April, 2015
In many ways this has been a quiet month but we - especially Lorna - have been busy behind the scenes. Lorna, being "retired" and despite her own full-time job of caring for her own cats, dogs and rabbits, responds to many of the calls that I cannot get to because of working full-time.
Sterilisations
Five spays and five neuters were done, some of these being kittens adopted through us. Not everybody has had their kitten sterilised yet, and I will be phoning those parents to remind them as soon as I receive the list from Tersia.
Once again, I would like to stress 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.
There are two trappers still battling to catch the final cats in their colonies and another colony waiting to be done. Our traps are well-used and some have been repaired by Dave Martin to enable them to be used a little bit longer. I will be ordering another trap – kindly paid for by Emma Martin of Furry Funds – as soon as our supplier has stock.
Furry Funds Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/furryfunds
During the week of 20-25 April ROAR SOC (Rhodes Organisation for Animal Rights) had their annual Animal Rights Week and the Project was invited to give a presentation. Fortunately for my nerves this did not involve speaking to a crowd, just to individuals as they came up to ask questions about the display I had outside the Day Kaif. Although the response was small, those students who did stop were very engaged and interested in what we do and two have offered to help where they can. Many pictures were taken and questions asked by a journalism student and I hope to get my hands on a copy of the article he publishes, which I will share with you.
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A few weeks ago Lorna received an urgent call regarding a very thin little kitten picked up by some people with no money but love to give the little one. She took him to the vet who gave a tentative diagnosis of snuffles as his temperature was up and he was slightly dehydrated. He was duly started on Vibravet. We are hoping for the best for this sweet little boy, he has had a rough start in life. He is also being fed high-quality food and all his medical costs are being covered by the Project. In due course he will be sterilised. |
Lorna was notified about a stray kitten in the centre of town and on Monday, with the help of Dick, who is employed by Grahamstown Trailer Hire, he was caught.
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"A great big thank you to Dick (employed by Grahamstown Trailer Hire) for his assistance in catching a feral kitten in need of care. What a kind and compassionate human being - dealing with him made my day. Thanks also to his kind employer, Pieter Burger, who had been buying cat food for Dick to feed the kitten. The kitten is now in the care of the Grahamstown Feral Cat Project. Are there any other businesses out there showing kindness to waifs and strays? I'd like to know, because these are the businesses I'd like to support..."
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Long-time foster mother Caren Lewis immediately offered to foster him and he is now in her expert care and at least report settling down beautifully. She has named him Geordie and says that he will crack easily and she can already stroke him with minimal hissing and fussing. This beautiful boy will be up for adoption soon.
Fundraising
Book Sale
As stated last month, Viv Botha and Eileen Shepherd, both long-time supporters of the Project, will be having a book sale at the end of May.
Here are the details:
Book sale
Saturday, 30 May 2015
08h00 – 12h30
Verandah, Wallace’s Pharmacy, Peppergrove Mall
We are looking for good quality books. Book Club members, please donate books you no longer need.
Everybody – this is a great opportunity to clear your overloaded bookshelves for a good cause. |
Contact numbers for donations needing collection:
Viv Botha:
046 636 1940 or 072 020 5001
Eileen Shepherd:
046 636 1737 or 0780 997711
Or drop at:
Lynne Grant:
NELM,
87 Beaufort Street
(weekdays,
during office hours)
Tracy Jeffery:
Kisma Kreative,
118 High Street
(9 to 5 weekdays
and 9 to 1 Saturdays)
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Calendar
Sadly, it looks like our calendar isn’t going to happen, as only one person and I have booked to have our little treasures photographed.
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This from Lara:
Sadly the response to the newsletter was underwhelming, with only one person emailing me with interest in having her cats photographed. She does have quite a collection of them, which is wonderful, but still leaves me wondering if the idea would work, since with her five and your two, we would still only have 7 cats and limited options. I do know that when she emailed me, she thought that she was too late, and that I would be booked up already with people wanting their kitties photographed. Perhaps others are thinking the same, and so not bothering to email?
Cats have personalities all their own, exactly the same way that people do. They make our little ones unique and make us love them even more! It's these personalities that I love to capture - to sit with an owner and hear what they love about their kitties (the little quirks like only wanting to drink water out of the bath and falling asleep in cupboards), and then to see it for myself and catch it on camera so that those moments will be remembered for years to come.
It was looking through these kinds of photographs of my own loved ones that prompted me to offer to capture some of the rescued cats of the Grahamstown Feral Cat Project for a 2016 calendar. While I mentioned in my last message that I only needed 12 cats to make up the 12 months of the year, all feline friends are welcome to be included, even if in some small way, and there is no limit to the number of kitties I can capture. So if you would like your loved one to be photographed, please do drop me an e-mail at lara@evanescent.co.za to make a booking. |
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Folks, having your fur-kids photographed by Lara will cost you nothing, although you will probably have to negotiate with her if you want extra prints or enlargements for yourself, so please support this initiative and help us raise funds for the ferals in our care.
Poppie
There has still been no interest in adopting Poppie and I guess that like many others, she will eventually be given away without an adoption fee being paid, purely because we want her to be in her own special home and also to free up foster mother Magriet. Poppie is now 6 months old and, despite being trapped as a feral, has settled down to domestic life beautifully. 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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After fostering Missy, Minnie and Ella-Gray for five months, Elaine officially became a foster failure. After all that time, and with no sign of a forever home, she felt that her life just would not be complete without them. Dogs Gypsy and Gracie are also devoted to them so it is happy families for the Clarkes. We are thrilled that they have finally found such a wonderful happy ending. |
Speaking of Missy Clarke and her brood, Renegade Colby Wiccan Christian (Ren for short) was sterilised last week. He is Missy’s beautiful black boy who was adopted by Jethro Christian four months ago. It goes without saying that Jethro is completely smitten – and so is his family. From Jethro: “He is a lovely kitten and still loves being at home, climbing trees and trying to kill the birds in the yard. He has a crazy personality and is forever begging for treats even though I am very strict when it comes to that. He is quite the listener and responds well to his name. He lives up to his old name [Blackie-Chan] still because he attacks us every day and he has become very close to my mother and sister, my mother sings him to sleep and then I collect him when he’s out for the count.”
At some stage Jethro will also be looking out for a grey kitten as companion for Ren.
Donations
(27 March to 28 April)
Thank you so much to everyone who donated. Your support means so much to us and helps us to continue with our work.
Viv Botha (ongoing donations of food and money)
Cecilia Blight
Sheryl Drennan
Colleen Duffy
Anthony Sullivan
Sandpaper Kisses Fundraising
(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandpaper-Kisses-Fundraising/567742133283184)
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
March 2015
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