It's A Week Away

Friends of DuPage Conunty Animal Care and Control's big gala, The Friends Fur-Ever Feast: Coco-mutts and Island Tails is just a week away and to say I'm totally psyched is an understatement.

Because I could barely wait any longer, yesterday I recruited one of the cute kittens to get suited up and go to the Caribbean with me.

Full disclosure: I didn't really go to the Caribbean. But I really did wear a bathing suit (and you wouldn't  believe the bath I gave myself when I took that bathing suit off):

Of course, I look very calm cool and collected. Wearing clothes when relaxing is just what I do.

Kitty Meowski, on the other hand, looks a little nervous. Maybe she thought I was serious about whisking her off in a private plane to an exotic locale. Kittens are so gullible.

I am serious about being excited about the Friends Fur-Ever Feast, though. I can't wait. I just checked with Kristie L. and we have a few tickets still available, You and your friends should totally come to the exotic locale of Bloomingdale Country Club on April 21. More information can be had by clicking on these words.

The Exciting-ness

Ok, so remember the exciting news I had for you guys? The exciting news that I said I would tell you "later in the week?" FYI: My week goes from Sunday to Saturday, so this is still technically "later in the week."

 My exciting news is that Friends of DuPage County Animal Care and Control will once again be hosting the Friends Fur-Ever Feast on April 21, 2012.

I'm here to tell you that the Feast last year was so good. And the important news is that this year the Feast is shaping up to be even better.

I have a lot of things I love about the Feast. One of those things is the raffle. It's one of those raffles Last year, we had raffle prizes. This year we have RAFFLE PRIZES. The feast is six weeks away, but already we have raffle prizes that range from a hot air ballon ride to a week's use of a Chevy Volt. There are lots and lots of raffle prizes.

Another thing I love about the feast is the location. Bloomingdale Coutry Club hosts The Feast at it's beautiful club house on Glen Ellyn Road in Bloomingdale. The room is just beautiful. Since The Feast starts around 6:00 and goes into the night, we can watch the sunset over the golf course. It's really one of my favorite places in DuPage County.

The third thing I like about The Feast is the people that attend. Somepeople know each other, but other guests are there to support Friends of DCACC. It's cool when a bunch of people come together to support a great cause. I especially liked visiting the tables (in my Scratch on a Stick guise) and seeing people who didn't know each other before The Feast bond over their dog King or their cat Princess. The thing about the people who go to The Feast is that they are all connected by their love of animals.

Oh, also, I write something for the Foundation Secretary to read on my behalf. And you guys already know how funny I am, so that's the featured entertainment. At least they tell me I'm the featured entertainment. 

I think my very favorite part of The Feast is seeing Doctor Todd, our vet, have a chance to get out and have fun. Look at him at last year's feast. I think he was most happy about holding the "Scratch on a Stick"

I can't possibly tell you all the details about the feast in this blog post, so I'm going to give you a homework assignment. Visit this link and it will tell you everythng that you need to know about attending the Friends Fur-Ever  Feast.

www.friendsfureverfeast.com/

Just Me and My Cabinet

This is what's new with me:

I found a new place to hang out! It's in one of the metal upper cabinents. The lower cabinets hold Rabies Tag documentation and the upper cabinent holds me. Ann and Amanda kitted the cabinent nicely for me with comfy blankies. I can rest and watch everything that happens in the office. In some ways it's better than the copy machine because my nap isn't interrupted when my co-workers need to make copies.

Don't worry, I still have my comfy crate to stay in at night, but during the day, you can usually find me in the open cabinet.

So...yeah. Not that much has been going on around here.

Doctor Todd continues to do awesome stuff, even though it's time for my annual physical which means I'm going to have to submit to a blood test. I already know my blood type is A(wesome) +, so we can just skip the test this year maybe? I heard my co-workers talking about my age, though and how cats "of a certain age" should get a complete physical every year. What does that even mean "of a certain age?" Isn't everyone a certain age? Does every one have to get a blood test? Sheesh.

You know what? I think I'm going to keep this post short. I have something exciting to tell you, but I think it can wait until later this week.

