advoCATS, Inc - Helping Hawaii's
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advoCATS, Inc - Helping Hawaii's
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Home / Mission Statement / Kitties; Lost, Found & For Adoption / Give a Donation or Gift / Cat, Kitten and Feral Cat Care / What is TNR? / Cat Rescue Stories From Our Volunteers /Adopt a Feeder Program / advoCATS News / Spay & Neuter Clinic / Links / Contact Us
advoCATS News
Good "Mews" For Hawaii's Cats
Winter 2008
It's All About:
People that feed the cats at feral cat colonies are privileged to observe
some very special moments in cats lives. These cats who are sometimes living
in the harshest of conditions not only live, but love and care for each other
whether they have been together since birth or made a connection sometime later
in their lives. Here are some heart warming stories from our feeders and caretakers:
Buddy and Princess
Love At The Sanctuary from sanctuary caretaker Kandice Crusat. Buddy is a very shy long haired male Siamese mix from the first group of 11 cats brought to the sanctuary in October 2006. Princess, another Siamese mix, and possibly a pure bred, came by herself two months later in December. At first Buddy hung around with Fluffy, a long haired female Calico who is also shy and came from Buddies original colony. Then Fluffy became aloof and we rarely saw her. When Fluffy wasn’t there Buddy moped around by himself meowing mournfully. Princess was a loner since her arrival until 8 months later when we saw her and Buddy together one day and ever since they have been inseparable. Buddy grooms her and she him. They would have made beautiful kittens together, but as you know, everyone at the sanctuary has been neutered, thank goodness!
Mauna and Lani
A Romantic Beach Affair from feeder and trapper Ferol Kolons. At their beach colony Mauna and Lani do everything together and are so bonded they even walk with their tails intertwined. One day I noticed a bad wound on Lani so I brought her to the vet for an exam, then kept her at my home for a week on antibiotics. In the mean time poor Mauna just sat by the feeding station every day waiting for his true love to return. He'd come up to me just meowing away asking about his girlfriend and all I could do was keep telling him she was OK and I'd bring her back as soon as possible. In the mean time Lani was happy, enjoying all the creature comforts of a home, but sadly missing her boyfriend. That was a long week for all of us but once Lani was well enough to go back to Hapuna I took her back down there. As always, there was Mauna waiting for me and missing his girl. When I let Lani out of the carrier it was the sweetest thing to see how happy these two feline loves were to see each other; lots of meowing, rubbing, rolling and then cleaning of each other. Since Lani's return to Hapuna you never see them apart, always together eating, sleeping and hanging out. So now when I come down to feed them in the morning they're both there waiting for me with lots of rubs and rolls. They love to be petted and are constantly under my feet.
Billy Boy and His Kittens
Love Is Blind from foster mom Jan Abbott. There's something so totally wonderful about watching male cats taking care of kittens. Maybe we just don't expect it. I see it time after time, but usually when the male cat is fairly young. Maybe as they age they become more self centered, although the relationships they formed when they were dragging around their little charges continues even when the kittens grow up. Billy Boy who was rescued as a feral kitten at 4 months and had to have his eyes removed at 5 months because of glaucoma, nurtures my foster kittens and they totally adore him. He just turned a year old and I'm hoping he keeps loving the babies, as it gives him purpose and tactile experiences he needs. He doesn't try to carry the kittens, but he bathes them and they even try to nurse on him and he lets them.
Till Death Due They Part from feeder and trapper Roberta Agre. Pat and I feed two elderly lady cats in the old industrial area; one of the most brutal and hazardous areas in Kailua Kona for a cat colony. They have been there together for at least 10 years and they are inseparable. Whenever we arrive they are waiting as one and rubbing their heads together in love. Pat and I hope that when they finally go, they go to kitty heaven together, because we can't imagine one without the other.
Over the next few issues, starting with our board members, we will introduce some of the advoCATS volunteers who keep our organization running. Our eclectic group of fun loving, hard working people care for the homeless and abandoned kitties of the Big Island like one of our own family. We hope you will enjoy hearing more about us and we welcome anyone to join in one of the most rewarding animal rescue efforts in Hawaii. We hold monthly meetings in Kailua Kona usually on the third Saturday at the United Methodist Church on Palani Rd.
