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Winter Issue 2004 Tributes

Little ones, your mama wasn't around long enough to prepare you for what can be a cold, cruel world. There were so many things she knew she needed to teach you ...... things a feral kitty needs to know in order to try to stay alive, like finding shelter from the freezing cold; how to hunt for or scavenge for food to ease your tummies hunger pains. Your mama loved you far too much to leave you like this, she thought she had many tomorrows to teach you all of this, but her time on Earth had run out. Someone thought that the way to rid the area of its feral cat population, was to set out food laced with poison. Not only did a number of cats die from eating the poisoned food, other animals did too. Food had been scarce and with three four week old kittens to nurse, your mama's appetite had become ravenous, and the poisoned food that had been set out appeared to be a feast to her ..... she died shortly after consuming it. The only thing your mama had the time to teach you at this tender age, was to be wary of people, for there are many of them out there, that mean to hurt you. But following your mama's words at this point in time, might prove to be fatal, since you are much too young to be able to take care of yourselves. The little family had been seen before, mama and the three kittens, who had taken up residence in an old wood pile. But this time when the three of you were spotted coming out from the woodpile, mama was not with you, we knew something had to be terribly wrong, because she would never have let you venture out on your own. The rest of the feral kittens that we had seen in the area were much older than this litter of three, these were kittens that had been born late in the year. We suspect that even if your mama had still been around, with the fast approaching winter, the chances for all three kittens surviving would have not been very good, but now with your mama gone, you had no chance at all. It took a couple of days of coaxing, but it was your hunger that finally allowed us to catch you. By talking softly and offering the kittens food, the first kitten showed her appreciation by allowing us to first stroke her head, and finally permitting us to pick her up. Watching every move we made, soon your other sibling came out, and relished the food we offered. We soon were able to catch this kitten too. But you were very wary of our advances and now with your siblings gone, you were all the more fearful of us, probably thinking we had done something terrible to them. While the other two kittens were safe and warm, with their tummies full, we watched sadly as you sat all alone shivering, in the freshly fallen snow. Our attempts to capture you were not going well at all, and we despaired as we watched you grow thinner. We finally decided that we would have to try to trap you, or most certainly your life would ebb away in the dead of winter. Our plan worked .... we had you! We were very relieved although we could not say the same for you. Our attempts at friendship were greeted with hissing and spitting. Foolishly we tried to push this friendship idea a little too quickly, as far as you were concerned, as you bit down hard on a finger! You taught us to take our time and wear heavy gloves during future encounters. We had to keep you confined to a cage at first, which did not thrill you, but with each passing day, you began to accept us little more, the day came when you finally let us pet you. We took things slowly, step by step, one day at a time, nothing could be hurried. A week had gone by and with a startled look on your face, claws clinging to us like velcro, we were finally able to pick you up. Today when we picked you up, you nestled in our arms, you seemed to be content and warm .... then we heard a sound we had never heard from you before ..... you had started to purr! Thanks to friends like you, this kitten and his siblings have a bright future, but there are many more out there in need of your help. Working together we can save them. Happy Endings Thanks to your generosity, you have helped to make these happy endings possible. Willow's Story On October 21st we adopted the newest addition to the Merritt family, Willow! We had been searching for the perfect kitten for about two weeks. We knew the second we saw her that she was the "purrfect" one! From the moment she looked at us with her stunning blue eyes, we knew that Willow was the one we needed to make our brand new family complete! She is the most loving and precious kitten we have ever met! We are so lucky that she chose us. We thank our lucky stars that Willow came into our life everyday! She makes us laugh, smile and feel overjoyed when we hear her little "meow" or by watching her play with her favorite ball. She is the best thing that could have happened to us. We want to thank TLC for making our dream come true. She has opened our arms and made our hearts grow! Michael, Nikcole, and Willow Ali's Story My husband and I adopted Ali, in December of 1998. Every year around Christmas, we think about the day we took her home. My husband was one of the plumbers working on the addition that the Shelter was putting on then. He knew that I loved dogs, especially Dalmatians. He took me to TLC one Saturday to see the Dalmatian that was up for adoption. When went to meet her, and took her outside for a walk. She gave us a couple of big kisses, and we knew we couldn't leave without her. The entire way home she sat on my lap in the front seat. Now she is a very happy spoiled girl that loves attention and having her picture taken. Not only are we happy we were able to adopt her, we have many thanks and praise to offer people who run and contribute to TLC. Words cannot express how much Ali means to us. Thank You very Much, Shawn, Shar and Ali Hill We're feeling the crunch, but... we won't let that stop us We noted on several of the Christmas cards and return envelopes, the shelter received, there was a handwritten note, saying, "wish it could be more" or "sorry things are tight this year." Many of our contributors have expressed increasing concern for the Shelter as their own financial situation became more limited, and giving became harder. We appreciate all you have done, even if you have had to cut back on the amount of your contribution, we know your heart and well wishes are with TLC, and we will try all the harder to provide ongoing care for homeless animals in need, for as long as we possibly can. We are sincerely grateful for your help, and although the animals cannot speak for themselves, we know they appreciate all you have done for them. Sending Flowers to your sweetheart on Valentines Day? Try Floral Alliance and you'll be helping the animals too! Your floral order can generate anywhere from a $5.00 to a $14.00 contribution to TLC. Next time you're sending flowers call Floral Alliance at 1-800-423-5803, and use TLC's code NP-1136 so the shelter receives the donation. Special thanks goes out to the following people for some extra things they did to help the shelter: Mr. and Mrs. Tropp for their donation of a Jacobson Lawn Tractor, which we were in dire need of James Endebak for donating an industrial use power rodder (which came in handy when we had some very serious drain problems recently) Annie Coleman and Donna Holous, for selling Christmas items and TLC cookbooks at various craft shows to raise money for the shelter. Patty Robinson for a raffle she held for TLC, and for the prizes she donated raising $800.00! Park Graphics for their donation of a Hewlett Packard Laser Jet III printer Drexa Jo Gross for making copies of a half hour movie about TLC to let folks learn more about us Andrew and Michelle Maletich for a raffle they held for TLC which made $843.00! Dr. Caffarini and his staff at Lockport Animal Hospital for their ongoing candy sale for TLC