PFA at Pet Expo 2010

The 2nd Annual Pet Expo was held Saturday, January 30th at the Conexus Arts Centre and PFA was there to meet and greet, raise funds and awareness, and show off some our awesome adoptable cats!

Thanks so much to all our hardworking volunteers and to the many members and friends who came out to support us. We had a fun and productive day and can't wait to do it again next year.

-Alanna

PFA Success Story - Oscar and Lola

This is our little Apri-cat (now Oscar), who was rescued with his twin brother from an abandoned garage during a heavy snowfall in early December.

It was no surprise when Oscar was snapped up quickly and went off to his new home to join another PFA rescue cat, Lola. Oscar and Lola are now best buds and love to bathe each other, sleep together and get into trouble together.

We are so happy our little orange guy landed in such a great home. It's a bonus that he and Lola were adopted by Nicole and Luke, dedicated PFA volunteers, so we can get regular updates!

-Alanna

Rehabilitated feral kittens

Pictured above are two of the kittens that we rescued at the beginning of the winter from the streets of North Central. These particular kittens were born on the street, and when we trapped them, they had never been touched by people. Generally, we have found that feral kittens can be tamed if they are trapped before the age of about 12 weeks. These lovely felines were definitely borderline, and while we wanted to give them the chance at a better life, we knew it would take a lot of work. First, they were placed in foster homes, but while their foster parents tried extremely hard to work with them, they needed an even more intensive socialization process. So, we moved them over to our friends at Prairie Animal Assistance, where they have been intensively socialized with the help of an animal behaviourist. We are so grateful for their help in this process, and as you can see, the kittens are doing marvelously. They will soon be listed for adoption, and can look foward to long and contented lives as house cats.

Happily Weathering the Storm

These three beautiful rescued cats Gemma, Frankie and Bugsy, who live with hardworking PFA volunteer Sarah, found the perfect way to spend a stormy winter day - snuggling together in a big papasan chair!

What better way to pass a cold, snowy day?

-Alanna

Poor Little Mittens, Rescued with Her Kittens!

This cute little dilute tortie is Mittens, yet another sweet young mama cat in peril who came into our care along with 2 of her sweet kittens, even though she is barely more than a kitten herself.

It's all been pretty confusing for Mittens, being separated from her kittens, spayed, and placed into foster care. But she is settling in nicely and enjoys playing with straws and sleeping with her foster "mom", who says that Mittens has plenty of "torti-tude" and is a strong-willed survivor in a teeny little package!

Mittens will be listed for adoption shortly.

-Alanna

Update on Sweet Molly

Late last winter, PFA recieved our first batch of rescued kittens of 2009. A beautiful young mama cat had been abandoned near the Sedley seed plant and the kind staff there took her in so she could have her kittens in warmth and safety. However, a seed plant is no place for baby kittens so the workers called us for help and we took Molly and her babies into foster care.

The adorable kittens were scooped up right away, and we were quite thrilled when Molly found a loving forever home of her own soon afterward. Molly's "mom" Eva provided us with these pics of our sweet girl and it's clear she is doing great and is well loved.

Another PFA happy ending for a deserving little cat!

-Alanna

Black Cat Bonanza!

It is a sad but true fact that black cats are always the hardest ones to adopt out, and they take the longest to find homes, no matter how sweet they are.

But, once in a while we get adopters that absolutely love the black ones and prefer them over all others. Dan and Elaine are just that type of adopter, and in the last year have adopted 5 beautiful, loving and charismatic black PFA cats: Charlie, Star, Emma, Nigella and Batman! Check out meal time at their house.

The lovely orange tabby in the mix is Frank, one of our infamous downtown kittens who was adopted by Dan and Elaine's son.

What a wonderful ending for all these lucky little cats!

-Alanna

Mama Cats Need Love Too!

PFA rescues many mama cats with litters so that entire little cat families don't have to struggle to survive on the streets or add to the high feral cat population in Regina.

Usually what happens is that the kittens are adopted very quickly. Those little bundles of fluff are pretty irresistable. Then, once all the kittens are gone, we focus on finding the mama cat a home, and it is usually much more difficult. Many kind hearted citizens who take in pregnant mamas find the same thing.

This little mama cat is Dinah, who was rescued pregnant and hungry 3 months ago, just before winter hit. All her kittens have been adopted, but it's been a struggle to find Dinah a permanent home.

Dinah is a sweet, young tabby who absolutely loves to have her belly rubbed - she purrs and purrs. She will be spayed shortly and will be listed for adoption.

As usual, we are short on foster homes and need a placement for Dinah. If you are interested in helping this little mama cat get her chance for a home and happiness, please contact us at saskpeopleforanimals@gmail.com.

-Alanna

Common Pet Poisons

For many of us, pets are an integral part of our households and are allowed to roam freely in our homes. But, pet owners need to keep in mind that animals are subject to harm from common, everyday household items to which most people would not give a second thought.

The ASPCA has come up with a top 10 list of common pet poisons from 2009. Click here to check out the list and see if you need to do any cat or dog-proofing in your home!

