Geylang food district rounds 4 and 5 - report and good news!

First off, we would like to thank @CatWelfareSG for these last two rounds of TNR in Geylang's food district! Here is the reason why:


Project 500 gave Love Kuching 10 slots for sterilising Geylang's street cats! Though it was past the deadline of January, Fareena, President of Cat Welfare, managed to help us help the strays of Geylang's food district, and the last 10 cats (2 rounds of trapping) was sponsored by Cat Welfare! We are so grateful!

Dukakis who contributed to our Sterilisation Fund through your purchase of Duke calendars, we will be using your gifts to sterilise stray cats in other neighbourhood estates instead! For this last leg of Geylang TNR we only used the Sterilisation Fund to pay for trapping, transport and boarding of the cats. We are now in the midst of recceing a few other sites that are in dire need of sterilisation help. Keep your eyes peeled for tweets and blog posts on our next TNR project - sponsored by you!

So, here is what happened during our TNR final rounds at Geylang.

We went back to a previous site from last year, Lor 37.

Sterilised 8 cats here last year

We arrived to trap a remaining 3 cats.

Cat transport van

 We managed to trap this gangster tom cat! We couldn't get a visual on him the last time we came here.

Gangster cat!

Our Sterilisation Volunteer Liyin trying to coax him

Another cat wasn't so keen on being out in the open.

Hiding under a  van

Luring cat out with food laden trapped while we stood back

Well, we did meet one friendly cat that could be placed in a carrier by hand.

Friendly kitty

After that, we went back to the food district, and trapped a number of other cats across the lorongs.

We went to a new back alley between two lorongs.

About 4 cats in this back alley

They camp around the back doors

Another 4 more cats around this side of the alley

The back alley is quite dangerous for cats because there are druggies hanging out here and the cats are at risk of poisoning from leftover drugs in the drains.

Cats and druggies' hangout

One cat was quite friendly and could be trapped by hand.

Preparing to 'grab' the cat by hand into carrier

Others were elusive. This cat hid throughout our time there and escaped the trap when he heard a noise.

iHide

iHide 2

"Food? Sure or not. Hate humans."

"Hmph, more food?!"

"LEAVING! I HEARD A NOISE!"

So, this was a failed trapping attempt for this boy, and we didn't see him again after this, not even after staking out his hiding location.

Black and white cat went into drain

We also met a pretty tricoloured cat but we couldn't neuter her because she recently gave birth in some building we couldn't access. Spay/neuter clinics don't have the protocol in place for neutering lactating cats as it is a more complicated procedure.

Mommy cat

"Wassup?"  Had to distract her away from traps

It was trickier trapping near the coffeeshops, lots of onlookers who were puzzled as to what we were doing, or tried to distract the cats from the traps. But we managed to crowd control so we could get to the kitties.

One of the coffeeshop cats trapped

After this site, we went back to the previous lorongs to trap the remnant cats we missed.

Recognise this alley?

More trapping more trapping!

We also went back to get the mother cat at the gambling den. We had managed to touch base with the feeder there when he caught sight of us trapping! He gave us feedback that the mother cat there might already have become pregnant. Which means she has stopped lactating and we can get her neutered.

Back at our first Geylang food district TNR site

The mommy cat

Gaining her trust with some food

Successfully trapped

Here is an overview of the Project 500 cats trapped, neutered and released!

Thank you Dukakis for sponsoring the trapping of these cats and Cat Welfare Society for the neutering operations! 
 

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Video: About our foster care

Human Elaine makes an appearance on video! Sharing about our rescue and rehabilitation process. To read more, click here.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Help Wan Wan the stray cat and his rescuer! A @CatWelfareSG special appeal

Update as of 9:30pm 27 Feb 2012: The full amount for Wan Wan's medical fees has been raised! Thank you cat-angels!


Wan Wan is a stray cat in Ang Mo Kio that recently fell ill with urinary tract infection and blockage. His story has been featured in Cat Welfare's Special Appeals.

Urinary tract infection and blockages are very common in male cats, especially strays who may not be getting their necessary daily intake of water. If not treated early, it leads to scarring and tearing of the urethra, and had the rescuer not brought Wan Wan to the vet to get his obstruction removed, he would have died.

But Wan Wan survived, and recuperated at his rescuer's house after his hospitalisation, for two weeks. He has since recovered! Now he is back in his original home at the void deck, happy and healthy.