Board Members
Left to Right - Roberta Agre, Karen Klein, Margie Gillman-Wolfe
President Karen Klein: I was born in Louisiana, but raised in Honolulu. I lived in California for 10 years while I went to college and met my husband while I was there. I returned to Honolulu and went back to school to get my MPH in environmental epidemiology. In 1985 I moved to Kona without a husband and worked at OTEC for 5 years. After that I started up a water quality laboratory in 1991 and am still running the business. I began feeding, spaying and neutering cats in 1994 at Kopiko Plaza, the Bowling Alley, the Old Airport and Kaloko. I feed over 100 cats every day and have neutered the majority of them. But I’m still trying to catch that one sneaky male! I was one of the founding members of advoCATS in 1997 with Sandy Sharkey .
Treasurer Roberta Agre: I was born in Philadelphia and went to college at University of Pennsylvania, then moved to LA and started working for TWA. I moved to San Francisco and married Allan Sluizer who was my high school boyfriend in tenth grade. After working for TWA for 20 years as a stewardess, I retired and we took care of both of our mothers; sometimes in Kona and sometimes in San Francisco. Now we are officially retired and living in Kona where Allan is a strawberry papaya farmer extraordinaire. We have two cats; Fanny, an ex-feral and Nick, plus a dog named Annie. Besides being treasurer of advoCATS I feed 50 cats in the Old Industrial area, as well as trap cats for TNR. My focus right now is planning 5 mass spay/neuter clinics for 2008 so we can spay and neuter large colonies of cats.
Secretary Margie Gillman-Wolfe: I was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. and moved to Oahu in 1971, then to the Big Island in 1988. I live with my husband Gregory and our two spoiled indoor kitties; Baby, 11 and Brother Boy, 3. We also have the outdoor yard kitties and there are between 4 - 10 of them at any given time. The food and water bowls on the lanai are never empty for long. A friend who was an advoCATS volunteer, needed help trapping and transporting cats to be spayed and neutered. She talked me into going to an advoCATS meeting because she fed all-night and was always too tired to go herself. After going to a few meetings I was hooked. Now I'm secretary and spend a few hours every week doing all kinds of things from trapping to fund raising. It's been a great experience and I have met some wonderful people.
AdvoCATS gratefully welcomes Dr. Jacob Head DVM, who took over Dr. Poleshuk’s Keauhou Veterinary Clinic in Keauhou. Dr. Head agreed to give us regular spay neuter appointments for our TNR cats. We would also like to take this time to give a BIG MAHALO to all our veterinarians, because without you we would never have come this far and saved so many kittens from being born. MAHALO to Kona Coast Veterinary Hospital - Dr. Gary Ota, Kona Veterinary Service – Dr. Bob Jordan, Dr. Jenny Chartier and Dr. Jeanne Gaugne, Veterinary Associates – Dr. J.M. Gressard, Kapaau Clinic - Dr. Robin Woodley and to all their vet tech’s.
advoCATS is now paying for medicines and veterinary appointments for the sick kitties which are cared for by our foster moms. The foster moms already spend so much of their time and money raising these wee little ones to find them good homes, we thought this was the least we can do. If you’d like to try the rewarding work of being a foster mom please let us know.
Nambu from Kohala
Don McDowell - in memory of Karen McDowell
T. Boradiansky - in memory of Midnight
In Honor Of
Linda Hardy - in honor of Mahukona
Robert and Lynne Cohen - in honor of Taylor Cohen's Bat Mitzva Trip
Maudean and Jerald Drobesh - in honor of Jan & Curt Dahlgaard, Karen &
Steve Hanson and June Blackburn
Doris Crafts - in honor of Nana
Gayle and Scott Carda - in honor of Poki Carda
Roberta Clarkson - in honor of Maudean Drobesh
Joan and Cliff Winston - in honor of Harley and Jasna's 21st birthdays
Loriann Gordon - in honor of Mrs. Schwarz
Penei Aller - in honor of Kili
Robert Bowman and Carol Lee Mack - in honor of Pansi
Greg and Joanne Coleman - in honor of Midnight
Renate Lewis - in honor of Zachary, Sophie and Nick
but surely the world will change for that one animal.
