt Twin Kittens

A week ago when Gus (fka Zeus) and Elsa (fka Grace) were adopted by a family, the father said one of the reasons they selected Gus and Elsa was because Eros and Anteros looked like twins. He felt they should be adopted by a family with twins. I started calling the little boy kittens twins, and in my mind I started envisioning a family with twins finding them. Three days later a woman called Theresa looking for kittens. No mention was made of twins, but the woman and her two 6 yr old children came right over to the Venice Cat Coalition booth at the Farmer's Market in downtown Venice to meet the kittens. All three of them immediately fell in love with Eros and Anteros. When I said they were twins, the mom exclaimed, "My children are twins!" Voila. It felt like destiny to me. So perfect.

I invited the family to visit the kittens at my home so they could meet them and play together outside of the confines of the adoption cage at the market. Julia loved little Eros and named him Spot. Gianluca fell in love with Anteros and named him George. All agreed, the kittens had found their family and the family had found their kittens. The adoption was made June 1, 2009.