advoCATS News
Good "Mews" for Hawaii's Cats
Autumn 2009

In this Issue:
1,295 Cats Spayed or Neutered at clinics on the Big Island this summer!
All In A Days Work at a Spay/Neuter Clinic
Volunteers Thoughts on Trapping
Mayor Kenoi Endorses Trap-Neuter-Return
In Our Mailbox
Mahalo’s & Dedications
Foster Kitties For Adoption
Foster Mom Mentors Innovations Student
Comic
Holiday Gift Ideas to Help Spay & Neuter Hawaii’s Kitties
Fundrai$ing New$
advoCATS Welcomes New Volunteers
CATS On The Web

Cats Spayed Cats Neutered - All Across Hawaii Island

In June - October Spay/Neuter clinics were held all over the Big Island.

July had another amazing visit by the Neuter Scooter with 4 clinics in 4 days. Two advoCATS clinics were held; one in Ocean View that did 109 cats and one in North Kohala that did 125 cats and 1 pregnant mongoose. Dr. Peavy didn’t charge us for the mongoose! Rainbow Friends in Paradise Park did 58 cats and Hui Pono Holoholona in Fern Acres did 100 cats, for a total of 392 cats!

In August, visiting veterinarian Dr. Cary Waterhouse from Washington was joined by local vet Dr. Kim Kozuma from Hilo, in an advoCATS clinic in Kailua Kona where 55 cats were spayed or neutered. Assisting at the clinic were helpers Kurt Harmon, MD, Craig Naugle and Joe Yanity.

Another amazing 4 day sweep across the Big Island by the Neuter Scooter in Sept/Oct with 4 clinics again. The advoCATS clinic held in Ocean View did a total of 116 cats, a KARES clinic in N. Kohala did 82 cats, a Rainbow Friends clinic in Panaewa did 91 cats and Hui Pono Holoholona clinic in Fern Acres did 84 cats for a total of 373 cats!

In October, another advoCATS clinic was held at Hualalai Academy with visiting vet Dr. Susanne Fesler and her vet tech, Raeann Rasmussen. Both came from Taos, New Mexico. Dr. Kim Kozuma came from Kea`au to help at this clinic where 56 cats were spayed or neutered. Raeann trained our volunteers on administering the anesthesia, shaving and expressing the bladder. Raeann helped the clinic run so smoothly due to the efficiency of the prep stations. Mahalo to Linda Hardy who helped us and recruited the Taos team.

In our last newsletter, we reported about the June Neuter Scooter visit: 5 clinics in 7 days. AdvoCATS sponsored 3 clinics: Kailua Kona: 117 cats, Ocean View: 98 and Kohala: 57. In Fern Acres, Hui Pono Holoholona did 79, in Paradise Park, Rainbow Friends did 65, for a total of 416 cats!

From June 1 - October 3, there were 1,295 Cats Spayed or Neutered at clinics on the Big Island by 4 different organizations!

September Ocean View Clinic: From Left: Dr. Tess Peavy, Frank Armendariz and Oscar Armendariz	Photo Above: Elijah, Aria and Gabriel Peavy/Armendariz The Peavy/Armendariz Family travel from Indiana to Hawaii to conduct these mass spay/neuter clinics. Their children help with the process, and as seen from the photo above, experience some of the fun and interesting sights in Hawaii while doing so, such as seeing exotic birds in Maui while helping at clinics while they’re there.

Mahalo - MAHALO - Mahalo

With all these mass spay/neuter clinics we are really making a difference and slowing down the reproduction of homeless cats here. And we couldn’t have done it without ALL OF YOU, our faithful supporters, the dedicated veterinarians, their assistants and of course, our volunteers!

