Free Pet Cat Spay/Neuter surgeries in February!

From the Tree House Volunteer Newsletter:

"Spay/Neuter Deals in Honor of Spay/Neuter Month!

Thanks to a rebate from Cook County, we have some great deals at our spay/neuter clinic during the month of February! Spay/Neuter surgeries for pet cats are FREE, feral packages are FREE and there is a $40 discount for dog surgeries as well! There is a limit of two services per person so if you have a large colony to trap, be sure to plan to have different volunteers bring the cats to the clinic!

Because we still have a lot of demand for our services, and a small staff we still prefer that people call ahead and make appointments for ferals. It's easy. Just call 773-227-5535, see what openings are available and plan your trapping accordingly. If you aren't as successful as you had hoped, its no big deal. Just call and let us know. Your misfortune might allow for a few last-minute walk-ins or trapping surprises! The Tree House BDVM Mac Lean Spay/Neuter Clinic is open Tuesday - Saturday. Feral cat drop-offs are 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. and pick-ups are 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Recovery service is available but must be arranged when you make the appointment. Happy Trapping!"


Take advantage of this deal - otherwise it is still a very reasonable $50 for pet cats.

Help needed

*** Super Urgent: ***

A fellow cat rescue volunteer of mine from touchedbyananimal.org just rescued a lab. This morning she had 10 puppies! She is not equipped to handle this situation, and I am not able to help either. My hands are full with Pepper and her kittens and all her drama. Please - if there's anyone out there who can help this momma lab and her puppies, please come forward. We need you! Any and all help is appreciated.

Contact me by email, text or phone if you can help. My Blackberry is always on.

Andrea
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular

Pepper's Kittens!

I've been having difficulty finding the time to actually blog here, but hope to improve on this in the next year.

In the meantime, here is a quick update.

Kittens' D.O.B.: 11/20/09
# Kittens: 3 girls, 1 boy
Kitten Names: Poppy & Licorice (twins,) Ginger and Clove (male)
They are healthy and happy, and SO much fun to watch.

Pictures are continually posted on Flickr and here is the slideshow link:



Enjoy!

Greyhounds in need (revised posting)

I received and re-posted some misleading information the other day. I was corrected, and here is the correct, public information regarding Dairyland Greyhound Park closing: http://www.gpawisconsin.org/

Pepper, found 10/9/09

From Pepper

Pepper, one of the two cats found in Logan Square in early October, is pregnant. She'll be giving birth any day now, possibly any hour. I'm excited to watch, and to see the babies, but wish this hadn't happened, or at least she'd been spayed before I'd known she was pregnant.

Here's the scoop:

I was going to house- & pet-sit for a client in Logan Square and the day prior to my start date, my client told me they'd found a kitten, who I would find at the house. One more pet to care for. Two days later, while walking one of their two dogs, I heard a long, loud "Meoooow." There was a small cat asking me for help. I was able to walk right up to her and I decided to go back to my client's house and get some cat food for her. She ate it up greedily.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, I ended up taking her to my house, keeping her in a tall kitten cage with all the necessities until I could figure out how to get the money together to fully vet her and get her adopted. (By the way, I found their "owner" but she had thrown them out because she didn't have money for litter or food. The kitten my client had found and taken in was her only surviving kitten. I was told that her name is Pepper.)

A friend of my father asked to do a "trial adoption" at her apartment to see if she would get along with her neutered male cat. She didn't, and kept attacking the poor front de-clawed recent adoptee. After about a 2 week trial period, she was back at my house -- only much bigger in the middle! I took her to the vet (the wonderful Dr. Scott Rovner, of course,) and they confirmed my suspicion. She'd been pregnant all along, and was 15 or so days from giving birth. She'd had an appointment at Tree House for her spay & shots in a few days, which we had to cancel. I couldn't bear to do the "standard procedure" of spay-abort. I do believe it is a necessary thing, especially with feral cats, but couldn't be the one to make that decision.

