Finally, Spring has come to Maine! We still have some cold nights when the heater has to be used, but overall it’s nice and warm. It seems like the whole world renewed itself, people are happier, and of course that has a big influence on our furry friends also. They seem to be more content, being able to spend more time outside, watching all these other creatures like mice, moles, ducks, geese and the occasional deer, or way up here in Limestone, the bears wandering around scavenging for food. So overall, we are happy!

Most of the Shelter-News is good news: No unwanted animals were dropped off. No big emergencies happened. There was much extra work for our volunteers at the Shelter this month, due to the constant temperature change and all the rain. We had lots and lots of water to deal with. Mary, Ted and Karen, and Peter Cary, who has been volunteering his time on some Saturdays at the Shelter, put their combined effort into chipping ice everywhere. The buildup in the outside runs came to 5 inches at times. Now if  XXXXX, our weekly caretaker, would do his job the way he’s supposed to do it, that could not have been avoided. But as it was, all weeks’ buildup had to be taken care of on Saturdays by the people who supposed to be there to give all that extra TLC to the dogs. Crying won’t help. You know, yourself, how hard it is to find that special person with dedication and love to take on a job like this one. We are still looking for him/her and hope we hit the jackpot some day.

Raven, the young Shepard we took in last month, had her checkup and spay appointment this month. After Dr. Slack looked at her, he canceled the spay. She is way too skinny to have this procedure done right now. He checked for parasites to determine the cause, but parasites were negative. So now he will have to do some extensive testing. He has a hunch, but if that would come true it would mean surgery for Raven, possibly medication for the rest of her life. Since she is barely two years old, we hope that his prognosis is wrong. We are keeping our fingers crossed for this poor girl.

Raven  

Dr. Slack also told us that we could not feed Raven dry food, canned food, or any treats. Only “Gainesburger” is okay for her digestive system. So normally that would have really put a big dent in our cashbox again, but thanks to several Walmart Gift-Certificates we could buy Raven all the Gainesburgers she needs.

Which brings me right to last month’s newsletter: I was surprised and teary-eyed to get so many nice replies to this letter! Richard Lizotte pleaded our case with his friends. One of them, Michael Kent, in return sent us a donation. Our supporter Lorena Clark got her niece, Sandra Nicholsen, involved with us. Jackie Lowney, the lady who makes the most beautiful gift baskets for our fundraiser, convinced dog Axel and his human friend Lois Guay to share his treats in the form of money with our dogs. Maybe these newcomers stay, maybe they move on – but right now when we were really down in the dumps, they helped. Thank you to all of you who passed last month’s newsletter around to your friends and relatives. I repeat now a little saying I read quite often in mail we receive from our supporters: Keep up the good work! JJJ We are all in this animal saving together, we do need each other.

As you know, we moved the fundraiser date to October 15^th. Next month we will start putting tickets for the prizes in the letters. In the meantime I am getting the most beautiful hand knit sweaters from two German friends. They mailed a huge box with adorable baby and children suits and sweaters, and some adult sweaters.

Unbelievable pretty! These two ladies have been spending weeks to knit them in order to help raise some money for the Shelter. So again, if you need a very nice gift, check out  Charley's Strays first.

Your purchase will help our critters! Some photos of these sweaters can be found on this page. I have another dozen to choose from, in all sizes, shapes and colors.

CAT REPORT – April 2005

To continue where I left off last month, things have settled down upstairs – Gray Cat has accepted Emery and Evita, and they seem to enjoy having more space.  Alison’s sore eye cleared up after a couple weeks of eye drops.  Meanwhile, one of my cats, and one I’m fostering for Save Our Strays also has a runny eye. The eye drops come in teeny-tiny bottles; with three cats to treat twice daily, I was trying to persuade the vet to order it by the gallon for me!

Bart, the old black guy I was worrying about last month, is definitely blind, but he’s getting along all right. He eats and purrs and sleeps -- he’s always been a cat who seemed content to sleep a lot. He lives in one of the walk-in cages, where he has two beds plus one of those flat-topped, hollow carpeted scratching posts. After abandoning his very-worn-out favorite bed for the new one Karen gave him for several weeks, he now alternates among the two beds and the top of the scratching post. Since he can’t see when he wakes up on top of the scratching post he carefully stretches a leg down until he touches the floor, so he knows how much muscle to put into getting down.