However, his medical bill of $416.90 still has an outstanding amount of $146.90 as of noon today. This does not include the costs incurred during his recuperation in his rescuer's home.




How you can help:

Send a donation to CWS' account:

Bank: DBS Current Account
Account number: 065 - 013507 - 8
Bank Code: 7171
Branch Code: 065

This should be accompanied by an email to specialappeals@catwelfare.org to inform of the transfer, headed with the title of the appeal "Seeking Donations for Community Cat with Urinary Blockage & Infection" as the subject header of the email, and indicating:

Name of donor:
Amount donated:
Transacting bank:
Transaction number:
Date and time of internet/ATM transfer:

All verified donations will be acknowledged by email. Once the required appeal amount is reached, the appeal will be closed.

Please note that any additional amounts or untraceable amounts collected will go to Cat Welfare Society's sterilisation fund.

Cat Welfare will route your donations for Wan Wan to his rescuer. Excess funds will go to their sterilisation fund which goes back to our street cats through subsidised sterilisations! So please give, or share this need!


Do note: This is a Cat Welfare Special Appeal, which we are sharing in line with one of our goals of 2012. Do not give to Wan Wan through our Love Kuching bank account number shown in the footer of this post for Wan Wan's rescuer.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7  
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Have Cat? Never Alone. Our #foreveralonevdaycatcafeparty

Spreading the love of cats to those who don't have it or don't know it fully. We are after all, about loving the cats in our lives and neighbourhoods!

Have cat on @dinnie's lap, never alone!

The 'forever alone' title of the event came from this internet meme:

Depicting folks who have no human companionship

So we decided to organise a tweetup for folks to party with cats, cat cafe style, with play, food and drinks, cat treats and camwhoring with the kitties.

Here are the highlights of Tuesday's party.

Scooter, Kitten IC Emeritus, acted as bouncer at the door -

"I may look cute, but pay cover fee in form of treats thanks."

And then the cat love started!


Valentine's day cat party from seriouslysarah on Vimeo.

Yes, Sayang our mascot demonstrated a Maru.

"Maru is seriously overrated. Hmph."

Chanel showed her typical "I love all humans" demeanour to everyone.

Chanel getting strokes from @amongst

@sailesh88 giving treats to the kitties, Angel Apple Glazed Lamb!

Every cat gathered in a frenzy for treats

@ivyyt fell in love with Lenny who is still nursing his flu' and on antibiotics.

Lenny, take picture okay?

Lots of people have no resources or ability to adopt a cat at this current point in their lives. Some are more dog people. Some are merely neutral. But we spread the love for cats that night, nearly converted @auturmis who said that he was more of a dog person but our silly Sealy (Kitten IC) had captured his heart. Everyone spread the word on our work, and all in all, we can say it was a great Valentine's Day!

Thank you for partying with us! And to Sarah our Communications Volunteer who made the lovey video!

Have cat, never alone!

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Buy a Koshling handmade cat toy - proceeds go to our Boarding Fund!

| Cute toys for kitty that help Love Kuching kitties! |

Koshling Toys has decided to put their cat toys towards making lives better for more kitties! With every Koshling Toy purchased, $3 of the retail price goes to our Boarding Fund. 

Really, can the cats ever have enough toys? They always get bored with existing ones or kick them into odd corners of the house you can't reach! More is more!

Here are some of the Koshling Toy designs available. You can opt to have them made as pure plushies, or weighted with beans within for extra play variety. Visit the Koshling Toys' page for even more toy designs.

Rabbits, available in a large array of colours

Rabbits, dressed up

Flower hanging toy

Heart hanging toy, front

Back, any initial you request for

And here are some of Koshling Toys' satisfied customers

"I has my own teddy rabbit toy!"

"Don't take my Koshling from me!"

"My humans REALLY REALLY love me."

How you can purchase Koshling Toys that will benefit our Boarding Fund:

Go to the Koshlings Toys' Facebook Page.

Either leave a message on their wall or message them to ask about prices and customisations you would like e.g. the colours, initials, with or without beans. You can then also find out about modes of payment, and the Koshlings will be mailed to you.

Thank you for making your cat happy with a Koshling, and benefiting our foster cats' as you do so!

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

Jaimie got adopted on Sunday!

Jaimie getting affection from his new daddy, Alex

Mommy Leila asking Jaimie to look at camera!

Leila and Alex are on long-term working contracts in Singapore, originally from the UK. Both of them grew up with cats. After passing our criteria they came to visit and immediately bonded with all the kittens! But they had made the decision beforehand to adopt only one first, and Daddy Alex was keen on a boy.

