March, 2015
We have had a busy month again, although many of the cats have proved extremely wily; for example, Mandy is still trying to trap the last cat at the Beaufort Street colony but for now the trap is being used elsewhere. Six spays and two neuters were done this month. At the moment we have three traps being set in various areas, as well as two cats being trapped by the SPCA, for which we will pay. I am very grateful to those people who help with the trapping of ferals in their areas, as well as transport to and from the vet – it saves a huge amount of running around for me and Malcolm.
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On Friday I had the pleasure of phoning the parents of our batch of kittens - from mothers Lily, Cloudy and Missy - who were adopted late last year, to remind them that it is time for their little ones to be sterilized. How nice to hear what a pleasure the kittens are, what a difference they have made, and of course, how all of them are the sweetest, most beautiful, most darling of all cats. This makes all the sometimes heartbreaking work of TNR very worthwhile. So, the vet is going to be extra-busy this coming month and I can't thank them enough for always being supportive of the work we do.
Please remember that having your cat sterilized is part of the contract when you adopt from us and that you have already paid for this at the time of adoption so there is no excuse for it not to be done when they are old enough.
Fundraising
Thank you so much to everybody who responded to our appeal for more funds by depositing money into the Wildcat account. We have also had numerous offers to help with fundraising, for which I am most grateful.
On 28 March Mary Bowker and Lorraine Richardson arranged their bi-annual cash and food collection outside Pick ‘n Pay. This was a huge success and R3415 was raised. The food collected will be shared amongst the colonies. Thank you to the members of the public for opening wallets so generously and of course, a big thank you to everybody who gave up an hour of their time to shake a tin for us. It is one of the most worthwhile ways to make a difference - one hour of your time, then you're done and dusted - but it makes a huge difference to the organisations you are collecting for.
Viv Botha and Eileen Shepherd will be organizing a book sale, to be held at the end of May, but I don’t have final details yet. In the meantime, if you have any books that you would like to donate, they can be dropped with me at 87 Beaufort Street.
I had an email from Lara Salomon a few weeks ago and she is going to do a calendar for us, featuring the cats that have been adopted via the Project. This is hugely exciting and I hope you will all be queuing up to have your beloved(s) photographed – I know I will. Who knows, this could become an annual event. Calendars are so easy to give as gifts and also to post, so we are hoping that there will be lots of orders placed.
Something about Lara
I grew up around cats, most of whom chose us rather than the other way around. They moved themselves into our home, and we took them in without a second thought. My mother and father had a deal, apparently. For every cat she got, my dad was allowed to get a car. By the time I left for university, my mom had adopted 6 cats and 2 dogs, and my father had adopted 4 classic cars. The number of both has grown since. The adopting habits didn’t end there though, as shortly after my boyfriend moved into digs in Grahamstown, he was adopted by a beautiful, sleek, two-year-old black cat that his housemates named Puddims. We had the privilege of calling him our own for eight years before he passed away last month.
You may be wondering why I’m telling you this. After all, you probably all know the joy of owning pets, and the difference that they make in your life. But I want to focus for a moment on the difference that our homes make in their lives. And to bring this to the fore, I have an idea that I was hoping some of you may want to get involved in.
I am hoping to put together a 2016 calendar made up of photographs of kittens and cats that have been adopted through the Grahamstown Feral Cat Project. The calendar would go on sale, and all proceeds from it would go straight to the GFCP, so that they can continue doing what they do best. In order to do this, I need your help. I need volunteers, at least twelve of them, who would be happy to have their cats photographed and featured in the calendar. The volunteers themselves would not be photographed aside from perhaps the occasional hand or shoulder depending on how the cats are photographed.
If you think your kitty would enjoy the warmth of the spotlight for a bit, if you know of anybody who would be interested in volunteering, or if you would like to assist with sponsorship for the printing of the calendar, which, once we have the photographs and the design, will be the next phase of the project, please drop an email to lara@evanescent.co.za.
Best Regards
Lara |
Melinda, who has a stall at the Saturday morning market on the corner of Allen and African streets every Saturday morning, has very kindly offered to host a tin for us, so if you visit the Market and have any spare change, please pop it into our tin.