AdvoCATS would like to thank the Ocean View Community Center, Kona United Methodist Church and Hualalai Academy for the use of their facilities for the clinics, The Nay Station Lodge B&B for hosting the Neuter Scooter in July and September, Jeremiah and Audrey Maluo at Makai Hale B&B in Kohala for hosting the Neuter Scooter in July, Eric and Heather Redman for sponsoring and hosting Dr. Waterhouse and helpers in August, Adrienne Jensen and Karen Klein for the Kanaloa Condo our visiting vets used in October, Krua Thai Cuisine for the food for our July clinic and Starbucks Coffee on Henry St. who supplied the wonderful coffee that everyone enjoyed at both of our Kailua clinics.

The Nay Station A small out of the way B & B powered by sunshine and rainfall, dedicated to providing a congenial rest place for guests, while living in harmony with the land and our fellow creatures. There’s also a mini Smithsonian Institute right in the house for guests and visitors. The Nay Station generously hosted the Neuter Scooter team in July and again in September. They all really enjoyed the museum collection!

Krua Thai Cuisine Mahalo “Krua” for the tasty spring and summer rolls and yummy sauces for our July clinic that we all enjoyed. We highly recommend “Krua” if you are having lunch or dinner out. Be sure to say: "Thanks for supporting advoCATS!" Located on the corner of Kuakini and Henry St. Phone: 327-5782

Maikai Hale A lovely and private Big Island bed and breakfast, just four miles from the Hawaii's most beautiful white-sand beaches. The sunny skies, ocean views, and expansive pool & jacuzzi are coupled with fine Hawaiian hospitality. From December to March, whale watching is great at this 500 ft. elevation. Maikai Hale hosted the Neuter Scooter Team in July and they really enjoyed the pool.

To inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. Mahalo to Starbucks on Henry St. for the delicious coffee which keeps our clinic volunteers going all day long.

All In A Days Work at a Spay/Neuter Clinic
Have you ever wondered what our spay/neuter clinics are like? Volunteers arrive early to lay tarps down on floor, cover tarps with newspaper then set up tables and chairs. The workstations are set up: anesthesia, shaving, surgery, ear tipping, recovery, check in/out area, as well as the food & beverages for volunteers. Cats in traps are brought in and registered. As the surgery begins, volunteers move the cats throughout the areas, and then finally place cats back into the traps and monitor them until they start to come around. Cats are then taken to the checkout area and await their trip back home. They are kept overnight for observation before being released the next morning.

Clinics save time and money, as we condense the complete process in a short amount of time. With mass spay/neuter clinics like the Neuter Scooter, we can get more cats done in less than 1/2 the time and 1/2 the cost. In this way, we are using our donations wisely and stretching the money as far as possible.

Volunteers Thoughts on Trapping
*Trapping is the heart of T-N-R. It's the job that's going to make all the difference to the cats. For some, it's the best part of volunteering for advoCATS.
*Trapping is the beginning of a better life for the colony cats. They will have more time to groom themselves and each other, nap in the sun and have overall better health when they are not held hostage by their hormones.
*One volunteer tells the cats “This is going to be the BEST day of your life!”
*It's a game of patience and skill with a colony that has already been trapped. But an un-trapped colony is a piece of cake because they've never seen a trap and are easy to catch.
*Sometimes it can be frustrating when "good samaritans" feed the cats just before trapping, so the cats aren’t hungry and won’t go into the trap for the food.
*AdvoCATS believes that if you feed and don't trap your colony, you are making things worse.
*A frustrating thing for some of our feeder/trappers is that they get their whole colony T-N-R’d and someone dumps new un-neutered cats and the process starts all over again.
*We have found that the best way to trap a colony is to do it all at once. When you trap only one or two at a time, there are those last few cats that learn not to go into a trap. That's why these mass spay/neuter clinics are so wonderful. We can trap whole colonies at once, take the cats to the clinic the next day and return them to their colonies the day after that, it’s so much easier.

August Clinic Cathy Swedelius tells Jade Kozuma about the importance of tipping the cats ears.	October Clinic Team Top Left: Dr. Susanne Fesler, Dr. Kim Kozuma Bottom Left: Vet techs Raeann and Barbara	What would a spay/neuter clinic be without a Kitty Litter Cake! Made by Bev Byouk for our September Ocean View clinic. A delicious concoction of dark and light cakes, crumbled green cookies and tootsie rolls for that authentic look.