Mr. Tom, our other cage-dweller, is the only cat in the house that tested positive for FIV (the cat version of HIV). He had his physical this month, and the vet said he seems fine. I thought

so too, but it’s reassuring to have expert confirmation. Tom’s a big handsome gray tiger with a lovely disposition. He needs to go to a home with other FIV-positives or where he’s the only cat, but with that restriction I consider him adoptable. I thought we had his photo on the Charley’s Strays web page, but I guess not.  I need to write descriptions of some more cats to go with pictures Brian Parent took this month; I’ll add Mr. Tom to the list. 

These walk-in cages, by the way, are excellent housing for a cat who needs to be alone, either to protect him (like Bart, who doesn’t like other cats in his face all the time) or to protect others (from Mr. Tom, who could infect another cat if he bit – not that he shows any signs of aggression). The cages are made of heavy-duty wire mesh on wooden frames, so inside and outside cats can see, hear, smell and even touch each other, but can’t wrestle or fight. There’s room for beds, litter boxes, food and water dishes and toys; there are shelves for exercise and sleeping; and the screen walls make great climbing, for insiders and outsiders alike. I frequently have inside and outside cats exchanging toys by pushing them under the bottom of the cage, and outside cats sleeping on top. When Emery was in the upstairs cage, his friend Robin used to climb on top, and Emery would jump to the top shelf and play with Robin through the wire ceiling.

In addition to Brian’s photography session, his mother and the rest of the family continue to clip coupons for me and to help out when I need an extra pair of hands. The Charles’ cat, Olivia, faithfully sends cat food every week. I should remember to acknowledge the doctors and techs at Animal of Hospital of Waterville more often, too; they’re really great about answering questions, squeezing me into a full schedule when I have an emergency, making house calls for vaccinations and generally helping keep our cats healthy. As always, thank you to all of you who keep this whole place going.

As I mentioned before: Several people doubled up on their monthly support, many who had not been in touch with us for a while also helped, and for saving our Shelter once again and helping us when we were really down, a big THANK YOU to the following:

Joe D’Alessandro, Tuftonboro

Katherine Collins, Barre

Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossippee

The Lowney Family, New Bedford

Cindy Houston, Woburn

Iris Martinello, Tewksbury 

Janice Solimine, Stoneham 

Inge Maiellano, Marblehead 

Josephine Ford, Holden 

Dorothy Eckstein, Medford

Alice Winston, Swampscott

Wm. Hanrahan, Westwood 

Emilia Jorgensen, Boston 

Joseph Arouca, Ormond Beach

Betty Sawyer, Jonesport

G & R. Welch, Stonington 

Betsy Anderson, Framingham 

Mary Klayda, Winchester

Jean Catignani, Conway

Michael Kane, Greenwood

Donna Bering, Lynn

Steve Martin, Augusta

John Caswell, Newport

Carole Parker, Stoughton

Marcia Smith, Bucksport

Jon & Barb Anderson, Augusta

Pat Thain, N. Billerica

Christine Cardello, Melrose

Michael Kent, Boston

Viola McDonald, Woburn      

Nancy Capone, Wakefield

Elizabeth Johnson, Sanford

Dorothy Biron, Waterville

Lorena & Harry Clark,

Marian Delarue, Woburn

Lisa Montmarquet, Raymond

Dorothy Watkins, Amesbury

Roberta Chaves, Westport

Mildred Walker, Presque Isle

Nancy Brown, Waltham

Joan Ryan, New Bedford

Naomi Teixeira, Jay

Karen Rapallo, Wakefield

ADA Fence, Palmyra

Harriet Snyder, Brockton

Francis Archer, Canton

Robert Hull, Lawrence

Linda Merriam, Dresden

Enid Hayes, Halifax

Joseph Blake, New Bedford

Dante Bartolomeo, Temple

Willa Rockett, Belmont

Irma Simon, China

Sandra Nicholson, Beverly

Doris Lary, Hartland

Janice Clowes, Medford

Richard Lizotte, Newton

Mark Resendes, Revere

Alice Winston, Swampscott

Susan Culver, Wayland

Bette Beebe, Vernon Rock.

Linda Clish, Bangor

So much for this month’s newsletter. Wishing you a happy Spring!

Gabriele, Mary, Karen, Ted and Jim