-Alanna

I Need a Foster Home

Hi. My name is Oliver. I have been living outside as a stray for some time now. My fur is rough and my ears have been frostbitten, so the tips are gone. Brr it's been cold outside! I found some food and have been regularly eating from it. The other day I found my food in some strange metal thing but went into it to eat it as I was so hungry. Then the door closed and I was trapped!

A nice lady then brought me into her home and I have a warm bed to sleep in. I am shy and quiet but she pets me and talks nice to me and I even purred. This lady has lots of cats that like to look at me and even dogs that bark! (stupid dogs!) She tells me I am going to be fixed on Jan.19th. (whatever that means!) Then I will have no where to live until my forever family comes to get me. Will you provide me a warm bed and some food and water until my new family adopts me?

Oliver

Volunteers Needed for 2010 Pet Expo

The 2010 Pet Expo is coming up on January 30th and PFA will be there! This is the only event of it's kind in Regina - a trade show for pet businesses including pet stores, groomers, trainers - and animal rescue groups like PFA.

We are still looking for some volunteers to work a 2 hour shift at our table, specifically from 3:45-5:15. Duties include interacting with the public to explain PFA's role in the community, sell catnip toys and treats, accept donations and hand out literature.

If you are interested in helping out at the expo, please contact us at saskpeopleforanimals@gmail.com.

-Alanna

Furry Little Furnaces

It's been mighty cold of late, and one of our foster care providers has come up with a great way to stay warm without cranking up the heat!

Our lovely foster cat, Eve, joins the 2 resident cats in keeping her foster mom warm and toasty!

-Alanna

Update on Charley's kittens

In early December we blogged about a momma cat in a blog called And yet more kittens... - Charley and her 4 kittens were found sheltering under a deck. The kittens were very timid because of little to no human contact and the little family went off to our friends at Prairie Animal Assistance for boarding and socializing. A week ago the cat family came to our house to be fostered.

As you can see, fostering and socializing kittens is a job for the whole family! Timid kittens need lots of love and attention to help them learn to play and become loving family pets. They need to feel secure - as why they are currently in a large dog kennel. Momma cat Charley (advertised for adoption as Charlotte) is already well socialized and already has joined the general population of our household.

Hopefully within a few weeks these adorable kittens will be ready for adoption too!

-Michelle

New Year's Resolutions for Your Pets!

New Year's resolutions don't just apply to people - pets can benefit from our vows of self-discipline as well! Check out the ASPCA's list of popular new year's resolutions for pets!

-Alanna

Animal Rescue Tales from Afar

Check out this link to a story about a cat with no hind legs looking for a home in the Boston area. This is interesting as we have come across several 3 legged-cats in our rescue work, but so far no 2-legged ones like this guy!

We wish this little guy all the best in finding a suitable home. In most places, cats like this are probably almost automatically euthanized, so cheers to the MSPCA-Boston team for finding an adoptive family for this one.

-Alanna

The Greatest Gift

Our favourite holiday gifts are homes for our wonderful rescued cats, so PFA volunteers were very excited when our sweet Ian found a fantastic new home just before Christmas.

Ian went to join another former PFA rescue cat, Shawn, in an awesome pet loving home, where they enjoy hanging out and relaxing now that the stress of street life is behind them.

Shawn is the fluffy tabby (check out those big paws!) and Ian is the cute orange guy sleeping in the box. We are very happy for them.

A huge thank-you goes to our friends at Victoria Vet Clinic for facilitiating both of these adoptions.

- Alanna

Everyday Heroes

It seems like not a day goes by without a new request for help with stray cats suffering out in the cold. We do our best to help as many as we can, but we are currently very overloaded with rescued cats.

So, it was refreshing to hear from a resourceful PFA member from Balgonie, who, along with her partner, trapped and rescued a mama cat and 2 kittens that were sheltering under an abandoned building. They had been feeding these cats for some time, but after finding one of the kittens frozen to death last week as temperatures plummeted, they took fast action to get the remaining cats out of the cold that same day. The cats are now safe and cozy in a heated garage, and they have found a home for one of the kittens already!

This is in addition to rescuing a cold, scared and hungry tame cat (the fluffy grey cat) off the street, who has now taken refuge in their laundry room while we wait for foster space to become available.

They did all this with just a bit of advice and encouragement from PFA volunteers.

Every day we have to face the fact that we can not help every stray cat out there, as much as we want to do so. It is comforting to know that there are kind people out there who will take the initiative to become cat rescuers themselves.

Kudos to Janet and Pat for saving these cats from the cold and giving them a chance to be loved in an adoptive home!

-Alanna

Cute Holiday Pet Photos

Pets are so much fun! Check out this link to some really great holiday pet photos from www.care2.com:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pets-on-parade-the-grand-finale.html

-Alanna

Refugee from the Cold

This adorable little tortie kitten is Stephanie, a 6-month old female picked up by a feral team volunteer the week for Christmas. Stephanie was found crying in a snowbank, all alone in the cold.

This cute spunky kitten was scooped up, spayed, and placed into foster care where she has settled in nicely. Doesn't she have pretty eyes? She will be listed for adoption very soon.

We are thankful that there is one less little frozen cat out on the streets!

-Alanna