September,  2007

Dear Friends:

It’s hard to believe that we are already into October. Two more weeks and we have our fundraiser, once again! This will be the 11th for Jim and I. It has been that long already since Charley died; eleven years ago. You would not have believed in 1996 that Ted, Mary, Karen, Jim and I would be still here, at Charley’s Strays. Eleven years later, right? Well, we are, and hopefully we will be for many years to come.

I may as well start with the fundraiser: The date: 2 weeks from now, on October 13th, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. It will be held at the same place as last year – the First Baptist Church in Woburn, Massachusetts. Moslems, Catholics, Protestants, Jewish and whatever else your faith may, or may not be, are all welcome. The church did not collapse last year, so hopefully it will not do so this year either. We will be most likely at the church around 10:00 am to set up everything. If you have a hot date at 11:00 am somewhere else, it’s okay to drop by a little earlier.

Here are the directions to get there: Take I- 95, which is also called 128. Get off on Exit 34, Winn Street. then Follow Winn Street all the way to the end. There are three different streets merging, you are looking for Number 3 Winn Street/Corner Park Street. The church is a little hidden behind some trees, on your left side. Behind the church is a large parking area. Cindy Houston, our friend and supporter, promised to put up some signs in front of the church, so you should have no problem hopefully finding your way around.

Hopefully many of you will attend. I am going to bake German cakes and cookies again, coffee and tea will be provided by Cindy, and unless we forget, there should be soft drinks available too. And there will be lots of prizes and nice items to buy. Remember Christmas is coming soon, and you most likely will do some shopping for friends and relatives, why not do it at our fundraiser. If you have just run out of money, that’s okay too, there’s no need to spend any, we will be happy just to see you there! Of course we accept IOUs too.

Cindy, the lady who will make the signs, and help take care of our guests at the fundraiser, also had her yearly yard sale in September. Together with our supporters Jackie Lowney and Joan Ryan, husband Steve and several other volunteers they sold “fleas”, lots and lots of them. Not everything got paid for – a “lady” stole four chairs -- imagine that! Even though, or maybe, because there were signs up telling that all the money would go to our animal shelter, the woman put the chairs in her car, and when Cindy looked the other way the woman left without paying for them. There were nice people too; a man who did not want to buy anything donated $10.00 to the Shelter. Not counting what the rip-off artists took, Cindy and her volunteers made $380.00 for Charley’s Strays! The money will go straight to MainGas to help pay for the fuel bill, just as the tickets for the fundraiser and any other money we will hopefully take in will do.

The dogs, who are going to benefit from this combined effort to buy enough oil to keep them warm, are still enjoying their “summer residences”; the large outside runs which have doghouses and a roof over part of the run. Hopefully they can stay out a few more weeks. The winter will be long, and being cooped up inside for several months is not a very happy time for our furry friends.

One of them hit the megabucks last week in the form of a permanent home: Amos, the black lab that had come about a year ago with another dog from the “nasty Shelter”, lucked out – he was adopted! Many thanks to the Lyford Family for giving Amos what he needed so bad, a loving family.

A couple of weeks ago Jim and I were at the Shelter – Jim had to do some repair jobs, I took care of the dogs because Mike had some family matters to attend to. Our two new Huskies, the ones which are so very scared of people, still had not been in to see the vet for their shots. We called the vet and asked if we could bring them in on a short notice, and he said yes. Jim and I managed to catch the two after about 15 minutes and put them in the car. What happened at the vet was totally nuts. Jim and Mike actually had to drag them into the vet’s office. One of them tried to jump through a window; he had never seen glass before. The other almost jumped into the aquarium in the office. Both are terrified of collars and leashes. The vet finally managed to give them their shots, and even weight them; 34 pounds one, 44 pounds the other. They are very small Huskies and both are females. For the time being we will not have them spayed; chances are slim for them being adopted, and we will have to give them some time to get used to us, and maybe eventually trust us, before taking them to the vet again.