A Cat Won Westminster? Unbelievable!

I guess they are letting cats enter and win The Westminster Dog Show now?
This is the creature that won Best In Show yesterday:

His name is Malachy and he is a Pekingese. I assume that is a slightly fatter and furrier version of a Siamese.

Had I known they were allowing cats to compete, I would have had the ACO's take a selection of our cats to New York City. Heck, I would have gone. Madison Square Garden sounds like a beautiful place.

These are some of our currently available cats that are perfect for a Dog Show:

This is Jen. I chose her because she is kind of, sort of, if you squint and just glance briefly, a similar color to Malachy.

Tatiana would have gone because she's a cow cat like me, so inherently awesome. I like how her black nose freckle covers her whole entire nose.

I would have sent Smalls, but only because I love his name for highly personal reasons.

Since the Westminster Dog Show is (supposedly) a Dog Show, I also would have sent a dog, since it seems like the right thing to do. I would chose a mix because they are the most interesting (to me). And of course, because everyone knows that mixes are the best kind of dogs. For one thing, they combine the best of whatever kind of canines they are made up from. For another thing, mixed breed dogs are super unique looking.

I think I would select Rolo as our candidate for Best in Mixed Breed. Rolo is certainly a Terrier. That's why he is listed as a Terrier mix on our website. But then, what kind of ears does he have? They aren't terrier ears. Terrier ears are usually more triangular. Are they spaniel ears? They seem a little short for that. Are they hound ears? Maybe. Whatever kind of ears Rolo has, I am fascinated by him and his ears. I guess you can be fascinated by purebred dogs, but I see a lot of mixes and I love to watch them (from the safety of a high spot) and imagine where they came from and what they can accomplish when they find their perfect home.

Alas, we didn't send any of our animals to the Westminster Dog Show, but that's only because I never remember about it until I flip through channels in the middle of February every year and realize it's happening. Well, there's always next year.

Turns Out, It's Not Just Cats Up In Here

Did you guys know that DuPage County Animal Care and Control has other animals besides cats and kittens?

It's true. Why, here's one that filtered through today:

He is sitting in Kerry P.'s in box because she worked today to find him a foster family. I imagine he was her priority because it would have been tricky to keep any paperwork on top of him. He would have wiggled it off and it would have fallen on the floor and it would have been a big mess.

I called him Pete The Pup, but we won't really be naming him. His fosterer will. We're great around here, but little baby dogs need to be with people. Foster families are the perfect place for an eight week old pit bull.

I'm going to be honest with you. I mainly posted that little guy's picture for three reasons.

1. Baby dogs need foster families too sometimes
2. Puppies don't know how to help with paperwork properly. White paperwork is best at room temperature. It's the pink paperwork that needs to be kept warm. Cats know this instintively. Puppies, not so much.
3. This picture will look GREAT as the thumbnail when I post it to Facebook.

Bowling Was FUN!

Guys, you know what was super fun? The Frames for Fosters bowling outing that we held on Sunday. I had so much fun that it took me this long to recover.

Of course Scratch on a Stick was there with bells on. Before I imbibed him with my magical essence, I stuck a picture of bowling ball on his paw. Voila...a bowling SoaS.

I spent a lot of my day hanging out at the Foster board to draw attention to what it takes to be a fosterer.

If you signed up to be a fosterer at the bowling event, you received this lovely tee shirt. Now, I'm not a huge fan of tee shirts (they bind up under my armpits and tend to make me fall down), but this is the best photograph of a tee shirt I believe I've ever seen:

I didn't just stay at the foster information table. I also tried bowling out. Since it was a bowling event.

I had a REALLY hard time finding shoes that fit. I explained to the shoe clerk that my feet are specially designed for all surfaces and absolutely would not scuff their floors, so I got to forgo the shoes.

Finding a bowling ball that fit was not a walk in the park either.

I ended up just bowling with the paper bowling ball that was taped onto my paw.

That was a lot of standing around waiting my tun. And you would never guess this, but two dimensional bowling balls don't roll very far. So the next thing I knew, I was keeping score.