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Mayor Kenoi Endorses Trap-Neuter-Return

In the photo above advoCATS volunteers met with the mayor October 13, 2009. From left: Margie Gillman-Wolfe, Mayor Billy Kenoi and Nancy Hitzemann. Photo courtesy of Bobby Command Former Big Island Mayor Harry Kim first declared it in 2007. Now Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi signed a new proclamation: Non-lethal Trap-Neuter-Return, accompanied by ongoing cat colony management is the most humane, effective and cost-effective way to reduce homeless cat populations in the long term. He also asks the community to support the TNR work that advoCATS has done since 1999. We hope that this statement of support will assist trappers in negotiating access to private property to help the cats and reduce the intimidation and harassment of caretakers, as well as the attacks on the cats themselves.

County of Hawaii Proclamation WHEREAS, advoCATS Inc., reduces the number of abandoned, homeless and unwanted cats in Hawaii County by implementing a humane and effective Trap-Neuter-Return program; and WHEREAS, Trap-Neuter-Return stops the cycle of breeding, reduces complaints and lowers costs associated with homeless cats; and WHEREAS, non lethal Trap-Neuter-Return, accompanied by ongoing cat colony management, is the most humane, effective and cost effective way to reduce homeless cat populations in the long term; and WHEREAS, advoCATS has spayed or neutered more than 3400* abandoned and homeless cats in Hawaii County since implementing it’s Trap-Neuter-Return program in March 1999; and WHEREAS, the efforts of the volunteers of advoCATS have prevented the birth of possibly a million unwanted kittens in Hawaii County; and WHEREAS, the volunteers of advoCATS alleviate the pain and suffering of these homeless cats and are working to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering their pets; and WHEREAS, advoCATS volunteers respect private property and refrain from going on to private property without permission, Now, Therefore, I, BILLY KENOI, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, do hereby proclaim October 16, 2009, as NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY in the County of Hawaii and encourage all citizens to support their Trap-Neuter-Return program for the abandoned, unwanted and homeless cats throughout the Island of Hawaii. IN WITTNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused The Seal of the County of Hawaii to be affixed. Done this 13th day of October, 2009, in Hilo, Hawaii. Billy Kenoi Mayor County of Hawaii *As of 10/13/09 - 7641 cats were spayed or neutered by advoCATS

