Urgent Plea to Help Innocent Creatures
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Dear Friends, Family and most importantly my Neighbors,
As you know I have been caring for the stray cats in my neighborhood as I discover them in my daily walks. With so many it is now my mission to spay and neuter all of them to help reduce the cat population. This is no easy task and takes a lot of patience, time, energy and money. {Read each cat story further below and see their pictures}
I feed the female cats daily and have gained their trust. Some I only met recently when I discovered a nest of kittens. One mother, Aurora, was so skinny I had no idea she was pregnant. Her kittens were starving when I gathered them, hence they have voracious appetites. They lived near main entrance of my complex with cars speeding in and out. It was a matter of days before the kittens would venture out and be run over by a car. That day I escalated my plan.
These cats will scavenge for food anywhere and continue to mate. My feeding them will at least ensure they eat more healthy and give birth to healthy kittens until I get them all spayed and neutered.
Many of the cats are dehydrated from lack of water. Even when I leave them water they won't drink it as they are not accustomed to this form of bodily nourishment. So I've been feeding them MOIST cat food which has some water. But they do love cat milk. Feeding 8 cats two times a day with moist food and cat milk gets very expensive. Now I'm caring for the kittens, ensuring they are dewormed and de-flead. A visit alone to a vet is $35.00 and then the cost of treatments on top of that.
It is time for me to reach out and ask for your help to accomplish my mission! The Humane Society is at capacity and will not accept these cats. The "shelter" is the Animal Services by Dade County. They receive 10, 20, 30+ cats and kittens a day! If they are not adopted within five days, they are put to sleep. I have visited the shelter twice to adopt a cat. Hence I've postponed my plans and will adopt one of my grandkittens.
Please consider any of the following ways to help!
As you know I have been caring for the stray cats in my neighborhood as I discover them in my daily walks. With so many it is now my mission to spay and neuter all of them to help reduce the cat population. This is no easy task and takes a lot of patience, time, energy and money. {Read each cat story further below and see their pictures}
I feed the female cats daily and have gained their trust. Some I only met recently when I discovered a nest of kittens. One mother, Aurora, was so skinny I had no idea she was pregnant. Her kittens were starving when I gathered them, hence they have voracious appetites. They lived near main entrance of my complex with cars speeding in and out. It was a matter of days before the kittens would venture out and be run over by a car. That day I escalated my plan.
These cats will scavenge for food anywhere and continue to mate. My feeding them will at least ensure they eat more healthy and give birth to healthy kittens until I get them all spayed and neutered.
Many of the cats are dehydrated from lack of water. Even when I leave them water they won't drink it as they are not accustomed to this form of bodily nourishment. So I've been feeding them MOIST cat food which has some water. But they do love cat milk. Feeding 8 cats two times a day with moist food and cat milk gets very expensive. Now I'm caring for the kittens, ensuring they are dewormed and de-flead. A visit alone to a vet is $35.00 and then the cost of treatments on top of that.
It is time for me to reach out and ask for your help to accomplish my mission! The Humane Society is at capacity and will not accept these cats. The "shelter" is the Animal Services by Dade County. They receive 10, 20, 30+ cats and kittens a day! If they are not adopted within five days, they are put to sleep. I have visited the shelter twice to adopt a cat. Hence I've postponed my plans and will adopt one of my grandkittens.
Please consider any of the following ways to help!
- Financial donation of any amount is greatly appreciated (Please Note: I am NOT a non-profit charity; I am just a one-person operation trying to protect these innocent creatures and help reduce cat population that has surged in the past year). Any amount is acceptable: $5, $10, $20... You can pay by PayPal to fit2bhealthy@yahoo.com or check to me, Christine Michaels.
- Adopt a kitten. Many people say they are not cat persons. I used to say that until I learned when you have a cat since the time it is a kitten and you nurture that cat, you will discover they do have personalities and fall in love. When I least expected, I fell in love with my two boys. They mirror your image. If you are affectionate, they will return that affection. Both cats run up to me when I walk through the door. The names I have given the foster kittens are temporary to identify them. You can give them another name upon adoption. See pictures below! Also, to appreciate these "flexible" creatures, check out this website of "sleeping cat positions".
- Donate cat food. The cost of food gets expensive when feeding so many cats and now kittens. Please consider donating moist (canned) cat and kitten food, KMR milk from pet store, or Whiskas cat milk (Publix).
- Donate cat toys. I just purchased the Climbing Hill set of the Kitty Condo collection. There are six sets and you can build them together. Any other cat/kitten toy is greatly appreciated to entertain the kittens so I can get other work done, like preparing their food. Often the kittens are literally climbing my body while I am trying to clean their litter, prepare their food, wash their dishes. It's hard to work when four kittens are literally hanging all over you. I'm the human playground.
Feel free to email me at fit2bhealthy@yahoo.com or call me at 305-218-9952. Email is best as I can rarely take calls at work and now the evenings my hands are full of kittens. Of course my neighbors can spot me--I'm the one with the eco-friendly Publix bag walking the maltese white dog. The bag is full of the cat food and milk. No, my dog does not bark at kittens. She grew up with cats and loves to lick them.
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