Healing Animal Scars - Sonya's Cat & Animal Rescue Society

04/22/2025

This would be a great time to sign up for monthly giving. We ask our supporters to vote weekly for Healing Animal Scars - Sonya's Cat & Animal Rescue Society and you can donate to our rescue via my giving Circle as well.
Normally, every dollar you donate Visa one extra vote. If you sign up for monthly giving now, it will be doubled for life

04/06/2025

Announcing our new program, "Litters Quitters".
Did your mama cat have an oops litter? Do you find it hard choosing good homes for all the babies? Did you know that it can cost over $800 to get the mother cat spayed?
Did you know there's already a cat population crisis in our area?

Healing Animal Scars - Sonya's Cat & Animal Rescue Society is proud to offer our "Litters Quitters" program, to help control the cat population and to help people get their mother cats spayed for free.

If you have a mother cat who has already given birth, if you commit to letting our rescue take all the kittens and get them fully vetted before placing them up for adoption to excellent homes that will keep them indoors, we will offer to spay your mother cat for free so that she doesn't have any more litters.

Litters Quitters is designed to help a pet owner who accidentally found themselves with a litter of kittens.

We have a limited number of spaces available for the program this year, thanks to funding from a generous donor.

Standard surgical waivers are required to be signed before pets are admitted into the veterinary hospital.

Please send a message to this page or directly to Sonya D Higgins or you can call 902-469-6369 to inquire about program eligibility and find out if we can help your mama cat and kittens.

If you have kittens, we implore you not to give them away for free! Well intentioned people might take the free kittens but something could come up and they might not be able to afford to get Veterinary care. All kittens that come into our rescue are provided with testing, multiple sets of vaccines, spay and neuter, microchip and treatment for parasites before being placed up for adoption to loving indoor homes with a 6-week trial of free pet health insurance.

Keeping pets together with their families is our goal.

• This program is aimed at helping families who have unexpected litters of kittens, by accepting and adopting the off-spring, spaying mom, and keeping her in her family.
Accidental and unwanted litters happen. Through this program, we can educate the owner, prevent future litters by spaying the mother, provide support for the litters, and ensure the litters are placed responsibly.
Owners may not be able to spay the mother for financial reasons, lack of awareness, or may feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising and placing this offspring. Through this program, we are able to spay the female at no cost and return her to the family.

Why should I have my cat spayed?
It is recommended that all non-breeding cats be spayed. Several health benefits are associated with spaying your cat.
• Spaying eliminates the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers.
• Spaying reduces the risk of breast cancer, which is the number one type of cancer diagnosed in intact (unspayed) female cats. Cats spayed before their first heat cycle have less than 0.5% chance of developing breast cancer.
• Spaying prevents a fatal uterine infection called pyometra.
• Spaying in cats with diabetes or epilepsy prevents hormonal changes that may interfere with medication.
• Spaying a cat means she won't have future pregnancies that could end badly with a breech birth or dead kittens
Are there other benefits to spaying my cat?
The most obvious benefit is the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. There is no behavioral, medical, or scientific reason for letting your cat have a litter before she is spayed.
Removal of the ovaries will also stop her estrus cycles. Once a cat reaches puberty, usually at around seven months of age, she will have a heat or estrous cycle every two to three weeks for most of the year, unless she becomes pregnant. She will be “in heat” or receptive to mating for approximately one week in each cycle. During heat, she may display unsociable behavior such as loud and persistent crying and frequent rubbing and rolling on the floor. She may also urinate outside her litter box as a marking behavior. This behavior, coupled with her scent, will attract male cats. Spaying removes these behaviors. Removal of the ovaries will stop her estrus cycles.

04/02/2025

We would like to do a Father's Day basket fundraiser, and I'm wondering what type of items people think I should have in the basket. What do boys like to play with lol?

I was thinking we could put a gift certificate to the liquor store and a restaurant, and maybe some Men's Grooming products, but otherwise I'm uncertain what else we could put in a Father's Day basket. Please share any suggestions or ideas on what the men in your life would like to have in a gift basket

If anyone has donations, would gratefully accept them, if you can drop them off to me and Cole Harbor or to Darlene in eastern passage.

Picture of Fluffy Felix for cuteness tax. He wasn't neutered when we caught him last year, so I'm sure he's fathered his share of kittens!

04/02/2025

We did it!
We did it!
We did it!
Thanks to our amazing supporters who have been voting regularly, we are thrilled to announce that Healing Animal Scars - Sonya's Cat & Animal Rescue Society is the winner of a grant for $1,500 from My Giving Circle !! Hip, hip hoorah
Don't quit now! Another round of voting for new Grants has started, so don't forget to put a reminder in your calendar to keep voting once a week!

We are so grateful to everybody who has voted and donated to help us win this grant. It will certainly help us when we get inundated with kitties soon.

03/29/2025

AprilVets Dartmouth Crossing is a beautiful new Veterinary Hospital conveniently located in Dartmouth Crossing with caring and compassionate knowledgeable staff to care for your beloved critters. We are very grateful to them for selling tickets on our mother of all Mother's Day basket for $5. Please stop by and check out their hospital and purchase a ticket to help support the kitties at Healing Animal Scars - Sonya's Cat & Animal Rescue Society

03/28/2025

Trap training for shy cats

TNR Tip Thursday: Trap Training

⚠️ Make sure you have a TNR appointment PRIOR to actually trapping a cat!

Trap training can be used to help a community cat get used to eating near and then in a trap BEFORE the trap is actually set, which can make trapping day more successful.

If a trap can be safely left outdoors in the cat's territory for an extended period of time, it's possible to train a community cat to go in it to eat.

The area needs to be secure so no one walks off with the equipment, like a secluded backyard or a private courtyard. The process usually takes from one to two weeks.

For each trap deployed, follow these instructions:

1. Secure the front door of the trap in a raised position. You can run a stick through the sides of the trap to block the door from falling or use a twist tie or similar item to tie it in place.

2. Place the trap in the cat's territory near the normal feeding spot. Leave it in place throughout the training.

3. On the first day of the training, put the cat's usual meal on the ground a foot or two away from the trap's front door. Use a small plate or bowl. Start further away for a more skittish cat.

4. Keep putting the plate at this spot, the same distance from the trap, until the cat starts eating the food. Then, for the next meal, move the plate six inches or so closer to the trap's front door. When the cat starts eating from this new spot, move the plate closer to the front door again.

5. Repeat this process until the plate is right next to the front of the trap. When the cat is comfortable eating there, move the plate a few inches inside the trap. Keep waiting for the cat to eat, then moving the plate a few inches further in until it is all the way in the back of the trap and she is going in after it.

On your scheduled trapping date, at the time the cat is used to eating, untie or unblock the front door, bait the trap, and set the trigger.

Thank you Neighborhood Cats for this information - https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/trapping/hard-to-catch-cats