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In Our Mailbox
		Aloha advoCATS, Here’s a photo of a nice memory of our Christmas 2008, courtesy of the “snow cats” I built on Christmas Eve & Christmas day. But alas, they were a puddle with a red scarf in the middle 3 days later! Here’s hoping the New Year brings all of you (and the kitties) happiness & health. Vi Towne *Note: Vi Towne donates adorable greeting cards to our fundraisers that feature her cats. See them on the web: http://www.kacykards.com
	Dear advoCATS, Being the son of a feral Mommy named "Skitty," Marmie guards his Christmas gifts. Marmie is almost a year old and is part of a large colony of colony cats on our property in Ocean View Ranchos. His mother brought him into our lanai when he was still young enough for domestication. He had some medical problems, including his eyes and skin, so we did our bit to support the local vet. Thanks to assistance from advoCATS and volunteer Anita Broennimann in Ocean View, and the Humane Society of Keaau, we have been able to bring in 21 cats for TNR. Eighteen were returned to the colony (three of the older ones had be put to sleep due to illnesses.) We have a sheltered feeding station with litter boxes nearby and the kitties are healthy and happy. We are happy to do our part to shape the future of our cat colonies and give the best quality of life to them all. Celine and Lester Lowe P.S. Marmie is neutered and has a chip. His ears are not tipped because we adopted him as a domestic cat.	Marmie enjoying a nap after his Christmas gift opening.
		Aloha Jennifer, (foster mom for advoCATS) This is Foxy Loxy, who we have renamed Cheetah Girl. She was very shy and elusive for the first couple of months during the day, but at night she would come onto the bed all lovey dovey as long as you didn't try to catch her. I started to call her "Werewolf," because at dawn she would go into hiding again. Now, she is over that shyness and is very adept at her bug-catching job and has made great friends with our older cat Sheba, for whom she was chosen to be a companion. She's such a sweet loving kitty. The amazing thing is, Cheetah was never formally introduced to our outdoor dogs and recently I've had to keep one of them in the garage while recovering from a surgery. Cheetah came along with Sheba who knows the dog, and both went right up to Pooch and touched noses with her. It was the cutest thing, as if the cats sensed the dog wasn't feeling up to par, and were hanging out with her for soothing companionship. The 2 cats are right outside my office door right now, patiently waiting for their dinner. I want to thank you again and wish you many blessings for the special work that you are doing with the cats. Mahalo, Thalia
	Dear advoCATS, We rescued this little kitten at 2 weeks old (if she was even that) from the wild momma kitty that we could never trap to be spayed. Before the kitten got too big and wild, we rescued her and took her to advoCATS foster mom Nancy Hitzemann who bottle-fed her and found her a home. I am so glad Lilly found a good home and that there are people like Nancy out there! Sincerely, Jon & Dawn West
		Sent by iPhone: Dear advoCATS, My two sons, Kainoa, 7, and brother Justin, 6, and I were at the old airport and saw a woman feeding the wild cats. The boys were so concerned about the cats, so I explained what was happening. They were so sad that the cats did not have a home like their cat. I told them it would be nice to give the lady and the cats some food. The boys agreed and decided to use their allowance money to buy the food. (Their allowance by the way, comes from the family’s recyclables.) It was heartwarming for me to see the boys give up $20. in candy money for cat food. The boys plan to continue to volunteer food, money and time to help feed the cats. Helping all animals is a value we are trying to instill in our kids and they love cats. If you can use the help of two little guys with big hearts please let me know. They are available on weekends. Mark, Kainoa and Justin Chesler

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We'd Like To Say Mahalo To: Don & Teresa Barth, Alexianne Blake, Helen Brendel, Mary Buckley, Scott & Pat Campbell, Eugene & LaDonna Clarke, Janet Coburn, J. Orin & Charlene Edson Fund of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Anne Erickson, JoAnn Freed, Johanna Gil, Linda Graves, Laddie & Pat Hutchison, Impact Physical Therapy, Michael King, Nancy Kraus, Joanna Levesque, Terri & Gray Levy Charitable Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Nevada, Barbara Littorin, Michael & Dore Loewenthal, Bill & Gabriele Lucas, Nora K. Lucas Trust, Jeremiah & Audrey Maluo, John Mellon, Jeanne Metz, Mountain Thunder Coffee, Susan Norman, Allen Oliphant, Petco Foundation, PetSmart Charities, James Shilzony, Cathleen Swedelius, Three Ring Ranch, James & Sharon Updike, Vanessa Viso, Katrina Watson, Joan Winston & Diana Wolking.
And a special Mahalo to Carolyn and Bruce Witcher at Witcher Engineering, for printing our newsletter.
In Honor Of "Barnes & Noble" & "Shadow" from Anonymous "Grandie Jaxson" & "Jeddie Sweet Boy" from Johanna Gil "Thomas" & "Lucy" from Three Ring Ranch Cookie McCrory's birthday from Judy Hnilo Ferol Kolons from John Mellon Leslie Prindle-Klein's birthday from Dianne Foster Nancy & Jim Hitzemann from Roberta Agre	In Memory Of "Klassy's Tasha Haze" from Joan Winston "Sweetie Pie" & "Ms. Pooh" from Don & Teresa Barth "Tiki" & "Keaau" from Larry Honma “Blondie” and “Bro”