Turns out, after Jaimie settled down in his new home, he sat beside his daddy and watched soccer on the telly together!

We are really happy for this family! Thank you Leila and Alex for your financial contribution above your adoption fee for Jaimie too! 

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

2012: About our fundraising, i.e. heralding of cat-angels!

We continue our 2012 series of posts into February! Here are the 2 previous ones we have shared: boarding rescued kitties, expanding cat care education avenues.

Remember the matrix?

We are going to talk about Love Kuching's fundraising.

In both years of 2010 and 2011, our biggest source of income via fundraising is through direct financial contributions from the public, from whom we call our cat-angels.

This method of fundraising has cost us very little, and in itself, does not make an impact for cat welfare until it is channelled into good use in our Boarding, Sterilisation, Veterinary and Operations Funds. This makes fundraising our Dollar Sign quadrant activity. Because it yields so much in proportion to the amount spent on it, we are going to improve the excellence in our fundraising much more.


Here are the changes:

Donor Care
We have managed to recruit an excellent Donor Care Volunteer, Rosanna! We want to connect with our cat-angels even more than before. We have a lot of cat-angels - very blessed! - and we want to make sure we stay in touch with them to let them know their investments have yielded.

Stray Cat Fund
We would like to introduce another volunteer with portfolio, our Stray Cat Volunteer, Melissa. We have been successful in raising funds and resources to sustain our work and we want to extend this to an area in cat rescue that tends to fall between the cracks. Our Veterinary Fund is used for cats that are in our fostering custody only, and strays who get abused, injured, or fall ill are unreached. The main channel injured strays have is through Cat Welfare Society's Special Appeals. What we hope to achieve is two-pronged. Highlight cases on Special Appeals so as to multiply the awareness and get Love Kuching's cat-angels engaged in these cases. Secondly, in the course of our work should we meet any stray cats in need of veterinary attention, we are going to tap on a Stray Cat Fund to help them. We are launching this Stray Cat Fund at zero dollar for the moment. Our dream is that in the future rescuers who are unable to come up with the initial payment of the veterinary treatment of stray cats, we are able to disburse the funds to them through our Stray Cat Fund. Big dream eh? Willing to embark with us on this journey?

Merchandise Partnerships
In nonprofit fundraising, merchandise sales is always a mainstay. However, for us, it yields very little in income based on the figures from 2010 and 2011. This means that merchandise sales is a Stop sign in the matrix map above. We are changing tack and now working with merchandise partners instead. So far we already have done so with two partners and a third has also come forward. We will be focusing on prospecting for such merchandise partnerships instead of trying to boost the array of our own stock of merchandise, as this is the smart strategic move. The income received from merchandise sales by these partners will be registered as donations and no longer as profit from sales.

Improvement in Outreach
So far, all our cat-angels have come to know about us through online platforms - our website, blog, twitter, facebook. We want to expand the mediums by which we reach out to more cat-angels in the making. This means expanding into events, print media, and tapping on groups of pet lovers in Singapore that are still unaware of our work.


All these endeavours sound like a lot, but we want to raise the bar continually in making a difference for cat welfare in Singapore. Join us on our journey!

Questions? Email Elaine at elaine@lovekuchingproject.org.

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme    
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish 

We are 'hiring'! Recruitment of another Volunteer with Portfolio

We are looking for a Donor Care Volunteer.

Apart from loving cats and loving to give back to help them have better lives, you would also be someone who loves humans who loves cats!

What you would need to do is to help us complete and constantly update our Donor Database. Also, help us send out tokens of appreciation via mail. These tokens can be made by yourself if you are into design and crafts, or we can get our Communications Volunteer Sarah get them done, so you just need to do the mailing. You would also help us keep the thank yous going through email to our cat-angels.

How often and when during the week or month this work needs to be done is on your own schedule. We believe that our volunteers should not only work to their strengths and in their interests, but also according to their schedule of life, work, family.

If you think you are this person, do drop Elaine an email elaine@lovekuchingproject.org. We are waiting for you. You are the last Volunteer with Portfolio for 2012 we haven't met yet!

Give financially to our cause by depositing to our bank account POSB savings 188-52652-7    
Sponsor a foster kitten's vaccination through our Sponsor-A-LoveKuching-Cat Scheme  
Give food and litter at charity rates through our corporate sponsor The Water Dish