Melinda
I'm a local, an animal and nature lover (particularly crazy about dogs), and a researcher and regional planner by profession, BUT have recently started selling gluten-free and lactose-free baked vegan (and/or Banting) goods at the Grahamstown Morning Market. I think that projects such as yours, including The Phoenix Dog Project, are invaluable and absolutely awesome!!! |
| Missy and her girls have still not been adopted and we are truly desperate for them to find forever homes. Elaine is trying very hard not to become a foster failure and we really don't want this to happen as Team Clarke (Elaine, Gypsy and Gracie-in-training), is such an awesome team that we really don't want to lose their services. During March a special adoption fee was posted on FB, but there was no response; now, I am dropping the fee even further.
Our first offer: R500 per cat or R900 for two; our second offer: R400 per cat or R800 for two. Here is our latest knock-down, hit-the-ball-out-of-the-park offer: R350 per cat, or R700 for two. And I'm going to flood this newsletter with unbearably cute pics! |
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Please consider opening your hearts to them – they are beyond cute and so adorable. Missy is around 14 months old, sterilised, dewormed and has had her first inoculation. She is a true snuggle-bunny who loves to love and play. Her girls are about 5 months old (dewormed and have had their first inoculation) and have the most loving, playful personalities. If possible, we would like the two of them to be adopted together. They are all used to cats and other dogs. Please contact Elaine at elainetclarke@gmail.com or on 083 472 4669.
Poppie
If the pics of Missy and the girls haven’t melted your heart already, here is Poppie, also looking for her forever home. Nobody showed any interest in adopting her in March but we hope that this will change in April. She is five months old and, despite being trapped as a feral, has settled down to domestic life beautifully and allowed her playful character to come to the fore. She has been sterilized, inoculated and dewormed. She has bewitching green eyes and gorgeous stripy markings. The adoption fee is R400 and Magriet can be contacted on 060 954 9347.
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Stray cat
This handsome, friendly, vocal and loving young male cat is an unclaimed stray who *desperately* does not want to spend winter on the streets being chased by dogs and people, cold and hungry. He is in desperate and urgent need of a caring forever home or even a temporary foster home. He will be neutered at the first opportunity. Adoption fee drastically reduced to R300 for this poor boy, who really does not want to be a stray any longer and does not want to end up at the SPCA. If you have room in your heart and home for him, please WA Lorna on 076 353 0726. |
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Donations
(26 February to 27 March)
Thank you so much to everyone who donated. Your support means so much to us and helps us to continue with our work.
Sheryl Drennan
Mario and Sue Rionda
Lee-Anne Venter
Jenny Gon
Doris Logie
Marcel van Hees
Anon
Wendy Sweetman
If making electronic payments please remember to include WILDCAT and your name as a reference so that we can thank you. Please email proof of payment to: l.grant@nelm.org.za
About Us
All donations go to sterilization and a small portion to food.
Occasionally there are costs for veterinary care of ferals who are ill or injured.
We appreciate your generosity greatly as it enables us to continue helping the feral cats.
Spays cost us R440 and neuters R287,
plus extra for any complications
such as pregnancy or undescended testes.
The adoption fee is R500, which includes first deworming and inoculation and obligatory sterilization.
If you would like to donate any amount, please deposit into our vet account at:
The Grahamstown Veterinary Clinic,
Standard Bank Account No 282625054
Branch Code 050917
Please add the reference "W/CAT" and your name,
and please notify us if possible
so that we can follow up donations in case of
accidental misallocation
Please do not take any feral/stray cat into the vet for attention and charge it to our Wildcat account
without prior approval from Lynne.
The Wildcat account with the vet is meant for sterilization of ferals and will only
under certain exceptional circumstances be used for other procedures.
Grahamstown Feral Cat Project uses the TNR (Trap, Neuter & Return) approach - globally recognised as the most humane, least costly and most sustainable way of stabilizing feral cat populations.
Volunteers humanely trap the feral cats; we take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered; the tip of the right ear is snipped off so we can easily identify that they have been sterilized; we return them to their original territory where they live out their lives (adult ferals cannot be tamed). Feral kittens, wherever possible, are fostered, tamed and homed.
Archived Newsletters
December 2014
January 2015
February 2015
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