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Foster Kitties For Adoption

This is Rusty, a year old male who is already neutered. At one time he made himself comfortable each night in a multi-million dollar house being constructed in Puako. Now the house has been finished and all of his builder buddies have moved on. Quite unfairly (in his opinion) he's no longer able to jump through window holes to sleep on piles of lumber while listening to the surf outside. Who can help Rusty find peace? He's a good inside or outside cat and although he's used to much nicer digs than around here, he's very polite and doesn't rub it in. Contact Jan in Waikoloa about Rusty: phone: 883-3783 or Email: jabbott676@aol.com To see more of Jan's Kittens go to her web site: http://bigislandkittens.com	Little White Fluff is an adorable blue-eyed cuddler who “strayed” into foster mom Jennifer Olson's life and was born aprx. mid July. He was starving, but now he's a round, friendly, playful kitten whose motor is constantly running. His white fur is going to be long and has a tinge of orange. He is neutered, wormed and vaccinated and needs a good home. To see White Fluff contact Jennifer in Ocean View: Phone: 929-9606 or Email: catlady2004ster@gmail.com See more of Jennifer's Kittens on her web site: http://home.roadrunner.com/~bigislandkitties/	Kai is a fun and adorable little guy with much curiosity and has lots of love to give. He has handsome markings: a black cap on his head, with a black tail on a white coat. He was born in the latter part of August. He is vaccinated and will soon be neutered. Contact Nancy in Kailua about the 5 kittens above. Phone: 329-4337 or Email: nhitz@hawaii.rr.com
See More Cats & Kittens For Adoption on: www.advocatshawaii.org

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advoCATS Foster Mom Mentors Innovations Student

AdvoCATS foster mom Nancy Hitzemann is mentoring an 8th grader at Innovations Charter School named Hayley DiFede, (pictured below) who chose advoCATS as her Friday morning "mentor program." Hayley was quite attached to little Lacey while caring for her at Nancy’s house. Hayley will be with Nancy for 2 months, so Nancy asked Hayley to write a short story as a youth book report about a pride of feral cats. She is the chief name giver for Nancy's foster kittens and works with them each Friday.
	Hayley helps with feeding the foster kitten Lionetta who was once named Lionel. Nancy at first thought he was a male when he came to her at about 10 days old.
	Hayley accompanies Nancy to PETCO to help get kitties adopted and helped at our spay/neuter clinic in October. At the clinic, she observed the different workstations, avoiding the surgery, and helped with Dr. Kim's children, as well as working at the recovery station. Hayley is very artistic and designed the thank you cards for the clinic veterinarians.
Little Lacey back left, wishing she were still on the bottle like Lionetta.

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Kit "N" Carlyle, by Larry Wright

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Gift Giving Helps to Spay & Neuter Hawaii’s Kitties This holiday season you can help our S/N program by purchasing gift items that benefits advoCATS
Christmas Treasures Craft Fair King Kamehameha Hotel Ballroom Kailua-Kona Friday - November 27th - 9 am - 5 pm Saturday November 28th - 9 am - 4 pm AdvoCATS will have a booth at the fair with a wonderful selection of donated handcrafted items made especially for advoCATS including: Oil Paintings by local artists, Jewelry, Kitty Theme Containers, Cat Art Greeting Cards, 2010 Cat Calendar, MoonCat Rubber Stamps, Little Cat Stockings stuffed with kitty goodies, Cat Themed Grocery Tote Bags, Kitty Blankets to protect your furniture and more! We’ll have something for all of your cats and cat loving friends with prices to suit everyone. 100% of the proceeds goes to advoCATS spay/neuter program! If you’d like to help with this event or have items to donate: Call Kandice: 929-8198 E-mail: advocatshawaii@aol.com Preview many of these items on our gift page where you can order by mail and pay through Pay Pal: advoCATS Gift Shop
advoCATS Rubber Stamps by Mooncaat Cat stamps made exclusively to benefit advoCATS. There are lots of fun designs to choose from! Fifty percent of the sale price goes directly to advoCATS. The rest of the price pays for the stamp, processing fees, etc. Payment can be made through Pay Pal. Prices start at $5.99 per stamp and there’s a minimum order of three stamps. This is a fun gift for your crafty, cat loving friends or family. Available at the Christmas Treasure Craft Fair, or order from http://www.mooncaat.com/
Christmas Tree Fundraiser at The Mauna Lani Resort Once again we will be entering an advoCATS tree to bring public awareness to our mission, but we need helpers to set up and take down the tree. If you’d like to donate “Kitty” ornaments we’d love those too. Contact: Ferol at 987-4117 or E-mail: ferolkat@yahoo.com If you are in the area, please visit the beautiful display of charity trees and vote for ours, you can’t miss it, it will be the one with “CATS” all over it!
Konfuse-A-Kat		This is not as much a "cat toy" as it is a "human training toy." It encourages interaction between cat and owner on a random basis, which makes it interesting for the owner and enticing for the cat. We usually fall into a routine and this game breaks you from this. A new kitty mom could benefit from it. Give it a try, you'll certainly have fun seeing how you and your cat respond. They give 10% of the sales that come from our web site to our S/N Program.