Author Unknown
MAHALO, MAHALO, MAHALO!
Mahalo Wal-Mart for your continuous contributions
to our spay/neuter program.
Mahalo IRONMAN for your donation to our spay/neuter program.
And a special MAHALO to Bruce and Carolyn Witcher at Witcher Engineering, for printing our newsletter.
KIT “N” Carlyle
Treasurer’s Report for 2007
Private Donations - $59,110.
Donation Boxes - $2,600.
Garage sales - $5,600.
Grants - Wal-Mart - $1,500.
County of Hawaii - $9,000.
Reimbursement for S/N from Mauna Lani - $266.
Give Aloha - $2,920.
Sale of Consignment Items - $311.
T-shirt sales - $147.
Total $81,460.
Our expenses were:
Vets - $55,026.
Traps $3,000.
Advertising $600.
Clinics $2,571.
Telephone $360.
Postage, newsletter, printing , web site $919.
Food bank - $80.
Sanctuary - $450.
Telephone - $360.
Total - $63,366.
We sterilized 920 cats in 2007 !
Do You Have Rats?
We've Got Cats!
Feral cats sometimes need to be relocated due to either a dangerous environment, overcrowded colonies or lack of a caretaker. AdvoCATS has healthy neutered cats in desperate need of new outdoor homes. These semi wild cats can live at a farm, stable or other outdoor environment to keep the rodent problem down so you don’t have to use rat poison. This keeps the poison out of Hawaii’s fragile ecosystem where native owls and birds sometimes eat the poisoned rodent and die. We are looking for farm or land owners who are willing to accept feral cats in need of relocation. All you need to do is to provide them with food and water. You will enjoy watching them, as well as having the satisfaction of knowing that you helped to provide them with a much needed home. We will help with the relocation process to get them settled in. Please call us if you can give these cats a home on your farm or land.
There’s a wonderful product that solves the frustrating problem of indoor cats spraying and marking inside your house. This fantastic new pheromone product; Feliway diffuser, duplicates the smell of a cat's natural scent glands. Cats will not soil anything close to where Feliway has been sprayed. It’s a small electric device about the size of a night light that plugs into a wall socket in a room where marking has occurred. It sends a vapor into the air that’s undetectable to humans, but gives a cat the sense of well being so they don’t feel the urge to spray. It helps pets in stressful situations such as being alone, new pets, family members or visitors, moving, vet visits, new environments, thunderstorms and fireworks. There is also the same product for dogs. We have tested it in some of our own homes and it solved our problems and we hope it will help yours too. Feliway Electric Diffuser is sold by many pet product companies and sells for around $23.00 which includes 1 vial of Feliway. Additional refill vials for the diffuser are sold separately for about $13.00.
Here are two web sites that sell Feliway Diffusers:
EntirelyPets.com - http://www.entirelypets.com/feliway.html
Phone: 800-889-8967
Pet Supplies Delivered - http://www.petsuppliesdelivered.com
Phone: 800-367-4444
In October we held our first Spay/Neuter clinic in a community center instead of a veterinary clinic. This paves the way for us to be able to hold clinics in communities around the island where the need is urgent and to save time and effort in transporting the cats long distances. Doing a clinic this way also means we don’t have to impose on our local veterinarians to use their offices. On Saturday October 20th the vets arrived at 11:00 and we were waiting with 31 cats, 30 volunteers and a buffet of food. We had one big problem; the anesthesia did not arrive with the vets, so we had to scramble to find some locally. Fortunately for us Dr Haines from Hawaii Island Humane Society and Dr. Jordan from Kona Veterinary Service came through for us. Both offices were nearby and supplied us with what we needed. Dr. Jordan has done many clinics for us in the past as well as giving us weekly S/N appointments. When the drugs arrived at 12:30 the surgeries began and by 4:30 all cats were on their way home and the center cleaned immaculately. We spayed 17 females and neutered 14 males. There was a wedding party using the center after us and we had no complaints that we left anything amiss. A spotlight of the day was a little female from the Oshima Store colony that was thought to be pregnant. It turned out that she had a uterine infection and would have died had her uterus not been removed. The majority of the cats at this clinic came from 2 colonies up Mauka Kona and a few came from Kailua.
