| | | September's Newsletter is about... The Season of Help! Read on for stories of your amazing help furthering FFGW's mission - and for ways to continue to help! |
| | To Everything There is a Season
A time for every purpose... a time to be born...
So sang the Byrds in 1965, covering Pete Seeger's 1959 lyric.
The time to be born, if you were a kitten, was typically spring and summer, with "kitten season" ending with the summer's waning evening light.
However, in the years since FFGW began rescuing in 1995, kitten season has become longer and longer, and so it was just in the last two weeks that we took, from just two rural shelters, 37 kittens... |
| | | | A time to love, a time to rescue, a time to foster, and especially a time to help!
Even though it's Back To School Time and we know families scramble to get back to a Fall routine, FFGW - and those rescued kittens - are incredibly grateful for our new fosters, and of course all of our prior fosters, who made space in their homes, hearts and schedules for these rescues! |
| | (Mrs. Mewson Assigns a Volunteer Class Project - Foster!) |
| | And don't worry if you can't foster, because it's also a time to Help! Below are more ways...
But First - An Amazing Story of Help As Our Rescue Community Came Together To... Rescue! |
| | The PleaIt was late on a Saturday afternoon when the text came in. A rescuer located in MD with whom we had worked previously had just discovered a mother cat and four little babies that had emerged from underneath the foundation of his apartment building. He was leaving town the next morning for several weeks, so he needed a very quick solution. Unfortunately the momma cat was distrustful of people and would need to be trapped.
And doubly unfortunately, FFGW - as a rescue and adoption group - does not have the capacity to handle potentially feral cats. |
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The FFGW volunteer provided many resources to try to find a group that could help the mom and babies on such short notice but none were able to. By this point the rescuer had sent videos and we realized that one of the babies had an eye issue. It was something that was very common in young kittens and easy to treat, but if untreated and left for several weeks, the infection could ultimately result in the kitten losing the eye. We had to get that little kitten in right away but with no way to trap the mom and nowhere for her to go if she was trapped and turned out to be feral, what to do?
FFGW made the difficult but necessary decision to have the rescuer pick up the kitten who needed medical attention and one additional sibling for warmth and companionship. Our volunteer in Fairfax worked out the logistics with the rescuer from Maryland to meet at a halfway point between the two. The FFGW volunteer took the two kittens home, gently cleaned and put warm compresses on the eye until it opened and put an antibiotic ointment in it, then bathed and picked fleas off of both babies before giving them bottles and getting them settled into their heated bed with a stuffed animal sloth as a surrogate mom. She then reached out to a FFGW foster mom who readily agreed to take the siblings the next morning. But her attention continued to remain on the poor mom cat and the other two babies that were out there alone, over an hour away, with their caretaker heading out of town for several weeks. What to do?
Ask our Village for Help.
FFGW enjoys a very amicable relationship with a TNR group called Tip Me Frederick. Being a TNR group, Tip Me often ends up with kittens that they need to rehome and FFGW has taken them into foster homes and found them wonderful forever homes. And being a rescue group, FFGW occasionally encounters a cat that they thought was friendly and adoptable but turns out to need a sanctuary or barn home and in those instances, Tip Me has stepped up to the plate.
The FFGW volunteer reached out to a contact at Tip Me and both groups started working their contacts to find somebody to trap, somebody to transport, and somebody to foster what would hopefully end up being the mom with her four kittens reunited.
It didn’t take long. Within hours, a trapper was located, who was willing to immediately head to the apartment complex and try to trap the mom and her two remaining babies before the night was over. Shortly thereafter, she reached out to FFGW and Tip Me
to let us know that she was successful and to ask “What’s the plan now?” She could hold the mom and babies overnight but not much longer than that.
FFGW and Tip Me continued communicating to work out more details and by the next morning, Tip Me Had identified a foster who was willing to take the possibly feral mom and her four babies and foster her until the babies were weaned. At that point, FFGW would take the four babies into one of their foster homes, provide veterinary care, and work on finding them forever homes. If the mom turned out to be friendly, FFGW would spay and foster her until a forever home was found, and if she turned out to be feral, Tip Me would get her spayed and find her a safe sanctuary or barn home.
At this point we had two babies in Fairfax Virginia, a mom and the other two babies in Prince Georges County, Maryland, and a foster waiting in Frederick County, Maryland.
On a sunny Labor Day afternoon, three vehicles met in a parking lot at a predetermined meeting spot for the transfer to begin. The two babies came from Fairfax, the mom and other two babies came from Prince George’s County, and a transport volunteer came down from Frederick County to pick everybody up and deliver them to their foster home in Frederick.
Momma
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| The mom was carefully transferred from a trap into a crate and the four kittens were reunited in a carrier. Everybody said their goodbyes and the little family headed to their foster home and the beginning of their “happily ever after“. This is a great example of how our local rescue groups coordinate with and support each other! But the story doesn’t end there.
