Venice Cat Coalition Continues Good Work

Three poses by one of the five little kittens who were at death's door a few weeks back. They were rescued by the Venice Cat Coalition and are being nurtured back to feeling pretty darn good under Theresa's care. Soon they will be all well and can go to foster homes where they will grow and play until they are ready for adoption. Click here to make a donation to support this important work.
-Raphaella Vaisseau

Cats of Key West Cat Society - May 2010

Click here to see new pictures of KWCS kitties taken yesterday, May 28, 2010 by Raphaella. Enjoy!!!

San Francisco Examiner - Cat declawing a crime in SF since November 2009 - also Beverly Hills, LA, Santa Monica, West Hollywood etc

(Excerpt from story by Joshua Sabatini in SF Examiner dated Nov 4, 2009) - San Francisco has become the first major city in the nation to outlaw the declawing of cats. Some pet owners declaw their felines to protect themselves, or their furniture, from scratches. But pet advocates condemn the practice as animal cruelty.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to enact a ban on the declawing of cats. Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier voted against the legislation.

“It is well-documented and well-understood from a medical prospective that [declawing] is torture. It is a form of animal cruelty,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who introduced the legislation.

Other California cities are considering adopting similar bans. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on whether to enact a ban by the end of the year. West Hollywood banned declawing in 2003. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Berkeley are considering similar ordinances. Declawing is illegal in 20 countries, including most of Europe, Brazil, Japan and Israel.

Read whole story here: SF Examiner

In current news, the pawproject.org has a new billboard on Sunset Blvd:

CatsPlay.com - the ultimate shopping experience for Cat Lovers

Even before I saw the documentary about Bob Walker and Frances Mooney's "Cats' House" and bought the book, I've wanted to create similar fairy land environments for my fur family. Last night I did a google search for cat furniture and found it all at CatsPlay.com. In addition to cat trees and scratching posts, they have wall climbing systems and outdoor pet houses. My imagination went wild. If you're in the market for cat furniture for your kitties, browse this site to your heart's delight. Enjoy!

Shamrock Preschool Wins $500 grant for Venice Cat Coalition/Key West Cat Society

Deborah Whitham had a great idea to have her schoolchildren at the Shamrock Preschool in Venice learn about what we do to take care of rescued and homeless cats in Sarasota County. They adopted Frankie, our little kitten who came to us last spring with his leg broken in two places. Theresa and Raphaella brought Frankie to the preschool in September so the kids could meet him. They had made a fund-raising jar to collect donations and had a table set up where they would bring things to buy and sell. The children met Frankie and learned about his pending surgery to remove the injured leg. They all wanted to help Frankie get adopted to a family that would care for this special boy kitty. After Theresa taught them about the Key West Cat Society and how we find and help the cats, the kids went to their craft area and drew pictures of Frankie.

Wonderful things came of the dedicated work of Deborah and the children of Shamrock Preschool. First of all a miracle: when Frankie when to the vet for his pre-surgery check-up, the vet said Frankie didn't need an amputation after all. Apparently he had "done his own physical therapy" while trying to keep up with all the other foster kittens at Raphaella's. Second, he found his family!!! Frankie was adopted by a Russian lady from North Port who wanted this very special kitty for a companion. Frankie is now learning Russian!

The third wonderful thing that happened is Deborah submitted her story about Frankie and the Shamrock Preschool to the Community Foundation of Sarasota and this week won a $500 grant for community service for the cats! We are thrilled and so proud of Deborah for coming up with the idea to help, taking action, holding the vision, following through and ... winning! Her devotion to making a difference has already helped Frankie, and now will help a lot more cats in Sarasota County through our work as the Key West Cat Society/Venice Cat Coalition. One person can make a difference.

Click here to make a donation to KWCS/VCC.
Click here to see more pictures on Flickr.

Frankie Needs a Special Home

Here's Frankie ... a special needs kitty rescued from a backyard in Sarasota. A family found the mama kitty and three kittens and could see Frankie was stuck in the bottom of the pile. This may be the reason his leg did not form properly or perhaps the hip didn't form properly. We don't know if it's a birth defect or an early injury or break. He gets along really well despite the handicap. He's a very loving, friendly kitten who will make a wonderful addition to a family looking for a special needs indoor kitty. Long term fostering is an option. Call Raphaella 941-993-7001 or Theresa 941-445-4322 for more information.