So, Pepper is going to have kittens. Spread the word - we're going to need homes for them. I will keep the blog updated the best I can, so everyone can see pictures and video clips. Of course, donations are accepted for their food, litter, vet expenses and cleaning products (i.e. kitten messes and all their laundry.)

Allie & Darla are gone from my home

Well, the two little pekes, Allie & Darla, were transported up to MN to their rescue on Saturday. I am relieved but sad and feel guilty at the same time.

I won't see this little face any more:

From Allie & Darla

...or this one:

From Allie & Darla

I am sad because I will miss their personalities and cute little faces. I also feel like I've abandoned them. However, my intent from the beginning was to be a temporary foster home, never to be a forever foster or long-term foster. My own pets and my schedule make it too difficult, and they deserve more attention than I can give them.

I am relieved because Allie was STINKY! No matter how often I washed her, she'd be stinky the very next day. She had some sort of skin condition, I think. I am sure it had to have been caused by the horrible living situation from which she was rescued. She also never really "got" the whole housebreaking thing. I was always cleaning...

So, goodbye to my little foster babies. May they find their forever homes in MN where their rescue can be more closely involved in finding the best permanent situation for each of them.

Found Dog

This little male Pomeranian was found in the Edgewater neighborhood in Chicago this morning. Please spread the word - he definitely hadn't been running lost for very long and his owner must be devastated. Let's help get him home!



If you know this dog or who his owner may be, contact Joe at chicocci@comcast.net or call me. Thank you for your help.



Andrea

Courtesy Post: Adopt a Puppy or Dog at Chicago Animal Care and Control

October 14, 2009

Dear Friends of Petraits,

When I visited Chicago Animal Care and Control at 2741 S. Western Avenue in Chicago there were a number of wonderful dogs and puppies waiting for loving homes (Petraits attached).


Bear is an adorable, sweet and fun fuzzball of a 14-week-old shepherd/chow-mix puppy who is looking for a patient dog-lover with time and energy to devote to house-breaking and training a dog. He will probably be about 55 pounds as an adult.


Flower is a 50-pound, seven-year-old shepherd-mix who was found as a stray. She was obviously living with a family as he is trained in the commands sit and down … I’d guess she’s probably housetrained too.


Lottie is a shy and gentle, two-year-old, 55-pound black and white shepherd-mix who knows how to sit on command and takes treats gently from your fingers. Lottie’s ear tips appear to have had frost bite and fly bites from being left out in someone’s yard too often.


Midnight is a one-year-old 55-pound black Labrador retriever/basenji-mix with a curlie-q tail. He was relinquished to the shelter by his human. Midnight knows the commands sit and down.


Peaches is a well-mannered, active 65-pound, seven-year-old, female pit-mix who knows the commands sit and down and takes treats gently. She also walks well on leash and appears to be housebroken.


Rio is a four-year-old, 50-pound, plush-coated male cattle dog-mix. Rio knows how to sit on command and would do best as the only dog in the home.


Scout is an energetic, seven-month-old male, red Shepherd-mix with satellite dish ears. She loves to play ball and already knows the command to sit.


Spot is a eight-month-old, 25-pound, male energetic, tri-color rat terrier-mix puppy. He sits automatically when asked and takes treats very gently.

To meet and possibly adopt any of these great dogs, please visit Chicago Animal Care & Control in person at 2741 S. Western Avenue in Chicago. The shelter is open for adoptions Wednesday through Friday from 4pm to 7pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 3, and 4 to 7. The dogs’ adoption fee is $65, which includes their spay/neuter surgery, rabies, distemper and bordatella vaccines, heartworm-testing, city license, de-worming and microchip.

If you’d like to volunteer to walk dogs, or socialize cats, or foster pets for CACC, please contact Kathy at kbwilson60612@yahoo.com

The next volunteer orientation will take place on Saturday, October 24 from 11:00AM - 2:00PM.

To see the rest of the pets available at Animal Care and Control, go to their website at http://www.chicago.petfinder.com

Sheri
Petraits Pet Photography
photography: http://www.petraits.com
adoptions: http://www.petraits.petfinder.org
e-mail: sheri@petraits.com
773-777-2891