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| Siblings reunited
As everybody was saying their goodbyes, the volunteer who had trapped the mom and babies happened to ask if anyone in the group had “kitten expertise“. It turned out that when she picked up the mom and babies that are the focus of this story, she also rescued a tiny four week old who had been found under the cover of someone’s backyard grill. The FFGW volunteer stepped up and assessed the kitten, who clearly had not eaten in some time, had an eye infection, and was crying. She volunteered to take the kitten back home where, you guessed it, she
gently cleaned and put warm compresses on the eye until it opened and put an antibiotic ointment in it, then bathed and picked fleas off of the baby before giving her a bottle and getting her settled into a heated bed with a stuffed animal sloth as a surrogate mom.
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Full Circle
Help - it's what we do. It's what you do.
We're an all volunteer organization, and your donations make possible the medical care of the precious lives we rescue. We do it together, the fosters, the drivers, the adoption counselors, the supporters and donors. Thank you, all of you, for being a part of the FFGW Village.
Below are several more ways you can help! |
| | Yaaawwwwnnn!!!
Now you can support FFGW in your sleep!
We are partnering with CoZzzzy Comfy Bed Sheets to raise money so that our kittens can sleep well and be rested for adoption!
These are great sheets, and purrfect for kids heading off to college, housewarming gifts, or just quarantining at home.
In addition to earnings from the sheets sales, if we get 50 shares on Facebook and sell 50 sets of sheets, CoZzzy Comfy will give us bonus money.
So, please...
go to www.cozzzycomfy.com/online-store (click the url or the image below) to purchase a set of sheets
Choose "Feline Foundation of GW 1 - 2021"
Order by October 11
AND SHARE, SHARE, SHARE this post on your own Facebook page!
(50 shares and 50 sales will net FFGW bonus $$)
Thanks for your help! |
| | | The Cat's Out of the Bag! ...and you can Help by buying one!
Buy a reusable shopping bag at Giant Food in Herndon (2551 John Milton Dr.) and $1per bag is donated to FFGW all September long!
You can help by copying and pasting the image below to your social media, or download a flyer
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| | | | Renewed Reston Adoption Event a Meowvelous Success!
We couldn't have done it without your Help!
Plenty more opportunities on the 3rd Saturday of the month September through November - Next Event Saturday September 18th 1 - 3 p.m. Just Cats Clinic in Reston |
| | As things get rolling at Reston, we had just 4 cats at our August event - and we are so grateful to Megan and Emily who wrangled cats and spoke to adopters and helped 3 of the cats go to forever homes!
(In a recent survey, 3 out of 4 cats say THANKS for finding us homes, Meg and Emily!) |
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We Need Your Help! Can you help us staff a booth at PetOberfest so we can spread the word about FFGW? We'll have a booth with information, t-shirts for sale, and - this is where you come in - smiling folks to talk to attendees! If you can help us for a few hours at PetOberfest, just reply to this email - and thanks! _________________________
Saturday, October 16, 11am - 4pm |
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I Feel Like Something Chewy!
Actually, not that chewy, but "Chewy"!
www.chewy.com is a pet product company specializing in home delivery of all things pet-related. FFGW has a "wish list" which you can find here:
Any products you select from our wish list will be delivered directly to us for use at our adoption center at PetSmart and by our fosters!
If you're new to Chewy, we'll even get a gift certificate for bringing in a new purchaser. It's a great way to help us in our mission to help the kitties!
Thanks to everyone who has donated food, treats, litter, beds, toys... Chewy's platform doesn't allow us to see the names of our generous donors, but please know that your support is very much appreciated! And if you drop us a line and let us know when you donate something, we'll be more than happy to send our thanks! |
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You can also help us by making your Amazon purchases through our "smile" link!
You can use the button on the left for anything Amazon - your price doesn't change but a percentage goes to FFGW!
So far this year we've received almost $1000, which provides 3-4 spays or 5-6 neuters - enough for an entire litter of kittens!
Thank you!
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Adoption Fairs
Reston Monthly Fair Just Cats Clinic - 3rd Saturday/Month 1-3 pm Next Event: Saturday, September 18
Leesburg Weekly Fair Leesburg PetSmart - Every Sunday Noon - 3 pm Next Events: Sunday September 19
--Midweek Adoptions by Appointment for Cats in the Center--
We need volunteers to help care for the cats at Leesburg! Contact Brittany@ffgw.org
Looking for a new cat for your family? Get pre-approved for adoption by filling out an adoption form online today.)
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| | We've Gone Home! Adopted in May (25):
Freddie, Birdie, Martha, Harmon, Isis, Matt, Mike, Arwen, Fred, India, Saphira, Krueger, Rayna, Callie, Queso, Tostito, Dorito, Phillip, Heathcliff, Gail, Feather, Spencer, Rocko, TJ & Puppy
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