Bear Teddy in Limestone seems to be better too. I wrote before about his skin problem “mange”, or at least we think that’s what was causing him to lose his fur. He was supposed to get one dose of medication once a week for five weeks. After the third dose he decided he had enough, and stayed away for two weeks. Every evening I put the food out with his medication, and every morning afterwards it was still there. Eventually I had to throw it away. Two weeks later he came waddling up the trail again. There are no bare spots on his bulk now; it looks like he has new short fur all over his body! He is jet black again with his white bib, and he looked pretty healthy. He stayed another two weeks, and now he has left for his winter quarters, once again. We have had the pleasure of feeding and watching him for eight years. I just read that in the state of New York they have tagged a bear and kept an eye on him for 32 years! If our bear stays around that long, he may have to lace my food with meds, in another 26 years I will probably have lost all my hair too.

CAT REPORT – September 2007

Christopher and Buddy both got good news from the vet late last month: both thyroid test results were in the normal range. Chris can stay off his medication for hyperthyroidism, and Buddy doesn’t need to start treatment for anything.

Since Chris was thin, he was already getting at least one extra meal most days. Now I make a point of feeding him at least three times every day, to his delight. He seems healthy and happy.   

Poor Buddy the Fat gets only two small meals, and on the doctor’s advice he’s on weight control dry food (with a bit of t/d mixed in for variety and to keep his teeth in good shape). I put him and his dish in a vari-kennel in the FIV+ room.  Then I fill and hand out the dishes for Mr. Tom and the rest of the group. By then Buddy’s dish is empty, and he sits looking wistful while the rest chow down. For the first couple weeks I could see no difference at all in his figure, but now I’m beginning to think – or imagine – that he’s a little less chubby.

Randall, who’s one of Chris’s roommates, often gets a third meal, too. He’s not overweight, though not thin either, so if he asks for food when I give Chris lunch or tea, I let him into the next room (where he and Alison eat their special urinary tract health diet) and give him a snack.

None of the rest of the Charley’s Strays cats has needed doctoring recently, although I’m already thinking about the fall house call. A dozen or so cats are on the list – hard on the budget, and hard on me, rounding them all up.  However (for those of you who don’t already know it), my vet generously gives us a multi-cat discount, plus occasionally leaving something off the bill altogether, so the financial hit won’t be as bad as it could be.

Little Kennebec is thriving at the moment. He feels very solid now, and he’s finally – after more than five years – deciding to be friendly. On the rare occasions when I have a moment to sit down in the kitchen, he’s very likely to jump into my lap, curl up and purr just like a pet cat. I get purred at when I pick him up, too – a year ago, he probably would have bitten me, if he’d let me catch him at all.

As always, my thanks to all of you for supporting Charley’s Strays.  I got lots of coupons this month, including some for dog food that I share with Ted and Karen – Teresa and family collect them for me, P. A. Lenk and Roberta Chaves each provided some, and Gabriele mailed me a whole envelope full that she said came from several different people. Since I don’t get a Sunday paper, you’re not duplicating any I already found, so please keep them coming. I’m also grateful to P. A. and to Olivia Charles for donations of cat food.

Betsy Anderson, Framingham

Betty Sawyer, Jonesport

Carole Parker, Stoughton

Cindy Houston, Woburn

Cristine Cardello, Melrose

Dale Critchley, S. Weymouth

Diane Rizzo, Oxford

Donna Bering, Lynn

Doris Lary, Hartland

Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossipee

Dorothy Eckstein, Medford

Dorothy Watkins, Amesbury

Dorothye Andrews, Warwick

Elizabeth Fay, Northport

Elizabeth Johnson, Sanford

Florence Mason, Lexington

Francis Archer, Canton

Harriet Snyder, Brockton

Inge Maiellano, Marblehead

Iris Martinello, Tewksbury

Irma Simon, S. China

Jackie Lowney, New Bedford

James Lavita, Dennis

Joan Ryan, New Bedford

Jon & Barb Anderson, Augusta

Joseph Blake, New Bedford

Joseph D’Alessandro, Tuft.

Josephine Smith, Woburn

Judy $ Al Smith, Belmont

Kathy Hillman, Chelmsford

Larry Hayes, Reading

Linda Merriam, Dresden

Lisa D’Alessandr,, Raymond
Nancy Capone, Wakefield

Lorena & Harry Clark, Beverly

Manuel German, Reading

Gabriele, Karen, Mary, Ted and Jim

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