For The Person Who Has Everything Do you have a cat lover on your list who doesn’t want presents? A gift idea is to make a donation in honor of them. We will send the recipient a beautiful advoCATS art card mentioning you as the donor. Maybe you are the one who doesn’t want presents; you can suggest this to your friends and family. Donations can be made through Pay Pal or by personal check through the mail.

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Fundrai$ing New$

Books and Other Goodies at Kona Stories AdvoCATS was invited to participate in the annual used book sale at Kona Stores in Kainaliu again this year. The sale was held on Saturday, July 18, and was sponsored by owners Brenda Eng and Joy Vogelgesang. AdvoCATS volunteers Judy, Linda and Cathy made $481. from the sales of books and gift items. Kona Stories is a lovely bookstore that has a wonderful lanai with an ocean view, where you can hang out with their bookstore cats. Stop by to see all of them when you are “up mauka.”

Kailua-Kona Garage Sale Our weekend garage sale on August 15 &16 was a wonderful success. We made $1,005. from the sale of the items, plus we received $140. in donations, for a total of $1,145. Thanks so much to everyone who helped out by donating, sorting and transporting items, working at the sale, cleaning up and figuring out what to do with all the leftovers! A special mahalo to Ginger Towle for letting us use her house as the location for the sale.

Ocean View Garage Sale & Flea Market We tried a new locale for a garage sale on August 22 at the annual Ocean View Community Center fundraiser and made $203. Mahalo to Kathy, Gabrielle, JoAnn, Jennifer, Lisa and Kandice. On Sept 12, our Ocean View volunteers: Gabrielle, JoAnn & Jennifer set up a booth at the Ocean View Flea Market and made another $163.

advoCATS, Inc. P.O. Box 4415 Kailua Kona Hawaii 96745
advoCATS, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible.

Print up our donation form and mail it in. Click here: Donate to advoCATS, Give a charitable gift

advoCATS Also Accepts Donation$ Through Pay Pal

Click Here:

It’s easy to make donations to advoCATS using Pay Pal. You can go to our home page and click on our Pay Pal donation link, or the click on the link above, or log on to www.paypal.com and click on “Send Money,” then enter our email address: advocatshawaii@aol.com. It’s that easy! You can use your bank account, credit card, or PayPal balance to make a donation. And what 's really great; you can use your credit card that enables you to acquire frequent flyer mileage points. Take a trip and help the kitties! What a way to go! If you don’t already have a Pay Pal account it only takes a few minutes to get one. It’s a free and safe way to make purchases or send donations.

Please email this newsletter on to a friend

As of October 13th, 2009

7641

Cats Have Been Spayed or Neutered Since 1999
Mahalo To All Our Veterinarians and Staff!