Mahalo to Rev. George Crisp at United Methodist Church
for the use of the community center, not only for this clinic, but
for allowing us to have our monthly meeting there as well. Mahalo to
West Hawaii Community Health Center for the use of their comfortable
chairs for our doctors who performed the surgeries. Mahalo to our doctors;
Rochelle Brinton DVM and Heather Loveland DVM and vet techs; Beth Gustofson
and Paul Szewczyk who all came to the Big Island for a one week vacation
and spent one of their days with us to make this clinic possible. Mahalo
to Kona Joe Coffee for your wonderful 100% Kona coffee that
kept us going all day. And a big Mahalo to all our volunteers
for another successful clinic. Well Done!
February 14th
In 2007 Mayor Harry Kim proclaimed his appreciation for advoCATS’ past and future services by declaring February 14th advoCATS Day here on the Big Island. He encourages all citizens to support the Trap-Neuter-Return Program, with ongoing management, for the abandoned, unwanted and homeless cats throughout the County of Hawai’i.
The work being done by advoCATS is important and beneficial to Hawai’i County. Our island is a major tourist destination and both our citizens and our guests are pleased to see healthy, managed colonies of homeless cats rather than groups of sick, starving strays begging for food.
The mission of advoCATS is to reduce the numbers of abandoned, homeless and unwanted cats in Hawai’i County through implementing a humane and effective Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program which stops the cycle of breeding, and reduces complaints and costs associated with homeless cats. Scientific evidence and experience in the United States and other countries demonstrate that non-lethal TNR, accompanied by ongoing cat colony management, is the most humane, effective and cost-effective way to reduce homeless cat populations in the long-term.
AdvoCATS has spayed/neutered more than 4,874 abandoned and homeless cats in Hawai’i County since implementing our TNR program in March of 1999.
One area of fundraising income that was less than the previous year was collections from garage sales. Unfortunately, our garage sale coordinator is ill and we really need a new garage sale coordinator. Someone out there must be a garage sale junkie who would like the fun of being the coordinator. All of us will help you with transporting, sorting, pricing and the actual setting up and selling. But we need someone who will arrange with the people who want to donate things to pick them up and take them to the garage on Alii Dr. We know you're all busy, but search your hearts and see if you can do this job for us. Not only are garage sales a good part of our income, but they spread the word to all kinds of people about advoCATS, Inc.
YOU CAN HELP HAWAII’S CATS
____ $130. donation: the cost to spay 2 female cats.
____ $90. donation: the cost to neuter 2 male cats.
____ $65. donation: the cost to spay 1 female cat.
____$45. donation: the cost to neuter 1 male cat.
Please make checks payable to: advoCATS, Inc.
Mail to:
advoCATS, Inc. P.O. Box 4415
Kailua Kona Hawaii 96745
(808) 327-3724
advoCATS, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible.
Or you may print up a donation form from our web page:
Donate to advoCATS, Inc. Give a charitable gift
As of January 2008
4874
Spayed or Neutered Since 1999
Mahalo To All Our Veterinarians and Staff!
Read our latest newsletter as well as our archives:
Summer 2008 / Spring 2008 / Winter 2008
Autumn-2007 / Summer-2007 / Spring 2007 / Winter 2007
Autumn 2006 / Summer 2006 / Spring 2006
Home / Mission Statement / Kitties; Lost, Found & For Adoption / Give a Donation or Gift / Cat, Kitten and Feral Cat Care / What is TNR? / Cat Rescue Stories From Our Volunteers /Adopt a Feeder Program / advoCATS News / Spay & Neuter Clinic / Links / Contact Us
advoCATS Inc.
P.O.Box 4415
Kailua Kona Hawaii 96745
Phone: (808) 327-3724
Email: advocatshawaii@aol.com
website: www.advocatshawaii.org