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.

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

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.

Two More Adoptions Today

Little Grace and Zeus were born in my house on April 5th and are now seven weeks old. The sweet sister and brother (now called Elsa and Gus) were adopted together today and are spending their first night with their new family here in Venice. The twin boys, Eros and Anteros, are missing them a lot but my ferocious Diana is keeping them busy with romping play. We still have many kittens available for adoption.

First Adoption Clinic at A Pet's Life in Venice - May 22, 2009

The Key West Cat Society / Venice Cat Coalition had a successful afternoon on May 22nd at the first adoption clinic to be held monthly at Carmie and John's new pet store, A Pet's Life, across from Barclays Pharmacy in Hamilton Square in Downtown Venice. Complete with Pet Psychic and resource booths from pet sitting to dog training, the day was complete with two adoptions: Little snowy white Everett (with no tail) is now the official cat of A Pet's Life and Bijoux found her new home. Brianna looked like she enjoyed discovering the thrill of a having a corn snake slide through her braided hair while the rest of the volunteers enjoyed catching up with cat stories and checking out a new book by a local author: "A Cat's Tale" by Lindy Lindmann.

Personal Responsibility

This little kitten was anonymously left after hours at the door of A Pet's Life a few days ago by a complete coward of a human being. Regardless of the personal circumstances he, she or they may be faced with, he, she or they (at the very least) could have brought the kitten in during business hours to protect it from the traffic on US 41 nearby, and who knows what else. Were there more kittens left at the door? No one knows.

This incomprehensible lack of personal responsiblity is topped only by the person or persons who left two beautiful cats in downtown Venice a few weeks ago when they presumably left their winter paradise for parts up North. Grrrrr.

Foster Kittens and Mama Cat

Mama Cat arrived at my home on Sunday evening, April 5th. Her four kittens were born during the night and early in the morning on April 6th. This little family was one of 50 cats Theresa, the Key West Cat Society and friends trapped in a colony in Punta Gorda that weekend. ALL of the female cats captured were pregnant.

The size of this colony underlines the need for swift and continual SNR (spay-neuter-return) programs world wide to control the overpopulation of cats everywhere. It starts with personal responsibility for pet owners everywhere to spay and neuter their pets, even when the intention is that they live indoors. Stop the breeding. Save the cats.

All the 50 cats and their kittens trapped in this Punta Gorda colony will be spayed and neutered and have all their shots and tests before adopted or returned to the place they were found. Please support our work with a generous donation to KWCS/VCC.

Click HERE to see more photos. Once at the Flickr photosite, click on "view as slideshow" if desired.

Kitty Drama

Princess Diana stalked this squirrel for about 1/2 hr. as it made it's way around the yard. When it decided to crawl up the screen of my lanai, she decided to act and lunged at it, crashing into the screen head on - scared us all. The little hunter probably found edible things in the dirt around plants when she was living in the wild outdoors because I notice she's been digging in my fern a couple of times. Hummm. The adventure continues. Today I rearranged all the furniture in the main bedroom so Apache and Diana could have a fresh new look at who gets what for territory. Apache ventured out of her closet apartment in the night last night to climb up on the bed. She stayed for about 15 minutes - on full alert for Diana, ready to hiss at anything that moved. I'm hopeful that we can all get used to the new arrangement within a few weeks and Apache will accept Diana into the family.

Eyes Open - Day 8 for Foster Kittens

I'm so excited to witness the lives of the mother cat and her four little kittens born in my house on Monday April 6th. Today, on day eight, they are opening their eyes. Here's a picture of the wonderful event.

Plus ... it's my birthday today. This is a thrilling birthday present from the cats :)

Three Tabby Kittens Up For Adoption

Three month old brothers with all their shots (& neutered) are looking for their family. They are playful, adorable and would be great for any family, even with children. Raphaella has been fostering them for five weeks and wants them to be adopted soon so their new family can get to know them as kittens. Click here to see a slideshow of their journey with her. Call me at 941.445.4322 for more information. Prescreening required. Adoption fee $50-$75 if approved.