Luckily, eventually, Kerry Panzone, our Foster, Volunteer and Rescue Coordinator, came over and rescued me from the fun. She said she needed my help at the fostering table again. Kerry P. always has my back.

The day wasn't just about me, though, it was also about the 50/50 raffle. This is my young friend Martha who did an awesome job selling raffle tickets. She loved selling raffle tickets so much that sometimes she wouldn't even wait for the grown up helping her to help her. I guess selling raffle tickets make your snow boots itch (Martha was so quick at selling raffle tickets we couldn't even get a picture of her doing it).

But Martha wasn't the best part of the 50/50 raffle. Bob was. Bob won the 50/50 raffle. This is Bob (in this picture, Bob is the one that isn't Kristie):

 Let me explain what a 50/50 raffle is. It is a raffle where, if you win, you get to have 50% of the raffle sales and the charity gets to keep 50%. Well, Bob wasn't there on Sunday to win money, he was there to give money to the animals. So you know what he did? He immediately donated his winnings to the shelter. Bob is a good, good guy.

You know who else is good? Pam Stella. She is a board member who came out to help on Sunday, even though she has a million things going on. This is Pam (on the left) and Kristie L (on the right).

The tall, round one in the middle is Patricia. She's also on the board of Friends of DuPage County Animal Care and Control.. She was going around at the bowling outing talking all about how this was her idea and she's so great and blah, blah, blah. But you know what? It wasn't her idea. It was my idea. The idea for a bowling outing was all mine. I had the idea right after I heard Ann P. and Amanda R. talking about it. Just because Patricia can read my mind doesn't mean that she can take credit for my ideas.

I won't dwell on that though. You know me, I don;t judge. It's just not in my nature. The point of the day was to 1) have fun and 2) raise money for our foster care program. I would say we exceeded both of those goals. Over 100 people came out to bowl and we raised over $1,500. Let me tell you, $1,500 is going to by a whole lot of kitten formula and that will allow us to help so many baby kittens during kitten season!

Bowling? BOWLING!

OK, guys. Raise your hand if you've gotten tickets for the Frames For Fosters fundraiser on Sunday.

Excellent!

Wait? What's that? You haven't heard anything about our Frames for Fosters bowling fundraiser at Brunswick Zone in Glendale Heights (at the corner of North Avenue and Glen Ellyn Road)? Well, that means you aren't constantly checking Facebook for our events and/or are not getting e-mails from Friends of DCACC.

I'm glad we're touching base now so I can tell you about it. This fundraiser is Sunday, January 15th from 2-5. If you buy your tickets in advance, they are $20 each or a family four pack for $75. If you wait until Sunday, the tickets are $25 each. All proceeds from the event will go to our foster care fund.

Aren't logistics fun? I only have one more detail to give you and then I'll share with you a couple of slides that I put together for the event. That piece of business we should take care of is a link to buy tickets:

Click on these words to buy tickets to the Frames for Fosters Event. 

So I've been working on a couple of things so the bowling event will be entertaining (you know, I want to make it even more entertaining than it already will be, what with the bowling, pop, pizza, shoe rental and football games playing on TVs around the place). One of the things is a powerpoint presentation about the process of fostering a kitten. I LOVE POWERPOINT! Do you guys love powerpoint? Of course, I'm not exactly sure how to get my slides in this here blog post, but that's ok.

A two week old Kitten and her siblings arrive at the shelter

You, the fosterer, would get a phone call asking if you are available to foster

You pick the kittens up from the shelter, after receiving thorough training



At first, the kittens will sleep a lot. Sometimes they will also look around.

For the first couple of weeks, you will be bottle feeding the kittens (we’ll show you how)

As they grow, you’ll play with the kittens

Of course, you will also give the kitten lots of love.

When the kittens are about 4 or 5 weeks old, you’ll teach them to eat big kitten food

And use the big kitten litter box

The kittens will play and play and play

They will also sleep and sleep and sleep

Eventually, when they are 8 weeks (or two pounds), they will come back to the shelter for their man or lady cat surgery

Then, they will meet their forever family who will love the kitten forever.

I would like to thank Google Images for making this post possible.