Some good news

After a pretty crappy week, I'm happy to be able to announce some good news:

From February 1 – 14 Global Pet Foods kicks off their annual Show Us Your Heart (Valentine’s themed) fundraising campaign, which raises money for animal shelters across Canada.

Beaches/Danforth/Lower Jarvis/York mills Global Pet Foods will be raising money for Cherry Street Cats and Big on Beagles this Valentine!

Donna who runs those four stores has been a great supporter of ours and I'm so appreciative that she has chosen our little rescue this year. It will be great to have some money for vet care and food for our guys.

I've spent the last two days during my lunch hours trying to find Jackson's body so that we can get him cremated. My wonderful boss even found a net and came down with me yesterday. We stirred the flotsam and jetsam trying to find him, without ourselves falling in, but the currents must have shifted since Steve saw him. I'll keep searching. It wasn't the same today feeding without Jackson rushing up for his bowl of food.

Poor Jackson, may he rest in peace

Sadly today the question of where is Jackson has been answered. Steve found his body this afternoon floating in the water, somehow he must have fallen in and drowned. I'm so upset, Jackson was an original of the colony, and was always there, ready for food and a pat. We'll miss you, Jacks.

Where is Jackson?

Jackson, one of our favourite cats, has not shown up for the last three days and I'm worried.

Jackson is the founding member of the colony, the one Sandi first saw. He is a sweetie, you can even pat him. For the last three days no sign of him and he's usually right there, Jackson loves to eat. This morning I wandered around the yard calling his name, looking in boats in case he had gotten trapped in one but I couldn't find him. It's dangerous down there, trucks, raccoons, who knows what else so my fingers and toes are crossed and I'm just praying that he's OK and shows up again. I hate to think of it without him. That's the problem with doing this, eventually they will all die or disappear. Too many cats to love.

I just can't get enough

Last week I got an email from someone who noticed some cats in an industrial area fairly close to my colony and was concerned about them. We met to investigate the situation. The cats were very skittish, but it seemed that some were eartipped and there was food being left for them.

Finally we discovered that some had been trapped and there were caregivers. What a relief. I thought for a couple of days that I would have to take on another colony. It's reassuring to know how many people care about cats. I may feed them occasionally, it's kind of on my route.
Yesterday when I arrived at Harry's Biff was meowing at the water bowl. It was totally frozen and he waited while I refilled it and immediately started to drink. I often wish my colony was right outside my back door so I could feed them and give them fresh water more often, especially in this weather.

Working together

I really think this might be the most pathetic cat I have ever seen. Well, he has a happy story thanks to cat rescuers working together. This very friendly unferal cat showed up at a colony in the west end. The caretaker, hoping to reunite him with his home, took him to Animal Services.

Nobody claimed him and it was discovered he had serious ear problems and needed surgery. This was more than TAS could deal with and the caretaker sent out a plea for help, unable to take him herself or pay for expensive surgery. As soon as I saw the photo, I was hooked, and forwarded his plight along to some contacts at various rescues. Amazingly, Annex Cat Rescue offered to take him on. In the meantime, TAS contacted the Toronto Humane Society, and they also agreed to help him. So the upshot is he's off to the THS where he will be all fixed up and I'm sure someone will adopt this guy. Apparently he's super friendly and who cares if he's missing an ear.

It's great when cat rescues can all work to the same goal and I'm just so happy this cat will be OK and that I had a teeny tiny part in it, this cat being saved made my day.

The kindness of strangers

I feel extremely fortunate for all the people who have donated food or money for vet care. I find cat food on my porch, and Global has been amazing with donations. So many donated money when I was doing a 5k and we also had a fantastic yard sale.

Keeping all the cats fed and cared for costs a lot of money and I couldn't manage it without the donations. Two women saw the article in The Star, tracked me down, and sent me cheques. All of these gestures of kindness have allowed us to help Teddy (above) and Socks (below).
Now that Socks is neutered and had rotten teeth removed he is roly poly and content.
Stubby is still scared but he surely would have died from an infection had we not managed to trap him and deal with his mangled tail. Even with all the donations, I was out of pocket a lot of money. No pity party here, just want everyone who helps out to know how much it is appreciated.
I found a great way to save money the other day. I checked under the fridge for cat toys, and lot and behold, there must have been $50 worth there.
Buddy, our recent rescue, likes to play, and goes through a lot of toys, so I'm glad that I figured out where his secret stash is.